Non-Quaker Biography & Writing
NON-QUAKER BIOGRAPHY
351. Jacob Boehme: Insights into the Challenge of Evil (by Ann Liem; reprinted 2000)
About the Author: Ann Liem majored in philosophy at Berkley & explored Zen for 21 years, 2 of which she spent in Tokyo studying Buddhism. An overwhelming conversion experience led her to Christianity, Quakerism, & Boehme in 1970. She gave a brief talk on Boehme at Pendle Hill, which has developed into the present pamphlet. She writes: One of the most important tasks of our time is to reconcile East and West in order to understand how they supplement and support each other.”
Introduction—Quakerism is founded on the belief that the mystical encounter is central to religious life. Holy Scripture itself, we never forget, is the result of the mystical experience. Jacob Boehme—cobbler, mystic, visionary, illuminate, clairvoyant—was born in 1575, 49 years before George Fox, and died the year Fox was born. [All the similarities between their lives suggest a profound spiritual kinship]. Were they linked somehow by the revelation of truth, and the converting of a people to follow it?
Yet in personality and accomplishment differences were abundant. It is not likely that Boehme was an influence on Fox, as Fox put small value on the findings of other men, and was never a great reader. William Law claimed that his life was changed entirely by Boehme’s influence. Other supporters include Newton, Hegel, and Goethe. Poets inspired by him include Novalis, Milton, and Blake. The Quakers Howard Brinton and Rufus Jones sought to generate appreciation for the mystic. [Following in the spirit of this mystic] evil is neither some-thing to deny, nor something to live with comfortably, but it is also no cause for despair.
“I had long been undergoing an intense effort to find the heart of Jesus Christ and to be freed … from everything that turned me from Christ, when suddenly the gate opened. In ¼ hour, I saw and knew more than if I had been many years at university… I knew and saw in myself all 3 worlds: divine, angelical; dark world; external, visible world as outbreathing of the internal, spiritual worlds.” Jacob Boehme
The Life of Boehme—He was born to Lutheran peasants in a village near Goerlitz, a Bohemian possession. We have a picture of a serious, shy, withdrawn youth, a shepherd for his parents. His formal education was a few years of elementary school. Abraham von Frankenberg, says: “he was modest, patient, & meek of heart.” He seemed to have innate awareness of reality’s invisible dimensions & a deep sense of divinity’s presence behind physical world. A stranger came into the shop one day & foretold his future of greatness, poverty, anguish, & persecution. A short time later Boehme had an illumination that put him in a 7-day state of ecstasy.
In 1600 he had the supreme visionary experience of his life, which established all the major themes upon which his many works were based. After gazing at a pewter plate reflecting the sun, he felt himself in the presence of God and was aware of being inducted into the very heart of the universe. Boehme stated: “I had long been undergoing an intense effort to find the heart of Jesus Christ and to be freed … from everything that turned me from Christ, when suddenly the gate opened. In ¼ hour, I saw and knew more than if I had been many years at university… I knew and saw in myself all 3 worlds: divine, angelical; dark world; external, visible world as outbreathing of the internal, spiritual worlds. He waited 10 years to write it and another illumination in Aurora (Glow of Dawn); he produced 30 books and treatises during his lifetime.
The Aurora was circulated by a nobleman, and it immediately set in motion a long and bitter feud between Boehme and his Lutheran pastor, Gregorious Richter; Boehme was often unflattering to the established clergy. Richter decreed exile; [it was lessened to a gag order, which Boehme abided by for 7 years]. Boehme was encouraged by friends, and afraid that God would be disappointed [if he acted the coward]. He wrote in spite of persecution and the threat of severe punishment, and became a renowned figure throughout much of Europe.
The Nature & Manifestation of God—What was it that this gentle man saw which caused him to be despised by some & so venerated by some of the most spiritual men of his day? Boehme’s insights can be divided into [4 main] categories: Gods nature and creation; the Fall’s meaning; salvation; good & evil’s inter-relationship. The themes comprise a system; it is necessary to read most of his work to grasp it; he is repetitious.
Once pieces are put together, we possess a marvelous illumination on the age-old problem of good & evil. Reading [& understanding] him, we come to feel the plan for mankind which God unfolds is a magnificent one. The core of Boehme’s doctrine, is a masterpiece of invention, arising from the Creator’s desire to sport or play. “Of the reason why the eternal & unchangeable God has created the world, it can only be said that he did it in love. Man’s fall was inevitable, though freely chosen by him, i.e., he eagerly accepted opportunity to eat of the Tree of Good and Evil, to participate in a world of multiplicity.” From early childhood Boehme was aware of manifold invisible realms. His visions demonstrated that man was truly & literally made in God’s image. “The life of a man is a form of the divine will, and to do the will of God means to become fully godlike, realizing ones highest ideals. The abyss manifested itself through the drama of creation whereby God saw Himself in Himself."
Boehme’s 7 phases or “qualities” in God’s process are: desire; motion; anguish; conflagration [passionate fire]; light or love; sound & form; complete realization of 1st 6 in nature. The 1st mentioned here is a contracting force that brings the potential for being an individual. At the same time there is motion (2), an centrifugal, organizing force. Together they generate anguish (3). From the great tension, an explosive passionate fire bursts forth (4). Through this flash are manifested all the opposite pairs of the universe, i.e. the beginning of multiplicity.
Boehme’s 5th quality “is the love-fire which separates from painful fire; divine love appears as a substantial being… The soul in its substance is a magical gush of fire from God the Father’s nature. She is a passionate desire for light.” Boehme’s 6th quality, “sound,” symbolizes sensory awareness. The 7th quality is the complete realization of the 1st 6. Rufus Jones writes: “God’s Word, & eternal Son [is] a visible realization of God’s eternal heart.” Boehme writes, “We find everywhere 2 beings in one—1st, an eternal, divine and spiritual being, & then one that has a beginning & is natural, temporal, & corruptible… God must become man in order that man may become God.”
The Life of Boehme—He was born to Lutheran peasants in a village near Goerlitz, a Bohemian possession. We have a picture of a serious, shy, withdrawn youth, a shepherd for his parents. His formal education was a few years of elementary school. Abraham von Frankenberg, says: “he was modest, patient, & meek of heart.” He seemed to have innate awareness of reality’s invisible dimensions & a deep sense of divinity’s presence behind physical world. A stranger came into the shop one day & foretold his future of greatness, poverty, anguish, & persecution. A short time later Boehme had an illumination that put him in a 7-day state of ecstasy.
In 1600 he had the supreme visionary experience of his life, which established all the major themes upon which his many works were based. After gazing at a pewter plate reflecting the sun, he felt himself in the presence of God and was aware of being inducted into the very heart of the universe. Boehme stated: “I had long been undergoing an intense effort to find the heart of Jesus Christ and to be freed … from everything that turned me from Christ, when suddenly the gate opened. In ¼ hour, I saw and knew more than if I had been many years at university… I knew and saw in myself all 3 worlds: divine, angelical; dark world; external, visible world as outbreathing of the internal, spiritual worlds. He waited 10 years to write it and another illumination in Aurora (Glow of Dawn); he produced 30 books and treatises during his lifetime.
The Aurora was circulated by a nobleman, and it immediately set in motion a long and bitter feud between Boehme and his Lutheran pastor, Gregorious Richter; Boehme was often unflattering to the established clergy. Richter decreed exile; [it was lessened to a gag order, which Boehme abided by for 7 years]. Boehme was encouraged by friends, and afraid that God would be disappointed [if he acted the coward]. He wrote in spite of persecution and the threat of severe punishment, and became a renowned figure throughout much of Europe.
The Nature & Manifestation of God—What was it that this gentle man saw which caused him to be despised by some & so venerated by some of the most spiritual men of his day? Boehme’s insights can be divided into [4 main] categories: Gods nature and creation; the Fall’s meaning; salvation; good & evil’s inter-relationship. The themes comprise a system; it is necessary to read most of his work to grasp it; he is repetitious.
Once pieces are put together, we possess a marvelous illumination on the age-old problem of good & evil. Reading [& understanding] him, we come to feel the plan for mankind which God unfolds is a magnificent one. The core of Boehme’s doctrine, is a masterpiece of invention, arising from the Creator’s desire to sport or play. “Of the reason why the eternal & unchangeable God has created the world, it can only be said that he did it in love. Man’s fall was inevitable, though freely chosen by him, i.e., he eagerly accepted opportunity to eat of the Tree of Good and Evil, to participate in a world of multiplicity.” From early childhood Boehme was aware of manifold invisible realms. His visions demonstrated that man was truly & literally made in God’s image. “The life of a man is a form of the divine will, and to do the will of God means to become fully godlike, realizing ones highest ideals. The abyss manifested itself through the drama of creation whereby God saw Himself in Himself."
Boehme’s 7 phases or “qualities” in God’s process are: desire; motion; anguish; conflagration [passionate fire]; light or love; sound & form; complete realization of 1st 6 in nature. The 1st mentioned here is a contracting force that brings the potential for being an individual. At the same time there is motion (2), an centrifugal, organizing force. Together they generate anguish (3). From the great tension, an explosive passionate fire bursts forth (4). Through this flash are manifested all the opposite pairs of the universe, i.e. the beginning of multiplicity.
Boehme’s 5th quality “is the love-fire which separates from painful fire; divine love appears as a substantial being… The soul in its substance is a magical gush of fire from God the Father’s nature. She is a passionate desire for light.” Boehme’s 6th quality, “sound,” symbolizes sensory awareness. The 7th quality is the complete realization of the 1st 6. Rufus Jones writes: “God’s Word, & eternal Son [is] a visible realization of God’s eternal heart.” Boehme writes, “We find everywhere 2 beings in one—1st, an eternal, divine and spiritual being, & then one that has a beginning & is natural, temporal, & corruptible… God must become man in order that man may become God.”
Seen within the context of the harmonious interplay of the 7 qualities, conflict appears as an essential ingredient of an elegantly proportioned & balanced whole. The divine will is one & undivided, stemming from the purest goodness and expressing itself in a vast plan of intricate design, interwoven with threads from the “dark source.” Boehme writes, “All human beings are fundamentally but one man. This [Adam] is the trunk, the rest are branches, receiving all their power from the trunk. In Paradise, Adam was embraced by eternity. God created him in His image and only when he fell did he become subject to the limitation of time.”
Central for Boehme’s thought was the insight that Adam was originally neither male nor female, but contained the qualities of both sexes within himself. The 7 qualities of God were originally in harmonious balance in man, as they are eternally within God Himself. The development of these qualities depends upon a free choice & experienced knowledge of good & evil, which can exist only in a world of paired opposites. Preparing for the Fall of Man, God drew out the feminine qualities from Adam & formed Eve. “When Lucifer saw his own beau-ty & realized his high birth, he became desirous of triumphing over the divine birth, & of exalting himself above the heart of God.” He wanted to be a God & to rule in all things by the power of fire. Each individual life reflects the pattern laid down by them & described in Genesis—a dynamic pattern eternally operative with the Godhead.
Salvation & Regeneration—Reflection of the macrocosm of God, the microcosm of the individual soul contains a world of dark anger, as well as a world of sweet loving light; these 2 must always be in conflict. It is the primary intention of the Creator to reconcile these 2 impulses, as they are reconciled within Himself, & to bring the creature back to Himself. [Adam’s journey into the world & a self-centered existence of pride & materialism] carried him far from his creator; only God’s grace could rescue him.
God’s great act of redemption was taken as the Christ Spirit, working through the body & mind of a fully human individual Jesus of Nazareth. Through the incarnation, a new opportunity opened for man, a giant step forward in spiritual evolution. Jesus redeemed us by making it possible for us to realize the same quality of life he had realized, to reach the same heights of spiritual perfection he had reached. Boehme writes: “I must clothe myself in Christ by means of the desire of faith. I must myself enter into his obedience.” We become children of God in Christ through an inward resident grace which regenerates us into childlikeness. This regeneration is a lifelong struggle & growth. “While I was wrestling & battling, being aided by God, a wonderful light arose with my soul. It was a light entirely foreign to my unruly nature, but in it I recognized the true nature of God & man & the relation between them, a thing which theretofore I had never understood.”
It follows from Boehme’s strong emphasis on free will that “election” & “predestination” were contrary to his convictions. Boehme emphasizes Jesus “came to invite sinners.” For the soul that says “yes” to God, allowing the New Man to be woven within itself through work of the resident Holy Spirit, outer life changes drastically. The soul reborn is indifferent to prestige, wealth & worldly distractions; it is meek, self-effacing, concerned for the well-being of others, detests all wars & violence & conflict with its neighbor, acts as a peacemaker among men, & in all ways shows itself a submissive servant & God’s friend. Not until man & God reach out to each other & the birth of the New Man is completed will the purpose of the universe be fulfilled. [As a concert band must be tuned] so must the true human harmony be tuned, combining all voices into a love melody.
The Problem of Free Will—[After looking at Boehme’s insights on evil], we can see that they also illuminate the problem of free will. The decision for good or evil is made as an inevitable outgrowth of the individual’s deepest nature. [Why would anyone choose evil]? Boehme’s visions revealed 2 concepts: that each soul is a combination of good & evil forces; the human soul was the precious core of an evolutionary process. “Every fiery life was brought forth in its beginning to the light.” And God has willed for us a role of surpassing nobility [with] an attitude of abject humility, coupled with a singing, rejoicing exulting faith.
Every manifestation of Being is product of 7 qualities (desire; motion; anguish; conflagration [passionate fire]; light or love; sound & form; complete realization of 1st 6 in nature), combining in long & complex blossoming beyond our comprehension. Having begun development before it enters the earth, the soul continues to evolve throughout its sojourn here, where it is offered the opportunity of articulating itself. Each decision it makes is crucial, both for its next step in life & for its ultimate quality & destiny. The soul suffers many obstacles: physical pain & deprivation; disappointment; humiliation; loss of love; egotism; & sensuality. These distract or lead it away from God. The universe to Boehme is a vast evolutionary system moving on many dimensions towards the full crystallization of the Creator through His creation… Only how courageously & wisely the soul has met the challenge of evil, how enlightened it has become concerning the journey’s purpose, to what degree it has allowed itself to be used as the divine will’s instrument determines its quality in God’s eyes.
Each soul is offered God’s love & opportunities to turn to God repeatedly. The challenge of evil is a thread woven throughout the structure of the universe; its mysterious patterns are not to be fathomed by man’s mind. If a soul becomes hardened & “darkened” by too many wrong choices, if it has become too deeply entangled in materialism, too self-centered, proud & unloving, it is in danger of losing its capacity to respond to the divine benevolence within itself, & is lost forever. For Boehme heaven & hell are not places, but states of mind & soul.
God brought the universe into existence that we might have the opportunity of understanding good & evil & creating our own destiny. Love must 1st be recognized, through a contrast with hate, understood, then laboriously & painfully struggled for through gradual relinquishing of selfish will. God dignifies [& respects] man by giving him autonomy in creating his own soul and destiny, and He respects man’s decision whatever its nature.
Practical Applications—Man [on his part] strives to achieve a middle ground between 2 dangerous possibilities; failing to develop his individuality sufficiently; or becoming self-willed & [going the way of Lucifer]. If God wants to differentiate Himself in us, His mirror, then we must develop our capacities to the utmost, discovering, imagining, creating on the intellectual level, & entering into a wide range of relationships.
[If a soul is stuck in the battle between desire & motion, & there is no ignition into a passionate fire], the soul cannot find peace. Youth’s hostility & self-centeredness isn’t a stage that can be skipped. [The soul is taking stock of itself, who it is, what it can contribute]. No soul can move forward until it makes peace with itself. The more familiar & probably more difficult source of evil [—i.e. prideful self-indulgence—plagues those who] are enchanted with themselves & their own games, & genuinely unaware of any purpose in the world beyond self-indulgence. Either of these 2 possibilities can open the soul to the spirits of evil, & result in the soul’s final “hardening & darkening.” A small amount of self-doubt [which translates into realization of one’s role as God’s servant], & arrogance [which becomes recognition of one’s power & worth], are necessary.
Boehme’s thoughts avoid the following 4 unsatisfactory ways to explain or reconcile evil with an omnipotent and benevolent Creator:
The absolute denial of evil, [explaining it away as] an error or illusion.
The despairing, resigned acceptance of evil because both God and man are partially and irrevocably evil.
Creating God’s adversary of equal power, waging an eternal war with each other.
Attributing evil to man alone, [thus creating an unbearable and unnecessary burden of guilt].
The blueprint of the divine source, [the 7 qualities], being firmly rooted within every man & demonstrated by Jesus of Nazareth's life, cannot be set aside without the risk of neurosis, illness and finally spiritual death.
Jacob Boehme predicted that his works would gradually fall into obscurity, and reemerge “in the time of the lily.” Many signs point to the likelihood that that time is at hand. It is to be hoped that Quakers in particular, will re-discover in Boehme an inspiring link with the spiritual currents upon which their own faith originally rested. [This and other] mystical streams are once again bubbling to the surface throughout the world, offering nourishment, refreshment and a straight way to the Lord for all who have eyes to see and ears to hear.
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273. Abraham Lincoln and the Quakers (by Daniel Bassuk; 1987) [Other Works—“Incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity: The Myth of the God-Man”; “A Quaker anthology from the Brave Old World of Aldous Huxley”; Rufus Jones and Mysticism.]
O Lord, if it is all the same to Thee, give us a little more light and a little less noise. Abraham Lincoln
Introduction—Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) is America’s folk-hero & folk-god, the most written about American of all time (more than 6,000 books & 128 movies). [The fact that] Lincoln “didn’t claim membership in any denomination” nettles American sensitivities. Nathaniel Stephenson concluded that Lincoln’s religion continues to resist intellectual formulation. He never accepted any definite creed. He applied the same reasoning to theology & law. [He distinguished between] the essential & incidental, & rejected anything not essential. J. G. Randall emphasized that: “Lincoln was a man of more intense religiosity than any other US President … he breathed the spirit of Christ while disregarding the letter of Christian doctrine. Lincoln poked fun at many commonly held religious beliefs, and refused to join any church. This pamphlet presents research indicating that Lincoln had knowledgeable affinity with Quakers, and the 19th century Quakers were drawn to this President’s spirit.
Lincoln’s Lineage—On at least 3 separate occasions Lincoln indicated that he was of Quaker descent, in 1848, 1859, and 1860. Both from Lincoln’s own research & from the research of others, attempts to establish Lincoln’s Quaker ancestors didn’t bear fruit until 1955. David S. Keiser discovered that the maternal grandparents of the President’s own grandfather, Enoch & Rebecca Flower, were Quakers at the time of their marriage in 1713. Each pair of Enoch’s & Rebecca’s parents had been married in Quaker Meetings in PA or England. Abraham Lincoln’s paternal great-grandfather, John Lincoln, married into a family that was Quaker on both sides.
Lincoln’s Communication with the Quakers—Address in Harrisburg, PA, Feb. 22, 1861: “I hope no one of the Friends who originally settled here, or who have lived here since that time, or who live there now … is a more devoted lover of peace, harmony and concord than my humble self. London Friends Meeting for Suffering Memorial, Dec. ‘61: “It would be deeply humiliating if, by being involved in this War, our own country would ultimately find itself in active cooperation with the South & Slavery against the North & Freedom … we do not intend to express our [total] approval of the course pursued by the North in reference to Slavery ... We shall apprise our American Friends of the step which we have now taken, and shall urge them also to use their influence in furtherance of the cause of Peace. May He who still ruleth the Earth … grant that … war may be averted from the kindred nations on each side of the Atlantic. Lincoln’s response, Jan. 7, ’62: “I cannot but greatly appreciate your prompt, and generous suggestions in the interests of peace and humanity.
Lincoln’s response to a Quaker RI letter, March 19, ’62: “Engaged, as I am, in a great war, I fear it will be difficult for the world to understand how fully I appreciate the peace principles of the Society of Friends. Abraham Lincoln & the “Progressive Friends, June 20, ’62: 3 men & 3 women visited to urge the immediate emancipation of the slaves. The President agreed that slavery was wrong, but the practical question was the method of its removal, & its enforcement ... The Progressive Friends said, “We have no hesitancy in declaring that the go-vernment had no alternative but to seek to suppress this treasonable outbreak by all the means & forces at its disposal …” The President said that he was deeply sensible of his need of Divine assistance & thought that he might be an instrument in God’s hands of accomplishing great work. It would be his earnest endeavor, with a reliance upon the Divine arm, & seeking light from above, to do his duty to which he had been called.
Lincoln to Quaker woman, summer of ’62: A Quaker woman told him he was the Lord’s appointed minister to do the work of emancipation & quoted from the Bible. [Lincoln’s “impatient” response needs to be taken in the context of all those who told him what God’s will was for him, acting as if] “I am the only man who doesn’t know it.” Meeting of Isaac & Sarah Harvey with Abraham Lincoln, Sept. 19, ’62: Isaac & Sarah, Quakers from Clinton County, Ohio, traveled to see the President to share a plan which came to Isaac. “They were struck deep that he already had thought about it & favored it & prayed for its success. It was to pay $300 dollars each for slaves. Isaac asked for a note ‘certifying that I fulfilled my mission.’ The President wrote: ‘I take pleasure to assert that I have had profitable intercourse with friends Isaac Harvey & Sarah. May the Lord comfort them as they have sustained me.” This happened within the 2 weeks that included: a Protestant church delegation urging slavery’s overthrow; Battle of Antietam, a Union victory; Lee returns to Virginia the same day Isaac & Sarah visit; preliminary draft of Emancipation Proclamation (EP); announcement of EP. Dr. William Wolf writes: “[For Lincoln] God was ultimate yet personal reality; He made Himself accessible to one who sought Him out.”
Abraham Lincoln and Eliza P. Gurney, Oct. 26, ’62: A pious, lovable old Quaker woman came to the White House with an address of thanks and prayers of hope for the future. She and 3 others came only to give spiritual support to one who sorely needed it; they shared in silence and prayer. Lincoln said: “I am glad of this interview, and glad to know that I have your sympathy and prayers … I have desired that all my works and acts may be according to His will, and that it might be so, I have sought his aid … We must believe that God permits the war for some wise purpose of His own, mysterious and unknown to us.”
Eliza P. Gurney & Abraham exchange letters, Aug. 18, ’63 & Sept. 4, ’64: Eliza wrote: “Many times … my mind has turned towards thee with feelings of sincere & Christian interest … I believe the prayers of many thousands whose hearts thou hast gladdened by thy praiseworthy & successful efforts to burst the bands of wickedness, & let the oppressed go free … may strengthen thee to accomplish all the blessed purposes … [that] I do assuredly believe He did design to make thee instrumental in accomplishing.” Lincoln responds: “I haven’t forgotten … the occasion [when you visited] 2 years ago, [or your letter] written nearly a year later … The purposes of the Almighty are perfect, & must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive them in advance … Surely He intends some great good to follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make, & no mortal could stay … I have done & shall do, the best I could & can, in my own conscience, under my oath to the law … I shall still receive for our country & myself, your earnest prayers to our Father in Heaven.”
Abraham Lincoln and 2 Quaker women Dec. ’62 or Jan. ’63 [During a period of hopelessness] Lincoln observed 2 women sitting in the waiting room; he saw them next. He received them kindly and sat down between them; he had given Rachel Grellet and Elizabeth L. Comstock letters of introduction and permission to travel to army units. George Hartley relates from Elizabeth: “We told him that we had been impressed that we ought to come to him with a message of love, cheer, & encouragement; he looked downcast & ready to give up … [We delivered a message from the Lord of encouragement & an invitation to] ‘cast all thy burdens upon Him’ … We arose to go & he asked: ‘Aren’t you going to pray with me?’ … We knelt with our hands clasped in front. He clasped mine in his right hand and Rachel’s in his left; his hands trembled … We felt as if we were helping him to roll the burden off his shoulders, and that Jesus was there to receive them … When we arose his countenance was so changed he looked as though he had the victory.”
Correspondence between Iowa Quakers & Abraham Lincoln, Dec. ’62, & Jan. ’63 Iowa Friends write: “We desire to express our approval of thy Proclamation of Prospective Emancipation. We believe it is intrinsically right & in the direction to bring about permanent peace in our beloved country.” Lincoln responds: It is most cheering & encouraging to know that in the efforts I have made & am making, for the restoration of a righteous peace to our country, I am upheld & sustained by the good wishes & prayers of God’s people. No one is more deeply aware than myself that without his favor, our highest wisdom is foolishness [& our efforts unavailing].” Lincoln to Philadelphia Quaker, winter ’64 A tiny Quaker lady said: “Yes, Friend Abraham, thee needs not think thee stands alone. We are all praying for thee. All our hearts, the hearts of all the people are behind thee, & thee cannot fail! …God is with thee!” Lincoln responded: “I know it. If I didn’t have … the knowledge that God is sustaining & will sustain me until my appointed work is done, I could not live … You have given a cup of water to a very thirsty and grateful man. Ladies, you have done me a great kindness today … God bless you all!”
Lincoln and Conscientious Objectors—In 1861 a 3rd-generation Quaker from Lake Champlain was drafted. He said: “I shall never raise my hand to kill anyone.” All the forms of punishment devised for refractory soldiers were visited on him. [He was threatened with being shot]. Lincoln said: “They can’t kill a boy like that, you know. The country needs all her brave men wherever they are. Send him home.”
A young man wrote: “My name was drawn with 2 others in our little meeting … The 2 others paid $300 each; I felt it right to do nothing; I couldn’t go nor hire others to go. A military officer told me I would either have to come or pay $300, or he would be forced to sell my property. The officer said: ‘If you would get mad & order me out of the house, I could do this work easier, but you are feeding me & my horse … We told him we had no unkind feelings toward him. We supposed he was obeying the orders of those superior to him. The sale was postponed. Years later I learned Governor Morton spoke to President Lincoln, who ordered the sale stopped.
Peter Dakin, Lindley M. Macomber and Cyrus Pringle, who kept a diary (PHP #122), were drafted for service in 1863. At Camp Vermont in Boston Harbor, they were not ill-treated, but their steady refusal to carry out military order caused the officers much perplexity; they were not willing to work in the hospital tents either. The President, though sympathizing with those in our situation, felt bound by the Conscription Act, and felt liber-ty to do no more than detail us to hospital duty or to the charge of colored refugees. [Cyrus Pringle was tied spread-eagle on the ground in rain and sun. He said]: “I wept … from sorrow that such things should be in our country … It seemed that our forefathers in the faith had wrought and suffered in vain.”
Isaac Newton, a Friends and official in the Department of Agriculture undertook their case. The youths were assigned to a civilian hospital. Isaac was able to bring their case directly before the president who considered it and exclaimed, “I want you to go and tell Stanton that it is my wish all these young men be sent home at once.” Henry D. Swift, of Massachusetts was court-martialed and sentenced to be shot; Lincoln had him sent home. Isaac Newton (1800-1867), while in the background, had the capacity to intercede for Quakers with President Lincoln. He was appointed by Lincoln as the 1st Commissioner (now Secretary) of Agriculture.
Lincoln’s Humor & Quakers/ Conclusion—[Lincoln’s favorite joke involves Quaker discussion of Davis & Lincoln]. One Quaker says Lincoln is a praying man. The other says that the Lord will think that Abraham is only joking. Lincoln was able to laugh at jokes made at his expense. [He sometimes acted out jokes, including one about a Quaker father teaching his son not to swear]. Kierkegaard delineated humor as providing a boundary between ethical life & religious life, & Lincoln seems to have used humor to move from one to the other.
Clearly Lincoln was well-acquainted with Quakerism. His dialogue with Quakers of his own time shows sympathy & a considerate attitude toward Friends as pacifists in wartime. The meetings between Lincoln & Quakers reveal a convergence of views in which Lincoln saw himself as God’s instrument & Quakers viewed him as akin to a Biblical prophet. He was moved by Quaker principles of pacifism & equality & indicated empathy with both. William Wolf wrote: “No President has ever had the detailed knowledge of the Bible that Lincoln had.”
Lincoln’s knowledge of the Bible was extensive and a source of inspiration to him. He wrote: “I doubt the possibility or propriety of settling the religion of Jesus Christ in the model of man-made creeds and dogmas … I cannot assent to long and complicated creeds and catechisms.” Lincoln’s speeches, addresses, & letters are noted for their simplicity and brevity, qualities Quakers greatly admire. Through Lincoln’s life he revealed the traits of honesty, belief in divine guidance, plain clothing, and avoidance of liquor. Lincoln wrote: “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.”
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236. Four Women, Four Windows on Light by (by Carol R. Murphy; 1981)
86. Blake’s 4-fold Vision (by; 1956)
About the Author—Harold Goddard (1878-1950) was born in Worcester, MA. He attended Amherst College graduating in 1900. He taught mathematics there for two years. An interest in literature led him to Columbia University; he received a PhD in English & comparative literature in 1909. He taught at Northwestern University 1904-1909. From 1909 to his retirement in 1946, he was the English Department head at Swarthmore College. Although often believed to be a Quaker, Goddard was never a full member.
[Introduction]—In one sense you must dig into William Blake as you would into a problem in integral calculus. But in a deeper sense, you must just throw a kiss to him as he flies by. ”I give you the end of a golden string, Only wind it into a ball. It will lead you in at Heaven’s gate, built in Jerusalem’s [liberty’s] wall.” Blake was a great believer in moments. [The 1st of 4 moments here was] when he was about 8 or 9. He . . . told his parents he had seen a tree full of angels. Obscure, almost unrecognized, often close to poverty, he went quietly ahead consecrating himself to his work as poet & creative designer. [In the 2nd moment] he distinctly saw his brother’s soul rise from his body . . . clap his hands for joy & ascend. [In the 3rd moment he ejected a drunken soldier from his garden]... It was [his patron] William Hayley in symbolic form that he ejected from his garden…
[Upon his death] he spoke words of love and unconscious poetry, he drew, he sang, he showed faith, he was silent. Blake had the assets of insanity without the liabilities [i.e. genius].
Blake's Life and 4-fold Vision—Blake’s life naturally falls into the phases of Innocence, Experience, Revolution or Rebellion, and Vision. In each of his four phases Blake was prophetic. Of modern industrial capitalism Blake wrote: ”In every cry of every Man, in every infant’s cry of fear. In every voice, in every ban, the mind fogged manacles I hear. [Blake had similar things to say about] war, [the organized church], the tyrannies of family life, and wrong conceptions of love and marriage. Among modern occidentals Blake was the Columbus of the soul. His Atlantic was Time itself; his Indies Eternity.
[In society] Reason was the god of the 18th century. To Blake, Reason is the Great Divider. Divide those to be governed into factions and rule them, while they fight. Mental despotism does the same. The great instrument of the Great Divider is the abstract word. . . If Blake detested the abstract . . . he almost deified the Minute Particulars. “To Generalize is to be an Idiot. To Particularize is the Alone Distinction of Merit.”
"Integrate the conscious & the unconscious" is the modern psychological cry. "Marry Heaven & Hell," says Blake, meaning the same thing. What can [marry] us with our lost underworld? Blake’s answer [is] IMAGINATION. [Excerpts from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell]: “To create a little flower is the labor of ages . . . Prudence is a rich, ugly old maid courted by Incapacity. . . You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough. . . The crooked road with Improvement are roads of Genius. . . It indeed appeared to Reason as if desire was cast out, but the Devil’s account is, that the Messiah fell, and formed a heaven of what he stole from the Abyss.” Blake accepts both [Milton’s Satan and the Greek’s Prometheus] and reconciles them.
Why doesn’t a seed decay like a bit of dead leaf, or go on lying there unchanged like a pebble? The sun’s rays somehow or other penetrates to the seed buried down there in the dark. How is there a tiny invisible sun inside the seed with a strange affinity between it and the great sun? How does the seed somehow retain a memory that it was once a water-lily? It had faith. The prophet Isaiah in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell says: My senses discovered the infinite in everything . . . All poets believe that [firm persuasion that a thing is so makes it so], and in ages of imagination this firm persuasion removed mountains.” Eternity is at one and the same time the principle of life with the egg and the state or region outside the shell. “What is above is within.” Blake was a pioneer. He is unfinished. [His] Prophetic Books are an immense allegory of the human soul, a concrete and symbolic psychology . . . the history of heaven and hell [and] his autobiography.
Reason breaks the [universal] harmony and falls from Eternity into Time. Religion begins in revelation, and falls into dogma and the organized church. Art begins in inspiration, and falls into slavery to rules and technique. Education begins in love for the child, and falls into methods and regimentation. Blake . . . recognizes five worlds or states:
1. Eden (Innocence) or Eternity, imagination, creativity, Divine Love; symbol is sun
2.Beulah (nearest Eternity), sleep, dreams, and human love; symbol is moon
(reflecting the sun, Eternity, Divine love)
3. [Mid-region], Science; symbol is stars
4. Generation, Earthly Life (prison of the senses), physical love; symbol is Sex,
unclear boundary between this world and the next which is
5. Ulro: opacity, frigidity, contraction; symbol is Darkness, or Matter.
And a 4-fold vision is given to me; tis 4-fold in my supreme delight And 3-fold in soft Beulah’s night.
And 2-fold Always. May God us keep from Single Vision and Newton’s sleep.
Single Vision is simply ordinary physical eyesight; it is to 4-fold sight what blindness is to ordinary sight. It is the belief that you can find the essence of things by measuring and weighing them. Double Vision is [when one] realizes . . . that everything around him gives back the image of one’s life: the path; the unseen wind, the tree that is two trees (root and branch). Poetry and Painting are images . . . Simply thoughts that have come to life. The moment images begin to interweave, interplay, form constellations, marry and beget new images, we have Threefold Vision. [Here] beautiful thoughts are the wings of the soul. Whoever has created a work of art and felt inspired at the moment he conceived it has an inkling of Blake’s threefold vision.
Fourfold Vision is simply dreaming, loving, imagining with such intensity that [the images] obliterate daylight as daylight ordinarily obliterates the dream. [Mundane sensations become sublime and beyond sublime.] Blake says: “I question not my Corporeal or Vegetative Sight any more than I would Question a Window concerning a [fourfold] Sight. I look through it, not with it. Put more [people] more often, into a more elevated state of imagination, and everything else follows. Imagination uncreates not only anger, but all the other 7 deadly sins. [Imagination proceeds from mitigating, to forgiving, to forgetting, to uncreating evil].
This is the clue to Blake’s tremendous emphasis on art, the language of the imagination, [the coin with which to buy Heaven]. ”The Whole Business of Man is Art.” Force can only be overcome by a higher order of force [i.e. Imagination]. When the greatest [minds] of the ages [e.g. Dante, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky] agree [with Blake], if their agreement is not truth, what is truth? Dostoevsky writes the following: in “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”: I will not and cannot believe that evil is the normal condition of mankind. . . Suppose that this paradise will never come to pass, yet shall I go on preaching it. . . The chief thing is to love others like yourself, that’s the great thing, that’s everything. [They say that] consciousness of life is higher than life. . . and the laws of happiness higher than happiness—that is what one must contend against.”
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395. Walt Whitman’s Spiritual Epic (by Michael Robertson; 2008) [About the Author]—Michael Robertson received a B.A. from Stanford, an M.A. from Columbia, and a Ph.D. from Princeton. His research and teaching interests are in 19th-century American and British literature. He wrote Worshipping Walt: The Whitman Disciples; Stephen Crane, Journalism, and the Making of Modern American Literature. He is co-editor with David Blake of Walt Whitman, Where the Future Becomes Present.
A Note on the Text of "Song of Myself [SOM]"—This essay is intended to be read alongside "SOM," Walt Whitman's masterpiece & longest poem in the volume Leaves of Grass (LOG). He revised this poem slightly in every edition of LOG from 1855-1881. I follow the final edition in this essay. SOM can be found at www. whitmanarchive.org. I recommend Whitman's Complete Poetry & Collected Prose, Library of America, 1982.
[Introduction]—[I had a seriously underemployed, searching period in my 20's]. A lot of interior life was deciding what I wanted to be when I grew up & what I believed. [Growing up Presbyterian in OK, I wrestled, along with my junior high peers, with Calvin's presdestination, foreordination, & infant damnation. How can we be free to choose if God has foreknowledge of choices? How does salvation relate to good works? At college age I decided Calvinism was logically elegant but emotionally repellent & I put religion behind me.
[A few years later in my searching period, I was exploring literature on Eastern religious thought. I kept returning to Whitman's 1st edition of LOG. At the time Walt Whitman's poetry went over my head. I 1st came to the volume in the context of American literary tradition, [but I now] turned to it for spiritual [and religious] guidance. [I was struck by Whitman phrases like]: "Folks expect the poet ... to indicate the path between reality and soul," "Everything without exception has an eternal soul," "I think there is nothing but immortality." I needed a belief system oriented toward the beauty and immortality of the here and now.
Quakerism fits with Whitman's liberal spirituality; Whitman had connections to 19th century Friends. Unitarian Thomas Harned writes: "I can never think of Whitman as a mere literary man [but as being among] prophets & saviors ... He is a mighty spiritual force ... [offering] religion to live & die by." 19th century Whitman disciples were religious liberals who found in LOG a modern, progressive gospel. I want to revive & explore a religious approach to LOG, & its value to 21st century Quakers & other Seekers. SOM is a massive sprawling work; there is little agreement] over what sort of poem it is. [My position is] that it is a great spiritual epic & a [transcendent] spiritual classic with a democratic, inclusive spirituality.
Walt Whitman, Poet-Prophet—Whitman was born in rural Long Island, in 1819, & moved to Brooklyn when he was 4. Whitman picked up an excellent education as a print shop apprentice, & was composing his own poems & short stories. Whitman stayed connected with the printing trade throughout his youth & young adulthood as a newspaper publisher, publishing articles, editorials, poems, & stories; they were, contemporary, conventional and sentimental. He quit editing in the 1950's, radically changed his dress and became a poet.
Whitman never talked about any transformative mystical experience that led to his sudden transformation to poet, outside of his poetry. He worked in a very disciplined fashion on LOG, whose long unrhymed lines have no regular meter; [their rhythm is that of the human breath]. Their content argues for equality of women and men, black and white, immigrants and native-born, and celebrated naked bodies and sexual acts. LOG was aesthetic experiment, political manifesto, and American gospel. Whitman wrote: "[American] Presidents shall not be their common referee so much as their poets shall." The poet had a role greater than legislator or chief executive: high priest of a new democratic religion. Whitman insisted that "one deep purpose [of LOG] underlay the others: ... the religious purpose. What is the nature of the religion outlined in LOG?
Whitman's Religious Influences—Walt Whitman was exposed to a variety of religious traditions and movements: Protestant; deist; Quaker. A subtle but strong anti-clerical sentiment runs through LOG. He wrote: "Really, What has America to do with all this mummery of prayer and rituals & the rant of exhorters & priests ... their dramatic scenery of religion? I demand ... a real athletic and fit religion for These States ... All religions are but temporary journeys." Walt Whitman's view held that both the natural world and human institutions were evolving toward perfection. In SOM, he "outbids ... the old cautious hucksters," and claims elements of a long list of deities from a wide spectrum of world religions, "Admitting they were alive and did the work of their days .../ Accepting the rough deific sketches to fill out better in myself."
Whitman was equally influenced by his mother's Quaker background, and in particular the preacher Elias Hicks, with his emphasis on individual experience of the divine [i.e. Inner Light]. Whitman remembered long after his boyhood impression of Hicks' "mystical and radical" presence and his emphasis on the "light within. Whitman wrote: "E.H. gives the service of pointing to the fountain of all naked theology, all worship, all the truth to which you are possibly eligible in and your inherent relations ... and the religion inside of man's very own nature." Whitman took from Hicks' words the stress on the divine element within every human being. But he decided that joining the Society of Friends was impossible: "I was never made to live inside a fence."
Whitman was influenced by transcendental romanticism popularized by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Uncomfortable with the divinity of Christ and administering the sacraments, Emerson left the ministry and became a writer and lecturer. His series of essays in the 1830's and 1840's work out a distinctive transcendentalist theology. He writes: "Jove nods to Jove from behind each of us." Divine spirit expresses itself through every person. Early on Whitman acknowledged Emerson as his master, but later in life became touchy about his debts to Emerson.
Large swaths of SOM read like poetic restatements of Emerson, like: "Why should I wish to see God better than this day?/ I see something of God each hour of 24, & each moment then,/ In the faces of men & women I see God; in my own face in the glass,/ I find letters from God dropt in the street, every one sign'd by God .../ I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe'er I go,/ Others will punctually come for ever & ever." Whitman said of his reaction to Emerson: "I was simmering, simmering. Emerson brought me to a boil."
"Song of Myself"—This lengthy, brilliant, & endlessly suggestive poem is Whitman's masterpiece & the starting point for one interested in Whitman's religious ideas. Whitman wanted "athletic" readers who would wrestle their own meanings from his poetry; in later editions he divided the poem into 52 sections. This vast, fluid poem favors a dreamlike structure of associative leaps. Virtually every critic of SOM divides into a smaller number of units, often between 4 and 10. I have broken it into 7.
Part One (Sections 1-4): Introduction—I celebrate myself, and sing myself,/ And what I assume you shall assume,/ For every atom belongs to me as good belongs to you.
Whitman replaces the mythic hero of ancient epic with himself. Whitman left his name off the title page of LOG, because the book belonged to everyone; he connects I to you. The entire poem is a transaction between poet and reader, seeking a relationship and a conversion of the reader to a religion of the divine self. "Celebrate" is honor someone, and performing a religious ceremony. "Assume" is taking something on, [believing something to be true], and ascending to heaven. Whitman uses scientific, atomic images and facts. He favors and believes in a leisurely communion with his spiritual self. Leaves of grass refers to a perfectly democratic plant composed of countless individual leaves united into a whole. In this section, Whitman establishes the beauties of nature and the body, the intimate connection between poet and reader, and the curious duality of self and soul. The poem resists exact translation into any terms other than its own.
Part Two (Section 5): Mystical Ecstasy—Section 5 is one of the most celebrated passages in world poetry and a classic of mystical literature. [Excerpt follows]: "I believe in you my soul, the other I am must not abase itself, to you,/ & you must not be abased to the other.// Loafe with me on the grass, loose the stop from your throat,/ Not words, not music of rhyme I want, not custom or lecture, not even the best,/ Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved voice.// ... Swiftly arose & spread around me the peace & knowledge that pass all the argument of the earth./ & I know that the hand of God is the promise of my own/ ... that the spirit of God is brother of my own/ ... that all ... ever born are ... brothers ... sisters & lovers,/ & that a kelson of the creation is love ..."
In Whitman's radical religious vision, body & soul are equally sublime; equal participants in the mystical ecstasy depicted in the remaining section. [In the verses omitted by this editor, there is intimate touching of hips, beard, & feet, male breast, & the tongue plunged] "to my bare-stript heart." The passage is mystical & erotic, physical & fanciful, heterosexual & homosexual. Other religious writings depict the mystic's union with God as an encounter between lovers. Body & soul's encounter is the union of lovers, experiencing the divine, & Whitman's insemination as a poet. Mystical experience is described in metaphor; it is transient, & cannot be actively willed. Whitman uses the image of kelson, the part of the keel essential to keeping a ship on course, to describe love's function in the world & life, their dependence on love to guide their passage through time.
Part Three (Sections 6-23): The Caresser of Life—"How could I answer the [child's] What is the grass?" [Whitman], i.e. explain an essentially ineffable experience. Grass is: individual self; God; fertility; democracy; immortality—a convenient summary of the principal themes of SOM. The relationship between poet and reader of LOG is unparalleled in literature, that of lover, mentor, closest friend. His words a century later can still evoke a powerfully felt connection in readers. In section 8, Whitman starts using the catalogue form, which many, detractor and admirer alike, find tedious. The longer ones are often skimmed over, the images registering on our consciousness so rapidly that they blur into one another—which may be Whitman's point, [a democratizing of images that might otherwise take different values and ranks in our minds]. Both Whitman's catalogues and religious vision reject hierarchy; equality is emphasized. Whitman rejects the dualistic theology of traditional Christianity: What blurt is this about virtue and about vice [good and evil]? About the present, he says: "This minute that comes to me over the past decillions,/ There is no better than it and now."
Part Four (Sections 24-25): Walt Whitman, a Kosmos/ Part Five (Section 26-29): The Senses—In Section 24's self-description: "Walt Whitman, a kosmos, of Manhattan the son." it is clear that "Walt Whitman" is a tall-tale American hero like Paul Bunyan. He dismisses churches, bibles, & creeds in favor of body-spirituality, offering "the spread of my own body" as a worship-object & seamlessly turning body parts into natural objects, & vice versa. The very loquacious speaker questions language's efficacy in describing ineffable mystical experience. He charges his own power of speech with overestimating itself: "You conceive too much of articulation."
In Sections 26-29, he portrays music & the senses as paths toward both bodily ecstasy & spiritual insight. He called the voice of an opera tenor the "identity of the Creative Power itself," & a pathway to the soul. The author depicts himself as highly responsive to music & sound, as well as hypersensitive to touch. Whitman describes sexual acts &, for all his boldness, prefers the safety of metaphor. His sexual climax is quickly spiritualized. He acknowledges that loss of self-control in orgasm can provoke spiritual illumination & frightening sense of helplessness. In post-orgasm bliss, his semen turns into showers that nurture landscapes of golden grass.
Part Six (Sections 30-37): "All Truths Wait in All Things"—This sentence begins Section 30. He goes on to offer his religious creed: I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars/ ... & the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven,/ & the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery,/ ... & a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidel." Whitman follows his creed with a tribute to evolution. He provides a fast-motion overview of evolution, from plutonic rocks & mastodon to razor-billed auks. Science, is not a hindrance to religious faith, but only increases the poet's reverence for the universe.
Section 33 is the longest catalogue in the poem. It starts with a sort of re-creation of the world, with the poet floating free of the earth, gaining spectacular size, & lovingly naming all that he sees. In the same section he assumes the identity of different suffering people, [most notably] a fireman crushed by the debris of a burning building. He declares: "Agonies are one of my changes of garments. I don't ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person." Whitman's religious vision, his mature & complex belief includes paradoxical elements. He asks: "Do I contradict myself?/ Very well then I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes." John Updike sees SOM as a poem of egotheism, with self assuming a divine status. The poet then travels in time, covering the Goliad massacre of 412 men in the Mexican War (1835-36), & then a Revolutionary War sea battle. By the end of Section 37 he has become a cholera patient, then a shame-faced beggar.
Part Seven (Sections 38-52): Whitman's New Religion—In the beginning of Section 38 Whitman says: "I discover myself on the verge of a usual mistake." The poet's usual mistake may stem from of his usual virtues: his ability to identify with others. Becoming "a shame-faced beggar," the shame from that makes him feel isolated and small. He corrects his mistake by remembering that he like every person, contains the inward Christ, a concept he turns into vivid imagery. Reminded of his power to transcend suffering through imaginative resurrection, the poet's balance is restored, and he is now a Christ-like prophet.
Whitman assumes the identity of the "friendly and flowing savage," an supernatural American prophet and "savior" who shares his strength [and healing powers] with the masses. In Sections 42-49 is a wide-ranging address, which [stands as] Whitman's Sermon on the Mount. He preaches love, compassion, and an intense individualism. His faith incorporates all worship ancient and modern; he was part of the 1st generation of religious liberals to regard other religions as valid spiritual paths equivalents to Christianity.
Whitman's intensely democratic spirituality emphasizes [a broad equality] of gender, races, & [gender preferences]; he leaves the gender of his soul strategically undefined. Walt spiritualized sexuality of all sorts, sacralizing one's desire for either women or men. Death serves as the accoucheur, or male midwife, his hand at the entrance to the womb or the afterlife. In Section 49 alone, death is successively presented as "relief & escape," a rotting corpse enriching the soil & bringing new life, & one stage in an endless cycle of reincarnation.
Whitman's many interpretations of death prepare readers, his "brothers & sisters," "the listeners up there" —a brilliant image of the [poet & listener's positions, with the poet down here in these pages, & his readers with their] faces poised above the pages. In a series of beautiful images, the poet depicts his body dissolving into air & earth, & in his final words encourages the poet-prophet & disciple-reader relationship to continue: I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,/ I effuse my flesh in eddies, & drift it in lacy jags./ I bequeath my-self to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,/ If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles ... Failing to fetch me at 1st keep encouraged,/ Missing me one place search another,/ I stop somewhere waiting for you.
Conclusion—"Song of Myself" is Walt Whitman's good news, a democratic gospel intended to transform readers' lives. Whitman's optimism may seem discredited by ["man's inhumanity to man"] in the 1½ centuries since he wrote SOM, & his extreme individualism & rejection of religion may not speak to those deeply nurtured in religious community. SOM can reveal deep wisdom for spiritual seekers. Nature mysticism in SOM offers powerful images of the interdependence of the human & natural worlds. The poem's deft merging of scientific and spiritual discourse, and its insistence on the sacredness of the body and sex [refutes the] claim we must choose between science and religion, the lingering forces of cultural puritanism, and the shamefulness of homosexuality.
"Song of Myself" remains the most vivid expression in the English language of a fully democratic spirituality. After the World Trade Center collapse on 9/11/01, [the following verses speak to us anew]: I am the mash'd fireman with breast-bone broken,/ Tumbling walls buried me in their debris,/ Heat & smoke I inspired, I heard the yelling shouts of my comrades,/ ... They have cleared the beams away, they tenderly lift me forth ... / Painless after all I lie exhausted but not so unhappy,/ White and beautiful are the faces around me. (Section 33)
Instead of searching for future salvation, the poem explores the beauty and immortality of the here and now, on the journey that each "must travel for yourself," and perhaps write their own song of the self. As Whitman reminds us: "The strongest and sweetest songs yet remain to be sung."
Queries—How do poets or other artists serve as priests or prophets in your own spiritual experience? How do you experience the tension between "spiritual individualism," & "corporate discipline" in the Society of Friends, & their respective benefits, costs & risks?" How does the poem speak to you in terms of a religious message, the natural world, the physical body, & [the world community's democracy & diversity]? Which passages are particularly compelling or inspiring to you & why? Which passages disturb or repulse you & why? How does "Song of Myself" speak to "that of God of in everyone?"
Central for Boehme’s thought was the insight that Adam was originally neither male nor female, but contained the qualities of both sexes within himself. The 7 qualities of God were originally in harmonious balance in man, as they are eternally within God Himself. The development of these qualities depends upon a free choice & experienced knowledge of good & evil, which can exist only in a world of paired opposites. Preparing for the Fall of Man, God drew out the feminine qualities from Adam & formed Eve. “When Lucifer saw his own beau-ty & realized his high birth, he became desirous of triumphing over the divine birth, & of exalting himself above the heart of God.” He wanted to be a God & to rule in all things by the power of fire. Each individual life reflects the pattern laid down by them & described in Genesis—a dynamic pattern eternally operative with the Godhead.
Salvation & Regeneration—Reflection of the macrocosm of God, the microcosm of the individual soul contains a world of dark anger, as well as a world of sweet loving light; these 2 must always be in conflict. It is the primary intention of the Creator to reconcile these 2 impulses, as they are reconciled within Himself, & to bring the creature back to Himself. [Adam’s journey into the world & a self-centered existence of pride & materialism] carried him far from his creator; only God’s grace could rescue him.
God’s great act of redemption was taken as the Christ Spirit, working through the body & mind of a fully human individual Jesus of Nazareth. Through the incarnation, a new opportunity opened for man, a giant step forward in spiritual evolution. Jesus redeemed us by making it possible for us to realize the same quality of life he had realized, to reach the same heights of spiritual perfection he had reached. Boehme writes: “I must clothe myself in Christ by means of the desire of faith. I must myself enter into his obedience.” We become children of God in Christ through an inward resident grace which regenerates us into childlikeness. This regeneration is a lifelong struggle & growth. “While I was wrestling & battling, being aided by God, a wonderful light arose with my soul. It was a light entirely foreign to my unruly nature, but in it I recognized the true nature of God & man & the relation between them, a thing which theretofore I had never understood.”
It follows from Boehme’s strong emphasis on free will that “election” & “predestination” were contrary to his convictions. Boehme emphasizes Jesus “came to invite sinners.” For the soul that says “yes” to God, allowing the New Man to be woven within itself through work of the resident Holy Spirit, outer life changes drastically. The soul reborn is indifferent to prestige, wealth & worldly distractions; it is meek, self-effacing, concerned for the well-being of others, detests all wars & violence & conflict with its neighbor, acts as a peacemaker among men, & in all ways shows itself a submissive servant & God’s friend. Not until man & God reach out to each other & the birth of the New Man is completed will the purpose of the universe be fulfilled. [As a concert band must be tuned] so must the true human harmony be tuned, combining all voices into a love melody.
The Problem of Free Will—[After looking at Boehme’s insights on evil], we can see that they also illuminate the problem of free will. The decision for good or evil is made as an inevitable outgrowth of the individual’s deepest nature. [Why would anyone choose evil]? Boehme’s visions revealed 2 concepts: that each soul is a combination of good & evil forces; the human soul was the precious core of an evolutionary process. “Every fiery life was brought forth in its beginning to the light.” And God has willed for us a role of surpassing nobility [with] an attitude of abject humility, coupled with a singing, rejoicing exulting faith.
Every manifestation of Being is product of 7 qualities (desire; motion; anguish; conflagration [passionate fire]; light or love; sound & form; complete realization of 1st 6 in nature), combining in long & complex blossoming beyond our comprehension. Having begun development before it enters the earth, the soul continues to evolve throughout its sojourn here, where it is offered the opportunity of articulating itself. Each decision it makes is crucial, both for its next step in life & for its ultimate quality & destiny. The soul suffers many obstacles: physical pain & deprivation; disappointment; humiliation; loss of love; egotism; & sensuality. These distract or lead it away from God. The universe to Boehme is a vast evolutionary system moving on many dimensions towards the full crystallization of the Creator through His creation… Only how courageously & wisely the soul has met the challenge of evil, how enlightened it has become concerning the journey’s purpose, to what degree it has allowed itself to be used as the divine will’s instrument determines its quality in God’s eyes.
Each soul is offered God’s love & opportunities to turn to God repeatedly. The challenge of evil is a thread woven throughout the structure of the universe; its mysterious patterns are not to be fathomed by man’s mind. If a soul becomes hardened & “darkened” by too many wrong choices, if it has become too deeply entangled in materialism, too self-centered, proud & unloving, it is in danger of losing its capacity to respond to the divine benevolence within itself, & is lost forever. For Boehme heaven & hell are not places, but states of mind & soul.
God brought the universe into existence that we might have the opportunity of understanding good & evil & creating our own destiny. Love must 1st be recognized, through a contrast with hate, understood, then laboriously & painfully struggled for through gradual relinquishing of selfish will. God dignifies [& respects] man by giving him autonomy in creating his own soul and destiny, and He respects man’s decision whatever its nature.
Practical Applications—Man [on his part] strives to achieve a middle ground between 2 dangerous possibilities; failing to develop his individuality sufficiently; or becoming self-willed & [going the way of Lucifer]. If God wants to differentiate Himself in us, His mirror, then we must develop our capacities to the utmost, discovering, imagining, creating on the intellectual level, & entering into a wide range of relationships.
[If a soul is stuck in the battle between desire & motion, & there is no ignition into a passionate fire], the soul cannot find peace. Youth’s hostility & self-centeredness isn’t a stage that can be skipped. [The soul is taking stock of itself, who it is, what it can contribute]. No soul can move forward until it makes peace with itself. The more familiar & probably more difficult source of evil [—i.e. prideful self-indulgence—plagues those who] are enchanted with themselves & their own games, & genuinely unaware of any purpose in the world beyond self-indulgence. Either of these 2 possibilities can open the soul to the spirits of evil, & result in the soul’s final “hardening & darkening.” A small amount of self-doubt [which translates into realization of one’s role as God’s servant], & arrogance [which becomes recognition of one’s power & worth], are necessary.
Boehme’s thoughts avoid the following 4 unsatisfactory ways to explain or reconcile evil with an omnipotent and benevolent Creator:
The absolute denial of evil, [explaining it away as] an error or illusion.
The despairing, resigned acceptance of evil because both God and man are partially and irrevocably evil.
Creating God’s adversary of equal power, waging an eternal war with each other.
Attributing evil to man alone, [thus creating an unbearable and unnecessary burden of guilt].
The blueprint of the divine source, [the 7 qualities], being firmly rooted within every man & demonstrated by Jesus of Nazareth's life, cannot be set aside without the risk of neurosis, illness and finally spiritual death.
Jacob Boehme predicted that his works would gradually fall into obscurity, and reemerge “in the time of the lily.” Many signs point to the likelihood that that time is at hand. It is to be hoped that Quakers in particular, will re-discover in Boehme an inspiring link with the spiritual currents upon which their own faith originally rested. [This and other] mystical streams are once again bubbling to the surface throughout the world, offering nourishment, refreshment and a straight way to the Lord for all who have eyes to see and ears to hear.
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273. Abraham Lincoln and the Quakers (by Daniel Bassuk; 1987) [Other Works—“Incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity: The Myth of the God-Man”; “A Quaker anthology from the Brave Old World of Aldous Huxley”; Rufus Jones and Mysticism.]
O Lord, if it is all the same to Thee, give us a little more light and a little less noise. Abraham Lincoln
Introduction—Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) is America’s folk-hero & folk-god, the most written about American of all time (more than 6,000 books & 128 movies). [The fact that] Lincoln “didn’t claim membership in any denomination” nettles American sensitivities. Nathaniel Stephenson concluded that Lincoln’s religion continues to resist intellectual formulation. He never accepted any definite creed. He applied the same reasoning to theology & law. [He distinguished between] the essential & incidental, & rejected anything not essential. J. G. Randall emphasized that: “Lincoln was a man of more intense religiosity than any other US President … he breathed the spirit of Christ while disregarding the letter of Christian doctrine. Lincoln poked fun at many commonly held religious beliefs, and refused to join any church. This pamphlet presents research indicating that Lincoln had knowledgeable affinity with Quakers, and the 19th century Quakers were drawn to this President’s spirit.
Lincoln’s Lineage—On at least 3 separate occasions Lincoln indicated that he was of Quaker descent, in 1848, 1859, and 1860. Both from Lincoln’s own research & from the research of others, attempts to establish Lincoln’s Quaker ancestors didn’t bear fruit until 1955. David S. Keiser discovered that the maternal grandparents of the President’s own grandfather, Enoch & Rebecca Flower, were Quakers at the time of their marriage in 1713. Each pair of Enoch’s & Rebecca’s parents had been married in Quaker Meetings in PA or England. Abraham Lincoln’s paternal great-grandfather, John Lincoln, married into a family that was Quaker on both sides.
Lincoln’s Communication with the Quakers—Address in Harrisburg, PA, Feb. 22, 1861: “I hope no one of the Friends who originally settled here, or who have lived here since that time, or who live there now … is a more devoted lover of peace, harmony and concord than my humble self. London Friends Meeting for Suffering Memorial, Dec. ‘61: “It would be deeply humiliating if, by being involved in this War, our own country would ultimately find itself in active cooperation with the South & Slavery against the North & Freedom … we do not intend to express our [total] approval of the course pursued by the North in reference to Slavery ... We shall apprise our American Friends of the step which we have now taken, and shall urge them also to use their influence in furtherance of the cause of Peace. May He who still ruleth the Earth … grant that … war may be averted from the kindred nations on each side of the Atlantic. Lincoln’s response, Jan. 7, ’62: “I cannot but greatly appreciate your prompt, and generous suggestions in the interests of peace and humanity.
Lincoln’s response to a Quaker RI letter, March 19, ’62: “Engaged, as I am, in a great war, I fear it will be difficult for the world to understand how fully I appreciate the peace principles of the Society of Friends. Abraham Lincoln & the “Progressive Friends, June 20, ’62: 3 men & 3 women visited to urge the immediate emancipation of the slaves. The President agreed that slavery was wrong, but the practical question was the method of its removal, & its enforcement ... The Progressive Friends said, “We have no hesitancy in declaring that the go-vernment had no alternative but to seek to suppress this treasonable outbreak by all the means & forces at its disposal …” The President said that he was deeply sensible of his need of Divine assistance & thought that he might be an instrument in God’s hands of accomplishing great work. It would be his earnest endeavor, with a reliance upon the Divine arm, & seeking light from above, to do his duty to which he had been called.
Lincoln to Quaker woman, summer of ’62: A Quaker woman told him he was the Lord’s appointed minister to do the work of emancipation & quoted from the Bible. [Lincoln’s “impatient” response needs to be taken in the context of all those who told him what God’s will was for him, acting as if] “I am the only man who doesn’t know it.” Meeting of Isaac & Sarah Harvey with Abraham Lincoln, Sept. 19, ’62: Isaac & Sarah, Quakers from Clinton County, Ohio, traveled to see the President to share a plan which came to Isaac. “They were struck deep that he already had thought about it & favored it & prayed for its success. It was to pay $300 dollars each for slaves. Isaac asked for a note ‘certifying that I fulfilled my mission.’ The President wrote: ‘I take pleasure to assert that I have had profitable intercourse with friends Isaac Harvey & Sarah. May the Lord comfort them as they have sustained me.” This happened within the 2 weeks that included: a Protestant church delegation urging slavery’s overthrow; Battle of Antietam, a Union victory; Lee returns to Virginia the same day Isaac & Sarah visit; preliminary draft of Emancipation Proclamation (EP); announcement of EP. Dr. William Wolf writes: “[For Lincoln] God was ultimate yet personal reality; He made Himself accessible to one who sought Him out.”
Abraham Lincoln and Eliza P. Gurney, Oct. 26, ’62: A pious, lovable old Quaker woman came to the White House with an address of thanks and prayers of hope for the future. She and 3 others came only to give spiritual support to one who sorely needed it; they shared in silence and prayer. Lincoln said: “I am glad of this interview, and glad to know that I have your sympathy and prayers … I have desired that all my works and acts may be according to His will, and that it might be so, I have sought his aid … We must believe that God permits the war for some wise purpose of His own, mysterious and unknown to us.”
Eliza P. Gurney & Abraham exchange letters, Aug. 18, ’63 & Sept. 4, ’64: Eliza wrote: “Many times … my mind has turned towards thee with feelings of sincere & Christian interest … I believe the prayers of many thousands whose hearts thou hast gladdened by thy praiseworthy & successful efforts to burst the bands of wickedness, & let the oppressed go free … may strengthen thee to accomplish all the blessed purposes … [that] I do assuredly believe He did design to make thee instrumental in accomplishing.” Lincoln responds: “I haven’t forgotten … the occasion [when you visited] 2 years ago, [or your letter] written nearly a year later … The purposes of the Almighty are perfect, & must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive them in advance … Surely He intends some great good to follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make, & no mortal could stay … I have done & shall do, the best I could & can, in my own conscience, under my oath to the law … I shall still receive for our country & myself, your earnest prayers to our Father in Heaven.”
Abraham Lincoln and 2 Quaker women Dec. ’62 or Jan. ’63 [During a period of hopelessness] Lincoln observed 2 women sitting in the waiting room; he saw them next. He received them kindly and sat down between them; he had given Rachel Grellet and Elizabeth L. Comstock letters of introduction and permission to travel to army units. George Hartley relates from Elizabeth: “We told him that we had been impressed that we ought to come to him with a message of love, cheer, & encouragement; he looked downcast & ready to give up … [We delivered a message from the Lord of encouragement & an invitation to] ‘cast all thy burdens upon Him’ … We arose to go & he asked: ‘Aren’t you going to pray with me?’ … We knelt with our hands clasped in front. He clasped mine in his right hand and Rachel’s in his left; his hands trembled … We felt as if we were helping him to roll the burden off his shoulders, and that Jesus was there to receive them … When we arose his countenance was so changed he looked as though he had the victory.”
Correspondence between Iowa Quakers & Abraham Lincoln, Dec. ’62, & Jan. ’63 Iowa Friends write: “We desire to express our approval of thy Proclamation of Prospective Emancipation. We believe it is intrinsically right & in the direction to bring about permanent peace in our beloved country.” Lincoln responds: It is most cheering & encouraging to know that in the efforts I have made & am making, for the restoration of a righteous peace to our country, I am upheld & sustained by the good wishes & prayers of God’s people. No one is more deeply aware than myself that without his favor, our highest wisdom is foolishness [& our efforts unavailing].” Lincoln to Philadelphia Quaker, winter ’64 A tiny Quaker lady said: “Yes, Friend Abraham, thee needs not think thee stands alone. We are all praying for thee. All our hearts, the hearts of all the people are behind thee, & thee cannot fail! …God is with thee!” Lincoln responded: “I know it. If I didn’t have … the knowledge that God is sustaining & will sustain me until my appointed work is done, I could not live … You have given a cup of water to a very thirsty and grateful man. Ladies, you have done me a great kindness today … God bless you all!”
Lincoln and Conscientious Objectors—In 1861 a 3rd-generation Quaker from Lake Champlain was drafted. He said: “I shall never raise my hand to kill anyone.” All the forms of punishment devised for refractory soldiers were visited on him. [He was threatened with being shot]. Lincoln said: “They can’t kill a boy like that, you know. The country needs all her brave men wherever they are. Send him home.”
A young man wrote: “My name was drawn with 2 others in our little meeting … The 2 others paid $300 each; I felt it right to do nothing; I couldn’t go nor hire others to go. A military officer told me I would either have to come or pay $300, or he would be forced to sell my property. The officer said: ‘If you would get mad & order me out of the house, I could do this work easier, but you are feeding me & my horse … We told him we had no unkind feelings toward him. We supposed he was obeying the orders of those superior to him. The sale was postponed. Years later I learned Governor Morton spoke to President Lincoln, who ordered the sale stopped.
Peter Dakin, Lindley M. Macomber and Cyrus Pringle, who kept a diary (PHP #122), were drafted for service in 1863. At Camp Vermont in Boston Harbor, they were not ill-treated, but their steady refusal to carry out military order caused the officers much perplexity; they were not willing to work in the hospital tents either. The President, though sympathizing with those in our situation, felt bound by the Conscription Act, and felt liber-ty to do no more than detail us to hospital duty or to the charge of colored refugees. [Cyrus Pringle was tied spread-eagle on the ground in rain and sun. He said]: “I wept … from sorrow that such things should be in our country … It seemed that our forefathers in the faith had wrought and suffered in vain.”
Isaac Newton, a Friends and official in the Department of Agriculture undertook their case. The youths were assigned to a civilian hospital. Isaac was able to bring their case directly before the president who considered it and exclaimed, “I want you to go and tell Stanton that it is my wish all these young men be sent home at once.” Henry D. Swift, of Massachusetts was court-martialed and sentenced to be shot; Lincoln had him sent home. Isaac Newton (1800-1867), while in the background, had the capacity to intercede for Quakers with President Lincoln. He was appointed by Lincoln as the 1st Commissioner (now Secretary) of Agriculture.
Lincoln’s Humor & Quakers/ Conclusion—[Lincoln’s favorite joke involves Quaker discussion of Davis & Lincoln]. One Quaker says Lincoln is a praying man. The other says that the Lord will think that Abraham is only joking. Lincoln was able to laugh at jokes made at his expense. [He sometimes acted out jokes, including one about a Quaker father teaching his son not to swear]. Kierkegaard delineated humor as providing a boundary between ethical life & religious life, & Lincoln seems to have used humor to move from one to the other.
Clearly Lincoln was well-acquainted with Quakerism. His dialogue with Quakers of his own time shows sympathy & a considerate attitude toward Friends as pacifists in wartime. The meetings between Lincoln & Quakers reveal a convergence of views in which Lincoln saw himself as God’s instrument & Quakers viewed him as akin to a Biblical prophet. He was moved by Quaker principles of pacifism & equality & indicated empathy with both. William Wolf wrote: “No President has ever had the detailed knowledge of the Bible that Lincoln had.”
Lincoln’s knowledge of the Bible was extensive and a source of inspiration to him. He wrote: “I doubt the possibility or propriety of settling the religion of Jesus Christ in the model of man-made creeds and dogmas … I cannot assent to long and complicated creeds and catechisms.” Lincoln’s speeches, addresses, & letters are noted for their simplicity and brevity, qualities Quakers greatly admire. Through Lincoln’s life he revealed the traits of honesty, belief in divine guidance, plain clothing, and avoidance of liquor. Lincoln wrote: “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.”
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About the Author—Carol Murphy has written a baker’s dozen of Pendle Hill Publications. She said: “After making an attempt to pull together material for a journal of my own inward travel, I [instead] began to study the likenesses and contrasts of several lives together. [I found] Julius Silberger’s biography of Mary Baker Eddy, and it became the mosaic piece that made a pattern of communication between these several lives.”
“Will you open or close the door upon the angel visitant, who cometh in the quiet of meekness, as he came of old to the patriarch at noonday?” Mary Baker Eddy
“It is those who have a deep and real inner life who are best able to deal with the ‘irritating details of outer life”. Evelyn Underhill
“The experience of the transcendent; this seems contradictory and yet the transcendent cannot be known except by contact, since our faculties cannot manufacture it.” Simone Weil
“It is the virgin birth, the Incarnation, the resurrection which are the true laws of the flesh and the physical. Death, decay, destruction are the suspension of those laws.” Flannery O'Connor
[Introduction]—Four women entered my life and sat down in my mind: a neurotic Victorian lady [Mary Baker Eddy]; a devout Anglican lover of mysticism [Evelyn Underhill]; an ex-agnostic Jew [Simone Weil]; and a Southern writer, Catholic in the land of born-again Baptists [Flannery O’Connor], [brought together from a bookstore]. [Are there 2 worlds, a tangible and an intangible, or only one seen in different perspectives]?
Mary Baker Eddy, 1821-1910—One guest has long been challenging me to fling aside my sense of helplessness before the material world and put my trust in the Allness of God; [I’ve never been quite willing to do that]. Mrs. Eddy did have something to say which has caused me to wrestle with the rationale of religious healing. Mary Baker was the youngest of 6 on a New Hampshire farm. She married a man 11 years older than herself; he died 6 months later. I think it is possible that her liking to be swung or rocked, [as susceptible to hypnosis as she was], aroused altered states of consciousness which opened the mystical world to her.
Her contact with the healer Phineas Quimby gave her a certain foothold on a direct way of contact with other sufferers. She fell on an icy street, and underwent a personality crisis, changing from an immensely sensitive, naturally melancholy and self-absorbed woman, to the energetic founder of a new Christian sect. [She remained] constantly at war with the darker and more dependent side of her nature. [She wrote the book Science and Health beginning in 1872] and published it in 1875. She died in 1910 of pneumonia. She wrote: “Life is God, good and not evil; that Soul is sinless and not in the body; that Spirit cannot be materialized; that Life is not subject to death; that the spiritual man has no birth, no material life, and no death.” “Truth is demonstrable when understood, and good is not understood until demonstrated”; healing was to be her way of demonstrating Truth.
In the past, the traditional healer had the task of restoring the patient to harmony with the cosmic forces by a combination of confession, psychotherapy, and herbs and potions. [Later, the body was “mechanized].” Medicine captured the body, and the cure of souls was confined to a purely spiritual sphere. The sense of wholeness was lost. Mrs. Eddy proclaimed: “Instruct the sick that they are not helpless victims.” Deluded they may be, but not stricken down by God, for God is on the side of health. “Will you open or close the door upon the angel visitant, who cometh in the quiet of meekness, as he came of old to the patriarch at noonday?”
Evelyn Underhill, 1875-1941—“Christianity does not explain suffering but does show us what to do with it.” [Her serenity was hard won, coming from the many] creative conflicts in her life. [She had a brief flirtation with Catholicism]. [How does that] fit in with her awakening to mysticism through the Order of the Golden Dawn? There came into her life a tension between the everyday world and the mystic’s “other world” of assurance. The books she wrote about this tension come to the decision to accept the everyday, even at the sacrifice of mystical ecstasy in hope of finding the union of the two in incarnation.
[She received balanced spiritual guidance from Baron von Hugel]. She learned to accept the Anglican Church’s practices along with its often exasperating officialdom. Von Hugel advised her to stop all thoughts of self and direct her attention to God. Hugel’s blend of prayerful contemplation and simple acceptance of the dailyness of life was passed on to others in her letters and the retreat talks she gave. She said: “It is those who have a deep and real inner life who are best able to deal with the ‘irritating details of outer life”. In today’s revival of interest in inner disciplines, she can speak to us afresh.
Simone Weil, 1909-1943—[Beginning as an agnostic Jew, Simone Weil says]: “There is an absolutely in-surmountable obstacle to Christianity’s incarnation. It is the 2 little words ‘anathema sit’ [let him be cut off] … I remain with all things that can't enter the Church.” Both she & her brother Andre were precocious & great readers. Her intellect was stimulated by Alain & a philosophy that emphasized perception, will & freedom. She never joined the Communist Party because of the truthfulness & independence that kept her out of the church.
She combined teaching, revolutionary zeal, and politics until inevitably she outraged her superiors. She tried factory work, and there, she said, “I received the mark of slavery. Since then I have always regarded myself as a slave.” In Portugal, seeing fishermen’s wives on a religious procession, she realized that Christianity was a religion of slaves, and all slaves belonged to it.” [After a brief time in a Spanish Civil War militia group], she had a second contact with Christianity on a trip to Italy, where in a small chapel in Assisi, “something stronger than I compelled me for the first time to go down on my knees.” After experiencing of Christ during her chronic headaches, she commented, “The experience of the transcendent; this seems contradictory and yet the transcendent cannot be known except by contact, since our faculties cannot manufacture it.”
She read the Bhagavad Gita, sympathizing with the plight of Arjuna. Her family fled France after the collapse of the French Army. [In Marseilles she labored in the grape harvest with others, and with Catholic clergy in discussions about beliefs]. She sailed to America, got a job with the French government in exile in England, where she worked, wrote, and lived no better than the starving people of France until she died of tuberculosis in 1943. She desired affliction, but it had to come by necessity, not choice. She believed that God is silent in the world, absent save for those human beings who turn to him with absolutely unmixed attention. She wrote: “This universe where we are living … is the distance put by Love between God and God. We are a point in this distance. Space, time and the mechanism that governs matter are the distance.”
Flannery O’Connor, 1925-1964 —“I am reading the Weil books … Her life is almost a perfect blending of the Comic & the Terrible … What is more comic & terrible than the angular proud woman approaching God inch by inch with ground teeth?” Flannery was born in Savannah, [shortly after college & writing school, her life began to be embodied by her writings & her letters]. [She also began to be ill from lupus erythematosus]. After a struggle her condition stabilized enough for her to pursue writing. “I am making out fine … I have energy to write with & as that is all I have any business doing, I can with one eye squinted take it all as a blessing.”
She felt that the religious sense was being bred out of people, so “reducing everything to human proportion that in time they lose even the sense of the human itself.” She herself kept her faith, though assailed by the doubts of the times. In her own ebbs and flows, she came through “always with a deepened sense of mystery and always several degrees more orthodox.” “It is the virgin birth, the Incarnation, the resurrection which are the true laws of the flesh and the physical. Death, decay, destruction are the suspension of those laws.” The Eucharist was “the center of existence to me, all the rest of life is expendable”; without it a church would become an “Elk’s Club.” [She was no good at traditional prayer, meditating, or contemplation]. No doubt her real prayer was her writing, with its flashes of Spirit, like “shining from shook foil.” She was only beginning to be awakened to the meaning of the civil rights struggle [when] she died, with the troubles of others on her mind.
Conclusion—Now, I will address my guests with Quaker informality. Mary Eddy, I like you have visited the sick, and I’ve seen the need for the spiritual care of patients, [and perhaps the doctors too]. I think we owe to you and others, Mary Eddy, the realization of how important our mental structuring of reality is. Your sense of the Healing Mind keeps breaking through. And yet, I can’t just dispose of the material world of things as an illusion; it’s real in its own way. As I search for some divine pattern of all patterns, I fall back on Isaac Penington’s saying “All Truth is a shadow except the last … yet every truth is true in its kind. It is a substance in its own place, though it be a shadow in another place; shadow is true shadow, as the substance is true substance.”
Evelyn Underhill, I sympathize with you in your championing mysticism as the radical unselfing & union with God which is religion’s vital center. You know God works through human nature, even such material as Mary Eddy’s paranoid sickliness. Perhaps for us in the West, we need Christ as our form of non-dualism—God & man in union without confusion; we are branches on the Vine. You who found a home in traditional religion may find it hard to understand [how some] have to search for an inner core of communion with the Ultimate prior to & at the heart of all traditional expression; [then] they may find their native religion [filled] with meaning.
I too, Simone Weil, am an intellectual whose rational mind had to be dragged toward God with ground teeth. You never knew the Holocaust's full horror; it would have shaken your certitude, [since “ordinary” suffering “so rends my soul that as a result God’s love becomes almost impossible.” You could have used a touch of your compatriot Colette, with her frank enjoyment of simple, sensuous things. It’s awkward for self-conscious intellectuals to try to identify with the under-classes. How I would have loved to introduced you to John Woolman, who merged his life with the poor. [As to your struggles with choice & necessity, there is a kind of meaningful coincidence that works in the lives of those who find harmony with nature or are advanced in prayer life.
Like you, Flannery O’Connor, I have had to speak out in an unbelieving world. I am like you a poor prayer, and what I can’t contemplate within, I have to find in the manifold things of the outer world, if I can. There is a secular rationalist part of me which I have to wrestle with. We have both secular rationalists and prophets among Quakers. Somewhere at the heart of every living religious faith is the thing itself, the Real Presence, not just a symbol of something else. I don’t think this reality can be confined to an altar in one Church, nor can we disregard the human response. The subjective and objective must be united in whole experience.
We have explored 4 different ways of approaching the Center where mind & body, God & man, will & circumstance are reconciled. Mary Eddy sought it by means of healing, Evelyn Underhill by incarnating mystical love, Simone Weil by a vocation to affliction, & Flannery O’Connor by offering her vision of the Comic & the Terrible to the Real Presence. All experienced some measure of conflict; all pointed beyond themselves to what is more real. [I will close with Simone Weil]: “Obedience of things in relation to God is what the transparency of a window pane is in relation to light. As soon as we feel obedience with our whole being, we see God.”
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165. Gandhi Remembered (by Horace G. Alexander; 1969)
About the Author—Born at Croydon, England, in 1889, Horace Alexander passed from Bootham Quaker School to King’s College, Cambridge where he received a degree in history. After 20 years as an international relations lecturer, he was director at Woodbrooke, the English Quaker study center. [In 1928], he was in India studying opium addiction on the spot. [He spent a week at] Gandhi’s ashram. [After experiencing British arro-gance], “I [accepted] Gandhi’s view of things & worked for Indian freedom.” He lived in India for over 10 years.
Religion should pervade every one of our actions. It [is] a belief in ordered moral government of the universe. This religion transcends [all others]; it harmonizes them… I would say that Truth is God.” Gandhi
Gandhi believed to the end that the country that can set the example of non-violence, without waiting for its neighbors, will be able to lead the world away from hatred, fear, and mistrust toward the true community, the harmony of man. Horace Alexander.
[Beginnings]—[At Gandhi’s ashram], he invited me to join him for early ½-hour domestic duty. I was able to have several casual talks with him; he was easy & simple to talk to, [& very direct]. This man, the leader of India’s revolt against British rule was the creator of a new force in politics: disciplined, non-violent mass action against systems felt to be unjust & immoral. When he was assassinated, people around the world wept.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born October 2, 1869. The family were devout Hindus. It was thought legal training in London was likely to be best preparation for a successful career in India. [His mother objected, but he went anyway, promising that he would remain vegetarian & sexually pure. He kept his vow on the long voyage, though this meant starving himself on the ship, which served no vegetarian food. In London he read about [& experimented with] vegetarianism & became a vegetarian by convincement, not merely by tradition.
His 3 years in England helped him find himself. He was content to make friends with a few congenial Englishmen. He passed examination without difficulty & became a barrister. Soon it appeared his English law degree wouldn't help him in the Indian courts; his cases there were fiascos. [He couldn’t be a teacher, either].
South Africa—He decided to try his luck as a lawyer in South Africa. He found himself among thousands of Indians. Indians were recruited under a system of indenture which made it almost impossible to return to In-dia. [Whether wealthy or poor, Indians] were still known by the white people who ran the country as “coolies.” Gandhi sought a settlement rather than the trying of the case, demonstrating from the beginning that his view of the true function of a lawyer should seeking peaceful settlement rather than outright victory. Ultimately he stayed on in South Africa for 20 years, and led Indians in the battle against fresh discriminatory legislation.
There was something unique about the quality of his leadership which enable him to achieve extraordinary results. Gandhi was able to identify himself closely with all the many people of different languages and religion. When the time came for common action, men and women cheerfully underwent prison sentences again and again. He settled on land and christened it “Tolstoy’s Farm”; he became farmer, nurse, and teacher. He was a profound believer in the dignity and moral value of manual work.
He & General Smuts fought each other vigorously; they also learnt a high personal regard for each other. At an earlier period, when the British still governed half of South Africa, [during the Boer Wars], Gandhi organized an ambulance corps to help the British forces, even though his sympathies were with the Boers. The Indians showed themselves well disciplined and courageous under fire, and Gandhi received a decoration for valor.
Active resistance to South African law continued for some 8 years, with intervals for negotiation. Gandhi believed that Smuts had promised to repeal the legislation requiring Indians to carry passes. When he discovered that the “Black Act” still existed, he gathered with other Indians to burn their passes publicly. It can’t be said that the suffering of the Indians in South Africa achieved very much. 10 years later Gandhi believed that conditions for Indians in South Africa were worse than ever. He did demonstrate that mighty governments can be resisted.
Back to India—When he returned to India in 1914, Gandhi accepted the direction & advice of G.K. Gokhale. Gandhi took his advice to keep quiet a year. When approached on behalf of some hundreds of indigo workers, he checked out their grievances, found they were real and encouraged resistance. Gandhi joined a commission of inquiry, and while he had to give up some of the peasant’s claims, most of the abuses were swept away. Workers on strike at a cotton factory near his home came to him for advice. Gandhi supported the workers, [strengthened their resolve], and they won their case. He had demonstrated “satyagraha” [soul-force], the mighty power of truth to be set against the evil of false hood.
The Indian National Congress met in annual session & urged sharing of authority. Others want full self-government & they wanted it now. The younger men resorted to terrorism. The 1919 massacre at Amritsar final-ly alienated him from the British government. The movement Gandhi called for was called off after a mob burned several police to death. [A “little violence” was acceptable to others but & to Gandhi]. His satyagraha meant a kind of civil disobedience that would be “civil.” He was arrested after he called off the campaign, & served 2 years of a 6 year sentence when he was suddenly stricken with appendicitis, operated on, & released.
The Constructive Program—Gandhi was never a politician pure & simple. The key to his public action was a passionate concern for the starving millions in India’s villages. His main quarrel with the British Government was that its policies, far from [making] India more prosperous, impoverished & emasculated the Indian people. He was concerned with what he called “the constructive program,” [which was] important economic & social reforms. Together with Jawaharlal Nehru, he united the Indian Congress behind a radical reform program.
[After his early medical release, Gandhi stayed out of politics for another 4 years]. [In light of the Hindu-Muslim riots], he did a 3-week fast in the home of one of his Muslim friends in Delhi. He traveled from village to village, preaching goodwill among all the people, urging them to solve their own problems, & to spin for half an hour every day. [Health issues] forced him to a lighter work load: helping with menial tasks; listening to many visitors to the ashram; & editing & writing his weekly Young India, a running commentary on public affairs. In opposing an excessive increase in peasant land revenue, after appeals had failed, he encouraged mass disobedience, [which forced] the government to give way.
The Round Table Conferences—The British Government decided to have a [purely British commission] decide whether India was ready for moving toward self-government. [All India] found the appointment method of this commission insulting. India’s several parties formed their own commission & made their own plan, called the Nehru report. The British Government invited Indian leaders to London for a Round Table Conference. Since the government wouldn’t assure them of full Dominion status, the Indian Congress refused to take part.
Gandhi decided to start the campaign by breaking the salt law, which prohibited taking salt from the sea. Gandhi started the action, which stirred all of India; many were arrested. Soon they found other laws to break. In the absence of the leaders still in jail, [including Gandhi], a number of Indians did take part in a London conference in the autumn of 1930, [and made progress] towards a free India government. Gandhi met with the British Viceroy, Lord Irwin [which incensed British imperialists], had long heart-to-heart talks, and made a pact which enabled Gandhi to call off the civil disobedience, and to take part in the Round Table Conference of 1931.
For nearly 3 months Gandhi was in England. Large sections of the English hated him as a dangerous rebel, but others were eager to meet him and to learn from him. The working people responded to his outspoken friendliness. The sophisticated people of England found him difficult to appreciate. He spent one weekend at Woodbrooke, the English equivalent of Pendle Hill. He joined the students for the devotional meetings, and one evening visitors plied him with questions, not all of them friendly, for well over an hour; some misunderstood his beliefs when he said that [there might be violence against non-violent resisters].
A Convert to Silence—I was able to be with him 1 or 2 days each week; he was never out of temper. The Scotland Yard detectives & domestic helpers who looked after Gandhi became devoted friends. English Friends felt concern for the conference. Meetings of silent prayer, holding the conference in mind, were held each week at Friends House. Several years earlier I had suggested silence in the ashram’s prayers. He replied he didn’t think it would suit the ashram’s members; & that he wasn’t impressed with South African Quaker meetings.
Gandhi attended 2 meetings at Friends house, in spite of having a bad cough before the 2nd one; he was very impressed with the 2 meetings. A few months later I received a letter from him, now back in India & in jail again. There had been personal difficulties at the ashram. He had suggested a few minutes of silent meditation in the prayers each day. He wrote: “This they have done, & they tell me that things are going better.” The 2 minutes of silence remained a part of the ashram prayers through the rest of his life. The work of the Round Table Conference continued in a 3rd session, and a new measure of self-government was actually coming into being.
Untouchability—[In the midst of this] was a grave & difficult issue. India had separate electorates for Muslims & Hindus; the Depressed Classes wanted their own separate electorate. Gandhi resisted this [condition] & reasoning in the strongest manner. British Prime Minister’s decision was known officially as the “communal award”; it gave the Depressed classes a separate electorate. Gandhi declared a fast unto death in opposition. Within a few days the Hindu & Depressed Class leaders agreed on a modified plan, which the British government accepted & which assured the untouchable communities reserved seats in the legislatures for many years.
Gandhi interpreted his release as meaning “release for the prosecution of his campaign to destroy the system of untouchability.” His new weekly paper was named Harijan (Children of God), because God is a friend to the poor; only they should called God’s children. [In campaign], Gandhi was opposed by orthodox Hindus, & occasionally faced abuse & hostile demonstration. It may be fairly claimed Gandhi's actions in 1930’s, & vigorously supported by Nehru & other colleagues have broken the old curse of untouchability in India.
A New Constitution & World War II—The strong & relentless government action against civil disobedience had worn the Congress Party down. In 1937, the new constitution came into force. Elections were held in British India for new provincial assemblies; the Congress won sweeping victories. In 6 provinces they were able to form ministries. The Viceroy gave assurance that governors wouldn’t intervene. Gandhi approved this cooperation in the hope that the ministries might encourage village industries, [economic and social reforms].
[Progress was made towards a complete withdrawal, but when war broke out in 1939], the Viceroy declared that India was also at war with Germany without consulting Gandhi or any other leader of Indian opinion. Before long the strain between British and Indian became so acute that the Congress leaders all withdrew from the provincial ministries. Gandhi was led to initiate individual disobedience. After failure of the Cripps Mission in 1942 Congress again declared for active opposition to British authority.
[The threat of Japanese invasion caused Gandhi to issue instruction to the Indian people on methods of non-violent, non-cooperation with possible Japanese invaders. The government did not wait for the “rebellion” to get under way, but arrested Gandhi and all the chief Congress leaders, and they remained isolated from the world until the war was over. Solution to the Indian government problem foundered on the claims of the Muslim League, represented by M. A. Jinnah, to a separation from India.
Independence at Last—In 1945, a new government came into office in Britain; its leaders were determined to bring about full Indian freedom. It was hard to convince Congress leaders, [including Gandhi,] that the British meant business. A Constituent Assembly to prepare a constitution for a free India was planned for. August 1946 to August 1947 saw terrible bloodshed & violence as Muslim & Hindus slaughtered one another. Gandhi toured on foot through the countryside, trying to restore courage to the minority & rebuking the majority groups.
When Lord Mountbatten came as Viceroy in 1947, he found Congress leaders ready to accept partition. On August 15, 1947, India & Pakistan were proclaimed free countries. On that day Gandhi was in deserted Muslim house in Calcutta. I asked if I might be with him, wherever it might be; [he said yes]. In Calcutta Gandhi and Mr. Suhrawardy, leader of the Muslim League, were entering into an extraordinary partnership. They made a pact to live with each other in an effort to restore peace to this city which had been approaching civil war for a year.
The Miracle of Calcutta—On our arrival, we were greeted with a hostile demonstration from a number of young Hindus. Gandhi, with his usual frankness told them how misguided their behavior really was. When the shouting started again the next day, he talked to the men, and brought to the window Suhrawardy, who admitted his shame at the killings last August, adding, “we should all be ashamed.” Gandhi was intending to spend the next day in prayer and fasting. At our prayers the next morning, some young girls came singing Tagore’s beautiful songs of freedom; they joined us at prayer. The black clouds of fear seemed to have dissolved overnight, and the city was basking in universal goodwill. Efforts were made from the Hindu side to break this hard-won unity, but the people of Calcutta wouldn't go back to the evil days from which they had been delivered.
Partition: the Aftermath—The northwest’s partition led to fresh outbreaks of violence. Millions were driven from their homes on both sides of the new frontier. During the last months [of his life], when Gandhi was working to bring goodwill & make India safe for Muslims to live as 1st-class citizens, I was often in & out of his room in Dehli. [Many influential visitors] would come for his advice. One could see the haggard, overwrought look on the face of the visitor give way to repose. The problem might not have been solved, but the burden had been lifted. It was typical of him to find time for all his innumerable friends, whenever they might need his help.
One day in the middle of January 1948, I went into see Mr. Gandhi. It was his weekly silent day, but we laughed [over a cute photograph]. Not until after did I realize that he had been all the while in inward agony of spirit. With Muslims being terrorized by Hindus and Sikhs, he felt he must begin an unlimited fast. A promise to work for racial harmony led him to break his fast. A few days later a Hindu shot him dead. The shock of his death did more for the protection and security of the Muslim community than all his efforts over many months.
Gandhi’s Guiding Principles—Gandhi said: “[My critics] have it the wrong way round. I am a politician who is trying to become a saint.” His whole life was a protest against the idea that a religious man is one who withdraws himself out of the world in to pray and meditate. Gandhi said: “Religion should pervade every one of our actions. It [is] a belief in ordered moral government of the universe. This religion transcends [all others]; it harmonizes them… I would say that Truth is God.” It is partly because the final Truth is so vast and so rich that each man finds a different aspect of it. His life was a pursuit of ultimate truth, with [its] joy of discovery.
Truth and Non-violence guided him through every crisis. Gandhi had strong views about ends and means. He had no use for short cuts, [especially violence]. He said to let each contribute all one can to the community; then only let one begin to think of one’s rights. Let those who have faith in the justice of their cause demonstrate their convictions by self-suffering. His dream [was a country] composed in the main of [productive, tight-knit village community. His dream was a [united world], where nations live in mutual respect, where all obey the moral law of non-violence, and practice mutual aid. He believed to the end that the country that can set the example of non-violence, without waiting for its neighbors, will be able to lead the world away from hatred, fear, and mistrust toward the true community, the harmony of man.
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[Nayyar]—Soon after Kasturba's death in detention at Aga Khan's palace (8/8/42-2/22/44) , Gandhi asked me to write down reminiscences of her. The original was in Hindi & appeared as part of Kasturba's biography of which this pamphlet is a free translation. [Gandhi was released from Aga Khan's palace 5/6/44].
M. K. Gandhi's Introduction—The root cause attracting the public to Kasturba was her ability to lose herself in me. I never insisted on abnegation; I didn't know she had it. In my early experience she was obstinate, which led to estrangement periods. As time passed, I & my service of the people became one. She slowly merged herself with my activities. Perhaps Indian soil loves this quality in a wife. Self-abnegation was developed by our Brahmacharya—self-control in thought, word, & deed. I made a resolve & Ba accepted it as her own. As a wo-man & wife, she considered it her duty to lose herself in me ever after. She looked after me till her last breath.
Publisher's Introduction—This book[let] is an actual exhibit of Indian life and thought, and is not aimed at an American audience. It records a young woman doctor's recollection of Mrs. M. K. Gandhi, an intimate ac-count of a man and woman whom Indians loved and admired. It ask the reader for an unusual amount of sympathy for a foreign climate, but will reward one with a very interesting and authentic picture of the simple, homely, domestic life of the man mainly responsible for the most successful major transfer of political power in our age. The Kasturba Fund was established to commemorate her life. The Friends' Service Unit in India, with connections to Pendle Hill, has worked in close touch with trustees of this fund. Madeline Slade [Miraben], who worked with Gandhi, visited Pendle Hill in 1934. Horace Alexander visited Gandhi in detention at Aga Khan's palace, gave lectures at Pendle Hill, and wrote the pamphlet Quakerism and India (#31). Gandhi wrote an introduction to the Indian edition of A Discipline for Nonviolence (#11) by Richard Gregg.
Mr. & Mrs. Gandhi are referred to as "Bapu" & "Ba," Gujrati words for "father" & "mother." The 2 were married for 62 years. Mr. & Mrs. Gandhi lived at Sevagram Ashram in the Central Provinces. Chief among the aides living there was Mahadev Desai, Mr. Gandhi's secretary for many years. After Desai's death the author's older brother, Pyarelal Sushila acted as his secretary. Part of the background to this account is the Indian Congress Party's movement for "Swaraj," national self-rule. "Satyagraha" (insistence on truth) took the form of public non-violent breaches of legislation or administrative action seen as wrong. "Non-cooperation" aimed to reduce to a minimum cooperation given by the population to its foreign rulers. "Khadi" is cloth hand-woven from hand-spun Indian cotton yarn as a matter of principle to foster self-reliant village life. Religious terms aren't always translated; there often isn't a good English equivalent. The Gita, Ramayana, Bhagwat, Balakanda, & Ayodhya are religious writings. Explanations marked "Ed." have been inserted by the publishers.
The Ashram: [Mother's Visit and Impression of Ba]—I saw Shrimati Kasturba for the 1st time in about December 1920. Mother went to Gandhi to request he send her son Pyarelal back to her. She ended up spending the day talking to Ba. She was deeply impressed by what Ba had told her. So she said: "Gandhiji, you can keep my son for 4 or 5 years ... but send him back after that." My mother had simply fallen in love with her. Gandhi had spoken to her and chided her for vanity. The air around him was too rarified for her. Ba spoke to her as one woman to another. Everybody was passing through an era of unhappiness and one had to bear one's burden. She was impressed by Ba's wonderful loyalty to her husband and her readiness to face any amount of sacrifice and suffering. A day with Ba had shown her that her son would at least have a mother's care in his new surroundings.
[My 1st Visit]—In 1929, I came into closer contact with Ba. My mother did not like the idea. I had never been away from my mother. At last my mother agreed to let me go with my brother on a short visit. I felt both miserable at being away from home, and excited and happy to be seeing something new. My brother told me wonderful tales of the achievements of the children of my age there. I worked hard throughout the journey and learned the shlokas of the evening prayer. The morning prayer bell rang at 4 am. My brother took me to Ba's and Bapu's verandah. Bapu told my brother that hereafter I should sleep near Ba on his verandah. Throughout my stay in the ashram I had breakfast with Ba and she was so loving and motherly that I always looked forward to breakfast. I felt terribly homesick. Everybody talked in Gujrati or Marathi which were foreign tongues to me.
I was educated at home and ahead of others in education. But I did not know how to make friends and dreaded meeting strangers. Ba spoke to me sweetly in her broken Hindustani and looked after my needs. I went to the kitchen with Ba and did what little I could. Ba sat there, radiant and smiling, and finished more than her quota of work with amazing agility and neatness; she retained this trait till the very end. Her watchful eye followed Bapu all the time. She saw to it that those who provided personal service did so punctually, [but the] mother in her did not like interrupting a young man's meal. Ba taught me how to wash my own clothes. I found that somebody or other always drew the water for me when I went there. A group of visitors came to the ashram & needed a guide. I was asked by Bapu, but I hadn't seen all the ashram myself. Bapu rebuked me for not acquainting myself with my surroundings long ago. I was thoroughly ashamed of myself. Ba told Bapu & my brother to arrange to show me around the ashram & the neighboring city.
[My 2nd Ashram Visit]—My holiday was coming to an end. Bapu took me with him to Agra. I went to Delhi & after a day or 2 my mother & I left for Lahore & home. I made up my mind to wear Khadi (homespun). I couldn't use mill-made cloth after visiting the ashram. My mother was annoyed at first & resisted my wearing Khadi for a month. At last my mother gave in & got some more Khadi, so that I could send them to be washed.
In 1930, I again went to the ashram during summer vacation. My brother and Bapu were at that time in jail as a result of the salt [tax] satygraha. Ba was touring from village to village, seeing workers, visiting police excess victims, and encouraging people. The Ba I saw this time was worn out with incessant touring on foot. The loving older mother was now a soldier of satygraha engaged in a grim fight. She did not understand politics, but she knew Bapu, and that he was leading the fight. That was enough for her to throw herself into it heart and soul.
I went with Ba to Sabarmati Jail. I had never been before & felt suffocated. Ba saw the worn-out faces of her sons with perfect calm & inquired about their companions with them in jail. Suffering for the sake of the country's freedom became so natural to her that she thought nothing of imprisonment for herself, her husband or her children. Gandhiji was rearrested & sent back to jail in 1932. Bapu invited Sushila's mother to see them off to jail & then join them, which she did. She has often told us how cheerfully Ba put up with prison life's hardships. Leaving aside physical hardships, mere incarceration frays nerves. In December 1937 Gandhiji fell ill in Calcutta. [In order to look after him, I took a month off from studying medicine], which turned into over 2 years.
[Ba's Routine]—At Sevagram, I slept near Ba at night. [At first], I got up in the morning & went away leaving my bedding as it was; Ba collected it & put it inside without saying anything; I felt ashamed. I don't think I ever gave her a chance to do so again. I wanted to fold [hers & mine but never managed to]. She hated taking service from others if she could help it. She didn't shirk from picking up heavy mattresses & bedding just to fold an untidy blanket or sheet. Dirt, untidiness, irregularity, and forgetfulness she simply could not bear. She got up for morning prayers at 4 am, and fixed Bapuji breakfast while he napped afterwards. [Others wanted the privilege to serve Gandhiji] and she was too kind to disappoint the girls. Her watchful eye followed them everywhere and she saw that things were done neatly and properly, [including cleanup afterwards].
Ba had her bath while Gandhiji walked. She supervised preparation of Gandhiji's midday meal. She rubbed his feet after the meal, and rested while he slept. After resting, she hand spun at least 400 to 500 rounds every day. How can success of a national movement hinge on widespread performance of a simple daily task? In the evening she prepared Gandhiji's meal and served him; she took only coffee in the evening. Often she would go for a short walk with other elderly ladies and meet Gandhiji at the end of his walk. Next it was time for evening prayer, which included singing part of the Ramayana. She studied that day's verses in the morning. She prayed and chatted with the ashram's ladies after that. She finished the day by preparing Gandhiji's, Kanu's and her own bed for the night. She took care of her grandson with the vigilance and enthusiasm of a young mother. Gandhiji discovered that he could not take the place of "Motiba" and had to turn the boy over to his mother.
[Gandhiji's Health/ Disciplining Others]—After falling ill in Calcutta, Gandhiji's blood pressure was erratic. Doctors advised him to avoid cold and overwork. Miraben vacated her hut for his use, but he refused to use it. Ba said, "Bapu will sleep in my hut," and that settled it. Gandhiji once noted that "This hut I had constructed for Ba's use and I supervised all the details. As it is, Ba has not been the sole occupant of this hut ... I can take away from her whatever I like, I can impose on her ... she always bears with me cheerfully and willingly" ... Well, that is as it should be ... Here the husband has only to say a thing and the wife is ready to do it." He went to go to the Western seaside for a change. She accompanied him to Juhu in Mumbai; he came back well-rested. In early 1939, he had to go to Calcutta. Ba never insisted on accompanying him when he was in good health.
Ba was a deeply religious woman, & she had a living faith in the temples' deities. Gandhji was furious on hearing that Ba & Durgaben had visited a temple off-limits to low-caste Hindus. Ba meekly asked Gandhiji's forgiveness. [Talking to Mahadevbhai, Bapu said], "... I feel responsibility lies with you & me. [I neglected Ba's education], why have you neglected [Burga's]?" [Mahadevbhai was so upset that he wanted to withdraw from Gandhi's company. [Causing] pain to Gandhi was unbearable for him. A small mistake on the part of one who had been near to Gandhi for years couldn't sever the bonds. Mahadevbhai wrote a confession in the ashram's popular, national periodical. There was a cholera outbreak at Sevagram in 1938 or '39. I recommended all of Ashram be immunized. Several Ashramites [& most notably Ba] didn't believe in injections of any sort. We had inoculated practically everybody in the village, which was soon free from cholera. The Ashram escaped completely.
Journeys & Arrests—The Rajkot Satyagraha was started during Gandhi's stay there. Rajkot's Thakore Saheb agreed to give rights to his people, & then went back on his word; the people offered satyagraha as protest. Rajkot was Ba's family home, so she went there & got arrested & imprisoned. She believed that a soldier should never be shy of facing hardships, [even though her health was questionable]. The Government detained her in an old palace 10 or 15 miles away from Rajkot city; she had 2 companions, including Mariben Patel. She was quite happy, but a little worried about Bapu's health. Bapu decided to fast because of Rajkot; he left no room for argument. Ba said, "So long as Gandhiji's fast continues, I will eat one meal a day of fruits & milk." The Government sent her word that she could go to see her husband if she wanted, thus releasing her indirectly. Gandhi said, "If they wish to release her, they must do so in the proper manner and release her 2 companions ... as well. He sent Ba back, to spend the night on the roadside, if necessary. She was taken back and the next day she and her two companions were formally released. Ba, forgetting her frail health, lost herself in ministering to him.
Ba arrived in Delhi by herself. Bapu was wrong in sending her alone, I said. Ba rebuked me. Her illness took a serious turn, with patches of pneumonia and an old urinary infection. Bapu sent [many telegrams] inquiring about her condition; he wrote love letters every day. Ba had them read to her and read them several times herself. Those letters played an important part in promoting her recovery.
[Quit India Resolution, 6 Arrests]—In 1942, Gandhiji returned to Sevagram after the All-India Congress Committee meeting in Bombay passed the "Quit India Resolution," which stated that it was "anxious not to jeopardize the defensive capacity of the United Nations, [but we are] no longer justified in holding back the nation from ... asserting its will against an Imperialist and authoritarian Government which dominates ... and prevents it from ... [pursuing] its own interests and the interest of humanity ... For the vindication of India's inalienable right to freedom and independence, [we sanction] the starting of a mass struggle on nonviolent lines." I heard that he would be arrested before he returned, so I went to Bombay to see him and my brother. Gandhiji gave his famous August 8th speech, after which he said, "The government are not so foolish as to arrest the man who is their best friend in India today." At 5:30 the next morning, Bapu, Mahadevbhai, and Miraben were arrested.
Bapu asked Ba & my brother to stay behind & carry on his work. Gandhiji's arrest had been a sudden shock, for which Ba hadn't been at all prepared. Ba announced that she would address the meeting instead of him. News came that she would be arrested on the way to the meeting. I, as a medical person, was considered to be the best companion that Ba could have; I would address the meeting if Ba couldn't. Ba's message to the women of India was "... The women of India have to prove their mettle. They should all join in this struggle irrespective of caste & creed. Our watchword must remain 'truth & nonviolence." In the evening Ba & I came out to go in the meeting. The police arrested us and later arrested my brother also. The police also did not let them hold the meeting.
[Arthur Road Prison]—On the way to Arthur Road Prison, Ba said, "Don't you see this Government is the very incarnation of evil." I said, "Yes, Ba, they are evil, but their evil will be the cause of their downfall and Bapu will come out victorious." We were told, "Our orders are that you are to have no contact with the outside world." They gave us frames, wood planks, and thin mattresses to sleep on. I put her to bed with a degree of fever. On finding that I was also a doctor, the jail doctor softened a bit and promised to send me the medicines and some apples. The apples were sent but no medicine. Ba was becoming exhausted and I felt terribly worried. High walls raised in the verandah as an airraid precaution measure prevented [good ventilation]. The prison Matron let us come and sit near her on her verandah. A mother of 3 or 4 small children came to be our roommate. Looking at her, Ba forgot her own worries, and showed great interest in her. We discovered that we had been locked in at night. So we brought our beds out on the verandah, determined not to be locked in.
At 9 pm, the Matron came and told me that Ba and I were to be taken away at 11 pm. Our roommate lent me money to pay for Ba's diet, and much later refused repayment. We were informed by the Superintendent that we were being taken to Bapuji. We were taken to the station and made to sit in the train station's waiting room. Ba asked me, "How will Bapuji win Swaraj? I answered, "Ba, God will help Bapuji. All will be well."
Aga Khan's Palace—Ba was weak from diarrhea she had during the night. [We arrived at Pune Station] at about 7 am. In another ½-hour we were at the Aga Khan's palace gates. Barbed wire fencing had been newly put up in honor of their famous prisoner. [They took us to Bapu & Mahadevbhai; the latter seemed] happy to welcome us, but Bapu frowned, & asked, "Did you request the Government send you here, or have they sent you on their own? [We assured him] we had been arrested & sent here. Ba's diarrhea had been of the nervous type; it stopped with one "dose" of being with Bapu. Ba took over fanning Bapu to keep the insects off while he napped.
Bapu's 1st letter from this detention was to the Governor of Bombay, regarding police behavior, sending daily papers, and also asking that Sardar Patel, one of Gandhi's Nature Cure patients, be allowed to come and stay. Mahadevbhai was pleased to have the Sardar with us, as someone who might dissuade Bapu from going on a fast. [The rest of us were pleased to have the Sardar and Maniben with us]. The Sardar's humor would make the detention camp much more lively. Gandhiji worked on a letter to the viceroy [for over 2 days, asking for input from all of us, and especially Mahadevbhai]. Ba peeped into the kitchen and spent a good deal of her time in worship and in the reading of prayer books.
[Mahadevbhai's Death, Ba's Studies]—On August 15, 1942 Bapu & Mahadevbhai walked in the garden. Later that morning, I was called to Mahadev's room for an urgent medical problem; [At 50 years of age], Mahadevbhai was ready to start the final journey. [It came as a great shock. Bapu called out to Mahdev; he didn't answer]. Ba tried to be brave & joined in prayers; her stream of tears continued. Ba seemed too weak to climb stairs; there was no holding her back from witnessing the cremation. Ba repeated, "Mahadev, may God bless you wherever you are. May He keep you always happy, my boy. Your service to Bapu has been unique." She asked, Why should [young] Mahdev have gone & not I? Is this God's justice? Who was to console whom?
Mahadevbhai was Brahmin by birth. Ba felt a Brahmin's death in this fashion was an evil omen. Bapu replied, " Yes, for the Government." I said, "How can Mahadev's noble death be a sin of his colleagues? If there is any sin, it must rest with the Government, because they arrested him without cause. This Government is evil-minded. It did not let him negotiate with the Government." Gandhiji found a way of combating idle thoughts and depression. "We should all account for every minute of our time. We should keep ourselves so busy that there is no time for idle, depressed thoughts.
He always set a timetable for himself; now he made a timetable for all of us. He gave Ba lessons in Gujra-ti, Gita, geography, & history. Ba studied with the enthusiasm & eagerness of a young student; she found it hard to learn new things at her age; [she couldn't memorize]. She learned about longitude & latitude & the equator. Ba even corrected my brother when he confused latitude & longitude. Bapu taught Ba 2 songs from the Gujrati 5th grade reader; every day the couple sat down & sang songs together. Ba couldn't memorize the names of India's provinces & big cities. She never gave up studying altogether. She read Gitjali with Bapu at midday, & recited it with me at night. Ba walked with Bapu for a month, after which she needed to take shorter, slower walks, & watch Bapu take his while she read. Her way of reading & writing was childlike. [Bapu thought her writing needed improvement], which hurt Ba deeply. To the end, her writing notebook lay unused among Bapu's papers.
During 1931-33 Ba went to jail thrice and every time in her imprisonment, She had the Bhagwat and the Ramayana read to her regularly. Ba used to sit down with the Ramayan in the afternoon and read with explanatory notes, the verses to be recited in the evening, like she did in Sevagram. With all her reverence for Ramayan, she had not lost her critical faculty, and questioned exaggerated accounts. Gandhiji decided that it would be a good thing to translate selections into simple Gujrati and write down every morning, in bold characters, the translation of the verses to be recited in the evening. With Gandhiji's fast, his voluminous correspondence with the Government, and looking after Ba as her health went further down hill, we were kept fully occupied. The work of making selections and translations remained unfinished.
The duty of explaining the evening prayer verses' meaning came to me. I tried to explain them in Gujrati as best I could; sometimes she would comment. This routine was followed regularly almost right up to her death. 2 or 3 days before the end I asked her, "Ba, would you like the Ramayana explained tonight?" She responded, "Why do you ask, instead of sitting down with the Ramayana as usual?" I said, "You were looking tired, that is why I asked." She said calmly, "Listening to Ramayana while lying in bed isn't going to tax me. Go on, begin."
[Ba: Religious Fasting, Bias & Tolerance]—Ba asked, "When is Ekadashi?" Bapu asked for an Indian calendar, & while we waited, he & I worked out the calendar for the rest of the year, marking full-moon days & no-moon days. Ba used to observe a fast on Ekadashi. I don't think that she missed a single Ekadeshi. She fasted every Monday, Krishna's birthday, consummation of Shiva's marriage. She also fasted on Independence Day, National Week, Quit India Day. On Makar Sankranti, [near Christmas & Western New Year], she wanted til (sesamum) to make a sweet & from the kitchen she distributed them to convicts who came from Yeravada Prison.
Ba was not a highly educated lady, but had mature wisdom. She was an ideal Hindu wife, who placed her duty towards her husband above everything else. I encouraged Bapu to tell his own story. To hear his story from his own lips was far more interesting than to read it in his autobiography. Ba and Bapu played together as children. The women of Ba's family said, "We might [be] orthodox & not allow untouchables into our houses or not drink water touched by a Muslim; these things aren't for you. The higher ideal is to follow your husband, for which no sin will attach to you. The result cannot be anything but good." Whatever she did, she did out of faith. Ba was a regular spinner, spinning 300-500 rounds every day. We 1st had her give up spinning for her health, and then tried to get her started again to distract her mind, but she never took to it regularly again.
I never saw any "untouchability" about Ba. At the Ashram I met a girl called Lakshmi; I later discovered "Mahatmaji" had adopted "a sweeper's girl" as his daughter. Ba treated Harajan servants like family members. She said, "God made us all. How can there be any high & low?" Ba wasn't able to shed her old ideas completely. She had deep reverence for Brahmins & gave them preferential treatment; it caused bad feelings among sepoys. She expected a particular Brahmin to know when they were going home. She treated Muslims around her kindly, & couldn't understand stories of Muslim atrocities, when she would think of all the Muslims that were as dear to her as her close Hindu friends. She wouldn't accept service from those who did it to please Bapu.
Never had imprisonment oppressed Ba so much as this time, [and she developed fatalistic thinking about her own life & the possibility of winning against a mighty government]. Bapu said, "You must dismiss all gloomy thoughts from your mind ... make up your mind to get well. She asked, Why should Bapuji have pitted himself against such a mighty government?" I replied, "God is there. Bapuji depends on none but Him and He will see him through." Ba said, "Even God seems to be against us at present." [She picked a quarrel with Bapu about picking a quarrel with this mighty Government]. She finally said, "There is nothing to do now, but to put up with the result of your own doings. We will suffer with you ... Next it will be my turn"; Ba remained silent. Ba would sometimes report the news she had heard to the rest of those detained.
The Fast—As the time passed, the suffering of the people, the news of the famine & Government repression, made him restless. How could he be a silent witness to all that was happening? How could he share the sufferings of his countrymen from behind the bars? How could he make the Government see the wrong they were heaping on dumb millions? He mentioned fasting in his letter to the Viceroy. We all pleaded with him to delete it. "They shouldn't have a chance of saying that they couldn't listen under the threat of a fast." Bapu said, "The quiet I need is something different from the ordinary. I can't keep Ba away from me. I do not wish to."
The very idea of a fast was most upsetting for all of us. My brother asked me, "How many days fast do you think Bapu can stand in the present state of his health?" I said, "Judging from this he will not be able to stand a long fast." Mrs. Naidu said, "Do not worry Ba. Bapu has said he will not fast unless there is a clear call from God to do so. God will never tell him to go on a fast." She later said, "Bapu, your fast will kill Ba. Bapu laughed and thought that Ba would "handle it better than any of you." He managed to talk Ba into supporting his fast.
On the 10th of February, Gandhi began his fast. Ba gave up having full meals & went on a diet of fruits & milk as she usually did. During Gandhiji's fast, she spent most of her time by his bedside. On the 3rd day of the fast, Gandhiji started having nausea, so that he could not drink water. He vomited, his blood became thick, his kidneys began to fail. As the fast progressed, Ba spent more and more time in sitting and praying before the Tulsi plant or before Balkrisha. On February 22, Bapu's life hung in the balance; Ba was lost in meditation before the Tulsi plant. [It took great effort to drink even a ½-ounce if water; it exhausted him; with a silent nod Bapu agreed to fruit juice in his water. As soon as the system received some fluid, the lifeless face began to show signs of life.
During Gandhiji's 21-day fast, Aga Khan's palace gates were thrown open; there was a constant stream of visitors coming to see him. He was too weak to talk to most of them. Ba was amazingly brave & never had a moment's rest. Gandhiji had in instructed them that no visitor was to be offered any refreshment; it was hard for Ba to observe this rule, especially for her own family. At last the 21 days were over. The Government would allow only sons to be present at the breaking of the fast, not friends. Since Gandhiji had ceased to make that distinction, he decided that the sons shouldn't come either. The last day of the fast was the last day for visitors. Ba said to her Ashram "sisters, "This is my final good bye, friends." [When I disagreed, she said], "Yes you will all go."
Conclusion: [After Fast]—Because Gandhi was out of danger, & was convalescing nicely, the Government reinforced the original restrictions. [Ba's condition worsened with no visits from her sons to look forward to]. She tired easily. She had an attack of acute, rapid & arrhythmic heartbeat twice a little over a week apart. Gandhiji began to say that he would have to spend at least 7 years in prison. This gave a shock to Ba, who said, "I can't expect to live for 7 years more & go out with the rest. & yet her childlike simplicity & innocent faith would not let her give up hope altogether; she still prayed to Balkrishna. Ba found out that Manu, daughter of a distant relative was in Nagpur Jail, & was having eye trouble. Ba started having frequent heart attacks. She wanted Gandhi to write a letter requesting Manu as a nurse, but Gandhi didn't want to give the Government an opportunity to say "no." Manu, arrived at Aga Khan's palace on March 23rd. Gandhiji began spending more time in correspondence with the Government; [Ba's education dwindled]. She took up watching us play Badminton or Ten-nicoit and [being unofficial referee]. She began to play Karrom, a cue-sport based table game of Indian origin, & would practice in the afternoon; she used to lose herself enough in playing Karrom to forget about her illness.
[Ba's Cooking and Medication/ Communication Blackout]—Now and then she would prepare some-thing nice. She wanted Puran Puri (Sweet bread) which could cause indigestion and a heart attack. Bapuji said he would eat it if she didn't. She was very angry with me [for not letting her have eggplant] & for almost 15 days refused to eat any cooked food; during that time Ba kept very good health. 2 days before her death, Ba was con-vinced that castor oil would help; it most likely wouldn't help. When I refused to give it to her, or let anyone else, she refused to take any medication. We ended up giving her a little bit of castor oil mixed with liquid paraffin.
At the time of the August arrests in 1942, Government orders were that the prisoners were to get no newspapers, give no interviews, write or receive no letters. At the end of August, the Inspector General of Prisons told us that we could write to our relatives about domestic matters if we wished; no mention of our whereabouts could be made. Miraben needed permission to write her friends in India, as her family was overseas. Gandhi responded, "For me there is no distinction between relatives and friends ...I have no domestic matters to write about ... If I cannot even write about non-political constructive activities, the permission is of no use to me." To us he said, "I think none of us can agree to letters under Government's conditions." Some of our companions thought it was wrong for my brother and I not to write, [implying that we were equating ourselves with the Mahatma in doing so]. Gandhi said, "You are part of me ... here because of me. Therefore you cannot write when I can not. If you have not strength to follow my advice, or if ... you think your duty is different you can withdraw your letter to the Government and begin writing home like everyone else." I did not feel the need to do so.
After a few days Ba started writing letters, and pressured me to write my mother. When I refused she wrote her son that lived near my mother, giving him detailed news about me and my brother, who also did not write. My sister-in-law died after giving birth to a baby girl. She loved me like her own sister. My brother and mother had applied to the Government for my release on parole, but the Government had refused. Ba pressured Bapuji to persuade me to write home. He suggested that I write at least once to my mother and brother for their peace of mind. My brother at home replied that mother's health was indifferent. We requested that the baby be sent to us or that I be paroled to go care for the baby; both requests were denied.
[Ba's Health Worsens]—Breathlessness began to interfere with sleeping. A table was placed across her legs. She would rest her arms on the table, put her head on her arms & go to sleep. Gandhi kept & used this table after her death. She was put on oxygen, & we consulted other doctors. Nursing became more & more taxing. As a result of lengthy correspondence & several weeks after the 1st request, the Government sent Prabhavati & Ka-nu Gandhi on February 1, 3 weeks before the end. The Government took no notice of a request for family visits for a long time; when Ba's illness took a serious turn they sent for her sons; Ba was very happy to see them.
The chief aggravating cause of her illness was confinement, the indefinite length of the detention, and the [monotony of being with the same, small group of people for over a year. The government put strict conditions as who could be present during the visits of relatives, or of the practioner of the Indian system of medicine (vaidya). Gandiji had to carry on lengthy correspondence with officials in order to have the unreasonable conditions that were imposed on such visits lifted. The officials claimed that their conditions had been misunderstood. The authority to call a vaidya went through a bureaucratic maze before it rested with our jail's doctor. Ba grew impatient with the Ayurvedic treatment, and had to be pleaded with to give the new treatment a fair trial].
On the following day she felt so much better that in the evening [she was up and about in her wheelchair, and meditating in the little Balkrishna temple Miraben's room. Our excitement did not last long; the restlessness returned. Ba's condition was so serious that treatment required [round-the-clock] care. The Government would not let the doctor to stay in the Aga Khan's palace at night. [It took 3 nights of the doctor sleeping in his car out-side the palace] and a letter from Gandhiji threatening to stop the treatment, or any treatment, before permission was given for the vaidyaraj to sleep on Ba's verandah. On the 17th Gandhiji said to me: "If there is no improvement in the patient's condition by tomorrow, the vaidya will probably go away, If the case comes under your care next, my advice will be to stop all medicines. But that can only happen if you and Dr. Gilder can digest what I say and accept it wholeheartedly." There was difficulty getting permission for Harilal, Ba's eldest son, to see Ba more than once; Ba asked for him every day. On the 19th Ba's condition was serious. The Government telegraphed for Shri Ramdas and Devadas Gandhi and search for Harilal Gandhi.
[Ba's Final Days]—On the 19th, Ba had continuous oxygen throughout the night; she slept fairly well. [We sometimes played the gramophone; Ba like] "Shri Ram Bhajo dukh men sukh men" (Call on the name of God in happiness and sorrow). Gandhiji sat on her bed almost throughout the day; his proximity gave her peace of mind. Gandhi said: "Please stop all medicines now. Ramnam is the sovereign remedy ... If she asks for food, we shall see what to do ... I do not believe in medicines ... but I have not forced this rule on Ba. I have heard nothing but Ramnam come from her lips since this morning ... I would certainly stop all medicines while she is in this frame of mind ... God will pull her through, else I would let her go."
For days Gandhiji had lived on liquid diet; a meal took 10 minutes. Ba's illness was putting such a strain on his mind that he couldn't have maintained health without cutting down his food drastically. When Ba lay down flat [for the 1st time in a long time], Bapu asked us to recite Gitaji in the next room so that Ba could hear it. Ba asked for castor oil again. She asked for Harilalbhia every day. When he was found he said he had overslept in the afternoon; we knew what that meant & it upset Ba. She said to her youngest son Devdas, "The burden of loo-king after the family will have to be borne by you. Bapuji is a saint. He has to think of the whole world.
Day and night Gandhiji came to sit with Ba several times. When Gandhi sat on her bed, she leaned against him; he would sometimes miss his midday rest if she was asleep on his shoulder. What did it matter if Gandhiji sacrificed his rest for a few days? Why should anybody stand in the way of a thing that gives him peace of mind? How can he keep away from her and how can we ask him to do so? At one point Ba needed handkerchiefs; Bapu chose to wash the dirty ones. Gandhiji spent an hour every afternoon giving Ba cold and warm hip baths and sitz baths. He said: God has given me this rare opportunity to serve in the evening of my life. I consider it invaluable. So long as Ba will accept my services, I will gladly spare the time for her."
[Final Day: 2/22/44]—The Government's reasoning for not releasing Ba was that if her condition became serious after release, they would have to release Gandhi or be called heartless brutes." Devedasbhai had brought Gangajal (Ganges water). Bapu pour a spoonful in Ba's mouth, & she said, "Ram Hei Ram." The drink gave her great peace of mind. Gandhi gave others a chance to sit by her. She derived great satisfaction from Devadas-bhai's presence near her. She said, "Do not sorrow after my death. It should be an occasion for rejoicing. O, Lord. I have filled my belly like an animal. Forgive me. I pray for your grace. I want to be your devotee & love you with all my heart. I want nothing else."
After much discussion, & learning that giving penicillin meant injections every 3 hours, Gandhiji didn't want her to have them. At 7:15 pm Ba called out "Bapuji" He came & sat by her on the bed. No photograph was taken of Ba & Bapuji then, so as not to mar the sanctity of Bapuji's & Ba's last moments of together. She put her head on his lap & lay back. She open her mouth, 3 or 4 gasps & all was still. She was at last free from all bondage.
[Funeral and Release]—Bapuji , Manu, Santokben and I bathed the dead body, washed and combed her hair and wrapped her in the sari made of Gandhiji's yarn, using a 2nd sari washed in the Gangajal as a winding sheet. Gandhiji's yarn was put on her arms as bangles. Ba's room was cleaned. Miraben arranged flowers in her hair and round the head. There was a gentle smile and peace on the face. The wrinkles were less marked. The whole of the Gita was recited. The prayer took 1½ hours. Because Gandhiji was a poor man, he would not bring sandalwood for cremation himself. He allowed the Government to provide it. Gandhiji's 3 choices for the cremation were: public, open, outside, no Government interference; inside Aga Khan's palace with friends and relatives; no outsiders at all if friends are not allowed. Gandhi would not go outside for the public funeral. The Government was not prepared to allow a public funeral; they accepted the 2nd alternative.
On February 23, Friends & relatives started coming in from 7 am, a total of about 150 people. Friends of every community—Hindu, Muslim, Parsis, Christians, and Englishmen—were present. Devdasbhai was selected by the Brahmin to perform the last rites for his mother. Gandhiji offered a short prayer that contained bits of Hindu, Muslims, Christian, and Parsi prayers. The firewood arranged under the funeral pyre was not enough. It was difficult to add more while the pyre was ablaze. Kanu's hair and eyelashes were scorched in the process. The cremation took a long time and Gandhiji and many of the friends stayed on the cremation until 4 pm.
He was experiencing great pain at the parting. He is a sage and a great man, but with all that he is most human. "I cannot imagine life without Ba. I had always wished her to go in my hands so that I won't have to worry what will become of her when I am no more. But she was an indivisible part of me. Her passing away has left a vacuum which never will be filled ... She passed away in my lap! Could it be better?" I am happy beyond measure." Davdasbhi and Ramdasbhai stayed for 3 days and then left with the bones and ashes of their mother.
We took floral offerings to Mahadevbhai's & Ba's samadhis [funerary monuments] both morning & evening; morning prayers were the 12th chapter of Gita. At the foot of Ba's samadhi we decided to make a swastika with flowers. Our pilgrimage to the samadhis was an appreciation of the great qualities of the 2 departed souls. It was our prayer to God to enable us to follow in their footsteps. Ba's illness had put tremendous strain on Gandhi-ji; he went down with severe malaria. The Government wasn't prepared to take the responsibility of a 3rd death in jail. On May 6, 1944, the gates of the detention camp were thrown open & Gandhiji & his party were released.
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379. Living Truth: a Spiritual Portrait of Pierre Ceresole—1879-1945 (by Keith Maddock; 2005)
About the Author—Keith R. Maddock was born in Galt, Ontario in 1947, and lived in Toronto most of his adult life. He obtained degrees in religious education and theology from Emmanuel College in the Toronto School of Theology. His work as a congregational youth worker led him to the faith of the Society of Friends. He has also written Beyond the Bars A Quaker Prime for Prison Visitors (PHP 342).
235. A.J. Muste, pacifist & prophet: his relation to the Society of Friends (by Jo Ann Robinson; 1981)
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165. Gandhi Remembered (by Horace G. Alexander; 1969)
About the Author—Born at Croydon, England, in 1889, Horace Alexander passed from Bootham Quaker School to King’s College, Cambridge where he received a degree in history. After 20 years as an international relations lecturer, he was director at Woodbrooke, the English Quaker study center. [In 1928], he was in India studying opium addiction on the spot. [He spent a week at] Gandhi’s ashram. [After experiencing British arro-gance], “I [accepted] Gandhi’s view of things & worked for Indian freedom.” He lived in India for over 10 years.
Religion should pervade every one of our actions. It [is] a belief in ordered moral government of the universe. This religion transcends [all others]; it harmonizes them… I would say that Truth is God.” Gandhi
Gandhi believed to the end that the country that can set the example of non-violence, without waiting for its neighbors, will be able to lead the world away from hatred, fear, and mistrust toward the true community, the harmony of man. Horace Alexander.
[Beginnings]—[At Gandhi’s ashram], he invited me to join him for early ½-hour domestic duty. I was able to have several casual talks with him; he was easy & simple to talk to, [& very direct]. This man, the leader of India’s revolt against British rule was the creator of a new force in politics: disciplined, non-violent mass action against systems felt to be unjust & immoral. When he was assassinated, people around the world wept.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born October 2, 1869. The family were devout Hindus. It was thought legal training in London was likely to be best preparation for a successful career in India. [His mother objected, but he went anyway, promising that he would remain vegetarian & sexually pure. He kept his vow on the long voyage, though this meant starving himself on the ship, which served no vegetarian food. In London he read about [& experimented with] vegetarianism & became a vegetarian by convincement, not merely by tradition.
His 3 years in England helped him find himself. He was content to make friends with a few congenial Englishmen. He passed examination without difficulty & became a barrister. Soon it appeared his English law degree wouldn't help him in the Indian courts; his cases there were fiascos. [He couldn’t be a teacher, either].
South Africa—He decided to try his luck as a lawyer in South Africa. He found himself among thousands of Indians. Indians were recruited under a system of indenture which made it almost impossible to return to In-dia. [Whether wealthy or poor, Indians] were still known by the white people who ran the country as “coolies.” Gandhi sought a settlement rather than the trying of the case, demonstrating from the beginning that his view of the true function of a lawyer should seeking peaceful settlement rather than outright victory. Ultimately he stayed on in South Africa for 20 years, and led Indians in the battle against fresh discriminatory legislation.
There was something unique about the quality of his leadership which enable him to achieve extraordinary results. Gandhi was able to identify himself closely with all the many people of different languages and religion. When the time came for common action, men and women cheerfully underwent prison sentences again and again. He settled on land and christened it “Tolstoy’s Farm”; he became farmer, nurse, and teacher. He was a profound believer in the dignity and moral value of manual work.
He & General Smuts fought each other vigorously; they also learnt a high personal regard for each other. At an earlier period, when the British still governed half of South Africa, [during the Boer Wars], Gandhi organized an ambulance corps to help the British forces, even though his sympathies were with the Boers. The Indians showed themselves well disciplined and courageous under fire, and Gandhi received a decoration for valor.
Active resistance to South African law continued for some 8 years, with intervals for negotiation. Gandhi believed that Smuts had promised to repeal the legislation requiring Indians to carry passes. When he discovered that the “Black Act” still existed, he gathered with other Indians to burn their passes publicly. It can’t be said that the suffering of the Indians in South Africa achieved very much. 10 years later Gandhi believed that conditions for Indians in South Africa were worse than ever. He did demonstrate that mighty governments can be resisted.
Back to India—When he returned to India in 1914, Gandhi accepted the direction & advice of G.K. Gokhale. Gandhi took his advice to keep quiet a year. When approached on behalf of some hundreds of indigo workers, he checked out their grievances, found they were real and encouraged resistance. Gandhi joined a commission of inquiry, and while he had to give up some of the peasant’s claims, most of the abuses were swept away. Workers on strike at a cotton factory near his home came to him for advice. Gandhi supported the workers, [strengthened their resolve], and they won their case. He had demonstrated “satyagraha” [soul-force], the mighty power of truth to be set against the evil of false hood.
The Indian National Congress met in annual session & urged sharing of authority. Others want full self-government & they wanted it now. The younger men resorted to terrorism. The 1919 massacre at Amritsar final-ly alienated him from the British government. The movement Gandhi called for was called off after a mob burned several police to death. [A “little violence” was acceptable to others but & to Gandhi]. His satyagraha meant a kind of civil disobedience that would be “civil.” He was arrested after he called off the campaign, & served 2 years of a 6 year sentence when he was suddenly stricken with appendicitis, operated on, & released.
The Constructive Program—Gandhi was never a politician pure & simple. The key to his public action was a passionate concern for the starving millions in India’s villages. His main quarrel with the British Government was that its policies, far from [making] India more prosperous, impoverished & emasculated the Indian people. He was concerned with what he called “the constructive program,” [which was] important economic & social reforms. Together with Jawaharlal Nehru, he united the Indian Congress behind a radical reform program.
[After his early medical release, Gandhi stayed out of politics for another 4 years]. [In light of the Hindu-Muslim riots], he did a 3-week fast in the home of one of his Muslim friends in Delhi. He traveled from village to village, preaching goodwill among all the people, urging them to solve their own problems, & to spin for half an hour every day. [Health issues] forced him to a lighter work load: helping with menial tasks; listening to many visitors to the ashram; & editing & writing his weekly Young India, a running commentary on public affairs. In opposing an excessive increase in peasant land revenue, after appeals had failed, he encouraged mass disobedience, [which forced] the government to give way.
The Round Table Conferences—The British Government decided to have a [purely British commission] decide whether India was ready for moving toward self-government. [All India] found the appointment method of this commission insulting. India’s several parties formed their own commission & made their own plan, called the Nehru report. The British Government invited Indian leaders to London for a Round Table Conference. Since the government wouldn’t assure them of full Dominion status, the Indian Congress refused to take part.
Gandhi decided to start the campaign by breaking the salt law, which prohibited taking salt from the sea. Gandhi started the action, which stirred all of India; many were arrested. Soon they found other laws to break. In the absence of the leaders still in jail, [including Gandhi], a number of Indians did take part in a London conference in the autumn of 1930, [and made progress] towards a free India government. Gandhi met with the British Viceroy, Lord Irwin [which incensed British imperialists], had long heart-to-heart talks, and made a pact which enabled Gandhi to call off the civil disobedience, and to take part in the Round Table Conference of 1931.
For nearly 3 months Gandhi was in England. Large sections of the English hated him as a dangerous rebel, but others were eager to meet him and to learn from him. The working people responded to his outspoken friendliness. The sophisticated people of England found him difficult to appreciate. He spent one weekend at Woodbrooke, the English equivalent of Pendle Hill. He joined the students for the devotional meetings, and one evening visitors plied him with questions, not all of them friendly, for well over an hour; some misunderstood his beliefs when he said that [there might be violence against non-violent resisters].
A Convert to Silence—I was able to be with him 1 or 2 days each week; he was never out of temper. The Scotland Yard detectives & domestic helpers who looked after Gandhi became devoted friends. English Friends felt concern for the conference. Meetings of silent prayer, holding the conference in mind, were held each week at Friends House. Several years earlier I had suggested silence in the ashram’s prayers. He replied he didn’t think it would suit the ashram’s members; & that he wasn’t impressed with South African Quaker meetings.
Gandhi attended 2 meetings at Friends house, in spite of having a bad cough before the 2nd one; he was very impressed with the 2 meetings. A few months later I received a letter from him, now back in India & in jail again. There had been personal difficulties at the ashram. He had suggested a few minutes of silent meditation in the prayers each day. He wrote: “This they have done, & they tell me that things are going better.” The 2 minutes of silence remained a part of the ashram prayers through the rest of his life. The work of the Round Table Conference continued in a 3rd session, and a new measure of self-government was actually coming into being.
Untouchability—[In the midst of this] was a grave & difficult issue. India had separate electorates for Muslims & Hindus; the Depressed Classes wanted their own separate electorate. Gandhi resisted this [condition] & reasoning in the strongest manner. British Prime Minister’s decision was known officially as the “communal award”; it gave the Depressed classes a separate electorate. Gandhi declared a fast unto death in opposition. Within a few days the Hindu & Depressed Class leaders agreed on a modified plan, which the British government accepted & which assured the untouchable communities reserved seats in the legislatures for many years.
Gandhi interpreted his release as meaning “release for the prosecution of his campaign to destroy the system of untouchability.” His new weekly paper was named Harijan (Children of God), because God is a friend to the poor; only they should called God’s children. [In campaign], Gandhi was opposed by orthodox Hindus, & occasionally faced abuse & hostile demonstration. It may be fairly claimed Gandhi's actions in 1930’s, & vigorously supported by Nehru & other colleagues have broken the old curse of untouchability in India.
A New Constitution & World War II—The strong & relentless government action against civil disobedience had worn the Congress Party down. In 1937, the new constitution came into force. Elections were held in British India for new provincial assemblies; the Congress won sweeping victories. In 6 provinces they were able to form ministries. The Viceroy gave assurance that governors wouldn’t intervene. Gandhi approved this cooperation in the hope that the ministries might encourage village industries, [economic and social reforms].
[Progress was made towards a complete withdrawal, but when war broke out in 1939], the Viceroy declared that India was also at war with Germany without consulting Gandhi or any other leader of Indian opinion. Before long the strain between British and Indian became so acute that the Congress leaders all withdrew from the provincial ministries. Gandhi was led to initiate individual disobedience. After failure of the Cripps Mission in 1942 Congress again declared for active opposition to British authority.
[The threat of Japanese invasion caused Gandhi to issue instruction to the Indian people on methods of non-violent, non-cooperation with possible Japanese invaders. The government did not wait for the “rebellion” to get under way, but arrested Gandhi and all the chief Congress leaders, and they remained isolated from the world until the war was over. Solution to the Indian government problem foundered on the claims of the Muslim League, represented by M. A. Jinnah, to a separation from India.
Independence at Last—In 1945, a new government came into office in Britain; its leaders were determined to bring about full Indian freedom. It was hard to convince Congress leaders, [including Gandhi,] that the British meant business. A Constituent Assembly to prepare a constitution for a free India was planned for. August 1946 to August 1947 saw terrible bloodshed & violence as Muslim & Hindus slaughtered one another. Gandhi toured on foot through the countryside, trying to restore courage to the minority & rebuking the majority groups.
When Lord Mountbatten came as Viceroy in 1947, he found Congress leaders ready to accept partition. On August 15, 1947, India & Pakistan were proclaimed free countries. On that day Gandhi was in deserted Muslim house in Calcutta. I asked if I might be with him, wherever it might be; [he said yes]. In Calcutta Gandhi and Mr. Suhrawardy, leader of the Muslim League, were entering into an extraordinary partnership. They made a pact to live with each other in an effort to restore peace to this city which had been approaching civil war for a year.
The Miracle of Calcutta—On our arrival, we were greeted with a hostile demonstration from a number of young Hindus. Gandhi, with his usual frankness told them how misguided their behavior really was. When the shouting started again the next day, he talked to the men, and brought to the window Suhrawardy, who admitted his shame at the killings last August, adding, “we should all be ashamed.” Gandhi was intending to spend the next day in prayer and fasting. At our prayers the next morning, some young girls came singing Tagore’s beautiful songs of freedom; they joined us at prayer. The black clouds of fear seemed to have dissolved overnight, and the city was basking in universal goodwill. Efforts were made from the Hindu side to break this hard-won unity, but the people of Calcutta wouldn't go back to the evil days from which they had been delivered.
Partition: the Aftermath—The northwest’s partition led to fresh outbreaks of violence. Millions were driven from their homes on both sides of the new frontier. During the last months [of his life], when Gandhi was working to bring goodwill & make India safe for Muslims to live as 1st-class citizens, I was often in & out of his room in Dehli. [Many influential visitors] would come for his advice. One could see the haggard, overwrought look on the face of the visitor give way to repose. The problem might not have been solved, but the burden had been lifted. It was typical of him to find time for all his innumerable friends, whenever they might need his help.
One day in the middle of January 1948, I went into see Mr. Gandhi. It was his weekly silent day, but we laughed [over a cute photograph]. Not until after did I realize that he had been all the while in inward agony of spirit. With Muslims being terrorized by Hindus and Sikhs, he felt he must begin an unlimited fast. A promise to work for racial harmony led him to break his fast. A few days later a Hindu shot him dead. The shock of his death did more for the protection and security of the Muslim community than all his efforts over many months.
Gandhi’s Guiding Principles—Gandhi said: “[My critics] have it the wrong way round. I am a politician who is trying to become a saint.” His whole life was a protest against the idea that a religious man is one who withdraws himself out of the world in to pray and meditate. Gandhi said: “Religion should pervade every one of our actions. It [is] a belief in ordered moral government of the universe. This religion transcends [all others]; it harmonizes them… I would say that Truth is God.” It is partly because the final Truth is so vast and so rich that each man finds a different aspect of it. His life was a pursuit of ultimate truth, with [its] joy of discovery.
Truth and Non-violence guided him through every crisis. Gandhi had strong views about ends and means. He had no use for short cuts, [especially violence]. He said to let each contribute all one can to the community; then only let one begin to think of one’s rights. Let those who have faith in the justice of their cause demonstrate their convictions by self-suffering. His dream [was a country] composed in the main of [productive, tight-knit village community. His dream was a [united world], where nations live in mutual respect, where all obey the moral law of non-violence, and practice mutual aid. He believed to the end that the country that can set the example of non-violence, without waiting for its neighbors, will be able to lead the world away from hatred, fear, and mistrust toward the true community, the harmony of man.
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[Nayyar]—Soon after Kasturba's death in detention at Aga Khan's palace (8/8/42-2/22/44) , Gandhi asked me to write down reminiscences of her. The original was in Hindi & appeared as part of Kasturba's biography of which this pamphlet is a free translation. [Gandhi was released from Aga Khan's palace 5/6/44].
M. K. Gandhi's Introduction—The root cause attracting the public to Kasturba was her ability to lose herself in me. I never insisted on abnegation; I didn't know she had it. In my early experience she was obstinate, which led to estrangement periods. As time passed, I & my service of the people became one. She slowly merged herself with my activities. Perhaps Indian soil loves this quality in a wife. Self-abnegation was developed by our Brahmacharya—self-control in thought, word, & deed. I made a resolve & Ba accepted it as her own. As a wo-man & wife, she considered it her duty to lose herself in me ever after. She looked after me till her last breath.
Publisher's Introduction—This book[let] is an actual exhibit of Indian life and thought, and is not aimed at an American audience. It records a young woman doctor's recollection of Mrs. M. K. Gandhi, an intimate ac-count of a man and woman whom Indians loved and admired. It ask the reader for an unusual amount of sympathy for a foreign climate, but will reward one with a very interesting and authentic picture of the simple, homely, domestic life of the man mainly responsible for the most successful major transfer of political power in our age. The Kasturba Fund was established to commemorate her life. The Friends' Service Unit in India, with connections to Pendle Hill, has worked in close touch with trustees of this fund. Madeline Slade [Miraben], who worked with Gandhi, visited Pendle Hill in 1934. Horace Alexander visited Gandhi in detention at Aga Khan's palace, gave lectures at Pendle Hill, and wrote the pamphlet Quakerism and India (#31). Gandhi wrote an introduction to the Indian edition of A Discipline for Nonviolence (#11) by Richard Gregg.
Mr. & Mrs. Gandhi are referred to as "Bapu" & "Ba," Gujrati words for "father" & "mother." The 2 were married for 62 years. Mr. & Mrs. Gandhi lived at Sevagram Ashram in the Central Provinces. Chief among the aides living there was Mahadev Desai, Mr. Gandhi's secretary for many years. After Desai's death the author's older brother, Pyarelal Sushila acted as his secretary. Part of the background to this account is the Indian Congress Party's movement for "Swaraj," national self-rule. "Satyagraha" (insistence on truth) took the form of public non-violent breaches of legislation or administrative action seen as wrong. "Non-cooperation" aimed to reduce to a minimum cooperation given by the population to its foreign rulers. "Khadi" is cloth hand-woven from hand-spun Indian cotton yarn as a matter of principle to foster self-reliant village life. Religious terms aren't always translated; there often isn't a good English equivalent. The Gita, Ramayana, Bhagwat, Balakanda, & Ayodhya are religious writings. Explanations marked "Ed." have been inserted by the publishers.
The Ashram: [Mother's Visit and Impression of Ba]—I saw Shrimati Kasturba for the 1st time in about December 1920. Mother went to Gandhi to request he send her son Pyarelal back to her. She ended up spending the day talking to Ba. She was deeply impressed by what Ba had told her. So she said: "Gandhiji, you can keep my son for 4 or 5 years ... but send him back after that." My mother had simply fallen in love with her. Gandhi had spoken to her and chided her for vanity. The air around him was too rarified for her. Ba spoke to her as one woman to another. Everybody was passing through an era of unhappiness and one had to bear one's burden. She was impressed by Ba's wonderful loyalty to her husband and her readiness to face any amount of sacrifice and suffering. A day with Ba had shown her that her son would at least have a mother's care in his new surroundings.
[My 1st Visit]—In 1929, I came into closer contact with Ba. My mother did not like the idea. I had never been away from my mother. At last my mother agreed to let me go with my brother on a short visit. I felt both miserable at being away from home, and excited and happy to be seeing something new. My brother told me wonderful tales of the achievements of the children of my age there. I worked hard throughout the journey and learned the shlokas of the evening prayer. The morning prayer bell rang at 4 am. My brother took me to Ba's and Bapu's verandah. Bapu told my brother that hereafter I should sleep near Ba on his verandah. Throughout my stay in the ashram I had breakfast with Ba and she was so loving and motherly that I always looked forward to breakfast. I felt terribly homesick. Everybody talked in Gujrati or Marathi which were foreign tongues to me.
I was educated at home and ahead of others in education. But I did not know how to make friends and dreaded meeting strangers. Ba spoke to me sweetly in her broken Hindustani and looked after my needs. I went to the kitchen with Ba and did what little I could. Ba sat there, radiant and smiling, and finished more than her quota of work with amazing agility and neatness; she retained this trait till the very end. Her watchful eye followed Bapu all the time. She saw to it that those who provided personal service did so punctually, [but the] mother in her did not like interrupting a young man's meal. Ba taught me how to wash my own clothes. I found that somebody or other always drew the water for me when I went there. A group of visitors came to the ashram & needed a guide. I was asked by Bapu, but I hadn't seen all the ashram myself. Bapu rebuked me for not acquainting myself with my surroundings long ago. I was thoroughly ashamed of myself. Ba told Bapu & my brother to arrange to show me around the ashram & the neighboring city.
[My 2nd Ashram Visit]—My holiday was coming to an end. Bapu took me with him to Agra. I went to Delhi & after a day or 2 my mother & I left for Lahore & home. I made up my mind to wear Khadi (homespun). I couldn't use mill-made cloth after visiting the ashram. My mother was annoyed at first & resisted my wearing Khadi for a month. At last my mother gave in & got some more Khadi, so that I could send them to be washed.
In 1930, I again went to the ashram during summer vacation. My brother and Bapu were at that time in jail as a result of the salt [tax] satygraha. Ba was touring from village to village, seeing workers, visiting police excess victims, and encouraging people. The Ba I saw this time was worn out with incessant touring on foot. The loving older mother was now a soldier of satygraha engaged in a grim fight. She did not understand politics, but she knew Bapu, and that he was leading the fight. That was enough for her to throw herself into it heart and soul.
I went with Ba to Sabarmati Jail. I had never been before & felt suffocated. Ba saw the worn-out faces of her sons with perfect calm & inquired about their companions with them in jail. Suffering for the sake of the country's freedom became so natural to her that she thought nothing of imprisonment for herself, her husband or her children. Gandhiji was rearrested & sent back to jail in 1932. Bapu invited Sushila's mother to see them off to jail & then join them, which she did. She has often told us how cheerfully Ba put up with prison life's hardships. Leaving aside physical hardships, mere incarceration frays nerves. In December 1937 Gandhiji fell ill in Calcutta. [In order to look after him, I took a month off from studying medicine], which turned into over 2 years.
[Ba's Routine]—At Sevagram, I slept near Ba at night. [At first], I got up in the morning & went away leaving my bedding as it was; Ba collected it & put it inside without saying anything; I felt ashamed. I don't think I ever gave her a chance to do so again. I wanted to fold [hers & mine but never managed to]. She hated taking service from others if she could help it. She didn't shirk from picking up heavy mattresses & bedding just to fold an untidy blanket or sheet. Dirt, untidiness, irregularity, and forgetfulness she simply could not bear. She got up for morning prayers at 4 am, and fixed Bapuji breakfast while he napped afterwards. [Others wanted the privilege to serve Gandhiji] and she was too kind to disappoint the girls. Her watchful eye followed them everywhere and she saw that things were done neatly and properly, [including cleanup afterwards].
Ba had her bath while Gandhiji walked. She supervised preparation of Gandhiji's midday meal. She rubbed his feet after the meal, and rested while he slept. After resting, she hand spun at least 400 to 500 rounds every day. How can success of a national movement hinge on widespread performance of a simple daily task? In the evening she prepared Gandhiji's meal and served him; she took only coffee in the evening. Often she would go for a short walk with other elderly ladies and meet Gandhiji at the end of his walk. Next it was time for evening prayer, which included singing part of the Ramayana. She studied that day's verses in the morning. She prayed and chatted with the ashram's ladies after that. She finished the day by preparing Gandhiji's, Kanu's and her own bed for the night. She took care of her grandson with the vigilance and enthusiasm of a young mother. Gandhiji discovered that he could not take the place of "Motiba" and had to turn the boy over to his mother.
[Gandhiji's Health/ Disciplining Others]—After falling ill in Calcutta, Gandhiji's blood pressure was erratic. Doctors advised him to avoid cold and overwork. Miraben vacated her hut for his use, but he refused to use it. Ba said, "Bapu will sleep in my hut," and that settled it. Gandhiji once noted that "This hut I had constructed for Ba's use and I supervised all the details. As it is, Ba has not been the sole occupant of this hut ... I can take away from her whatever I like, I can impose on her ... she always bears with me cheerfully and willingly" ... Well, that is as it should be ... Here the husband has only to say a thing and the wife is ready to do it." He went to go to the Western seaside for a change. She accompanied him to Juhu in Mumbai; he came back well-rested. In early 1939, he had to go to Calcutta. Ba never insisted on accompanying him when he was in good health.
Ba was a deeply religious woman, & she had a living faith in the temples' deities. Gandhji was furious on hearing that Ba & Durgaben had visited a temple off-limits to low-caste Hindus. Ba meekly asked Gandhiji's forgiveness. [Talking to Mahadevbhai, Bapu said], "... I feel responsibility lies with you & me. [I neglected Ba's education], why have you neglected [Burga's]?" [Mahadevbhai was so upset that he wanted to withdraw from Gandhi's company. [Causing] pain to Gandhi was unbearable for him. A small mistake on the part of one who had been near to Gandhi for years couldn't sever the bonds. Mahadevbhai wrote a confession in the ashram's popular, national periodical. There was a cholera outbreak at Sevagram in 1938 or '39. I recommended all of Ashram be immunized. Several Ashramites [& most notably Ba] didn't believe in injections of any sort. We had inoculated practically everybody in the village, which was soon free from cholera. The Ashram escaped completely.
Journeys & Arrests—The Rajkot Satyagraha was started during Gandhi's stay there. Rajkot's Thakore Saheb agreed to give rights to his people, & then went back on his word; the people offered satyagraha as protest. Rajkot was Ba's family home, so she went there & got arrested & imprisoned. She believed that a soldier should never be shy of facing hardships, [even though her health was questionable]. The Government detained her in an old palace 10 or 15 miles away from Rajkot city; she had 2 companions, including Mariben Patel. She was quite happy, but a little worried about Bapu's health. Bapu decided to fast because of Rajkot; he left no room for argument. Ba said, "So long as Gandhiji's fast continues, I will eat one meal a day of fruits & milk." The Government sent her word that she could go to see her husband if she wanted, thus releasing her indirectly. Gandhi said, "If they wish to release her, they must do so in the proper manner and release her 2 companions ... as well. He sent Ba back, to spend the night on the roadside, if necessary. She was taken back and the next day she and her two companions were formally released. Ba, forgetting her frail health, lost herself in ministering to him.
Ba arrived in Delhi by herself. Bapu was wrong in sending her alone, I said. Ba rebuked me. Her illness took a serious turn, with patches of pneumonia and an old urinary infection. Bapu sent [many telegrams] inquiring about her condition; he wrote love letters every day. Ba had them read to her and read them several times herself. Those letters played an important part in promoting her recovery.
[Quit India Resolution, 6 Arrests]—In 1942, Gandhiji returned to Sevagram after the All-India Congress Committee meeting in Bombay passed the "Quit India Resolution," which stated that it was "anxious not to jeopardize the defensive capacity of the United Nations, [but we are] no longer justified in holding back the nation from ... asserting its will against an Imperialist and authoritarian Government which dominates ... and prevents it from ... [pursuing] its own interests and the interest of humanity ... For the vindication of India's inalienable right to freedom and independence, [we sanction] the starting of a mass struggle on nonviolent lines." I heard that he would be arrested before he returned, so I went to Bombay to see him and my brother. Gandhiji gave his famous August 8th speech, after which he said, "The government are not so foolish as to arrest the man who is their best friend in India today." At 5:30 the next morning, Bapu, Mahadevbhai, and Miraben were arrested.
Bapu asked Ba & my brother to stay behind & carry on his work. Gandhiji's arrest had been a sudden shock, for which Ba hadn't been at all prepared. Ba announced that she would address the meeting instead of him. News came that she would be arrested on the way to the meeting. I, as a medical person, was considered to be the best companion that Ba could have; I would address the meeting if Ba couldn't. Ba's message to the women of India was "... The women of India have to prove their mettle. They should all join in this struggle irrespective of caste & creed. Our watchword must remain 'truth & nonviolence." In the evening Ba & I came out to go in the meeting. The police arrested us and later arrested my brother also. The police also did not let them hold the meeting.
[Arthur Road Prison]—On the way to Arthur Road Prison, Ba said, "Don't you see this Government is the very incarnation of evil." I said, "Yes, Ba, they are evil, but their evil will be the cause of their downfall and Bapu will come out victorious." We were told, "Our orders are that you are to have no contact with the outside world." They gave us frames, wood planks, and thin mattresses to sleep on. I put her to bed with a degree of fever. On finding that I was also a doctor, the jail doctor softened a bit and promised to send me the medicines and some apples. The apples were sent but no medicine. Ba was becoming exhausted and I felt terribly worried. High walls raised in the verandah as an airraid precaution measure prevented [good ventilation]. The prison Matron let us come and sit near her on her verandah. A mother of 3 or 4 small children came to be our roommate. Looking at her, Ba forgot her own worries, and showed great interest in her. We discovered that we had been locked in at night. So we brought our beds out on the verandah, determined not to be locked in.
At 9 pm, the Matron came and told me that Ba and I were to be taken away at 11 pm. Our roommate lent me money to pay for Ba's diet, and much later refused repayment. We were informed by the Superintendent that we were being taken to Bapuji. We were taken to the station and made to sit in the train station's waiting room. Ba asked me, "How will Bapuji win Swaraj? I answered, "Ba, God will help Bapuji. All will be well."
Aga Khan's Palace—Ba was weak from diarrhea she had during the night. [We arrived at Pune Station] at about 7 am. In another ½-hour we were at the Aga Khan's palace gates. Barbed wire fencing had been newly put up in honor of their famous prisoner. [They took us to Bapu & Mahadevbhai; the latter seemed] happy to welcome us, but Bapu frowned, & asked, "Did you request the Government send you here, or have they sent you on their own? [We assured him] we had been arrested & sent here. Ba's diarrhea had been of the nervous type; it stopped with one "dose" of being with Bapu. Ba took over fanning Bapu to keep the insects off while he napped.
Bapu's 1st letter from this detention was to the Governor of Bombay, regarding police behavior, sending daily papers, and also asking that Sardar Patel, one of Gandhi's Nature Cure patients, be allowed to come and stay. Mahadevbhai was pleased to have the Sardar with us, as someone who might dissuade Bapu from going on a fast. [The rest of us were pleased to have the Sardar and Maniben with us]. The Sardar's humor would make the detention camp much more lively. Gandhiji worked on a letter to the viceroy [for over 2 days, asking for input from all of us, and especially Mahadevbhai]. Ba peeped into the kitchen and spent a good deal of her time in worship and in the reading of prayer books.
[Mahadevbhai's Death, Ba's Studies]—On August 15, 1942 Bapu & Mahadevbhai walked in the garden. Later that morning, I was called to Mahadev's room for an urgent medical problem; [At 50 years of age], Mahadevbhai was ready to start the final journey. [It came as a great shock. Bapu called out to Mahdev; he didn't answer]. Ba tried to be brave & joined in prayers; her stream of tears continued. Ba seemed too weak to climb stairs; there was no holding her back from witnessing the cremation. Ba repeated, "Mahadev, may God bless you wherever you are. May He keep you always happy, my boy. Your service to Bapu has been unique." She asked, Why should [young] Mahdev have gone & not I? Is this God's justice? Who was to console whom?
Mahadevbhai was Brahmin by birth. Ba felt a Brahmin's death in this fashion was an evil omen. Bapu replied, " Yes, for the Government." I said, "How can Mahadev's noble death be a sin of his colleagues? If there is any sin, it must rest with the Government, because they arrested him without cause. This Government is evil-minded. It did not let him negotiate with the Government." Gandhiji found a way of combating idle thoughts and depression. "We should all account for every minute of our time. We should keep ourselves so busy that there is no time for idle, depressed thoughts.
He always set a timetable for himself; now he made a timetable for all of us. He gave Ba lessons in Gujra-ti, Gita, geography, & history. Ba studied with the enthusiasm & eagerness of a young student; she found it hard to learn new things at her age; [she couldn't memorize]. She learned about longitude & latitude & the equator. Ba even corrected my brother when he confused latitude & longitude. Bapu taught Ba 2 songs from the Gujrati 5th grade reader; every day the couple sat down & sang songs together. Ba couldn't memorize the names of India's provinces & big cities. She never gave up studying altogether. She read Gitjali with Bapu at midday, & recited it with me at night. Ba walked with Bapu for a month, after which she needed to take shorter, slower walks, & watch Bapu take his while she read. Her way of reading & writing was childlike. [Bapu thought her writing needed improvement], which hurt Ba deeply. To the end, her writing notebook lay unused among Bapu's papers.
During 1931-33 Ba went to jail thrice and every time in her imprisonment, She had the Bhagwat and the Ramayana read to her regularly. Ba used to sit down with the Ramayan in the afternoon and read with explanatory notes, the verses to be recited in the evening, like she did in Sevagram. With all her reverence for Ramayan, she had not lost her critical faculty, and questioned exaggerated accounts. Gandhiji decided that it would be a good thing to translate selections into simple Gujrati and write down every morning, in bold characters, the translation of the verses to be recited in the evening. With Gandhiji's fast, his voluminous correspondence with the Government, and looking after Ba as her health went further down hill, we were kept fully occupied. The work of making selections and translations remained unfinished.
The duty of explaining the evening prayer verses' meaning came to me. I tried to explain them in Gujrati as best I could; sometimes she would comment. This routine was followed regularly almost right up to her death. 2 or 3 days before the end I asked her, "Ba, would you like the Ramayana explained tonight?" She responded, "Why do you ask, instead of sitting down with the Ramayana as usual?" I said, "You were looking tired, that is why I asked." She said calmly, "Listening to Ramayana while lying in bed isn't going to tax me. Go on, begin."
[Ba: Religious Fasting, Bias & Tolerance]—Ba asked, "When is Ekadashi?" Bapu asked for an Indian calendar, & while we waited, he & I worked out the calendar for the rest of the year, marking full-moon days & no-moon days. Ba used to observe a fast on Ekadashi. I don't think that she missed a single Ekadeshi. She fasted every Monday, Krishna's birthday, consummation of Shiva's marriage. She also fasted on Independence Day, National Week, Quit India Day. On Makar Sankranti, [near Christmas & Western New Year], she wanted til (sesamum) to make a sweet & from the kitchen she distributed them to convicts who came from Yeravada Prison.
Ba was not a highly educated lady, but had mature wisdom. She was an ideal Hindu wife, who placed her duty towards her husband above everything else. I encouraged Bapu to tell his own story. To hear his story from his own lips was far more interesting than to read it in his autobiography. Ba and Bapu played together as children. The women of Ba's family said, "We might [be] orthodox & not allow untouchables into our houses or not drink water touched by a Muslim; these things aren't for you. The higher ideal is to follow your husband, for which no sin will attach to you. The result cannot be anything but good." Whatever she did, she did out of faith. Ba was a regular spinner, spinning 300-500 rounds every day. We 1st had her give up spinning for her health, and then tried to get her started again to distract her mind, but she never took to it regularly again.
I never saw any "untouchability" about Ba. At the Ashram I met a girl called Lakshmi; I later discovered "Mahatmaji" had adopted "a sweeper's girl" as his daughter. Ba treated Harajan servants like family members. She said, "God made us all. How can there be any high & low?" Ba wasn't able to shed her old ideas completely. She had deep reverence for Brahmins & gave them preferential treatment; it caused bad feelings among sepoys. She expected a particular Brahmin to know when they were going home. She treated Muslims around her kindly, & couldn't understand stories of Muslim atrocities, when she would think of all the Muslims that were as dear to her as her close Hindu friends. She wouldn't accept service from those who did it to please Bapu.
Never had imprisonment oppressed Ba so much as this time, [and she developed fatalistic thinking about her own life & the possibility of winning against a mighty government]. Bapu said, "You must dismiss all gloomy thoughts from your mind ... make up your mind to get well. She asked, Why should Bapuji have pitted himself against such a mighty government?" I replied, "God is there. Bapuji depends on none but Him and He will see him through." Ba said, "Even God seems to be against us at present." [She picked a quarrel with Bapu about picking a quarrel with this mighty Government]. She finally said, "There is nothing to do now, but to put up with the result of your own doings. We will suffer with you ... Next it will be my turn"; Ba remained silent. Ba would sometimes report the news she had heard to the rest of those detained.
The Fast—As the time passed, the suffering of the people, the news of the famine & Government repression, made him restless. How could he be a silent witness to all that was happening? How could he share the sufferings of his countrymen from behind the bars? How could he make the Government see the wrong they were heaping on dumb millions? He mentioned fasting in his letter to the Viceroy. We all pleaded with him to delete it. "They shouldn't have a chance of saying that they couldn't listen under the threat of a fast." Bapu said, "The quiet I need is something different from the ordinary. I can't keep Ba away from me. I do not wish to."
The very idea of a fast was most upsetting for all of us. My brother asked me, "How many days fast do you think Bapu can stand in the present state of his health?" I said, "Judging from this he will not be able to stand a long fast." Mrs. Naidu said, "Do not worry Ba. Bapu has said he will not fast unless there is a clear call from God to do so. God will never tell him to go on a fast." She later said, "Bapu, your fast will kill Ba. Bapu laughed and thought that Ba would "handle it better than any of you." He managed to talk Ba into supporting his fast.
On the 10th of February, Gandhi began his fast. Ba gave up having full meals & went on a diet of fruits & milk as she usually did. During Gandhiji's fast, she spent most of her time by his bedside. On the 3rd day of the fast, Gandhiji started having nausea, so that he could not drink water. He vomited, his blood became thick, his kidneys began to fail. As the fast progressed, Ba spent more and more time in sitting and praying before the Tulsi plant or before Balkrisha. On February 22, Bapu's life hung in the balance; Ba was lost in meditation before the Tulsi plant. [It took great effort to drink even a ½-ounce if water; it exhausted him; with a silent nod Bapu agreed to fruit juice in his water. As soon as the system received some fluid, the lifeless face began to show signs of life.
During Gandhiji's 21-day fast, Aga Khan's palace gates were thrown open; there was a constant stream of visitors coming to see him. He was too weak to talk to most of them. Ba was amazingly brave & never had a moment's rest. Gandhiji had in instructed them that no visitor was to be offered any refreshment; it was hard for Ba to observe this rule, especially for her own family. At last the 21 days were over. The Government would allow only sons to be present at the breaking of the fast, not friends. Since Gandhiji had ceased to make that distinction, he decided that the sons shouldn't come either. The last day of the fast was the last day for visitors. Ba said to her Ashram "sisters, "This is my final good bye, friends." [When I disagreed, she said], "Yes you will all go."
Conclusion: [After Fast]—Because Gandhi was out of danger, & was convalescing nicely, the Government reinforced the original restrictions. [Ba's condition worsened with no visits from her sons to look forward to]. She tired easily. She had an attack of acute, rapid & arrhythmic heartbeat twice a little over a week apart. Gandhiji began to say that he would have to spend at least 7 years in prison. This gave a shock to Ba, who said, "I can't expect to live for 7 years more & go out with the rest. & yet her childlike simplicity & innocent faith would not let her give up hope altogether; she still prayed to Balkrishna. Ba found out that Manu, daughter of a distant relative was in Nagpur Jail, & was having eye trouble. Ba started having frequent heart attacks. She wanted Gandhi to write a letter requesting Manu as a nurse, but Gandhi didn't want to give the Government an opportunity to say "no." Manu, arrived at Aga Khan's palace on March 23rd. Gandhiji began spending more time in correspondence with the Government; [Ba's education dwindled]. She took up watching us play Badminton or Ten-nicoit and [being unofficial referee]. She began to play Karrom, a cue-sport based table game of Indian origin, & would practice in the afternoon; she used to lose herself enough in playing Karrom to forget about her illness.
[Ba's Cooking and Medication/ Communication Blackout]—Now and then she would prepare some-thing nice. She wanted Puran Puri (Sweet bread) which could cause indigestion and a heart attack. Bapuji said he would eat it if she didn't. She was very angry with me [for not letting her have eggplant] & for almost 15 days refused to eat any cooked food; during that time Ba kept very good health. 2 days before her death, Ba was con-vinced that castor oil would help; it most likely wouldn't help. When I refused to give it to her, or let anyone else, she refused to take any medication. We ended up giving her a little bit of castor oil mixed with liquid paraffin.
At the time of the August arrests in 1942, Government orders were that the prisoners were to get no newspapers, give no interviews, write or receive no letters. At the end of August, the Inspector General of Prisons told us that we could write to our relatives about domestic matters if we wished; no mention of our whereabouts could be made. Miraben needed permission to write her friends in India, as her family was overseas. Gandhi responded, "For me there is no distinction between relatives and friends ...I have no domestic matters to write about ... If I cannot even write about non-political constructive activities, the permission is of no use to me." To us he said, "I think none of us can agree to letters under Government's conditions." Some of our companions thought it was wrong for my brother and I not to write, [implying that we were equating ourselves with the Mahatma in doing so]. Gandhi said, "You are part of me ... here because of me. Therefore you cannot write when I can not. If you have not strength to follow my advice, or if ... you think your duty is different you can withdraw your letter to the Government and begin writing home like everyone else." I did not feel the need to do so.
After a few days Ba started writing letters, and pressured me to write my mother. When I refused she wrote her son that lived near my mother, giving him detailed news about me and my brother, who also did not write. My sister-in-law died after giving birth to a baby girl. She loved me like her own sister. My brother and mother had applied to the Government for my release on parole, but the Government had refused. Ba pressured Bapuji to persuade me to write home. He suggested that I write at least once to my mother and brother for their peace of mind. My brother at home replied that mother's health was indifferent. We requested that the baby be sent to us or that I be paroled to go care for the baby; both requests were denied.
[Ba's Health Worsens]—Breathlessness began to interfere with sleeping. A table was placed across her legs. She would rest her arms on the table, put her head on her arms & go to sleep. Gandhi kept & used this table after her death. She was put on oxygen, & we consulted other doctors. Nursing became more & more taxing. As a result of lengthy correspondence & several weeks after the 1st request, the Government sent Prabhavati & Ka-nu Gandhi on February 1, 3 weeks before the end. The Government took no notice of a request for family visits for a long time; when Ba's illness took a serious turn they sent for her sons; Ba was very happy to see them.
The chief aggravating cause of her illness was confinement, the indefinite length of the detention, and the [monotony of being with the same, small group of people for over a year. The government put strict conditions as who could be present during the visits of relatives, or of the practioner of the Indian system of medicine (vaidya). Gandiji had to carry on lengthy correspondence with officials in order to have the unreasonable conditions that were imposed on such visits lifted. The officials claimed that their conditions had been misunderstood. The authority to call a vaidya went through a bureaucratic maze before it rested with our jail's doctor. Ba grew impatient with the Ayurvedic treatment, and had to be pleaded with to give the new treatment a fair trial].
On the following day she felt so much better that in the evening [she was up and about in her wheelchair, and meditating in the little Balkrishna temple Miraben's room. Our excitement did not last long; the restlessness returned. Ba's condition was so serious that treatment required [round-the-clock] care. The Government would not let the doctor to stay in the Aga Khan's palace at night. [It took 3 nights of the doctor sleeping in his car out-side the palace] and a letter from Gandhiji threatening to stop the treatment, or any treatment, before permission was given for the vaidyaraj to sleep on Ba's verandah. On the 17th Gandhiji said to me: "If there is no improvement in the patient's condition by tomorrow, the vaidya will probably go away, If the case comes under your care next, my advice will be to stop all medicines. But that can only happen if you and Dr. Gilder can digest what I say and accept it wholeheartedly." There was difficulty getting permission for Harilal, Ba's eldest son, to see Ba more than once; Ba asked for him every day. On the 19th Ba's condition was serious. The Government telegraphed for Shri Ramdas and Devadas Gandhi and search for Harilal Gandhi.
[Ba's Final Days]—On the 19th, Ba had continuous oxygen throughout the night; she slept fairly well. [We sometimes played the gramophone; Ba like] "Shri Ram Bhajo dukh men sukh men" (Call on the name of God in happiness and sorrow). Gandhiji sat on her bed almost throughout the day; his proximity gave her peace of mind. Gandhi said: "Please stop all medicines now. Ramnam is the sovereign remedy ... If she asks for food, we shall see what to do ... I do not believe in medicines ... but I have not forced this rule on Ba. I have heard nothing but Ramnam come from her lips since this morning ... I would certainly stop all medicines while she is in this frame of mind ... God will pull her through, else I would let her go."
For days Gandhiji had lived on liquid diet; a meal took 10 minutes. Ba's illness was putting such a strain on his mind that he couldn't have maintained health without cutting down his food drastically. When Ba lay down flat [for the 1st time in a long time], Bapu asked us to recite Gitaji in the next room so that Ba could hear it. Ba asked for castor oil again. She asked for Harilalbhia every day. When he was found he said he had overslept in the afternoon; we knew what that meant & it upset Ba. She said to her youngest son Devdas, "The burden of loo-king after the family will have to be borne by you. Bapuji is a saint. He has to think of the whole world.
Day and night Gandhiji came to sit with Ba several times. When Gandhi sat on her bed, she leaned against him; he would sometimes miss his midday rest if she was asleep on his shoulder. What did it matter if Gandhiji sacrificed his rest for a few days? Why should anybody stand in the way of a thing that gives him peace of mind? How can he keep away from her and how can we ask him to do so? At one point Ba needed handkerchiefs; Bapu chose to wash the dirty ones. Gandhiji spent an hour every afternoon giving Ba cold and warm hip baths and sitz baths. He said: God has given me this rare opportunity to serve in the evening of my life. I consider it invaluable. So long as Ba will accept my services, I will gladly spare the time for her."
[Final Day: 2/22/44]—The Government's reasoning for not releasing Ba was that if her condition became serious after release, they would have to release Gandhi or be called heartless brutes." Devedasbhai had brought Gangajal (Ganges water). Bapu pour a spoonful in Ba's mouth, & she said, "Ram Hei Ram." The drink gave her great peace of mind. Gandhi gave others a chance to sit by her. She derived great satisfaction from Devadas-bhai's presence near her. She said, "Do not sorrow after my death. It should be an occasion for rejoicing. O, Lord. I have filled my belly like an animal. Forgive me. I pray for your grace. I want to be your devotee & love you with all my heart. I want nothing else."
After much discussion, & learning that giving penicillin meant injections every 3 hours, Gandhiji didn't want her to have them. At 7:15 pm Ba called out "Bapuji" He came & sat by her on the bed. No photograph was taken of Ba & Bapuji then, so as not to mar the sanctity of Bapuji's & Ba's last moments of together. She put her head on his lap & lay back. She open her mouth, 3 or 4 gasps & all was still. She was at last free from all bondage.
[Funeral and Release]—Bapuji , Manu, Santokben and I bathed the dead body, washed and combed her hair and wrapped her in the sari made of Gandhiji's yarn, using a 2nd sari washed in the Gangajal as a winding sheet. Gandhiji's yarn was put on her arms as bangles. Ba's room was cleaned. Miraben arranged flowers in her hair and round the head. There was a gentle smile and peace on the face. The wrinkles were less marked. The whole of the Gita was recited. The prayer took 1½ hours. Because Gandhiji was a poor man, he would not bring sandalwood for cremation himself. He allowed the Government to provide it. Gandhiji's 3 choices for the cremation were: public, open, outside, no Government interference; inside Aga Khan's palace with friends and relatives; no outsiders at all if friends are not allowed. Gandhi would not go outside for the public funeral. The Government was not prepared to allow a public funeral; they accepted the 2nd alternative.
On February 23, Friends & relatives started coming in from 7 am, a total of about 150 people. Friends of every community—Hindu, Muslim, Parsis, Christians, and Englishmen—were present. Devdasbhai was selected by the Brahmin to perform the last rites for his mother. Gandhiji offered a short prayer that contained bits of Hindu, Muslims, Christian, and Parsi prayers. The firewood arranged under the funeral pyre was not enough. It was difficult to add more while the pyre was ablaze. Kanu's hair and eyelashes were scorched in the process. The cremation took a long time and Gandhiji and many of the friends stayed on the cremation until 4 pm.
He was experiencing great pain at the parting. He is a sage and a great man, but with all that he is most human. "I cannot imagine life without Ba. I had always wished her to go in my hands so that I won't have to worry what will become of her when I am no more. But she was an indivisible part of me. Her passing away has left a vacuum which never will be filled ... She passed away in my lap! Could it be better?" I am happy beyond measure." Davdasbhi and Ramdasbhai stayed for 3 days and then left with the bones and ashes of their mother.
We took floral offerings to Mahadevbhai's & Ba's samadhis [funerary monuments] both morning & evening; morning prayers were the 12th chapter of Gita. At the foot of Ba's samadhi we decided to make a swastika with flowers. Our pilgrimage to the samadhis was an appreciation of the great qualities of the 2 departed souls. It was our prayer to God to enable us to follow in their footsteps. Ba's illness had put tremendous strain on Gandhi-ji; he went down with severe malaria. The Government wasn't prepared to take the responsibility of a 3rd death in jail. On May 6, 1944, the gates of the detention camp were thrown open & Gandhiji & his party were released.
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379. Living Truth: a Spiritual Portrait of Pierre Ceresole—1879-1945 (by Keith Maddock; 2005)
About the Author—Keith R. Maddock was born in Galt, Ontario in 1947, and lived in Toronto most of his adult life. He obtained degrees in religious education and theology from Emmanuel College in the Toronto School of Theology. His work as a congregational youth worker led him to the faith of the Society of Friends. He has also written Beyond the Bars A Quaker Prime for Prison Visitors (PHP 342).
There is nothing particularly harmonious about the music of swallows that cry in high notes as they pass by, soaring upwards like arrows. But could there be a more admirable expression of liberty, courage or defiance in the face of old conventions? Could there be more enthusiasm, vitality or progress measured for its own sake?
Pierre Ceresole (1879-1945)—I was enjoying the lyrical prose of journals, when I came across the remarkable description of the view from a prison window [given above]. Ceresole was not a conventional journal writer. He was an activist-poet who captured inspiration on the wing while seeking spiritual nourishment for his day-to-day moral and social commitments. He left a testimony of spiritual growth from an intense individual disciplined by an objective scientific mind, yet still longing for the transcendent. He never lost his awe of the indestructible beauty of the natural world, and he did not hesitate to pick up a shovel and work alongside others who were trying to make the world a habitable place after the wars.
This is a spiritual portrait, because 1st, I find a spirit or energy in his words that resonates with my inward journey. 2nd, a spiritual portrait seeks a holistic perspective on the individual. Ceresole could be seen as: solitary pilgrim on an arduous journey; humble laborer & humanity's servant; committed social activist; one struggling with depression, yet able to view the troubled, everyday world with wonder & submission to a higher power.
The word “portrait” also suggests a painter’s interpretation of qualities, he admires in his model. It is the zest for life evoked by the image that continues to move us. A spiritual portrait is an opening into another life, inviting the spectator to step through the frame into the image itself, & perhaps follow his example into a deeper understanding of the truth. We might imagine how he would respond to our world’s conflicts & sufferings.
Pierre Ceresole: A Brief Biography—He was born on August 17, 1879, in Lausanne, Switzerland. His familial background was French, German, Italian, & 1 English grandmother; it was a family known for state service. Ceresole studied mathematics, philosophy, & mechanical engineering; he taught in Zurich. Ceresole was becoming obsessed with the problems of philosophy, [particularly the predetermination of human events].
A 4 week trip to the US turned into a 4 year journey around the world, a spiritual pilgrimage. He worked 2 years for an engineering firm in Japan before he returned to Switzerland. He returned a citizen of the world, an opponent of war and a rebel bold enough to turn his back on the security and privilege of inherited wealth. Ceresole was increasingly distressed by the hypocrisy he observed among religious people, especially their apparent resignation to imminent armed conflict.
Ceresole was invited to the Netherlands, to a conference of the new International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). He joined IFOR in rebuilding French villages devastated by the retreating German army. His 1st international work camp to repair Esnes-Verdun was to develop into Service Civil International (SCI), [which also did work in] Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Wales, India & Spain. In his mid-50’s, Ceresole always joined in the physical work of reconstruction; he regarded labor as a spiritual practice. The rebuilding of Shantipur, the “Village of Peace,” was especially meaningful; it served as a model for 700,000 similar Indian villages.
After encountering Friends at the IFOR conference, he realized that they shared his belief in an unmediated approach to God & many of his social values. Ceresole sought ways to reach both the ordinary people & their leaders with his concerns over rising Fascism. These missions often ended in his arrest & internment in both German & Swiss prisons. He advocated a more active Swiss role in mediating global conflicts & in ending their own manufacture and exporting munitions to warring nations. We may at least be inspired to follow [his example beyond the limits of our understanding. His modest home on the shore of Lake Geneva was a retreat.
Seeking Truth—His lifelong struggle with Christianity and his unique approach to pacifism also began to take shape during [traveling] breaks from the past. Carl Jung said: “Belief is no adequate substitute for inner experience.” [Such experiences] instilled in him an awareness that he needed to come to terms with his own errors and shortcomings before he could begin to speak of Truth to others. Ceresole continued to criticize outdated and corrupt religious practices, as well as the secular idolatries of nationalism and materialism.
One of the truths that Ceresole discovered was that morality is the “scaffolding of life.” He wrote: “You need revolutionary people to prevent obsolete pieces from obstructing the workmen; you also need conservatives so the whole thing doesn’t collapse all of a sudden.” This scaffolding was especially applicable to inherited religious beliefs; Ceresole did not hesitate to set outdated formulas aside. He felt he needed to think and act as if the thoughts and actions of other people were his own. His poetic sensibilities were stirred as he began to feel himself a part of the whole order of creation.
Ceresole imagined that if war had any justification at all, it was because it reveals the truth to people about themselves. He imagined himself entangled in a gigantic web of falsehood, idealism corrupted by the bitterness of contemporary politics & feverish preparations for war. “God is the will that makes for harmony.” Ceresole was acutely aware of contradictions between real & ideal in his experience of the world. It was essential to put everything to the test. God came to represent for him a principle of integrity, a great mirror in which we see ourselves just as we are. He said: “If you allow me to have Christ as a friend, he may become what you call God.”
Love in Action—Pierre Ceresole was deeply impressed by Gandhi's leadership. [He was impressed that Gandhi had] “a Sunday absolutely solemnized by resolution to listen instead of talk.” [From Woolman he got the inspiration] to make it his life's business to take on challenges of openhearted service for humanity. Ceresole’s distress over the failure of nationalism & conventional religion to create fellowship fired his commitment to turn love into action. Simply put, he believed that actions unite people; words tend to separate them.
He also discovered that truth only comes to light through personal sacrifice and active, physical involvement in rebuilding a broken world. [In spite of losing] any ideals he still had that an individual acting alone could make a difference, [he felt that] each person “must simply carry out, very scrupulously and exactly, and in all sincerity, the thing that is in him to do, developing a poetry of his own, according to the rhythm that is in him.” Ceresole became an advocate for constructive alternatives to violence.
Ceresole realized that knowledge of God & understanding Christ’s teachings come from faithfulness in daily living, [not] polemical arguments. Spiritual instruction should be offered with spiritual modesty or infinite consideration for who people are & what they already have. Ceresole donated his inheritance to the Swiss government. To Ceresole money interfered with the wholehearted collaboration with other people that he longed for. Ceresole conceived of a moral alternative to war that would bring people together to combat their common enemies—flood, famine, earthquake and war itself. Peace requires that we should recognize good will wherever it is and not only in our own nation, race, class, party or religion.
Ceresole had many fears—of his self, being inadequate, & repeating the same mistakes—all major obstacles [for him]. We have to recognize all our errors, our shortcomings, in order to be true. As a citizen of a country that prided itself on neutrality in wartime, his pacifism took a different emphasis. He acknowledged that conflicts [can] call forth the virtues of chivalry & courage, along with faithful devotion to duty. [His experiences with love led him to say] “To put love before all else—before the Eternal? My poor friend, you would never see [home] again—neither the smaller nor the greater.” He wrote: “Eternal … take me tenderly by the wing & allow me to find the right path (despite & against & across & beyond reason) in simple faithful obedience, in prayer.
Speaking Truth to Power—Ceresole’s faith also demanded courage to speak truth to power & to accept the consequences, including humiliation & imprisonment. His refusal to pay the military exemption tax resulted in estrangement from family & friends, as well as the 1st of several imprisonments for such actions. He called on clergy to resist service to national idols & to direct their energies & devotions to the heroic service of God.
Reconciliation became one of the guiding principles of Ceresole’s life, although the possibilities for it were often overshadowed by the darkness that spread across Europe. In 1933 he crossed the Swiss-German border illegally to explore the possibility of organizing an international work camp on German soil. Of his talks with Mussolini he said, “I did not attempt to force an argument by replying to all the objections raised by Mussolini so as to place him with his back to the wall.” He also reflected that it was better to seem a fool than to be a coward, and better to seem a fool risking one’s life for peace than for war.
Ceresole [spent WW II] distributing pamphlets, ignoring the police prohibition, making public appeals in churches and defying official blackouts. The short prison sentences he served seemed almost welcome respites from stress. In prison, he used his time to talk with prison officials and prisoners in the same way that early Quakers took advantage of their imprisonment. He was also sustained by the belief that the conscientious pursuit of Truth give one an assurance of absolute peace in the end. He believed that those who suffer are often the best instruments of the Spirit not so much because of their moral attitude but because they learn to submit their own wills to a higher power. His confession of 1933 reads in part: “I do not know what means most to Him, but I do know that for me the heart of the matter is to listen for, and to obey, that supreme voice, which is always there; and this is my whole significance, my existence, my life.” He believed that love, truth, harmony, justice and good will would infallibly win the day by bringing others into agreement.
An Alpine Vision—Ceresole’s [Alpine Vision] is a world view seen from heights of spiritual revelation, & ever-growing awareness of the world as it is or can be without the obstacles of religion & political ideology. Ceresole once reflected that “Justice is like a mountain peak for which a man sets out in the morning with a light heart; then he finds a nice resting place; settles himself comfortably…builds a shelter; digs himself in; the peak becomes nothing but a part of the scenery.” The mountain peak is a point from which details of life can be appreciated as windows on Eternity. The Alpine Vision can occur anywhere that one pauses to enjoy the wonder & beauty of Creation [if one doesn't fail to notice]. Above all, Ceresole Alpine vision was characterized by joy.
Leonard Kenworthy wrote that: “Ceresole was a man with “a particularly sensitive conscience that forced him to do things others weren’t willing to do.” Such praise is consistent with striving for a fully integrated life that takes in a panorama of earthshaking events, simple everyday activities & moral behavior, beautiful vistas & the natural world’s intricate details. Awareness of the interrelatedness of all things inspires humility & courage. In Ceresole’s life, this awareness fired the strength of one person’s conviction to an extraordinary degree.
One day in a German prison cell, Ceresole reflected that he had no cause to regret any of his actions while so many were dying for more foolish causes. He embraced a practical and exhilarating way to participate in the process of restoration during one of the most destructive eras of world history. Ceresole continues to speak to the condition of many people in this present age of violence and social injustice. He continues to offer a practical form of poetics that celebrates the beauty of the world while exposing the folly underlying historical events. He writes: “Pray the Eternal to keep your weathervane in good trim so that it readily responds to the true winds of the spirit and doesn’t get jammed by the rust of tradition in a position unrelated to Truth…”
About the Author—Jo Ann Robinson majored in history at Knox College, Galesburg Illinois; she learned of A. J. Muste thru the Student Peace Union. She served as a Freedom School teacher, voter registration worker, & with a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The pamphlet originated as a talk sponsored by the Friends Historical Association spring 1978. She researched at Haverford College & the Swarthmore College Peace Collection.
Introduction—In 1961 A. J. Muste observed, “I spend a good deal of time among … Unbelievers; my thoughts constantly shuttle back & forth between conviction that many are true believers & the wish that I might give them an account of my faith, [in a way they would understand]." Muste was a man of religion, & scripture's & religious experience's language wasn't always shared by his political comrades. Quakerism & the Society of Friends played a part in those convictions' evolution, & Muste influenced Friends. [His life & influences inclu-ded the Dutch Reformed Church, Marxist thought, & the perfectionist ethic of Christian pacifism.
I: Formative Experiences—Abraham Johannes Muste (1885-1967) in his tenderest years displayed a striking sensitivity to things of the spirit. He experienced a “sort of revelation” about both the otherness and the loveliness of fellow human beings. [He experienced profound grief at the death of a pet bird, which influenced his reflections on] “the heart’s awareness of the preciousness of all life.” Sensitivity and openness to religious experience continued to characterize the boy Muste after his family’s passage to the US.
On his 14th Easter “the world took on a new brightness,” [and from that day] “God was real to me.” He officially joined his Dutch Reformed congregation at a very young age. Muste recorded experiences of divine incursion at every crucial turning point in his life. He had a deep emotional and intellectual infatuation with Ralph Waldo Emerson, who shared many Quaker beliefs.
World War I & the Introduction to Quakerism—Muste was ordained as a Dutch Reformed minister in 1909. [5 years later] he underwent an “agonizing reappraisal of his beliefs and decided to seek an intellectually and theologically less restrictive denomination, [which was Congregationalism]. A searching critical [examination] of World War I led to a parting of the ways with his congregation. In Boston, [he joined the peace-oriented company] of J. Edgar Park, Willard Sperry, Bliss Perry, & Charles F. Dole, & [heard inspiring peace testimony].
At the same time he had come upon the works of Rufus Jones on Christian mysticism and was intrigued by the strain of pacifism which runs through the mystical tradition. [Its impact was inspiring and enlightening; it’s obscurity was insulting and aggravating. For the rest of his life Muste was irritated that Christian pacifism had not been accorded a place in the mainstream of religious education. Muste became a founding member of the Boston chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) in 1916. [He seemed to experiment in his sermons, going back and forth between conventional patriotism and the anti-war position. Later, when he lectured at Pendle Hill in the early 1940s, he unequivocally rejected violence on prophetic Christian grounds.
During the war the time Muste spent in FOR work increased as his pastoral effectiveness at the church declined. [His stand upset the grieving mother of a casualty &] he offered to resign; he took a leave of absence instead. He became involved with the Friends Meeting in Providence, R.I. It wasn't a pastoral meeting, but the members “in return for pastoral services & speaking provided ... a home & some expense money. He resigned from his church in March 1918 & became a member of the Meeting in April. At the Meeting he asked that a “Peoples’ Book Room” be created where “unorthodox, persecuted individuals of the city gathered to talk.”
Involvement with Labor; Disillusion with Religion—Muste moved back to Boston while continuing to serve the Meeting in Providence. He devoted much of the rest of his time to the Boston FOR. He & 6 or 7 other Boston radicals met regularly to explore how Christian teaching could be applied to contemporary social & economic problems. He offered his services to aid the Lawrence textile strike, & a new textile workers union asked him to be its General Secretary. He was so involved with workers that he had to ask Providence Meeting to let him go. His experience with the strike left Muste with the conviction that if a religious community is to get a grip on the realities of any given political or economic situation, there is no substitute for direct involvement in that situation. He spent 2 years trying “desperately to establish a beachhead ... of unionism in a chaotic industry."
Muste became Director of [the newly opened] Brookwood Labor College, Katonah, NY in 1921. For about 3 years Muste corresponded with Providence Friends, specifically Charles Sisson. At Brookwood Labor College Muste was helping to train a body of “Musteite labor activists & shape an outlook of “progressive labor action.” Over the next 15 years Muste was battered in body & spirit by faction fights, labor wars, & the unremitting sufferings in the Depression Era. More & more Muste began to admire & gravitate toward the Marxist Left. In 1934 Musterites joined forces with the American followers of Trotsky; it was a disastrous alliance & ended in July 1936.
Renewal of Faith—In 1936, in the sanctuary of the St. Sulpice Catholic Church in Paris, a “deep & … singing peace” came over him. An inner voice said, “This is where you belong, in the church, not outside it.” He experienced renewal & gained a clear conviction that “Love is the basic reality of the universe” & obedience to that reality means no resorting to violence in any form; this is an illustration of Howard Brinton’s ethical mysticism. [The ethical mystic] as Rufus Jones said, “Stands the world better & becomes a better organ & bearer of spiritual forces.” [Although he seems to fit the Quaker idea of ethical mysticism], it isn’t so easy to describe A. J. Muste as a Quaker. After this experience, he renewed his membership in FOR & took the position of Director of Labor Temple, a Presbyterian institution. In 1940 Muste became Executive Secretary of FOR for the next 20 years. He thought of himself as a Friend, but did not bother with technical problems of affiliation.
II: Interweaving the Religious & Political—Both the Labor Temple & FOR were religious centers where spiritual resources & political struggle were intertwined & from where Muste could act upon his conviction that “we must become revolutionary out of a religious philosophy.” “God created both the religious & political dimensions & placed us in a world where we need to build community that interweaves the 2 together …” [He tried to bring Presbyterians back to the New Testament Christian, & Quakers back to George Fox’s revolutionary consciousness]. 5 themes stand out in his interpretation & message of these spiritual forerunners: breakup of the present world order; non-conformity; pacifism; joyousness; preparation for a new Pentecost.
Breakup of the Present Order [& Non-conformity]—Whether or not human self-destructiveness ended in the final catastrophe, profound changes in human relationships to each other & the universe were unavoidable. He believed that at the “ spiritual universe's burning inner core … reside silent & almighty energies which can control the atom & the suns & use them for good & not for evil.” We need to form a new community in the midst of the old order’s disintegration. The new community would have to break loose from the old order & refuse to conform. Muste’s image of non-conforming Quakers was important to his strategies of non-cooperation.
Pacifism, Joy, & Pentecost—“Pacifism, rejection of violence, & emphasis upon suffering love is integral to … prophetic religion.” In the final [Viet Nam] period of his life [with Americans shooting at, dropping bombs on, & using napalm to roast] people, some of the exaltation went out of his faith. Between St. Sulpice & Viet Nam, when Muste spoke of his faith, he spoke of deep & thrilling joy. He confided, “I always have a certain suspicion of any “saintliness” which lacks buoyancy & effervescence.” “Our most important responsibility is the formation of spiritual community capable of producing a spirit outpouring comparable to Pentecost.” A. J. Muste confronted Presidents, Prime Ministers, & premiers with his consciousness of Christian pacifism's imperatives. Muste significantly influenced the formulation of AFSC’s seminal statement, Speak Truth to Power (1955).
III: Criticisms of Quaker Practice—Muste was wary of any human group that tended toward exclusive-ness or whose member reduced their experiences of sharing to routinized patterns of meeting & worship. He said: “No churches are Christian fellowship in the true sense of the term, [including Quakers].” “The spirit hasn't invaded the houses where we meet. We aren't on fire.” Muste was extremely critical of Quaker education for al-lowing the Peace Testimony to fade among its young people. [The fact that his own son joined the Navy in 1944 may have had something to do with this]. He warned that such closeness [as is found in many Meetings] has an exclusionary impact on people [“outside” the Meeting], who are people who to be reached & included. Most of all, Muste was disturbed by the legal distinction which prevailed in the US through most of his lifetime between religious & non-religious conscientious objectors; the latter only had the choice of military service or jail.
Interaction & the Meaning of his Life with Friends—[Muste’s answer to why he spent so much time among unbelievers was]: “Perhaps it is in the area of … looseness from the world-that-is, of experimentation [&] creativeness … that one can find the key.” Long after he ceased attending Meetings where he held memberships, Muste could draw upon support of some of the weightiest members of those Meetings. In FOR, among conscientious objectors, working for non-violent action, Church Peace, war resisters, Viet Nam war protesters, there was a Quaker presence. 2 of Muste’s “financial angels” were the Philadelphia Quakers Emily & Walter Longstreth. It was important to Muste to be included among Friends.
“Time & again,” a Quaker woman wrote, “when we Friends weighed & considered the course our witness was to take we have seen far off down the road ahead of us the tall spare frame of A. J., already in the Way.” His mystical experience of the divine spirit led him to active prophetic witness. The sources of Muste’s religion, while varied, contained a lot of Quaker history & thought. In turn Muste encouraged Friends toward deeper appreciation of & return to their radical roots. Commitment to revolutionary change often proved stronger among “unbelievers” whose fellowship & support were also vital to him. He brought faith & politics into balance, infusing strategy with spiritual insight. A. J. Muste’s prophetic faith called us all to become Saints for this Age. 
120. William Law (1686-1761): Selections on the Interior Life (ed. Mary Morrison; 1962) About the Editor—Mary Morrison 1st came to Pendle in 1948 to attend Dora Wilson’s classes on the Gospels; she has been teaching the Gospel class since 1957. She is an Episcopalian with a great interest in Quaker thought. Mary Morrison 1st encountered William Law, [an Episcopalian mystic], 15 years ago through Aldous Huxley. She here introduces the mystical writings of an 18th century Anglican who influenced many Quakers.
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120. William Law (1686-1761): Selections on the Interior Life (ed. Mary Morrison; 1962) About the Editor—Mary Morrison 1st came to Pendle in 1948 to attend Dora Wilson’s classes on the Gospels; she has been teaching the Gospel class since 1957. She is an Episcopalian with a great interest in Quaker thought. Mary Morrison 1st encountered William Law, [an Episcopalian mystic], 15 years ago through Aldous Huxley. She here introduces the mystical writings of an 18th century Anglican who influenced many Quakers.
Love is the Christ, the salvation, religion of divine love, the true Church of God, where the life of God is found and lived, and to which every one is called. We direct every one to nothing but the inward life of Christ, to the working of the Holy Spirit of God, which alone can deliver him from the evil that is in his own nature and give him a power to become a son of God. William Law
THE WRITINGS OF WILLIAM LAW
IN THIS WORK: Perfection = A Practical Treatise upon Christian Perfection (1726); Serious Call = A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (1729); Regeneration = The Grounds and Reasons of Christian Regeneration (1739); Appeal = An Appeal to All that Doubt or Disbelieve the Truths of the Gospel (1740); Letters = Collection of Letters (1760); Trapp = Some Animadversions on Dr. Trapp’s Reply (1740); Prayer = The Spirit of Prayer (Part I, 1749; Part II, 1750); Knowledge = The Way to Divine Knowledge (1752); Love = The Spirit of Love (Part I, 1752; Part II, 1754). [Comments = Comments by Mary Morrison]
PART I: THE DEATH IN WHICH WE LIVE—That particular way of life which takes each man’s mind, thoughts, and actions may very well be called his particular dream. There is nothing that makes life or death full of calamity, but obstinate blindness and insensibility of his state. Heaven is as near to our souls as this world is to our bodies; we are created, we are redeemed, to have our conversation in it. Prayer, 3-4
Nothing was more clear & vivid to William Law than the death in which we live & the life to which we are dead. What we think of as unreal was to William Law real; what we think of as shadow was to him substance. [Comments]JH
Our imaginations & desires are the greatest reality we have & are the true formers & raisers of all that is real & solid in us. They communicate with eternity & kindle a life [ending up in either heaven or hell]. The state of hell & the state of the soul in hell are one & the same thing. The reason why wicked men do not become fully sensible of [the hellish state of their souls] is because the soul is capable of being assuaged and comforted by this world’s sun and spirit as all other creatures are. The one only religion that can save any son of fallen Adam must be that which can raise or generate the life, light and spirit of Heaven in his soul. Appeal, 134, 90, 99
[The concept of a Fall to Law was the symbol of a living situation in all our hearts], “a being broken off from God's life, [like a] vine's withered branch [tossed in a fire], or Hell's firebrand of. [Comment], Letters 207.
The reason why man is naturally taken with beautiful objects ‘tis because he was created in the greatest perfection of beauty to live in paradise. The riches, greatness and power he had in reality in paradise he is vainly seeking for here, where he is only a poor prisoner in the valley and shadow of death. Appeal, 124
PART II: WILLIAM LAW AS WRITER AND MYSTIC—William Law refused to take the oath of allegiance to George I, thus forfeiting any career in the universities or the Church. He said: “Had I done what was required of me to avoid it, I should have thought my condition much worse.” He and 2 companions kept a household dedicated to the devout and holy life described in his Serious Call. This book, published in 1729, made William Law famous. It is a weighty, sober book, but far from boring with its word-portraits. [Comments]
Mundanus is a man of excellent parts and clear apprehension; he aims at the greatest perfection in everything. The only thing which has not fallen under his improvement, nor received any benefit from his judicious mind, is his devotion; this is in the same poor state it was when he was only 6 years old. Mundanus has never considered how improvable the spirit of devotion is, or how necessary it is that our prayers should be enlarged, varied, and suited to the particular state and condition of our lives. Serious Call, 141-2
[After reading Jacob Boehme], he was able to think and write from the heart of the matter. In William Law we have a man creating the widely allusive, untranslatable poetry that mystics must use—and speaking our own language, in which we can hear the same overtones that he heard]. [Comments]
Ask when the 1st thought sprung up, find out the birthday of truth, and then thou wilt have found out when the essences of thy soul 1st began to be… Here, O man, behold the great original and high state of thy birth… Thou begannest as time began, but as time was in eternity… so thou wast in God before thou wast brought into creation. Thou art not a part of God … yet born out of him… If thou desirest, and turnest to God like the flowers of the field toward the sun, all the blessings of the deity will spring up in thee. If thou turnest toward [the world and] thyself, thou choosest to be a weed, [and will receive little spirit and blessing from God]. Appeal, 65, 61.
There is no other forgiveness of sin but being made free from it.
Pride, Envy, & Hatred [being allowed to live is like] when Christ was killed & Barabbas was saved alive.
[If] you ask why I go on writing if there is but one true and divine teacher, I answer though there is but one bridegroom … yet his servants are sent out to invite the guests. They are not the light, but only sent to bear witness of it. [My] doctrine must decrease and end, as soon as it has led to the true teacher. Letters, 153
PART III: THE “PRECIOUS UNCERTAIN FIRE” OF LIFE—He that thinks to grow in true goodness by [only] hearing or speaking flaming words, will have little conversation in heaven. Martyrdom has had its fools as well as its saints, and zealots may live and die in a joy that has all its strength from delusions… Their religion was according to the workings of their whole nature, and the old man [within] was as busy and as much delighted in it as the new [man within]. Letters 134; Regeneration 168-9
Self-denials, and mortifications have nothing of goodness or holiness, nor any real parts of our sanctification. They are not the true food or nourishment of the divine life in our souls. Many people practice them for their own sakes, as things good in themselves. Thus, many people’s self-denials do what [self-indulgence] do for other people. Such people withstand and hinder the operation of God upon their souls. [Their] actions instead of being self-denial strengthen and keep up the kingdom of self. Prayer, 43-4
What a delusion it is therefore to grow grey-headed in balancing ancient & modern opinions. [& what a waste of life to spend time] in critical zeal & verbal animosities… If reason ... has any power against religion, it is only where religion has become a dead form, has lost its true state, & has become opinion. True, genuine religion is life & the working of life. If you are afraid of reason hurting your religion, it is a sign that your religion isn't yet a self-evident growth of nature & life within you, but has much opinion to it. Knowledge 219, 232
This is the greatest evil that the division of the Church has brought forth; ... every communion is a selfish, partial orthodoxy; it defends all that it has & condemns all that it hasn't. If each Church produced a man that had the piety of an apostle & the impartial love of the 1st Christians, [it would not be long before they were all of one religion]… [Each communion denies the central belief & practice of the others for fear of seeming to agree or be too much like them]… In the present divided state of the Church truth itself is torn & divided asunder. Uniting in heart & spirit with all that is holy & good in all Churches, we enter into the true communion of saints & become a holy catholic Church, though we are confined to the outward worship of one particular part of it. Trapp, 182-4
The goodness of a living creature must be its own life. And if goodness is not our natural birth from our natural parents, we must of all necessity be born again from a principle above nature. It is from this birth that the free genuine works of goodness flow forth, with the freedom of the divine life. Knowledge 158
PART IV:THE 1ST ROOTS OF NEW LIFE—Who hasn’t at one time or another felt sourness, wrath, selfishness, envy & pride rising up in him without one’s consent, casting blackness over all thoughts, & then as suddenly going off again. These are indications that there’s a dark guest within him. This dark disordered fire of our soul, when rightly known & dealt with, can as well be made the foundation of Heaven as it is of Hell. If life wasn't a depth of strife, fullness of heavenly joy couldn’t be manifested in it … Fallen angels aren’t in Hell because [God] is angry at them & so cast them into Hell. They are in wrath & darkness because [they have “put out” their spiritual eyes rather than see] the light flowing forth from God. Regeneration, 141,153; Love 17; Appeal, 128-9
There must be some kind of earthquake with us; something must rend & shake us to the bottom, [so that we are aware] of the state of death we are in, & desirous enough of that Savior that can raise us from it… When one truly knows and feels that sin begins with one’s being, and that the free grace of God has provided one a remedy equal to one’s distress, one may know and feel the power of Christ brought to life in one. Regeneration 152,161
The atonement by Christ is to overcome and remove all that death and hell and wrath and darkness that had opened itself in the nature, birth and life of fallen man. His trial was as a son of man and loaded with all the infirmaties of fallen Adam, to see whether he could live and die with his spirit as contrary to them, as much above them, as Adam should have lived in Paradise. Love, 71, 96
If humankind was to go out of a fallen state, there must be a son of this fallen man [who would] go thru all stages [of divine life], & so make it possible for humankind to [be born into] his conquering nature & follow him through all these passages to eternal life. The spirit of Christ becomes all in all to us and so only to be known by those who have it brought to life in them. [The process of bringing the new nature to life in us is the process of Christ repeated in us, a completely natural thing, yet voluntary]. Appeal, 144; Letters, 133; [Comments]
God is compassionate & long-suffering [& gives] the power of choosing life or death, water or fire. The last judgment will put everyone into the full & sole possession of that which they have chosen. The necessity of dying to ourselves isn’t required as a punishment, isn’t an invention of monks. It is necessary to make way for the new birth as the “death” of the seed is necessary to make way for its vegetable life. Appeal 98; Prayer 32-3
To have but this one will & hunger is… to have done with every thing that can defile, betray, disappoint or hurt that eternal nature which must have its life within you. Your heart is the best & greatest gift of God to you; it is the highest, greatest, strongest, & noblest power of your nature; it forms your life, all good, all evil. When the state of our heart isn't a spirit of prayer to God, we pray ... to some, or other part of the creation. Reason can only be a mere beholder of the wonders of happiness or forms of misery. Letters 151; Prayer 124, 118
Spiritual eating is by the mouth of desire, [your will and hunger]. What you are eating, good or bad, forms the strength or body of your soul. Faith is that power by which a man gives himself up to anything, seeks, wills, adheres to and unites with it, so that his life lives in it and belongs to it. Every man equally lives by faith… is equally under the power of faith, whether it be divine, earthly, sensual or devilish. All salvation does and only can, arise from a faith turned to God.
PART V: THE LIVING SENSE OF GOD WITHIN—How shall I discover these riches of eternity, this light and spirit, and wisdom, and peace of God treasured up within me? Thy 1st thought of repentance or desire of turning to God is thy 1st discovery of this light and Spirit of God within thee. It is the eternal, speaking the word of God in thy heart, that word is beginning to create thee a second time unto righteousness. Let it enlighten, teach, frighten, torment, judge, and condemn thee as it pleases, turn not away from it; hear all it says. Pray that God’s Kingdom may come and God’s will be done in thy soul. Turn therefore inwards, and all that is within you will demonstrate to you the presence and power of God in your soul and make you as certain of it as of your own thoughts. [It will bring you] knowledge of good and evil. Prayer 36-7; Letters, 159
The best outward prayer book you can have [will be] full of awakening informations as will force you to see & know who & what & where you are; that God is your all & all is misery but a heart & life devoted to him. It will turn you to an inward book & spirit of prayer in your heart. Every return of [careful, inspired] prayer gives new life & growth to your virtues. Our hearts deceive us because we leave them alone, are absent from them, taken up in outward things. The strength of sin, the power of evil temper, the most secret workings of our hearts is forced to be seen as soon as the heart becomes our prayer-book. Our desire isn’t only powerful & productive, but it is always alive, always working & creating in us. Prayer of the heart forms & transforms the soul into every-thing that its desires reach after. When the eternal springs of the purified heart stretch after God from whence they came; then it is that what we ask, we receive, and what we seek, we find. Prayer 136-7; Appeal, 134
The painful sense and feeling of what you are, kindled into a working state of sensibility by the light of God within you, is the fire and light from whence your spirit of prayer proceeds. This prayer of divine humility is met by the divine love; the mercifulness of God embraces it. When prayer has melted away all earthly passion and affections, [it becomes] not so much praying as living in God, the highest union with God in this life.
[When you go through each of these foregoing states, it is [best] to expect nothing from ourselves, but in everything expect and depend upon God for relief. We are looking for our own virtue, our own piety, our own goodness, [and become] fallen in our own mire. And thus it will be, till the whole turn of our minds is so changed that we as fully see and know our inability to any goodness or life of our own.
You may be frightened when coldness seizes upon you, and your hearts seem ready to be overcome by every vice. This cold is the divine offspring, or genuine birth, of the former fervor; it comes from it as a good fruit. It brings a divine effect or more fruitful progress in the divine life. The devout soul is always safe in every state if it makes everything either a raising up or falling down into the hands of God, & exercising faith, trust, and resignation to God. Light and darkness equally assist one; in the light one looks up to God; in the darkness one lays hold on God, and so they both do that one the same good. Prayer 128-30
He that lives in the spirit and temper of devotion, whose heart is always full of God, lives at the top of human happiness, and is the farthest removed from all the vanities and vexations which disturb and weary the minds of men who are devoted to the world. You have not the spirit of love until you have this will to all goodness at all times and on all occasions. When love is the spirit of your life, it will have the freedom and universality of a spirit; it will always live and work in love, because the spirit of love can only love. It is its own blessing and happiness, because it is the truth and reality of God in the soul. It is the same good to itself everywhere and on every occasion. Perfection 214-15; Love 4
God is the good, the perfection, every life’s peace, joy, glory & blessing. Christ is the breathing forth of the heart, life & God's spirit into all the dead race of Adam. Love is Heaven revealed in the soul; it is light & truth; it is infallible; it hasn't errors, for all errors are the want of love. Love is of no sect of party; it neither makes nor admits of any bounds. Love is God’s Christ; it comes down from heaven; it regenerates the soul from above. Love lives wholly to God’s will of whom it is born; its meat & drink is to do God’s will. Prayer 108-109.
THE WRITINGS OF WILLIAM LAW
IN THIS WORK: Perfection = A Practical Treatise upon Christian Perfection (1726); Serious Call = A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (1729); Regeneration = The Grounds and Reasons of Christian Regeneration (1739); Appeal = An Appeal to All that Doubt or Disbelieve the Truths of the Gospel (1740); Letters = Collection of Letters (1760); Trapp = Some Animadversions on Dr. Trapp’s Reply (1740); Prayer = The Spirit of Prayer (Part I, 1749; Part II, 1750); Knowledge = The Way to Divine Knowledge (1752); Love = The Spirit of Love (Part I, 1752; Part II, 1754). [Comments = Comments by Mary Morrison]
PART I: THE DEATH IN WHICH WE LIVE—That particular way of life which takes each man’s mind, thoughts, and actions may very well be called his particular dream. There is nothing that makes life or death full of calamity, but obstinate blindness and insensibility of his state. Heaven is as near to our souls as this world is to our bodies; we are created, we are redeemed, to have our conversation in it. Prayer, 3-4
Nothing was more clear & vivid to William Law than the death in which we live & the life to which we are dead. What we think of as unreal was to William Law real; what we think of as shadow was to him substance. [Comments]JH
Our imaginations & desires are the greatest reality we have & are the true formers & raisers of all that is real & solid in us. They communicate with eternity & kindle a life [ending up in either heaven or hell]. The state of hell & the state of the soul in hell are one & the same thing. The reason why wicked men do not become fully sensible of [the hellish state of their souls] is because the soul is capable of being assuaged and comforted by this world’s sun and spirit as all other creatures are. The one only religion that can save any son of fallen Adam must be that which can raise or generate the life, light and spirit of Heaven in his soul. Appeal, 134, 90, 99
[The concept of a Fall to Law was the symbol of a living situation in all our hearts], “a being broken off from God's life, [like a] vine's withered branch [tossed in a fire], or Hell's firebrand of. [Comment], Letters 207.
The reason why man is naturally taken with beautiful objects ‘tis because he was created in the greatest perfection of beauty to live in paradise. The riches, greatness and power he had in reality in paradise he is vainly seeking for here, where he is only a poor prisoner in the valley and shadow of death. Appeal, 124
PART II: WILLIAM LAW AS WRITER AND MYSTIC—William Law refused to take the oath of allegiance to George I, thus forfeiting any career in the universities or the Church. He said: “Had I done what was required of me to avoid it, I should have thought my condition much worse.” He and 2 companions kept a household dedicated to the devout and holy life described in his Serious Call. This book, published in 1729, made William Law famous. It is a weighty, sober book, but far from boring with its word-portraits. [Comments]
Mundanus is a man of excellent parts and clear apprehension; he aims at the greatest perfection in everything. The only thing which has not fallen under his improvement, nor received any benefit from his judicious mind, is his devotion; this is in the same poor state it was when he was only 6 years old. Mundanus has never considered how improvable the spirit of devotion is, or how necessary it is that our prayers should be enlarged, varied, and suited to the particular state and condition of our lives. Serious Call, 141-2
[After reading Jacob Boehme], he was able to think and write from the heart of the matter. In William Law we have a man creating the widely allusive, untranslatable poetry that mystics must use—and speaking our own language, in which we can hear the same overtones that he heard]. [Comments]
Ask when the 1st thought sprung up, find out the birthday of truth, and then thou wilt have found out when the essences of thy soul 1st began to be… Here, O man, behold the great original and high state of thy birth… Thou begannest as time began, but as time was in eternity… so thou wast in God before thou wast brought into creation. Thou art not a part of God … yet born out of him… If thou desirest, and turnest to God like the flowers of the field toward the sun, all the blessings of the deity will spring up in thee. If thou turnest toward [the world and] thyself, thou choosest to be a weed, [and will receive little spirit and blessing from God]. Appeal, 65, 61.
There is no other forgiveness of sin but being made free from it.
Pride, Envy, & Hatred [being allowed to live is like] when Christ was killed & Barabbas was saved alive.
[If] you ask why I go on writing if there is but one true and divine teacher, I answer though there is but one bridegroom … yet his servants are sent out to invite the guests. They are not the light, but only sent to bear witness of it. [My] doctrine must decrease and end, as soon as it has led to the true teacher. Letters, 153
PART III: THE “PRECIOUS UNCERTAIN FIRE” OF LIFE—He that thinks to grow in true goodness by [only] hearing or speaking flaming words, will have little conversation in heaven. Martyrdom has had its fools as well as its saints, and zealots may live and die in a joy that has all its strength from delusions… Their religion was according to the workings of their whole nature, and the old man [within] was as busy and as much delighted in it as the new [man within]. Letters 134; Regeneration 168-9
Self-denials, and mortifications have nothing of goodness or holiness, nor any real parts of our sanctification. They are not the true food or nourishment of the divine life in our souls. Many people practice them for their own sakes, as things good in themselves. Thus, many people’s self-denials do what [self-indulgence] do for other people. Such people withstand and hinder the operation of God upon their souls. [Their] actions instead of being self-denial strengthen and keep up the kingdom of self. Prayer, 43-4
What a delusion it is therefore to grow grey-headed in balancing ancient & modern opinions. [& what a waste of life to spend time] in critical zeal & verbal animosities… If reason ... has any power against religion, it is only where religion has become a dead form, has lost its true state, & has become opinion. True, genuine religion is life & the working of life. If you are afraid of reason hurting your religion, it is a sign that your religion isn't yet a self-evident growth of nature & life within you, but has much opinion to it. Knowledge 219, 232
This is the greatest evil that the division of the Church has brought forth; ... every communion is a selfish, partial orthodoxy; it defends all that it has & condemns all that it hasn't. If each Church produced a man that had the piety of an apostle & the impartial love of the 1st Christians, [it would not be long before they were all of one religion]… [Each communion denies the central belief & practice of the others for fear of seeming to agree or be too much like them]… In the present divided state of the Church truth itself is torn & divided asunder. Uniting in heart & spirit with all that is holy & good in all Churches, we enter into the true communion of saints & become a holy catholic Church, though we are confined to the outward worship of one particular part of it. Trapp, 182-4
The goodness of a living creature must be its own life. And if goodness is not our natural birth from our natural parents, we must of all necessity be born again from a principle above nature. It is from this birth that the free genuine works of goodness flow forth, with the freedom of the divine life. Knowledge 158
PART IV:THE 1ST ROOTS OF NEW LIFE—Who hasn’t at one time or another felt sourness, wrath, selfishness, envy & pride rising up in him without one’s consent, casting blackness over all thoughts, & then as suddenly going off again. These are indications that there’s a dark guest within him. This dark disordered fire of our soul, when rightly known & dealt with, can as well be made the foundation of Heaven as it is of Hell. If life wasn't a depth of strife, fullness of heavenly joy couldn’t be manifested in it … Fallen angels aren’t in Hell because [God] is angry at them & so cast them into Hell. They are in wrath & darkness because [they have “put out” their spiritual eyes rather than see] the light flowing forth from God. Regeneration, 141,153; Love 17; Appeal, 128-9
There must be some kind of earthquake with us; something must rend & shake us to the bottom, [so that we are aware] of the state of death we are in, & desirous enough of that Savior that can raise us from it… When one truly knows and feels that sin begins with one’s being, and that the free grace of God has provided one a remedy equal to one’s distress, one may know and feel the power of Christ brought to life in one. Regeneration 152,161
The atonement by Christ is to overcome and remove all that death and hell and wrath and darkness that had opened itself in the nature, birth and life of fallen man. His trial was as a son of man and loaded with all the infirmaties of fallen Adam, to see whether he could live and die with his spirit as contrary to them, as much above them, as Adam should have lived in Paradise. Love, 71, 96
If humankind was to go out of a fallen state, there must be a son of this fallen man [who would] go thru all stages [of divine life], & so make it possible for humankind to [be born into] his conquering nature & follow him through all these passages to eternal life. The spirit of Christ becomes all in all to us and so only to be known by those who have it brought to life in them. [The process of bringing the new nature to life in us is the process of Christ repeated in us, a completely natural thing, yet voluntary]. Appeal, 144; Letters, 133; [Comments]
God is compassionate & long-suffering [& gives] the power of choosing life or death, water or fire. The last judgment will put everyone into the full & sole possession of that which they have chosen. The necessity of dying to ourselves isn’t required as a punishment, isn’t an invention of monks. It is necessary to make way for the new birth as the “death” of the seed is necessary to make way for its vegetable life. Appeal 98; Prayer 32-3
To have but this one will & hunger is… to have done with every thing that can defile, betray, disappoint or hurt that eternal nature which must have its life within you. Your heart is the best & greatest gift of God to you; it is the highest, greatest, strongest, & noblest power of your nature; it forms your life, all good, all evil. When the state of our heart isn't a spirit of prayer to God, we pray ... to some, or other part of the creation. Reason can only be a mere beholder of the wonders of happiness or forms of misery. Letters 151; Prayer 124, 118
Spiritual eating is by the mouth of desire, [your will and hunger]. What you are eating, good or bad, forms the strength or body of your soul. Faith is that power by which a man gives himself up to anything, seeks, wills, adheres to and unites with it, so that his life lives in it and belongs to it. Every man equally lives by faith… is equally under the power of faith, whether it be divine, earthly, sensual or devilish. All salvation does and only can, arise from a faith turned to God.
PART V: THE LIVING SENSE OF GOD WITHIN—How shall I discover these riches of eternity, this light and spirit, and wisdom, and peace of God treasured up within me? Thy 1st thought of repentance or desire of turning to God is thy 1st discovery of this light and Spirit of God within thee. It is the eternal, speaking the word of God in thy heart, that word is beginning to create thee a second time unto righteousness. Let it enlighten, teach, frighten, torment, judge, and condemn thee as it pleases, turn not away from it; hear all it says. Pray that God’s Kingdom may come and God’s will be done in thy soul. Turn therefore inwards, and all that is within you will demonstrate to you the presence and power of God in your soul and make you as certain of it as of your own thoughts. [It will bring you] knowledge of good and evil. Prayer 36-7; Letters, 159
The best outward prayer book you can have [will be] full of awakening informations as will force you to see & know who & what & where you are; that God is your all & all is misery but a heart & life devoted to him. It will turn you to an inward book & spirit of prayer in your heart. Every return of [careful, inspired] prayer gives new life & growth to your virtues. Our hearts deceive us because we leave them alone, are absent from them, taken up in outward things. The strength of sin, the power of evil temper, the most secret workings of our hearts is forced to be seen as soon as the heart becomes our prayer-book. Our desire isn’t only powerful & productive, but it is always alive, always working & creating in us. Prayer of the heart forms & transforms the soul into every-thing that its desires reach after. When the eternal springs of the purified heart stretch after God from whence they came; then it is that what we ask, we receive, and what we seek, we find. Prayer 136-7; Appeal, 134
The painful sense and feeling of what you are, kindled into a working state of sensibility by the light of God within you, is the fire and light from whence your spirit of prayer proceeds. This prayer of divine humility is met by the divine love; the mercifulness of God embraces it. When prayer has melted away all earthly passion and affections, [it becomes] not so much praying as living in God, the highest union with God in this life.
[When you go through each of these foregoing states, it is [best] to expect nothing from ourselves, but in everything expect and depend upon God for relief. We are looking for our own virtue, our own piety, our own goodness, [and become] fallen in our own mire. And thus it will be, till the whole turn of our minds is so changed that we as fully see and know our inability to any goodness or life of our own.
You may be frightened when coldness seizes upon you, and your hearts seem ready to be overcome by every vice. This cold is the divine offspring, or genuine birth, of the former fervor; it comes from it as a good fruit. It brings a divine effect or more fruitful progress in the divine life. The devout soul is always safe in every state if it makes everything either a raising up or falling down into the hands of God, & exercising faith, trust, and resignation to God. Light and darkness equally assist one; in the light one looks up to God; in the darkness one lays hold on God, and so they both do that one the same good. Prayer 128-30
He that lives in the spirit and temper of devotion, whose heart is always full of God, lives at the top of human happiness, and is the farthest removed from all the vanities and vexations which disturb and weary the minds of men who are devoted to the world. You have not the spirit of love until you have this will to all goodness at all times and on all occasions. When love is the spirit of your life, it will have the freedom and universality of a spirit; it will always live and work in love, because the spirit of love can only love. It is its own blessing and happiness, because it is the truth and reality of God in the soul. It is the same good to itself everywhere and on every occasion. Perfection 214-15; Love 4
God is the good, the perfection, every life’s peace, joy, glory & blessing. Christ is the breathing forth of the heart, life & God's spirit into all the dead race of Adam. Love is Heaven revealed in the soul; it is light & truth; it is infallible; it hasn't errors, for all errors are the want of love. Love is of no sect of party; it neither makes nor admits of any bounds. Love is God’s Christ; it comes down from heaven; it regenerates the soul from above. Love lives wholly to God’s will of whom it is born; its meat & drink is to do God’s will. Prayer 108-109.
86. Blake’s 4-fold Vision (by; 1956)
About the Author—Harold Goddard (1878-1950) was born in Worcester, MA. He attended Amherst College graduating in 1900. He taught mathematics there for two years. An interest in literature led him to Columbia University; he received a PhD in English & comparative literature in 1909. He taught at Northwestern University 1904-1909. From 1909 to his retirement in 1946, he was the English Department head at Swarthmore College. Although often believed to be a Quaker, Goddard was never a full member.
[Introduction]—In one sense you must dig into William Blake as you would into a problem in integral calculus. But in a deeper sense, you must just throw a kiss to him as he flies by. ”I give you the end of a golden string, Only wind it into a ball. It will lead you in at Heaven’s gate, built in Jerusalem’s [liberty’s] wall.” Blake was a great believer in moments. [The 1st of 4 moments here was] when he was about 8 or 9. He . . . told his parents he had seen a tree full of angels. Obscure, almost unrecognized, often close to poverty, he went quietly ahead consecrating himself to his work as poet & creative designer. [In the 2nd moment] he distinctly saw his brother’s soul rise from his body . . . clap his hands for joy & ascend. [In the 3rd moment he ejected a drunken soldier from his garden]... It was [his patron] William Hayley in symbolic form that he ejected from his garden…
[Upon his death] he spoke words of love and unconscious poetry, he drew, he sang, he showed faith, he was silent. Blake had the assets of insanity without the liabilities [i.e. genius].
Blake's Life and 4-fold Vision—Blake’s life naturally falls into the phases of Innocence, Experience, Revolution or Rebellion, and Vision. In each of his four phases Blake was prophetic. Of modern industrial capitalism Blake wrote: ”In every cry of every Man, in every infant’s cry of fear. In every voice, in every ban, the mind fogged manacles I hear. [Blake had similar things to say about] war, [the organized church], the tyrannies of family life, and wrong conceptions of love and marriage. Among modern occidentals Blake was the Columbus of the soul. His Atlantic was Time itself; his Indies Eternity.
[In society] Reason was the god of the 18th century. To Blake, Reason is the Great Divider. Divide those to be governed into factions and rule them, while they fight. Mental despotism does the same. The great instrument of the Great Divider is the abstract word. . . If Blake detested the abstract . . . he almost deified the Minute Particulars. “To Generalize is to be an Idiot. To Particularize is the Alone Distinction of Merit.”
"Integrate the conscious & the unconscious" is the modern psychological cry. "Marry Heaven & Hell," says Blake, meaning the same thing. What can [marry] us with our lost underworld? Blake’s answer [is] IMAGINATION. [Excerpts from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell]: “To create a little flower is the labor of ages . . . Prudence is a rich, ugly old maid courted by Incapacity. . . You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough. . . The crooked road with Improvement are roads of Genius. . . It indeed appeared to Reason as if desire was cast out, but the Devil’s account is, that the Messiah fell, and formed a heaven of what he stole from the Abyss.” Blake accepts both [Milton’s Satan and the Greek’s Prometheus] and reconciles them.
Why doesn’t a seed decay like a bit of dead leaf, or go on lying there unchanged like a pebble? The sun’s rays somehow or other penetrates to the seed buried down there in the dark. How is there a tiny invisible sun inside the seed with a strange affinity between it and the great sun? How does the seed somehow retain a memory that it was once a water-lily? It had faith. The prophet Isaiah in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell says: My senses discovered the infinite in everything . . . All poets believe that [firm persuasion that a thing is so makes it so], and in ages of imagination this firm persuasion removed mountains.” Eternity is at one and the same time the principle of life with the egg and the state or region outside the shell. “What is above is within.” Blake was a pioneer. He is unfinished. [His] Prophetic Books are an immense allegory of the human soul, a concrete and symbolic psychology . . . the history of heaven and hell [and] his autobiography.
Reason breaks the [universal] harmony and falls from Eternity into Time. Religion begins in revelation, and falls into dogma and the organized church. Art begins in inspiration, and falls into slavery to rules and technique. Education begins in love for the child, and falls into methods and regimentation. Blake . . . recognizes five worlds or states:
1. Eden (Innocence) or Eternity, imagination, creativity, Divine Love; symbol is sun
2.Beulah (nearest Eternity), sleep, dreams, and human love; symbol is moon
(reflecting the sun, Eternity, Divine love)
3. [Mid-region], Science; symbol is stars
4. Generation, Earthly Life (prison of the senses), physical love; symbol is Sex,
unclear boundary between this world and the next which is
5. Ulro: opacity, frigidity, contraction; symbol is Darkness, or Matter.
And a 4-fold vision is given to me; tis 4-fold in my supreme delight And 3-fold in soft Beulah’s night.
And 2-fold Always. May God us keep from Single Vision and Newton’s sleep.
Single Vision is simply ordinary physical eyesight; it is to 4-fold sight what blindness is to ordinary sight. It is the belief that you can find the essence of things by measuring and weighing them. Double Vision is [when one] realizes . . . that everything around him gives back the image of one’s life: the path; the unseen wind, the tree that is two trees (root and branch). Poetry and Painting are images . . . Simply thoughts that have come to life. The moment images begin to interweave, interplay, form constellations, marry and beget new images, we have Threefold Vision. [Here] beautiful thoughts are the wings of the soul. Whoever has created a work of art and felt inspired at the moment he conceived it has an inkling of Blake’s threefold vision.
Fourfold Vision is simply dreaming, loving, imagining with such intensity that [the images] obliterate daylight as daylight ordinarily obliterates the dream. [Mundane sensations become sublime and beyond sublime.] Blake says: “I question not my Corporeal or Vegetative Sight any more than I would Question a Window concerning a [fourfold] Sight. I look through it, not with it. Put more [people] more often, into a more elevated state of imagination, and everything else follows. Imagination uncreates not only anger, but all the other 7 deadly sins. [Imagination proceeds from mitigating, to forgiving, to forgetting, to uncreating evil].
This is the clue to Blake’s tremendous emphasis on art, the language of the imagination, [the coin with which to buy Heaven]. ”The Whole Business of Man is Art.” Force can only be overcome by a higher order of force [i.e. Imagination]. When the greatest [minds] of the ages [e.g. Dante, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky] agree [with Blake], if their agreement is not truth, what is truth? Dostoevsky writes the following: in “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”: I will not and cannot believe that evil is the normal condition of mankind. . . Suppose that this paradise will never come to pass, yet shall I go on preaching it. . . The chief thing is to love others like yourself, that’s the great thing, that’s everything. [They say that] consciousness of life is higher than life. . . and the laws of happiness higher than happiness—that is what one must contend against.”
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A Note on the Text of "Song of Myself [SOM]"—This essay is intended to be read alongside "SOM," Walt Whitman's masterpiece & longest poem in the volume Leaves of Grass (LOG). He revised this poem slightly in every edition of LOG from 1855-1881. I follow the final edition in this essay. SOM can be found at www. whitmanarchive.org. I recommend Whitman's Complete Poetry & Collected Prose, Library of America, 1982.
[Introduction]—[I had a seriously underemployed, searching period in my 20's]. A lot of interior life was deciding what I wanted to be when I grew up & what I believed. [Growing up Presbyterian in OK, I wrestled, along with my junior high peers, with Calvin's presdestination, foreordination, & infant damnation. How can we be free to choose if God has foreknowledge of choices? How does salvation relate to good works? At college age I decided Calvinism was logically elegant but emotionally repellent & I put religion behind me.
[A few years later in my searching period, I was exploring literature on Eastern religious thought. I kept returning to Whitman's 1st edition of LOG. At the time Walt Whitman's poetry went over my head. I 1st came to the volume in the context of American literary tradition, [but I now] turned to it for spiritual [and religious] guidance. [I was struck by Whitman phrases like]: "Folks expect the poet ... to indicate the path between reality and soul," "Everything without exception has an eternal soul," "I think there is nothing but immortality." I needed a belief system oriented toward the beauty and immortality of the here and now.
Quakerism fits with Whitman's liberal spirituality; Whitman had connections to 19th century Friends. Unitarian Thomas Harned writes: "I can never think of Whitman as a mere literary man [but as being among] prophets & saviors ... He is a mighty spiritual force ... [offering] religion to live & die by." 19th century Whitman disciples were religious liberals who found in LOG a modern, progressive gospel. I want to revive & explore a religious approach to LOG, & its value to 21st century Quakers & other Seekers. SOM is a massive sprawling work; there is little agreement] over what sort of poem it is. [My position is] that it is a great spiritual epic & a [transcendent] spiritual classic with a democratic, inclusive spirituality.
Walt Whitman, Poet-Prophet—Whitman was born in rural Long Island, in 1819, & moved to Brooklyn when he was 4. Whitman picked up an excellent education as a print shop apprentice, & was composing his own poems & short stories. Whitman stayed connected with the printing trade throughout his youth & young adulthood as a newspaper publisher, publishing articles, editorials, poems, & stories; they were, contemporary, conventional and sentimental. He quit editing in the 1950's, radically changed his dress and became a poet.
Whitman never talked about any transformative mystical experience that led to his sudden transformation to poet, outside of his poetry. He worked in a very disciplined fashion on LOG, whose long unrhymed lines have no regular meter; [their rhythm is that of the human breath]. Their content argues for equality of women and men, black and white, immigrants and native-born, and celebrated naked bodies and sexual acts. LOG was aesthetic experiment, political manifesto, and American gospel. Whitman wrote: "[American] Presidents shall not be their common referee so much as their poets shall." The poet had a role greater than legislator or chief executive: high priest of a new democratic religion. Whitman insisted that "one deep purpose [of LOG] underlay the others: ... the religious purpose. What is the nature of the religion outlined in LOG?
Whitman's Religious Influences—Walt Whitman was exposed to a variety of religious traditions and movements: Protestant; deist; Quaker. A subtle but strong anti-clerical sentiment runs through LOG. He wrote: "Really, What has America to do with all this mummery of prayer and rituals & the rant of exhorters & priests ... their dramatic scenery of religion? I demand ... a real athletic and fit religion for These States ... All religions are but temporary journeys." Walt Whitman's view held that both the natural world and human institutions were evolving toward perfection. In SOM, he "outbids ... the old cautious hucksters," and claims elements of a long list of deities from a wide spectrum of world religions, "Admitting they were alive and did the work of their days .../ Accepting the rough deific sketches to fill out better in myself."
Whitman was equally influenced by his mother's Quaker background, and in particular the preacher Elias Hicks, with his emphasis on individual experience of the divine [i.e. Inner Light]. Whitman remembered long after his boyhood impression of Hicks' "mystical and radical" presence and his emphasis on the "light within. Whitman wrote: "E.H. gives the service of pointing to the fountain of all naked theology, all worship, all the truth to which you are possibly eligible in and your inherent relations ... and the religion inside of man's very own nature." Whitman took from Hicks' words the stress on the divine element within every human being. But he decided that joining the Society of Friends was impossible: "I was never made to live inside a fence."
Whitman was influenced by transcendental romanticism popularized by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Uncomfortable with the divinity of Christ and administering the sacraments, Emerson left the ministry and became a writer and lecturer. His series of essays in the 1830's and 1840's work out a distinctive transcendentalist theology. He writes: "Jove nods to Jove from behind each of us." Divine spirit expresses itself through every person. Early on Whitman acknowledged Emerson as his master, but later in life became touchy about his debts to Emerson.
Large swaths of SOM read like poetic restatements of Emerson, like: "Why should I wish to see God better than this day?/ I see something of God each hour of 24, & each moment then,/ In the faces of men & women I see God; in my own face in the glass,/ I find letters from God dropt in the street, every one sign'd by God .../ I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe'er I go,/ Others will punctually come for ever & ever." Whitman said of his reaction to Emerson: "I was simmering, simmering. Emerson brought me to a boil."
"Song of Myself"—This lengthy, brilliant, & endlessly suggestive poem is Whitman's masterpiece & the starting point for one interested in Whitman's religious ideas. Whitman wanted "athletic" readers who would wrestle their own meanings from his poetry; in later editions he divided the poem into 52 sections. This vast, fluid poem favors a dreamlike structure of associative leaps. Virtually every critic of SOM divides into a smaller number of units, often between 4 and 10. I have broken it into 7.
Part One (Sections 1-4): Introduction—I celebrate myself, and sing myself,/ And what I assume you shall assume,/ For every atom belongs to me as good belongs to you.
Whitman replaces the mythic hero of ancient epic with himself. Whitman left his name off the title page of LOG, because the book belonged to everyone; he connects I to you. The entire poem is a transaction between poet and reader, seeking a relationship and a conversion of the reader to a religion of the divine self. "Celebrate" is honor someone, and performing a religious ceremony. "Assume" is taking something on, [believing something to be true], and ascending to heaven. Whitman uses scientific, atomic images and facts. He favors and believes in a leisurely communion with his spiritual self. Leaves of grass refers to a perfectly democratic plant composed of countless individual leaves united into a whole. In this section, Whitman establishes the beauties of nature and the body, the intimate connection between poet and reader, and the curious duality of self and soul. The poem resists exact translation into any terms other than its own.
Part Two (Section 5): Mystical Ecstasy—Section 5 is one of the most celebrated passages in world poetry and a classic of mystical literature. [Excerpt follows]: "I believe in you my soul, the other I am must not abase itself, to you,/ & you must not be abased to the other.// Loafe with me on the grass, loose the stop from your throat,/ Not words, not music of rhyme I want, not custom or lecture, not even the best,/ Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved voice.// ... Swiftly arose & spread around me the peace & knowledge that pass all the argument of the earth./ & I know that the hand of God is the promise of my own/ ... that the spirit of God is brother of my own/ ... that all ... ever born are ... brothers ... sisters & lovers,/ & that a kelson of the creation is love ..."
In Whitman's radical religious vision, body & soul are equally sublime; equal participants in the mystical ecstasy depicted in the remaining section. [In the verses omitted by this editor, there is intimate touching of hips, beard, & feet, male breast, & the tongue plunged] "to my bare-stript heart." The passage is mystical & erotic, physical & fanciful, heterosexual & homosexual. Other religious writings depict the mystic's union with God as an encounter between lovers. Body & soul's encounter is the union of lovers, experiencing the divine, & Whitman's insemination as a poet. Mystical experience is described in metaphor; it is transient, & cannot be actively willed. Whitman uses the image of kelson, the part of the keel essential to keeping a ship on course, to describe love's function in the world & life, their dependence on love to guide their passage through time.
Part Three (Sections 6-23): The Caresser of Life—"How could I answer the [child's] What is the grass?" [Whitman], i.e. explain an essentially ineffable experience. Grass is: individual self; God; fertility; democracy; immortality—a convenient summary of the principal themes of SOM. The relationship between poet and reader of LOG is unparalleled in literature, that of lover, mentor, closest friend. His words a century later can still evoke a powerfully felt connection in readers. In section 8, Whitman starts using the catalogue form, which many, detractor and admirer alike, find tedious. The longer ones are often skimmed over, the images registering on our consciousness so rapidly that they blur into one another—which may be Whitman's point, [a democratizing of images that might otherwise take different values and ranks in our minds]. Both Whitman's catalogues and religious vision reject hierarchy; equality is emphasized. Whitman rejects the dualistic theology of traditional Christianity: What blurt is this about virtue and about vice [good and evil]? About the present, he says: "This minute that comes to me over the past decillions,/ There is no better than it and now."
Part Four (Sections 24-25): Walt Whitman, a Kosmos/ Part Five (Section 26-29): The Senses—In Section 24's self-description: "Walt Whitman, a kosmos, of Manhattan the son." it is clear that "Walt Whitman" is a tall-tale American hero like Paul Bunyan. He dismisses churches, bibles, & creeds in favor of body-spirituality, offering "the spread of my own body" as a worship-object & seamlessly turning body parts into natural objects, & vice versa. The very loquacious speaker questions language's efficacy in describing ineffable mystical experience. He charges his own power of speech with overestimating itself: "You conceive too much of articulation."
In Sections 26-29, he portrays music & the senses as paths toward both bodily ecstasy & spiritual insight. He called the voice of an opera tenor the "identity of the Creative Power itself," & a pathway to the soul. The author depicts himself as highly responsive to music & sound, as well as hypersensitive to touch. Whitman describes sexual acts &, for all his boldness, prefers the safety of metaphor. His sexual climax is quickly spiritualized. He acknowledges that loss of self-control in orgasm can provoke spiritual illumination & frightening sense of helplessness. In post-orgasm bliss, his semen turns into showers that nurture landscapes of golden grass.
Part Six (Sections 30-37): "All Truths Wait in All Things"—This sentence begins Section 30. He goes on to offer his religious creed: I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars/ ... & the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven,/ & the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery,/ ... & a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidel." Whitman follows his creed with a tribute to evolution. He provides a fast-motion overview of evolution, from plutonic rocks & mastodon to razor-billed auks. Science, is not a hindrance to religious faith, but only increases the poet's reverence for the universe.
Section 33 is the longest catalogue in the poem. It starts with a sort of re-creation of the world, with the poet floating free of the earth, gaining spectacular size, & lovingly naming all that he sees. In the same section he assumes the identity of different suffering people, [most notably] a fireman crushed by the debris of a burning building. He declares: "Agonies are one of my changes of garments. I don't ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person." Whitman's religious vision, his mature & complex belief includes paradoxical elements. He asks: "Do I contradict myself?/ Very well then I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes." John Updike sees SOM as a poem of egotheism, with self assuming a divine status. The poet then travels in time, covering the Goliad massacre of 412 men in the Mexican War (1835-36), & then a Revolutionary War sea battle. By the end of Section 37 he has become a cholera patient, then a shame-faced beggar.
Part Seven (Sections 38-52): Whitman's New Religion—In the beginning of Section 38 Whitman says: "I discover myself on the verge of a usual mistake." The poet's usual mistake may stem from of his usual virtues: his ability to identify with others. Becoming "a shame-faced beggar," the shame from that makes him feel isolated and small. He corrects his mistake by remembering that he like every person, contains the inward Christ, a concept he turns into vivid imagery. Reminded of his power to transcend suffering through imaginative resurrection, the poet's balance is restored, and he is now a Christ-like prophet.
Whitman assumes the identity of the "friendly and flowing savage," an supernatural American prophet and "savior" who shares his strength [and healing powers] with the masses. In Sections 42-49 is a wide-ranging address, which [stands as] Whitman's Sermon on the Mount. He preaches love, compassion, and an intense individualism. His faith incorporates all worship ancient and modern; he was part of the 1st generation of religious liberals to regard other religions as valid spiritual paths equivalents to Christianity.
Whitman's intensely democratic spirituality emphasizes [a broad equality] of gender, races, & [gender preferences]; he leaves the gender of his soul strategically undefined. Walt spiritualized sexuality of all sorts, sacralizing one's desire for either women or men. Death serves as the accoucheur, or male midwife, his hand at the entrance to the womb or the afterlife. In Section 49 alone, death is successively presented as "relief & escape," a rotting corpse enriching the soil & bringing new life, & one stage in an endless cycle of reincarnation.
Whitman's many interpretations of death prepare readers, his "brothers & sisters," "the listeners up there" —a brilliant image of the [poet & listener's positions, with the poet down here in these pages, & his readers with their] faces poised above the pages. In a series of beautiful images, the poet depicts his body dissolving into air & earth, & in his final words encourages the poet-prophet & disciple-reader relationship to continue: I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,/ I effuse my flesh in eddies, & drift it in lacy jags./ I bequeath my-self to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,/ If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles ... Failing to fetch me at 1st keep encouraged,/ Missing me one place search another,/ I stop somewhere waiting for you.
Conclusion—"Song of Myself" is Walt Whitman's good news, a democratic gospel intended to transform readers' lives. Whitman's optimism may seem discredited by ["man's inhumanity to man"] in the 1½ centuries since he wrote SOM, & his extreme individualism & rejection of religion may not speak to those deeply nurtured in religious community. SOM can reveal deep wisdom for spiritual seekers. Nature mysticism in SOM offers powerful images of the interdependence of the human & natural worlds. The poem's deft merging of scientific and spiritual discourse, and its insistence on the sacredness of the body and sex [refutes the] claim we must choose between science and religion, the lingering forces of cultural puritanism, and the shamefulness of homosexuality.
"Song of Myself" remains the most vivid expression in the English language of a fully democratic spirituality. After the World Trade Center collapse on 9/11/01, [the following verses speak to us anew]: I am the mash'd fireman with breast-bone broken,/ Tumbling walls buried me in their debris,/ Heat & smoke I inspired, I heard the yelling shouts of my comrades,/ ... They have cleared the beams away, they tenderly lift me forth ... / Painless after all I lie exhausted but not so unhappy,/ White and beautiful are the faces around me. (Section 33)
Instead of searching for future salvation, the poem explores the beauty and immortality of the here and now, on the journey that each "must travel for yourself," and perhaps write their own song of the self. As Whitman reminds us: "The strongest and sweetest songs yet remain to be sung."
Queries—How do poets or other artists serve as priests or prophets in your own spiritual experience? How do you experience the tension between "spiritual individualism," & "corporate discipline" in the Society of Friends, & their respective benefits, costs & risks?" How does the poem speak to you in terms of a religious message, the natural world, the physical body, & [the world community's democracy & diversity]? Which passages are particularly compelling or inspiring to you & why? Which passages disturb or repulse you & why? How does "Song of Myself" speak to "that of God of in everyone?"
Whitman Queries—How proud have you felt to get at the meaning of poems? How shall I postpone my acceptation and realization [of Knowledge and Truth], and scream at my eyes, that they turn from gazing after and down the road? How do I know that the hand of God is the promise of my own? How do I know that the spirit of God is the brother of my own? How do I know that all the men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters and lovers? How do I know that a kelson [sure guide] of the creation is love? How can one suppose it lucky to be born [and to die]? How is it that battles are lost in the same spirit in which they are won?
How does the daylight astonish? How does the early redstart twittering through the woods astonish? How do I astonish more than they? Why should I pray? Why should I venerate and be ceremonious? How did you guess the celestial laws are yet to be work’d over and rectified? If you contain enough, why don’t you let it out then? What is less or more than a touch? Where do animals get those tokens of myself, that they reveal as being plainly in their possession?
How did I negligently drop tokens of myself huge times ago? Who is the friendly and flowing savage, and where is he from? Is he waiting for civilization, or past it and mastering it? What does the Earth want from my hand? How can I teach straying from me and yet follow you with my words until you understand them? How do you see and describe the Unnamed thing that contains form, union, plan, eternal life and Happiness? What knowledge do I have to share with others? Who shall I share it with?
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She suffered from headaches which no doctor could cure, & moral suffering at the thought of the cruelties of totalitarian regimes & total warfare. During the war, after she was dismissed from her university post because of Germany’s racist laws, she went with her family to the US. The winter trip to England, & her insistence on eating only the meager rations the conquered French were getting, led to tuberculosis, which caused her death.
The Iliad, or The Poem of Force was written in the summer and fall of 1940, after the fall of France, and 1st published in late 1940 and early 1941 in Marseilles’ Cahiers du Sud. The Iliad appeared in the November 1945 issue of Politics and was later issued in pamphlet form. [Italics are verses taken from Iliad]
I.—The true hero, the true subject, the center of the Iliad is force. Force employed by man, force that enslaves man, force before which man’s flesh shrinks away. The human spirit is shown as modified [in negative ways] by force. For some, The Iliad is the purest and loveliest of mirrors [of force]. Force is that x that turns anybody who is subjected to it into a thing. “…The horses…/ longing for their noble drivers. But they on the ground/ Lay, dearer to vultures than to their wives. No comforting fiction intervenes; no consoling prospect of immortality. “[She prepares a bath for Hector]/ Foolish woman! Already he lay, far from hot baths,/Slain by grey-eyed Athena, who guided Achilles’ arm.”
[There is] the force that kills, and the force that does not kill, not yet. [It has] the ability to turn a human being into a thing while he is still alive—a thing that has a soul. Who can say what it costs it, moment by moment, to accommodate itself to this residence, how much writhing and bending, folding and pleating are required of it? This [helpless] person [about to die] becomes a corpse before anybody or anything touches him. Thus spoke the brilliant son of Priam/ In begging words. But he heard a harsh reply… Achilles, drawing his sword, struck/ Through the neck and breastbone. The two-edged sword/Sunk home its full length.
II.—If a stranger, throws himself on the mercy of a warrior, he is not condemned to death; but a movement of impatience in the warrior’s part will suffice to relieve him of his life. Alone of all living things, the suppliant we have just described neither quivers nor trembles. He has lost the right to do so. [Priam] spoke. [Achilles], remembering his own father, longed to weep/Taking the old man’s arm, he pushed him away… Thinking of Hector … Priam wept… But Achilles wept, now for his father, now for Patroclus. The indefinable influence that the presence of another human being has on us is not exercised by men whom a moment of impatience can deprive of life, who can die before even thought has a chance to pass sentence on them. In their presence people move about as if they were not there; they imitate nothingness in their own person.
III.—But there are other, more unfortunate creatures who have become things for the rest of their lives. This thing is constantly aspiring to be a man or a woman, and never achieving it—here surely, is death but death strung out over a whole lifetime; here, surely is life, but life that death congeals before abolishing. This strange fate awaits the virgin, the young wife, the baby, heir to the royal scepter. Reflections on the future and the past are obliterated from the mind of the captive; and memory itself barely lingers on. The misfortune of his master, oppressor, despoiler, pillager is the only occasion on which tears are permitted, are indeed required. Since the slave has no license to express anything except what is pleasing to his master, it follows that the only emotion [left] is love for his master. To lose more than the slave does is impossible, for he loses his whole inner life. A fragment of it he may get back if he sees the possibility of changing his fate, but this is his only hope.
IV.—Force, in the hands of another, exercises over the soul the same tyranny that extreme hunger does; it possesses power of life & death. Its rule moreover, is as cold & hard as the rule of inert matter. Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the 2nd it crushes; the 1st it intoxicates. The truth is nobody really possesses it. Whenever [the common soldier] came upon a commoner shouting out, he spoke sharply: You are weakly, cowardly and unwarlike,/You count for nothing, neither in battle nor in council.”
There is not a single one of the combatants who is spared the shameful experience of fear; heroes quake like everybody else. A shudder of terror ran through the Trojans, making their limbs weak;/ And Hector himself felt his heart leap in his breast./ But he no longer had the right to tremble or to run away … Zeus, the father on high, makes fear rise in Ajax. He stops, overcome, puts behind him his buckler made of 7 hides,/ Trembles, looks at the crowd around, like a beast. Even to Achilles the moment comes; he too must shake and stammer with fear of a river. By its very blindness, destiny establishes a kind of justice. Blind also is she who decrees to warriors punishment in kind. Ares is just, and kills those who kill.
V.—Perhaps all men, by the very act of being born, are destined to suffer violence; yet this is a truth to which circumstance shuts men’s eyes. The strong are, as a matter of fact, never absolutely strong, nor are the weak absolutely weak; neither is aware of this. The man who is the possessor of force seems to walk through a non-resistant element; nothing has the power to interpose. Men wielding power have no suspicion of the fact that the consequences of their deed will at length come home them—they too will bow the neck in their turn.
Those who have force on loan from fate count on it too much and are destroyed, though their own destruction seems impossible. They conclude that destiny has given them complete license; at this point they exceed the measure of force that is actually at their disposal. Eventually, they are exposed; nothing, no shield, stands between them and tears. This retribution [is here] under the name of Nemesis; it is the soul of the epic. In Oriental countries it has lived under the name Karma. The West has lost it, and no longer has a word to express it. We are only geometrician of matter; the Greeks were geometrician in apprenticeship to virtue.
VI-VII.—The progress of the war in the Iliad is simply a continual game of seesaw. The victor of the moment forgets to treat victory as a transitory thing. [Hector swings from despair and wishing death before seeing his wife’s captivity, to wishing to wound every Greek as a reminder of the folly of attacking Troy, back to actual humiliating defeat and retreat, and again back the same day to put the Greeks to flight and kill Patroclus].
The next day Hector is lost. [As death by Achilles approaches, he says]: I fear to hear from someone far less brave than I: “Hector, trusting his own strength too far, has ruined his people.” [He then turns & runs, is caught & makes a vain plea for his life]. The auditors of the Iliad knew Hector's death would be a brief joy to Achilles, the death of Achilles but a brief joy to the Trojans, & Troy’s destruction but a brief joy to the Achaeans.
Thus violence obliterates anybody who feels its touch, [conqueror as well as conquered]. A moderate use of force, which alone would enable man to escape being enmeshed in its machinery, would require superhuman virtue, which is as rare as dignity in weakness. Man dashes to the extremes of force as to an irresistible temptation. The voice of reason is occasionally heard in the Iliad, but words of reason drop into the void. Failing everything else, there is always a god handy to advise him to be unreasonable, [and a resignation to their fate].
VIII.—Unless your spirit has been conquered in advance by the reputation of the enemy, you always feel yourself to be much stronger than anybody who is not there. War’s necessity is terrible, altogether different in kind from the necessity of peace. So terrible is it that the human spirit will not submit to it so long as it can possibly escape. After long days empty of necessity, danger then becomes an abstraction; the lives you destroy like toys broken by a child. With the majority of combatants this state of mind does not persist.
Soon there comes a day when fear, defeat, or a death touches the warrior’s spirit. Once you acknowledge death to be a practical possibility, the thought of it becomes unendurable, except in flashes. The mind, [when faced with death every day], is strung up to a pitch that it can stand only for a short time. Each day the soul castrates itself of aspiration, for thought cannot journey through time without meeting death. The mind has lost all capacity to so much as look outward, as it is completely absorbed in doing itself violence. Deliverance appears to the soul in an extreme aspect of destruction. The idea that an unlimited effort should bring in only a limited profit or no profit is terribly painful. The only remedy the soul can imagine is the destruction of the enemy. Despair drives one on toward death, on the one hand, and slaughter on the other. The man possessed by this 2-fold need for death belongs to a different race from the race of the living.
What echo can the timid hopes of life strike in such a heart? [Pleas for pity to such a man fall on deaf ears. He has already resigned his victim and himself to the inevitability of death]. Come friend, you too must die. Why make a fuss of it?... Even I, like you, must some day encounter my fate, The hour when some arms-bearing warrior will kill me. To respect life in somebody else when you have had to castrate yourself of all yearning for it demands a truly heartbreaking exertion of the powers of generosity. How many men do we know in several thousand years of history who have displayed such god-like generosity [and mercy]? Both conquering soldier and slave become things; both experience force’s inevitable effects: they become deaf and dumb.
IX-X.—Such is the nature of force. Its power of converting a man into a thing is a double one, and in its application double-edged; those who use it and those who endure it are turned to stone. Battles are fought and decided by men who have undergone a transformation, who have dropped into inert matter, pure passivity, or into blind force, pure momentum. Iliad’s similes liken warriors to either fire, flood, wind, wild beasts, or frightened animals, trees, water, sand, anything affected by natural disasters. The art of war is simply the art of producing such transformations. The petrifying quality of force, 2-fold always, is essential to its nature; and a soul which has entered the province of force will not escape this except by a miracle.
The conqueror’s wantonness, the soldier’s despair, the slave’s obliteration, the wholesale slaughter—all these elements combine in Iliad to make a picture of uniform horror, of which force is the sole hero. A monotonous desolation would result were it not for those few luminous moments of love and courage, when man possesses his soul, scattered here and there throughout the poem. Dear husband, you died young, and left me your widow/alone in the palace. Our child is still tiny… not in your bed did you die, holding my hand/ And speaking prudent words which forever… might live in my memory.
Love's purest triumph is the friendship that floods the hearts of mortal enemies. Then Dardanian Priam fell to admiring Achilles…And in his turn Dardanian Priam was admired by Achilles. Moments of grace are rare in the Iliad; they are enough to make us feel with sharp regret what it is that violence has killed & will kill again.
XI-XIII.—Never does the poem’s tone lose its coloring of incurable bitterness; never does the bitterness drop into lamentation. Nothing precious is scorned. Victors and vanquished are brought equally near us. The whole of the Iliad is brought under the shadow the greatest calamity the human race can experience—the destruction of a city. Whatever is not war, what war destroys or threatens, the Iliad wraps in poetry; the realities of war, never. The cold brutality of the deeds of war is left undisguised. The gods determine with sovereign authority victory and defeat, their only motives, caprice and malice. The warriors, reduced to beasts or things, can inspire only regret that men are capable of being so transformed.
If one believes that 80 years after the fall of Troy, the Achaeans in their turn were conquered, one may ask whether these songs are not the song of a conquered people, of whom a few went into exile. [The exiled and conquered Greeks] saw their own image both in the conquerors, who had been their fathers and in the conquered, whose misery was like their own. Looking at it as conquered and conquerors simultaneously, they perceived what neither conqueror nor conquered ever saw for both were blinded.
The Iliad’s bitterness is the only justifiable bitterness, for it springs from the subjection of the human spirit to force. Such is the spirit of the only true epic the Occident possesses. [Other lengthy Greek works are merely good imitations of it]. The French chanson de geste lacks the Iliad’s sense of equity. The tragedy of Aeschylus and Sophocles, is the true continuation of the epic. Here, force appears in its coldness and hardness, always attended by effects from those whose fatality neither those who use it nor those who suffer it can escape.
The Gospels are the last marvelous expression of the Greek genius as the Iliad is the 1st. Here, human suffering is laid bare, and we see it in a being who is at once divine and human. The sense of human misery gives the Gospel that accent of simplicity that is the mark of the Greek genius. The sense of human misery is a pre-condition of justice and love. Only one who has measured the dominion of force, and knows how not to respect it, is capable of love and justice.
XIV.—[The relations between the human soul, destiny and merciless necessity] are fraught with temptations to false hood, temptations that are enhanced by pride, by shame, by hatred, contempt, indifference, by the will to oblivion or to ignorance. The Greeks, generally speaking, were endowed with spiritual force that allowed them to avoid self-deception, [and gain lucidity, purity, and simplicity]. Once Greece was destroyed, nothing remained of this spirit but pale reflections.
Both the Romans and the Hebrews believed themselves to be exempt from the misery that is the common human lot, [chosen and superior, the Romans through conquest and destiny, the Hebrews through obedience to] their God who exalted them. No text of the Old Testament strikes a note comparable to the note heard in the Greek epic, unless it be certain parts of the book of Job. [Christians should understand] that the only people who can [seem to have] risen to a higher plain, who seem superior to ordinary human misery, are people resorting to illusion, exaltation, fanaticism, to conceal the harshness of destiny from their own eyes.
Christian tradition can only rarely recover that simplicity that renders so poignant the story of the Passion. In spite of the Renaissance’s brief intoxication by Greek literature, in 20 centuries there has been no revival of Greek genius. [The 17th century] took the opposite view from that of the epic period; it only acknowledged human suffering in the context of love, swathing with glory the effects of force in war and politics. Perhaps Europeans will rediscover the epic genius, when they learn that there is no refuge from fate, learn not to admire force, not to hate the enemy, nor to scorn the unfortunate. How soon this will happen is another question.
How does the daylight astonish? How does the early redstart twittering through the woods astonish? How do I astonish more than they? Why should I pray? Why should I venerate and be ceremonious? How did you guess the celestial laws are yet to be work’d over and rectified? If you contain enough, why don’t you let it out then? What is less or more than a touch? Where do animals get those tokens of myself, that they reveal as being plainly in their possession?
How did I negligently drop tokens of myself huge times ago? Who is the friendly and flowing savage, and where is he from? Is he waiting for civilization, or past it and mastering it? What does the Earth want from my hand? How can I teach straying from me and yet follow you with my words until you understand them? How do you see and describe the Unnamed thing that contains form, union, plan, eternal life and Happiness? What knowledge do I have to share with others? Who shall I share it with?
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91 The Illiad or The Poem of Force (by Simone Weil; 1956)
A Note on Simone Weil [see mahn vay]—Simone Weil died in England in August 1943 at the age of 34. She [exercised her mind] every day on the highest products of art & science. [While] teaching philosophy, mathematics & Greek language & literature, she continued to broaden her culture. Her temperament led her to communism when she was about 20. She lived in Germany with the Wandervogel [back-to-nature] youth, & the 1st shots of the Civil War drew her to Spain. She studied the psychological effects of modern technology on workers through firsthand experience.She suffered from headaches which no doctor could cure, & moral suffering at the thought of the cruelties of totalitarian regimes & total warfare. During the war, after she was dismissed from her university post because of Germany’s racist laws, she went with her family to the US. The winter trip to England, & her insistence on eating only the meager rations the conquered French were getting, led to tuberculosis, which caused her death.
The Iliad, or The Poem of Force was written in the summer and fall of 1940, after the fall of France, and 1st published in late 1940 and early 1941 in Marseilles’ Cahiers du Sud. The Iliad appeared in the November 1945 issue of Politics and was later issued in pamphlet form. [Italics are verses taken from Iliad]
I.—The true hero, the true subject, the center of the Iliad is force. Force employed by man, force that enslaves man, force before which man’s flesh shrinks away. The human spirit is shown as modified [in negative ways] by force. For some, The Iliad is the purest and loveliest of mirrors [of force]. Force is that x that turns anybody who is subjected to it into a thing. “…The horses…/ longing for their noble drivers. But they on the ground/ Lay, dearer to vultures than to their wives. No comforting fiction intervenes; no consoling prospect of immortality. “[She prepares a bath for Hector]/ Foolish woman! Already he lay, far from hot baths,/Slain by grey-eyed Athena, who guided Achilles’ arm.”
[There is] the force that kills, and the force that does not kill, not yet. [It has] the ability to turn a human being into a thing while he is still alive—a thing that has a soul. Who can say what it costs it, moment by moment, to accommodate itself to this residence, how much writhing and bending, folding and pleating are required of it? This [helpless] person [about to die] becomes a corpse before anybody or anything touches him. Thus spoke the brilliant son of Priam/ In begging words. But he heard a harsh reply… Achilles, drawing his sword, struck/ Through the neck and breastbone. The two-edged sword/Sunk home its full length.
II.—If a stranger, throws himself on the mercy of a warrior, he is not condemned to death; but a movement of impatience in the warrior’s part will suffice to relieve him of his life. Alone of all living things, the suppliant we have just described neither quivers nor trembles. He has lost the right to do so. [Priam] spoke. [Achilles], remembering his own father, longed to weep/Taking the old man’s arm, he pushed him away… Thinking of Hector … Priam wept… But Achilles wept, now for his father, now for Patroclus. The indefinable influence that the presence of another human being has on us is not exercised by men whom a moment of impatience can deprive of life, who can die before even thought has a chance to pass sentence on them. In their presence people move about as if they were not there; they imitate nothingness in their own person.
III.—But there are other, more unfortunate creatures who have become things for the rest of their lives. This thing is constantly aspiring to be a man or a woman, and never achieving it—here surely, is death but death strung out over a whole lifetime; here, surely is life, but life that death congeals before abolishing. This strange fate awaits the virgin, the young wife, the baby, heir to the royal scepter. Reflections on the future and the past are obliterated from the mind of the captive; and memory itself barely lingers on. The misfortune of his master, oppressor, despoiler, pillager is the only occasion on which tears are permitted, are indeed required. Since the slave has no license to express anything except what is pleasing to his master, it follows that the only emotion [left] is love for his master. To lose more than the slave does is impossible, for he loses his whole inner life. A fragment of it he may get back if he sees the possibility of changing his fate, but this is his only hope.
IV.—Force, in the hands of another, exercises over the soul the same tyranny that extreme hunger does; it possesses power of life & death. Its rule moreover, is as cold & hard as the rule of inert matter. Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the 2nd it crushes; the 1st it intoxicates. The truth is nobody really possesses it. Whenever [the common soldier] came upon a commoner shouting out, he spoke sharply: You are weakly, cowardly and unwarlike,/You count for nothing, neither in battle nor in council.”
There is not a single one of the combatants who is spared the shameful experience of fear; heroes quake like everybody else. A shudder of terror ran through the Trojans, making their limbs weak;/ And Hector himself felt his heart leap in his breast./ But he no longer had the right to tremble or to run away … Zeus, the father on high, makes fear rise in Ajax. He stops, overcome, puts behind him his buckler made of 7 hides,/ Trembles, looks at the crowd around, like a beast. Even to Achilles the moment comes; he too must shake and stammer with fear of a river. By its very blindness, destiny establishes a kind of justice. Blind also is she who decrees to warriors punishment in kind. Ares is just, and kills those who kill.
V.—Perhaps all men, by the very act of being born, are destined to suffer violence; yet this is a truth to which circumstance shuts men’s eyes. The strong are, as a matter of fact, never absolutely strong, nor are the weak absolutely weak; neither is aware of this. The man who is the possessor of force seems to walk through a non-resistant element; nothing has the power to interpose. Men wielding power have no suspicion of the fact that the consequences of their deed will at length come home them—they too will bow the neck in their turn.
Those who have force on loan from fate count on it too much and are destroyed, though their own destruction seems impossible. They conclude that destiny has given them complete license; at this point they exceed the measure of force that is actually at their disposal. Eventually, they are exposed; nothing, no shield, stands between them and tears. This retribution [is here] under the name of Nemesis; it is the soul of the epic. In Oriental countries it has lived under the name Karma. The West has lost it, and no longer has a word to express it. We are only geometrician of matter; the Greeks were geometrician in apprenticeship to virtue.
VI-VII.—The progress of the war in the Iliad is simply a continual game of seesaw. The victor of the moment forgets to treat victory as a transitory thing. [Hector swings from despair and wishing death before seeing his wife’s captivity, to wishing to wound every Greek as a reminder of the folly of attacking Troy, back to actual humiliating defeat and retreat, and again back the same day to put the Greeks to flight and kill Patroclus].
The next day Hector is lost. [As death by Achilles approaches, he says]: I fear to hear from someone far less brave than I: “Hector, trusting his own strength too far, has ruined his people.” [He then turns & runs, is caught & makes a vain plea for his life]. The auditors of the Iliad knew Hector's death would be a brief joy to Achilles, the death of Achilles but a brief joy to the Trojans, & Troy’s destruction but a brief joy to the Achaeans.
Thus violence obliterates anybody who feels its touch, [conqueror as well as conquered]. A moderate use of force, which alone would enable man to escape being enmeshed in its machinery, would require superhuman virtue, which is as rare as dignity in weakness. Man dashes to the extremes of force as to an irresistible temptation. The voice of reason is occasionally heard in the Iliad, but words of reason drop into the void. Failing everything else, there is always a god handy to advise him to be unreasonable, [and a resignation to their fate].
VIII.—Unless your spirit has been conquered in advance by the reputation of the enemy, you always feel yourself to be much stronger than anybody who is not there. War’s necessity is terrible, altogether different in kind from the necessity of peace. So terrible is it that the human spirit will not submit to it so long as it can possibly escape. After long days empty of necessity, danger then becomes an abstraction; the lives you destroy like toys broken by a child. With the majority of combatants this state of mind does not persist.
Soon there comes a day when fear, defeat, or a death touches the warrior’s spirit. Once you acknowledge death to be a practical possibility, the thought of it becomes unendurable, except in flashes. The mind, [when faced with death every day], is strung up to a pitch that it can stand only for a short time. Each day the soul castrates itself of aspiration, for thought cannot journey through time without meeting death. The mind has lost all capacity to so much as look outward, as it is completely absorbed in doing itself violence. Deliverance appears to the soul in an extreme aspect of destruction. The idea that an unlimited effort should bring in only a limited profit or no profit is terribly painful. The only remedy the soul can imagine is the destruction of the enemy. Despair drives one on toward death, on the one hand, and slaughter on the other. The man possessed by this 2-fold need for death belongs to a different race from the race of the living.
What echo can the timid hopes of life strike in such a heart? [Pleas for pity to such a man fall on deaf ears. He has already resigned his victim and himself to the inevitability of death]. Come friend, you too must die. Why make a fuss of it?... Even I, like you, must some day encounter my fate, The hour when some arms-bearing warrior will kill me. To respect life in somebody else when you have had to castrate yourself of all yearning for it demands a truly heartbreaking exertion of the powers of generosity. How many men do we know in several thousand years of history who have displayed such god-like generosity [and mercy]? Both conquering soldier and slave become things; both experience force’s inevitable effects: they become deaf and dumb.
IX-X.—Such is the nature of force. Its power of converting a man into a thing is a double one, and in its application double-edged; those who use it and those who endure it are turned to stone. Battles are fought and decided by men who have undergone a transformation, who have dropped into inert matter, pure passivity, or into blind force, pure momentum. Iliad’s similes liken warriors to either fire, flood, wind, wild beasts, or frightened animals, trees, water, sand, anything affected by natural disasters. The art of war is simply the art of producing such transformations. The petrifying quality of force, 2-fold always, is essential to its nature; and a soul which has entered the province of force will not escape this except by a miracle.
The conqueror’s wantonness, the soldier’s despair, the slave’s obliteration, the wholesale slaughter—all these elements combine in Iliad to make a picture of uniform horror, of which force is the sole hero. A monotonous desolation would result were it not for those few luminous moments of love and courage, when man possesses his soul, scattered here and there throughout the poem. Dear husband, you died young, and left me your widow/alone in the palace. Our child is still tiny… not in your bed did you die, holding my hand/ And speaking prudent words which forever… might live in my memory.
Love's purest triumph is the friendship that floods the hearts of mortal enemies. Then Dardanian Priam fell to admiring Achilles…And in his turn Dardanian Priam was admired by Achilles. Moments of grace are rare in the Iliad; they are enough to make us feel with sharp regret what it is that violence has killed & will kill again.
XI-XIII.—Never does the poem’s tone lose its coloring of incurable bitterness; never does the bitterness drop into lamentation. Nothing precious is scorned. Victors and vanquished are brought equally near us. The whole of the Iliad is brought under the shadow the greatest calamity the human race can experience—the destruction of a city. Whatever is not war, what war destroys or threatens, the Iliad wraps in poetry; the realities of war, never. The cold brutality of the deeds of war is left undisguised. The gods determine with sovereign authority victory and defeat, their only motives, caprice and malice. The warriors, reduced to beasts or things, can inspire only regret that men are capable of being so transformed.
If one believes that 80 years after the fall of Troy, the Achaeans in their turn were conquered, one may ask whether these songs are not the song of a conquered people, of whom a few went into exile. [The exiled and conquered Greeks] saw their own image both in the conquerors, who had been their fathers and in the conquered, whose misery was like their own. Looking at it as conquered and conquerors simultaneously, they perceived what neither conqueror nor conquered ever saw for both were blinded.
The Iliad’s bitterness is the only justifiable bitterness, for it springs from the subjection of the human spirit to force. Such is the spirit of the only true epic the Occident possesses. [Other lengthy Greek works are merely good imitations of it]. The French chanson de geste lacks the Iliad’s sense of equity. The tragedy of Aeschylus and Sophocles, is the true continuation of the epic. Here, force appears in its coldness and hardness, always attended by effects from those whose fatality neither those who use it nor those who suffer it can escape.
The Gospels are the last marvelous expression of the Greek genius as the Iliad is the 1st. Here, human suffering is laid bare, and we see it in a being who is at once divine and human. The sense of human misery gives the Gospel that accent of simplicity that is the mark of the Greek genius. The sense of human misery is a pre-condition of justice and love. Only one who has measured the dominion of force, and knows how not to respect it, is capable of love and justice.
XIV.—[The relations between the human soul, destiny and merciless necessity] are fraught with temptations to false hood, temptations that are enhanced by pride, by shame, by hatred, contempt, indifference, by the will to oblivion or to ignorance. The Greeks, generally speaking, were endowed with spiritual force that allowed them to avoid self-deception, [and gain lucidity, purity, and simplicity]. Once Greece was destroyed, nothing remained of this spirit but pale reflections.
Both the Romans and the Hebrews believed themselves to be exempt from the misery that is the common human lot, [chosen and superior, the Romans through conquest and destiny, the Hebrews through obedience to] their God who exalted them. No text of the Old Testament strikes a note comparable to the note heard in the Greek epic, unless it be certain parts of the book of Job. [Christians should understand] that the only people who can [seem to have] risen to a higher plain, who seem superior to ordinary human misery, are people resorting to illusion, exaltation, fanaticism, to conceal the harshness of destiny from their own eyes.
Christian tradition can only rarely recover that simplicity that renders so poignant the story of the Passion. In spite of the Renaissance’s brief intoxication by Greek literature, in 20 centuries there has been no revival of Greek genius. [The 17th century] took the opposite view from that of the epic period; it only acknowledged human suffering in the context of love, swathing with glory the effects of force in war and politics. Perhaps Europeans will rediscover the epic genius, when they learn that there is no refuge from fate, learn not to admire force, not to hate the enemy, nor to scorn the unfortunate. How soon this will happen is another question.
224. In the Belly of a Paradox: A Celebration of Contradictions in the Thought of Thomas Merton (by Parker J. Palmer; 1979)
About the Author—Parker J. Palmer is Dean of Students at Pendle Hill, where he has lived with his wife & 3 children since 1974. He has a Ph.D in sociology from Berkeley, & 5 years of working in community organization in Washington D.C. He found in Thomas Merton’s writings [a concern for] contemplation's centrality in a life of action. A desire to learn more about contemplative action is part of what led the Palmers to Pendle Hill.
Foreword (by Henri J. M. Nouwen)—Thomas Merton, who never thought of himself as a scholar, has probably inspired more theses than any other contemporary spiritual writer. Few unsystematic authors have been so thoroughly systematized. Parker Palmer has been able to evoke the capriciousness that made Meron such an endearing author. He was sobering & funny, strict & open, Catholic & Zen, hard working & always available to others. Parker Palmer has found in Merton a brother whose inconsistencies invite us to enter deeply & to discover there, beyond all contradictions, the One who can't be caught or understood, but only intuited & recognized with a smile. Parker Palmer knows Merton because he has an affinity with him. The greatest surprise of all is that it leads us closer to Merton's spirit, [&] to Him in whose service Merton juggled contradiction & paradox.
Introduction—Thomas Merton said: “I feel that my own life is especially sealed with the great sign [of Jonas the prophet . . . because like Jonas, I find myself traveling toward my destiny in the belly of a paradox.” Contradiction, paradox, tensions of opposites, these have always been at the heart of experience, & I think I'm not alone. As I before presenting myself to God, [remained] a never quite getting to the main event. For me there was light and liberation in Merton’s image of life in the belly of a paradox, [in his saying]: “I have had to accept the fact that my life is almost totally paradoxical. I have also had to learn [not to apologize] for the fact.” Steeped in Taoism and Zen, [he is] claimed by some in the East to be an incarnate Buddha.
“I have had to accept the fact that my life is almost totally paradoxical. I have also had to learn [not to apologize] for the fact.” Thomas Merton
Contradiction, Paradox, & the Life of the Spirit—The contradictions of life are inherent in human nature & in the circumstances surrounding our lives. The things we seek consciously & with effort tend to evade us, while our blessings come quietly & unbidden. The contradictions of private life are multiplied when we enter the work & political world. [Finally, there] are religious conundrums which have bedeviled humans for millennia.
Thomas Merton helped me understand the way we respond to contradiction is pivotal to spiritual lives. The ultimate contradiction is the apparent opposition between God’s light & our own shadowed lives. [We can walk in the shadows or disown the dark world and try to live in a bright, private realm]. A 3rd way is to allow tension to occupy the center of our lives. By doing so we may receive the transformation of contradiction into paradox. The choices we thought we had to make, may become signs of a larger truth than we had even dreamed.
A contradiction is a statement containing elements logically at variance with one another. Paradox is a statement which seems self-contradictory, but on investigation may prove to essentially true. By spiritual standards many religious insights contain paradoxical truth. Faith assumes that rules of logic become less & less useful as questions grow deeper. The truth of paradox comes from the world being full of very real opposites pulling vigorously against each other. [Paradox shouldn't be used to] excuse the contradiction, sanctify it, & allow us to forget about it (Bonhoeffer’s “cheap grace”). We will become more responsive to God’s spirit as we allow ourselves to be engulfed by contradictions which God alone can resolve. Although Marxism, Taoism, & the way of the cross may seem contradictory ways of life, Merton shows how tensions between them open into deeper truth.
The Way of Marxism—Merton must have been attracted by the contradiction that was at the heart of Marx’s life & thought. Marx believed that the dialectic always develops around economic factors. Contradictions arise from the different, unequal relations people have to the center of economic power. In capitalism, the contra-diction is economic injustice, which will become conflict. [Ultimately] the outcome would be a new synthesis, the classless society, in which economic injustice is eradicated.
Merton knew that Marxism & Christianity come full circle in certain respects. Marxism reminds us of key elements in Christian faith which Christians have a habit of forgetting. The 1st convergence is “Religion is the opiate of the people,” if by religion we mean its intellectual, institutional, [& dead] forms. The ministry of every authentic religious leader is to break people from their addiction to inauthentic forms of faith. A 2nd convergence between Marxism & Christianity is in their concern for the poor. The religion of many middle-class Americans is designed to dull their sense of justice & allow them to live at peace with glaring economic contradictions.
A 3rd place where Marxism and Christianity converge is in the idea of the classless society. [The early church] was meant to be a sign of a world in which all will care for all. There is a major parallel between the Marxist classless society, and the Christian kingdom of God on earth. A 4th convergence is that they assume a false understanding of our origins and destiny as human beings. With Marx it was bondage to economic powers that was false. With Jesus it was our bondage to sin.
In each of these convergences, Marxism reveals something essential to Christianity, something obscured & forgotten through centuries of inattention & distortion. How do we live in fair exchange, so that what we consume is balanced out by what we produce? How can our spiritual labors be as useful to the people who feed us as their labors are to us? What are their fruits? Merton argues that the monastery [or any spiritual endeavor] must repay its debt to world labor by “producing people” [i.e. develop the capacity to love]. Where Marx spoke of alienation of labor, Merton speaks of alienation of our hearts.
Where Marx argued capitalism robbed people of means & benefits of their work, Merton argues modern life robs us of our hearts [i.e.] ability to feel connected with others has been stolen from us. Our individualized way of life makes us feel alone & unrelated; our competitive way of life makes us feel that our gains must come at the expense of others.
The theory of nonviolent change Merton is committed to is the notion that beyond every conflict there a resolution, a synthesis, a common good, which will be obscured by violence, but revealed by patience, dialogue, and prayerful consideration. From Marxism Merton learned about the spiritual affairs of the heart. His under-standing of action draws deeply from Taoism, misunderstood as advocating a passive retreat from life.
The Way of Chuang Tzu—Wu wei is the Chinese word for “non-action.” It occurs often in The Way of Chuang Tzu. Merton became the patron saint of social activists because he spoke so clearly to their condition: “The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his work for peace. It destroys his own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work. . . He who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening his own self-understanding, freedom, and capacity to love, will not have anything to give.”
If we are tempted to use power for purposes of self-promotion and self-enhancement, not only do these tendencies deflect our action from its original aims, they lead to counter-productive actions. Taoism thus serves to criticize and clarify our action. Chuang Tzu’s poem “The Need to Win” says that the only way to victory is to forget about victory, to be indifferent to it. We should not let our desire to meet these needs drain us of the power to do so. Taoism pushes us by insisting that our actions transcend the polarity of good and evil.
From Taoism we learn that religion is a mode of connectedness with the creative force of life. When we lose this connectedness with life, with one another, then we need a code of ethics to tell us what we ought to do. The spiritual life teaches wholeness, integration with all being, and out of that wholeness comes true power and true action. In the poem “The Woodcarver,” the great artist follows the spirit, the internal flow, the nature of the thing at hand instead of rules. Only through disciplines of “detachment, forgetfulness of results, and abandonment of profit can we transcend those anxieties about self and success which distort our actions.
The action of “The Woodcarver” requires belief that things & people have a “nature”; that is limits & potentials. Most social action is based on the assumption that people can be seduced or compelled into whatever form fits the activist’s conception of how things “ought” to be. Only through concern & respect for the nature of the other can our action flow with the action of the Tao. Through Taoism Merton learned another image of action. It is one which we need to know in our own strained & frantic time. Although Taoism stands on premises quite different from Christianity, the more deeply we pursue the contradictions the more the paradox comes clear.
Way of The Cross—The cross reminds us of a major, historical contradiction. Men & women yearn for truth & goodness, but feel threatened when they appear in human form, & murder the one who fulfills our wish. The cross’ structure suggests the horizontal pull between this person & that; the vertical stretch between the divine's demands & flesh's fears. To walk the way of the cross is to be impaled upon contradictions, and yet the way of cross is also the way toward peace, toward the center where contradictions converge.
Marxism begins with profound sympathy for the wretched of the earth, a sympathy which has been largely been lost in affluent Christian circles. But Marxism allows pain to pursue its natural course toward anger & violence. We have no reason to believe that change by violence foreshadows anything other than more of the same.
In contrast, the cross signifies that pain stops here. When Jesus accepted the cross, his death became a channel for the redeeming power of love. The suffering of which Jesus spoke is not that which unwell people create for themselves. It is the suffering already present in the world which we can either ignore or identify with. The way of the cross means letting that pain carve one’s life into a channel through which the healing stream of the spirit can flow to a world in need, and bring us to the cross. The way of the cross reminds us that despair and disillusionment are not dead-ends but signs of impending resurrection.
2 illusions must die on the cross: false sense of self; false conception of the world. Our “false” self separates us from God and from each other. [In order to go through] the spiritual struggle to become part of the “hidden wholeness” [one must have an ego in order to lose it]. The 2 illusions are related since much of the false self is built around our notion of what “the world” wants and demands of us. Merton chides novices for thinking of the world as an independent entity, a thing “out there. The world is within each one of us.
The pain of living the contradictions is partly the pain of having our illusions shattered. It is somehow more comforting to believe that the world is a monolith which forces us into certain ways of life than to accept the fact that we have the freedom to respond fully to God’s will. Freedom is what the cross is all about. The cross liberates us from the idea the world is “out there,” over and against us; the experience of the cross reveals that the world is in us, in both its glory and its shame. Since the world is in us, we are responsible for the world; the shape the world takes depends on how we live our lives.
Not only are we freed from the illusion and freed to respond; we also freed in the knowledge that the world is redeemed by a God who suffers the contradictions with us, [who] suffers brokenness, but always offers the gift of reconciliation. By living the contradictions we will be brought through to hope, and only through hope will we be empowered to live life’s contradictions. Some day, far out at sea heading away from the place where the Lord has called us and lost in contradictions, we will be swallowed by grace and find ourselves traveling [in distinguished company] toward our destiny in the belly of a paradox.
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