Soul

SOUL-FORCE: HUMAN NATURE AND PERFECTIBILITY

“Involvement in the world can be effective and not destructive only if it is based upon the strength that comes through inwardness; inwardness, on the other hand, can be fruitful and not escapist only if it is seen in the context of the world around us and of the true nature of things.  Without inwardness, our involvement in the world can never rise to the level of universal conceptions of duty and of service to humanity.  Without involvement, our inwardness can never rise to the stature of impersonality that characterizes the divine principle of life.  Self-mastery and the service of others are interdependent aspects of moral and spiritual growth.

What Gandhi wishes to stress was the potency in society of what he called ‘soul-force.’ While brute-force is based on egotism, which creates conflict and misery, soul-force is based on love, trust, and humility, which create harmony and true happiness.”