Mohandas K. Gandhi, called Mahatma ("great soul"), was the father of
modern India, but his influence has spread well beyond the subcontinent
and is as important today as it was in the first part of the twentieth
century and during this nation's own civil rights movement. Taken from
Gandhi's writings throughout his life, The Essential Gandhi
introduces us to his thoughts on politics, spirituality, poverty,
suffering, love, non-violence, civil disobedience, and his own life. The
pieces collected here, with explanatory head notes by Gandhi biographer
Louis Fischer, offer the clearest, most thorough portrait of one of the
greatest spiritual leaders the world has known.
"Gandhi was inevitable. If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is
inescapable. . . . We may ignore him at our own risk." -Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
With a new Preface drawn from the writings of Eknath Easwaran
In the annals of spirituality certain books stand out both for their
historical importance and for their continued relevance. The Vintage
Spiritual Classics series offers the greatest of these works in
authoritative new editions, with specially commissioned essays by noted
contemporary commentators. Filled with eloquence and fresh insight,
encouragement and solace, Vintage Spiritual Classics are incomparable
resources for all readers who seek a more substantive understanding of
mankind's relation to the divine.
