DOC Portrait of a Woman in Silk: Hidden Histories of the British Atlantic World by Zara Anishanslin in History

Description

The first spiritual biography of Gandhi; whose confidence in the power of the soul changed world history In his Autobiography; Gandhi wrote; “What I want to achieve—what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years—is self-realization; to see God face to face. . . . All that I do by way of speaking and writing; and all my ventures in the political field; are directed to this same end.” While hundreds of biographies and histories have been written about Gandhi (1869–1948); nearly all of them have focused on the national; political; social; economic; educational; ecological; or familial dimensions of his life. Very few; in recounting how Gandhi led his country to political freedom; have viewed his struggle primarily as a search for spiritual liberation. Shifting the focus to the understudied subject of Gandhi’s spiritual life; Arvind Sharma retells the story of Gandhi’s life through this lens. Illuminating unsuspected dimensions of Gandhi’s inner world and uncovering their surprising connections with his outward actions; Sharma explores the eclectic religious atmosphere in which Gandhi was raised; his belief in karma and rebirth; his conviction that morality and religion are synonymous; his attitudes toward tyranny and freedom; and; perhaps most important; the mysterious source of his power to establish new norms of human conduct. This book enlarges our understanding of one of history’s most profoundly influential figures; a man whose trust in the power of the spirit helped liberate millions.