Becoming Gandhi

My Experiment Living the Mahatma's 6 Moral Truths in Immoral Times
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A veteran journalist and author sets out on a three-year quest to practice Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of truth, nonviolence, vegetarianism, simplicity, celibacy, and faith. Filled with honesty, insight, and self-effacing humor, this work serves as a guide for anyone seeking to live with integrity in our confusing, morally compromised modern world.

Full Description
The fascinating quest of a New York Times contributor to follow Mahatma Gandhi’s code of ethics in modern times—and to discover what it actually takes to “Be the change you want to see in the world” 

Mahatma Gandhi championed truth and nonviolence, led the struggle for India’s independence, and staunchly stood up for the marginalized. “When I despair,” he said, “I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won.”

In Becoming Gandhi, veteran journalist and author Perry Garfinkel sets out on a three-year quest to examine how Gandhi’s ideals have held up in a world beset by troubling trends. “As I saw myself and society moving further away from a moral point of view,” Garfinkel states, “I wanted to see if an ordinary person living in the 21st century could, like Gandhi, follow a morally driven game plan.”

While tracing Gandhi’s legacy through India, England, South Africa, and even American communities where his spirit endures, Garfinkel attempts to follow six of the key principles that guided the Mahatma’s life:
  • Truth—Practicing honesty in thoughts, words, and actions in an increasingly artificial world
  • Nonviolence—Choosing peace in our words, behavior, and even choice of entertainment
  • Vegetarianism—The complex ethics of deciding what we put in our mouths
  • Simplicity—How to find practical antidotes to conspicuous consumer culture
  • Faith—Exploring the meaning of our lives and our relationship with what we cannot know
  • Celibacy (wait, really?)—The search for a moral path between permissiveness and abstinence
To many, Gandhi was a beacon of hope; to others, a lightning rod for controversy. As Perry Garfinkel found, walking (and even stumbling) in Gandhi’s footsteps can reveal how we each have a role to play in creating a more compassionate, peaceful world. “Being Gandhi is unattainable,” Garfinkel observes. “But becoming more Gandhi-like will continue to engage me as long as I live. How about you?”
Format Details
Hardcover Book eBook
Contents Hardcover Book (256 pages) eBook (256 pages)
Dimensions 6 x 9 inches
Product Code BK06077 BK06077W
ISBN Number 978-1-68364-692-1 978-1-68364-693-8
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Perry Garfinkel

About Perry Garfinkel

Perry Garfinkel is a veteran journalist, editor, frequent speaker, and author of the bestselling Buddha or Bust. He has contributed to many sections of the New York Times since 1986 and has written for National Geographic magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Huffington Post, and others. He has appeared on CNN and CBS This Morning. He is a frequent guest on WCBS-NY radio’s Health & Well-Being Report.

Author photo © Mikkel Aaland

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