Sarva Dharma Sambhav

1. Synopsis– Spirituality is beyond religion and a spiritual person follows his or her faith, in the manner the ParamAtma guides him or her. The fruit of that is, love, peace, harmony and righteousness. The Sants of India did exactly that: Swami Vivekananda, Sant. Mirabai, Shridi Sai Baba and many others including Mahatma Gandhi. All the Sants, spoke about many ways to seek the ParamAtma and His will. And Gandhiji studied the Sants of all faiths and practiced the best of every faith. 

Mahatma Gandhi used to draw large crowds, as he knew the language of souls is “Prarthana”. He was a reflection of Paramatma and a man who believed in Bhakti and Seva. He had a child-like heart and was very receptive to the spiritual realm. Every time he learnt something new, he would experiment it on himself and was always open to change and this was the reflection of his “Prarthanas” (Prayer life).  He practiced whatever he preached. He could forgive people easily and change, for the better. He was in constant communication, with the ParamAtma and sought the leading of the heavenly realms. Therefore he constantly carried the presence of the SUPREME .

May it be the Dandi march or any Satyagraha the foundation was the Prarthana. He practiced “Prarthana” with fasting, which helped him to win large battles. He knew that, the struggle for freedom was, a spiritual battle and that, when souls from all faiths come TOGETHER, uniting at the feet of the creator; “THAT” strength would break through the negativity, in and around us. Thus, lighting the path of “Satya” and “Ahimsa“. Therefore, before delivering any lecture, Gandhiji would have people from all faiths, sit next to each other and pray the Prarthana, of their own faith and then deliver any lecture, as he knew that, the spiritual realm, will manifest by itself and that power, would build the Nation. The Prarthanas are the food for the souls, that will resolve ALL differences. It was humanly impossible, to gain freedom, with just Satya and Ahimsa, unless the ParamAtma had intervened. 

Sarva Dharma Prarthana of Sabarmati Ashram-  

Mahatma Gandhi,was able to constantly listen to the Voice of the ParamAtma, through Sarva Dharma.He was pursuing the path of uniting the souls of people, through “Sarva Dharma Samabhav, which was one of the 11 vows taken by Gandhiji.

 “ EkdashVarta’ ,the 11 vows of Gandhiji, were his founts of strength :

 Satya- Truth

Ahimsa- Non  Violence 

Asteya- Non Stealing

Aparigraha- Non Possession

Brahmacharya- Chastity

Abhaya-Fearlessness  

Aswada- Control of Palate

Sarvadharma Sambhava- Respect for all Religions 

Asprushyata Nevadan- Eradication of Untouchability

Swadeshi

Sharirashrama- Bread of Labour.

Sarva Dharma Sambhava-Respect for all Religions –As mentioned earlier, this was widely practiced, by the Sants/Gurus of all ages. What mattered to them was that, the soul connected to the Spiritual Master and not religions and they had a quest for knowledge, of all the faiths and practiced it. 

The spiritual realm is real and there is a constant war, between good and evil and for some, it is a battle of souls.The spirits of darkness, are drawing souls towards evil, whereas, there is another realm of good, which leads souls to Knowledge, Light and Eternal life. As the shloka goes in the Vedas :  

“ Asatoma Sad-Gamaya, Tams MaaJyotir-Gamaya, Mrytyor-MaaAmritamGamaya, Om ShaantihShaantihShaantihi ”

Our Freedom was a gift of the Creator and the ParamAtma, chose Gandhiji, who would listen to His voice and lead His people, from shackles to freedom. Therefore, we know him as the Mahatma, a great soul. We also strive to choose the same path, as Gandhiji, to bring Souls, to the feet of the ParamAtma and lead them to Light, Truth and Life. .

The Bible says, How wonderful for God’s people to live together in Harmony. -133.1.

Patchwork Livelihoods

During the lockdown we encountered some women begging in Fraser town, Bengaluru. They were traditionally dressed and we were curious. They happened to be from the Rajasthani Nut community. Their  families have been in entertainers in the courts of kings. They play drums for weddings and social functions, hold puppet shows, carve out wooden figurines. Due to long lockdown they had no money or work and finally had to beg. We wanted to cover their story to see how we can get help and find a source of income. So we visited them. 

A film about the struggles of the Rajasthani Community and the why the womenfolk were driven to the streets to beg.

We discovered that the women make handmade rugs/ spreads from patchwork for their own use. We persuaded them to make and sold them amongst our friends and contacts. They are called gudris ( not rajais). They are 2-3 layers of material woven together.  We have now started a project to see how we can bring the gudris to the market and this will support the women. We have also been providing rations for about 6 months now to bring relief to them and we can keep them going as they are yet to pay rents for over 5 months. The gudri project has brought relief to them to some extent.  

A film on art of the Folk Artist

Child Gudri 45 inches by 45 inches
Gudris – 6 ft by 5 ft
We made about 18 gudris for a shelter with girls who are victims of violence.
Close up of the Gudri..