Lord of humility, dwelling in the little pariah hut, help us to search for Thee throughout that fair land watered by Ganges, Brahmaputra and Jamuna. Give us receptiveness, give us open-heartedness, give us Thy humility, give us the ability and willingness to identify ourselves with the masses of India.

The entire religious experience of the American Indian—purification of mind and body, prayer and fasting, a strong personal relationship with God, meditation to learn from the “Great Mystery” its teaching beyond words—describes the spiritual heritage that nourished Mahatma Gandhi perfectly in one word: Yoga, the ideal of union of soul with God and the oneness of Man-God-Nature.

“For I can see that in the midst of death, life persists; in the midst of untruth, truth persists; in the midst of darkness, light persists.Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, Light. He is Love. He is the Supreme Good."

Ahimsa, in its subtle power, depends on a cosmic principle — that of the oneness of life.  Ahimsa, in its positive form, means the largest love, the greatest charity. When ahimsa becomes all-embracing it transforms everything it touches. There is no limit to its power. Gandhiji understood that power. He made a conscious and constant effort to apply the power of ahimsa in his daily life.  Ahimsa is living so as to realize the oneness of life.

During his prayer meetings, Gandhiji always included verses from the Qur'an Sharif. He would not hold prayer meetings without recitations from the Qur’an. He had a profound admiration for the refined character of the Prophet Muhammad, as a man of faith and action.

In 1935 and into 1936, Howard Thurman undertook what is known as a “Pilgrimage of Friendship” tour in India. It was at the end of this tour that he would meet Mahatma Gandhi in Bardoli, a small town in India’s western state of Gujarat. He also met with Rabindranath Tagore at Shantiniketan and Kshiti Mohan Sen.

“To attain peace, first we must acquire greater mastery over ourselves. We secure then an atmosphere of perfect peace, calm and goodwill that protects and fortifies ourselves and blesses others around us.”