_Mr. Jim Knight:_ One of the great, perhaps the greatest Indian political leader of all time was the Mahatma Gandhi. How did he relate to Yoga?

Sri Chinmoy: Mahatma Gandhi... what was his position?

Mr. Jim Knight: What was his position in relation to Yoga?

Sri Chinmoy: "Mahatma" means "Great Soul" and so he was. But from the strictly spiritual point of view, Mahatma Gandhi was not a yogi. He was a patriot, political leader, martyr. But he was not a self-realised soul like Ramakrishna, the Buddha and others. You can say he was a religious saint. Self-Realisation he did not have, but he had boundless love for humanity and his interpretation of God is unique. He said, "Truth is God. Denial of God we have known. Denial of Truth we have not known." For him, religion was nothing but Truth. He lived the life of a saint. God gave him boundless love and compassion. This was Mahatma Gandhi. But when the question of Self-Realisation, self-discovery comes in, he cannot be placed on the same footing as the Christ, Ramakrishna, Buddha and so on.

From:Sri Chinmoy,AUM — Vol. 3, No.11,12, June — 27 July 1968, Aum Centre Press -- Santurce, P.R., 1968
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