Lodge Burroughs Strange No. 87
Vijayawada, India

Was Gandhiji a Freemason? the question may appear funny and to some even profane. But in this year which marks the centenary of the Mahatma's birth, the question is both relevant and important of Freemasonry.

To the superficial observer the answer to the question posed above is "No". Unlike Pandit Motilal Nehru and Rajaji, both of whom were Freemasons, Gandhiji was not a member of our Order, but he was in every sense of the term a true Freemason. One could only wish that Freemasons all over the world, especially in India, would lead such a pious, pure life as he led every moment of his existence.

There was no greater exponent of the basic principles of the Craft-brotherly love, relief and truth -a and few practised them in their lives as he did. Of godliness he was the most outstanding exemplar of our times and indeed of all ages. Admirers and critics alike have acclaimed him as a legitimate successor in the long line of seers ad saints = avataras, the Rishis and Buddha, Christ, mahomed, Zoroaster and the Sikh Gurus.

His attitude was one of complete faith in, and total surrender to God. A candidate to Freemasonry is told at the threshold of his career that "Where the name of God is invoked we trust no danger can ensure". When his eldest son Manilal was gravely ill and he was giving him only naturopathic treatment, Gandhiji simply resigned himself unto the Lord and prayed, "My honour is in Thy hands, oh God, in this hour of peril". In a short while Manilal turned the corner and was well on the way to recovery. It is in such a spirit that Freemasons are exhorted to surrender themselves to the will of the Great Architect of the Universe. As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 7 Shloka 19), "At the end of many births the wise man comes to me realising that all this is Vaasudeva (the innermost Self); such a great soul (Mahatma) is very hard to find".

Gandhiji was the embodiment of undying faith in the True and Living God Most High, for he has said, Religion to me is a living faith in the Supreme Unseen Force." He never concerned himself with the results of his actions; instead he concentrated on the means- "When I am sure of the purity of means, faith is enough to lead me on".

The masonic motto of brotherly love, relief and truth was Gandhiji's creed in life which he not only preached but unfailingly practised. A firm believer in the Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of man, Parian service, the service of lives, was for him the only gion. "Humanity", he said, "is divided into water-tight compartments. Men may occupy one thousand rooms, but they are all related to one another". Like Pope John, Gandhiji believed that what is important is to continue to love one another, to take hold of what unites men, leaving aside those little things which turn men against one another. As was said of Jesus Christ, while talking to people about individual problems, Gandhiji always applied to them the principle of love; yet he never for a single moment appeared to doubt the reality of right and wrong or the need for right moral judgement.

He always dropped a tear of sympathy over the filings of others and poured the healing balm of consolation into the bosom of the afflicted. Charity, in the widest sense of the term - respect for others' conscience, consideration for others' feelings, understanding sympathy - was the rule of his life. He once remarked: "By nature I am so framed that every calamity moves me, irrespective of the people whom it may overtake."

And, as for truth, who does not know Gandhiji's unshaken fidelity to truth? His truth was not merely honesty or oneness of thought,word and deed. It had a wider comprehension: "All that appears and happens about and around us is uncertain, transient," he said; "but there is a Supreme Being hidden therein as a certainty. The quest for that Truth is the Summum bonum of life". Again, "I want to see God face to face. God I know is Truth. For me the only certain means of knowing God is nonviolence and truth".

Freemasons are told about the 24 hours of the day and how they are to be spent. Gandhiji spent all of them in prayer to Almighty God, during his waking hours and even in his dreams, in labour (and not much of refreshment) and in serving mankind. Although a staunch Hindu, his conception of God was charged with rear catholicity. he has said: "There is only one God for us all whether we find Him through the Koran, the Bible, the Zend-Avesta, the Talmud or the Gita. And He is God of Truth and Love. I have no interest in living save for proving this faith."

His personal and public activities were raised to sublime heights - in masonic phraseology, "Glory to God on high, peace on earth and goodwill towards men". He thought, spoke and acted throughout in the spirit of the famous words of Abraham Lincoln: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the work we are in, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace amongst ourselves and with all nations". Many were the occasions when he offered his life as a sacrifice at the altar of peace, harmony and love.

For sheer courage of conviction and steadfastness of purpose, as well as for the purity and morality of his attitude, he had few parallels in his life-time or in recorded history. In a memorable speech he said: "That something in me which never derives me tells me now: 'You have to stand against the whole world, although you may have to stand alone. You have to stare the world in the face, although the world may look you with bloodshot eyes. Do not fear. Trust that little thing which resides in the heart'. It says, 'Forsake friends, wife and all, but testify to that which you have lived and for which you have to die." To him his life was as nothing compared to his devotion to his duty and to the trust reposed in him by God. As Hiram Abiff did of old, Gandhi faced death cheerfully in the performance of his duty after his conscience.

One may be permitted to record that one two points he differed from a Freemason, but only superficially. He abhorred secrecy as a sin, while Freemasons have certain secrets which they are enjoined to guard zealously. But secrecy has distinct connotations. A Freemason's secrets are personal, Godly and moral, not like those of the Klu Klux Klan involving conspiracy, violence and injury to others. Gandhiji's objection to secrecy was that it was surreptitious, dishonest and harmful.

The other thing is a matter of controversy, although here again it is only apparent. Our regulations call upon us to obey the rules of our land and to submit to the edicts of the legislature, supreme and subordinate. But they also charge us ever to remember that nature has implanted in our breast a sacred and indissoluble attachment towards that country whence we derived our birth and infant nurture. Obviously, therefore, the injunctions aldi aon Freemasons in this behalf pertain to a truly national set-up and refer only the laws enacted by a sovereign legislature elected by our own suffrage. Such was not the case in the politics of Gandhiji's days. A former High Court Judge makes a distinction between laws passed by a self-governing country and those imposed on it by a foreign power. He says: "As citizens of a self-governing country, we have no right to break a so called lawless law. The laws passed by the sovereign legislature of a self governing democratic country carry the seal of approval of the community as represented in the legislature. Such laws, having been enacted by the community itself and not imposed upon it by an outside power, have a sanction not possessed by laws inflicted by an alien power on an unwilling people". (Italics by author).

Moreover, Gandhiji's approach was not just political, but moral and religious. he generally hated unconstitutionalism and illegalities, but he did not make a fetish of them when larger national, human and moral issues were involved. By and large his satyagraha was against obnoxious laws. he was for enthusiastic cooperation with measures which have a moral backing or which conducted to men's welfare and happiness. When he started his cult of disobedience of laws, he said: "Whilst we disobey certain selected laws, it is incumbent on us to show our law-abiding character by respecting all other laws."

Further, his breach of law was open, inviting punishment and suffering in consequence of such breach. Here, then, was his objection to secrecy. Truth and non-violence were inseparable attributes of his breach of law. his defiance of law stemmed from morality, and Socrates-like, he cheerfully submitted to the penalty. he said: "Satyagraha is like a banyan tree with innumerable branches. Civil disobedience is one such branch. Satya (truth) and ahimsa (non-violence) make the parent trunk from which many branches shoot out".

The present writer owes an apology - and tenders it- to those in the Order who may taken exception to the foregoing diversion into "political" controversy. But there are two extenuating factors: first, no assessment of Gandhiji can be complete without a reference to his political activities; secondly, it is necessary to emphasis that his "politics" were an effort at sublimation designed to uplift both sides, indeed all mankind.

With this caveat, one feels justified in affirming that, by any and every standard, Mahatma Gandhi was a great Freemason, although he was not a regular member of the Craft. He advocated and practised the religious spirit and a sense of moral values which are the basis of Freemasonry. Every member of our Order may regard him as a Brother worthy of emulation in any field of human endeavour. The 100th anniversary of his jayanti, which falls on the 2nd October 1969, deserves to be celebrated by all Freemasons as the centenary of one of the greatest among them--for godliness, morality, high character, patriotism and, above all, for upholding our motto, brotherly love, relief and truth.