***

Hari ini, tahun 1948 silam, seorang tokoh dunia telah wafat karena terbunuh. Tokoh yang terkenal dengan kesederhanaan dan sikap anti kekerasannya. Dijuluki Mahatma (Jiwa Agung). Seorang yang terlahir dengan nama asli Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Gandhi terbunuh oleh penganut Hindu fanatik yang menganggapnya terlalu baik kepada kaum muslim India.

Gandhi terkenal dengan 10 ajarannya :

1. Change Yourself.

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

Berubah dulu untuk diri sendiri. Jangan berharap dunia/lingkungan berubah dengan sendirinya. Seperti kata Michael Jackson, “I’m starting with a man in the mirror.” :).

2. You are in Control.

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”

Kita adalah pengendali utama untuk diri kita sendiri.

3. Forgive and Let it Go.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong…. An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

Tepat sekali. Memaafkan memang merupakan salah satu hal tersulit di dunia ini :(.

4. Without Action You aren’t Going Anywhere.

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching”

Indeed, action speaks louder :).

5. Take care of this moment.

“I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.”

Seize the day! ^_^

6. Everyone is Human.

“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”

“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might”

Tidak ada yang sempurna. Tak ada gading yang tak retak.

7. Persist.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Jangan menyerah, pantang mundur.

8. See the Good in People and Help Them.

“I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others”

“Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men”

“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people”

Kasturba, wanita pendamping Mahatma yang setia itu, barangkali bingung mendengar ucapan Sang Mahatma. Maka, pada suatu hari ia bertanya: “Bila memang demikian, kenapa kau ingin mengusir Inggris dari India? Kenapa kita tidak bisa hidup berdampingan dengan mereka?”

Mahatma membisu selama beberapa detik, baru menjawab: “Karena negeri ini adalah negeri kita, dan sudah sepatutnya kita sendiri yang mengurusinya. Mereka tidak perlu mengurusi kita.”

“Nonviolence does not signify that man must not fight against the enemy, and by enemy is meant the evil which men do, not the human beings themselves.”

“Tanpa-Kekarasan tidak berarti kita tidak boleh melawan musuh. Hanya saja yang kita musuhi adalah kejahatan yang dilakukan oleh manusia, bukan manusianya.” Kita melawan tanpa senjata, tetapi dengan kekuatan logika, rasio, dan di atas segalanya cinta-kasih serta pemaafan.

9. Be Congruent, be Authentic, be Your True Self.

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

10. Continue to Grow and Evolve.

“Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.”

Keep on moving on, everyone!

***

Rest in peace, our Mahatma :).