150th year of Gandhi's birthday. I was wondering about one influence on Gandhi, an American one at that. The influence of Thoreau.
Thoreau died in 1862, before Gandhi was born. Thoreau is not (perhaps) as well know as his philosopher mentor Emerson. But a leader of leaders he was. He influenced Gandhi, as he did Martin Luther King, and many other.
This may seem circular, but the Gita had an influence on Thoreau, as these two passages show. 
T was against slavery and war. So he refused to pay taxes.And he was arrested (for what seems like a local tax); he spent that night in jail before a relative of his paid the tax and got him released.
But the incident had a profound effect on him. He wrote "On the duty of Civil Disobedience." It is a thin book (28 pages) and with this he inspired a generation of world leaders.
Here are two passages from the booklet. He implores each of us to act by our conscience. How many of us have the courage to do so? Which is the reason why a Gandhi is so rare. ibiblio.org/ebooks/Thoreau…
Gandhi read Thoreau in 1906. He was first arrested in 1908 in South Africa. Thoreau even gave the name "Civil disobedience" that is part of our vocabulary.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Toady is a day for us to remember these remarkable men who walked our world. To Thoreau and Gandhi.
Toady is a day for us to remember these remarkable men who walked our world. To Thoreau and Gandhi.
