Profile: Mohandas Gandhi

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948), known as Mahatma (“Great Soul”), developed the concept of satyagraha - nonviolent resistance - during the Indian independence movement. His philosophy of ahimsa (nonviolence) and simple living influenced subsequent social and environmental movements, including Arne Naess’s deep ecology.

Gandhi developed satyagraha while working in South Africa (1893-1914), where he organized resistance to discriminatory laws. The term combines satya (truth) and agraha (firmness or force). He distinguished satyagraha from passive resistance, proposing it as an active form of moral confrontation that seeks to appeal to an opponent’s conscience rather than to coerce through violence.

Gandhi, Non-Violence & the Rainforest Movement

Sun, 01 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

From the Rainforest Information Centre archives — a letter exchange between Harsh Prabhu and John Seed on the influence of Mohandas Gandhi on the Australian rainforest movement. Reproduced with attribution as an example of “Going Forth” — translating insight into sustained, non-violent action.

Letter to John Seed, 7 September 1999

Dear Friend,

Would it be possible to write 50–100 words on the influence of M K Gandhi on the environmental movement in the rainbow region? We have been invited to participate in an expo on Gandhi, and we thought we would invite people from the alternative/environmental movement here to make a contribution on the topic of Gandhi and his influence, from a local, Australian perspective.

Mohandas-Gandhi on deep ecology

Profile: Mohandas Gandhi

Gandhi, Non-Violence & the Rainforest Movement

Letter to John Seed, 7 September 1999