A Call to Action - Gandhi's Seven Laws of Society - solution for today

Mansukh Patel, Savitri MacCuish & Andrew Wells

Background articles

A Call to Action - Mansukh Patel, Savitri MacCuish & Andrew Wells

Introduction

Most people experience a moment in their lives when they encounter suffering or exploitation on a scale so great that something within them rises and declares ‘Enough!’ At this point, a mighty force for transformation has become available to them, and those who follow this inner call often go on to catalyse huge transformations in society.

The book, A Call to Action, by Mansukh Patel, Savitri MacCuish and Andrew Wells, is a toolbox for evoking this mighty inner force, and then harnessing it so that you gain a deeply fulfilling ability to help others enrich their lives.

Savitri, Mansukh and Andrew wrote this book in response to the conditions within North America a year after 9/11, realizing that many people were searching for ways to respond to terrorism and exploitation in a way that would affirm life and build constructive solutions.

Their remarkable book remains as relevant today as it did then.

Manskuh Patel’s parents, Chhaganbhai and Echhaben Patel, had worked in Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent movement in India, and were highly aware of the many facets of this great man’s work.

According to Mansukh’s father, Gandhi was working on one key concept when his life ended. Having established a wide variety of self-help programmes to empower individuals, the Mahatma was working on a formula that would allow a whole society to live at peace. To Mansukh, Andrew and Savitri, this seemed a potential key to the struggles many Americans were wrestling with, and they made their own investigations into this formula – including visiting Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Arun Gandhi. As a result, they have created one of the most incisive distillations available on how a society can live effectively at peace.

Gandhi’s Seven Laws

Andrew, Savitri and Mansukh remind us that the world Gandhi himself saw was not so different from today - a society gripped by much the same level of crisis, with respect for human life and values falling daily.

Gandhi responded, in Manskuh, Savitri and Andrew’s words, by creating a model for understanding the laws of society that has been described as one of the greatest X-rays of social analysis the world has ever seen. He outlined seven deadly pitfalls of society that, if left unchecked, have the power to destroy us.

In their introduction, the authors describe how Gandhi was convinced that a society built without these seven weaknesses would cultivate the highest qualities in a human being. It would endure through millennia, so great would be its passion and zest for living.

At all costs, the Andrew, Mansukh and Savitri point out, Gandhi advised that society must avoid these seven scenarios:

• Pleasure without conscience
• Knowledge without character
• Wealth without work
• Politics without principles
• Worship without sacrifice
• Science without humanity
• Commerce without morality

In A Call to Action, Mansukh, Savitri and Andrew take you through each of these laws and show how they can help us to resolve the crises endemic in society. Most importantly of all, they lead us to the conclusion that we, as individuals, already have all the strengths we need to overcome even the toughest crises of our time.

Phrased for modern times, the authors show how we can understand these seven laws as follows:

Pleasure without conscience refers to our human propensity to desire things that are not in our best interests. Mansukh, Savitri and Andrew show how a society that has learnt to find pleasure in ways of thinking and being that support and uphold life will sustain itself into the foreseeable future. We arrive at this through pure motives.
This is the realm of media, entertainment and leisure.

Knowledge without character points out the disastrous consequences of having knowledge without the morality and maturity to use it wisely. We are helped to realize that we would never give a gun to a child, or entrust a life-and-death decision to someone who was less than a statesman.
This is the arena of education and our youth.

Wealth without work examines the quality of options our society offers for helping us achieve our potential, and notes the catastrophes that result when people have no vision worthy of their inner potential. Mansukh, Savitri and Andrew offer a variety of practical techniques that help us attain the results of this law, which discloses the source of energy and zest.
It takes us into the world of business.

Politics without principles, in the view of Savitri, Mansukh and Andrew, points out the ruinous consequences of a political process that has no faith in the innate potential of human nature. It directs us to discrimination and awareness of unity.
This law explores politics and decision making.

Religion without sacrifice considers the impossibility of making a fulfilling inner connection without a willingness to step outside the boundaries of our human comfort zones. This chapter show us how this law points us towards our intuition, truth and delight in divinity.
Here they give practical methods we can use to ensure we are making the best of our religion and spirituality.

Science without humanity points out the responsibility held by scientists at this time when their work holds the keys to the very survival or destruction of life on this planet. A Call To Action leads us to the very human traits of wonder and exploration.
This is the arena of science and development.

Commerce without morality refers to the experiment humanity has been carrying out over the past century or so to test the absurd hypothesis that lasting happiness can be obtained by accumulating more and more wealth. Andrew, Mansukh and Savitri shows us the value of empathy and concern.
Here we encounter the world of commerce and economics.

According to the authors, Gandhi’s Seven Laws of Society measure our human activities against objective standards that are common to all humanity, independent of time or culture.

Mansukh Patel, Savitri MacCuish and Andrew Wells point out that since Gandhi made it his life-long quest to attempt to establish a society based around these standards, then as a result, more people have been touched by his life than just about any other.

Mohandas K. Gandhi was designated as a ‘Person of the Century’ by Time Magazine, second only to Albert Einstein for his influence over the human race. Mansukh, Andrew and Savitri have given us a refreshing and highly practical view of his work, which has given us a pathway towards the innate greatness that lies within us all.

Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one
as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon the earth.
- Albert Einstein’s tribute to Gandhi