Ahimsa Center- K-12 Teacher Institute Lesson Plan
Title of Lesson: Gandhi's "Good Life: The Spiritual Dimension
Lesson By: Michele Milner
Grade Level/ Subject Areas: Class Size:
Time/Duration of Lesson:
Grade 2 (California)
25 Students per grade level
10-14 one hour lessons
High School (Texas)
Lesson Goals and Objectives:
 Explore Gandhi's conception of Spiritual Transformation as a tenet of the "good
life"

Cultivate awareness so that students can begin to understand themselves and the
world around them in an empowering and compassionate way
-Daily breathing, meditation or yoga exercises
-Writing in journals
-Read, discuss and create poetry
-Mindful eating

Formulate their own concept of truth by understanding Gandhi's
-Life
-Conception of truth and its realization
-Application of truth via satyagraha

Understand the nexus of religion, spirituality and truth
-Define, compare and contrast spirituality and religion
-Share their own religions, knowledge and experiences
-Visit a religious center
-Describe their own ideal of spirituality and create their own idea of religion by looking
at Gandhi's fusion of religious practices as an example
Lesson Abstract:
Gandhi's work can be distilled into four tenets of the "good life"i: Spiritual, Economic, Political
and Social transformation. The purpose of this lesson is to use Gandhi's ideas and experiments
to explore the spiritual transformation aspect of the "good life" by focusing on personal
awareness and formulating conceptions of truth and spirituality. Students examine the nexus
between truth, spirituality and religion.
All endnotes can be found at the end of this lesson.
Lesson Content:
Awareness
Gandhi repeatedly urged people to "turn the searchlight inward."ii Students will experience this
process through experimentation with meditation, art, music, breathing, yoga, journal writing
and mindful eating.iii Awareness exercises serve to ground the students, ask them to pause from
their everyday business, and sensitize them to their surroundings.
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Truth
Gandhi dedicated his life to seeking truth and employing it for social change.iv Students will
explore at least three levels of truth: truth as relative, Truth as an absolute, and truth/Truth as a
process in what Gandhi terms, satyagraha. The material in the lesson will help to clarify these
conceptions of truth and the students should be encouraged to develop their own constructs.
Together, relative and absolute truths incorporate the idea of satyagraha. When the inner truth
is identified (a fluid process subject to revision), the challenge then is to live that truth, perhaps
as a means to reach absolute Truth as manifested in satyagraha or, on a spiritual level as
moksha.v In fact, it is through the living of the truth that it comes alive, as Gandhi stated, "the
truth of concepts, values, and ideals is fulfilled only in practice. Prior to that practical
fulfillment they remain spectral and abstract."vi
Indeed, the active search for truth, if done through love and non-violently, is known as
"satyagraha," a powerful means and end for self and societal transformation. Satyagraha was
the basis of the movement that empowered Gandhi and others to topple the British
Government's rule over India non-violently and contribute to the development of spiritual,
social and political thought.
Satyagraha turns the concept of weakness on its head: only those in a position of purity, i.e., a
genuine desire to serve and love, regardless of economic, political or social status, invoke
satyagraha. Satyagrahis become the strong. Those with economic, political or social status are
not the powerful unless they meet the standards of satyagraha. The satyagrahi's position of
strength is rooted in spiritual belief and she becomes a catalyst for change through nonviolence.
As Gandhi stated, "(n)onviolence is a weapon of the strong." Satyagraha also transforms the
oppressor by moving beyond intellect and appealing to the heart.
Based on the platform of Gandhi's truth, encourage students to develop their own ideas. In
addition, poems are introduced as points of departure for discussion and deeper thought.
Spirituality
The underlying basis for all of Gandhi's actions and search for truth was his commitment to
spirituality. Humans for him were composites of body and spirit. Spirit is part of our material
being but not separated from the divine.vii
Furthermore, for Gandhi, spirituality is beyond the intellect:
There is something infinitely higher than intellect that rules us and even the
skeptics. Their skepticism and philosophy do not help them in critical periods of
their lives. They need something better, something outside them that can sustain
them. . . . A merely intellectual conception of the things of life is not enough. It
is the spiritual conception which eludes the intellect, and which alone can give
one satisfaction.viii
The spiritual world ruled much of Gandhi and he intentionally separated himself from the
material or worldly trappings of life, while passionately seeking moksha. Moksha, according to
Gandhi, was "renouncing through knowledge the worldly life." He goes on to state:
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Renunciation is not to be found even on the peaks of the Himalayas. The true
cave is the one in the heart. Man can hide himself within it and thus protected
can remain untouched by the world even though living and moving freely in it,
taking part in those activities which cannot be avoided.ix
This goal was foremost in his mind, and even in his last breath on this planet, he had the
presence of mind and heart to pray, he ram, a symbol of God.
Religion for Gandhi
Born a Hindu, Gandhi studied Christianity while he was in England and South Africa. Gandhi
greatly respected different religious views and incorporated varied religious doctrines into his
twice daily prayer meetings that hundreds of people would eventually attend. At these prayer
meetings he read from the Koran, the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita, amongst other holy
scriptures. He loved bhajans, or sung prayers as well as Christian hymns, such as "Lead,
Kindly Light." Gandhi created extensive commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, and remained
dedicated to its teachings while still embracing scriptures from other religions.
One religion that encapsulates many of Gandhi's beliefs on ahimsa, or non-violence in thought
and action, is Jainism. Jainism's theory of nonviolence, like Gandhi's, is that respect for the life
of all beings leads to compassionate living and selfless service. Gandhi's family occasionally
received Jain priests in the home and Gandhi was privy to these discussions.
Two other Jain tenets also support Gandhi's views: non-absolutism, which is respect for the
views of others leading to mutual understanding and peaceful co-existence. As well as nonpossessiveness, which is respect for the environment leading to voluntary limits on desires and
ethical living.x
Finally, Gandhi, a seeker of truth, married his actions with his conscience, beyond a religious
mandate. Yet the religion and his practice guided him in his ever-present spiritual quest of
moksha. While Gandhi never claimed to have attained moksha, his unwavering struggle and
yearning guided him as if he knew it was already there. Gandhi based his claims to truth on
personal experiments or experience, with one exception: his faith that moksha was indeed
attainable. And yet it was this ideal that anchored him in all of his struggles.
Note to the teacher: This particular lesson is well-suited for teachers with a spiritual practice or
who are aware of and seek personal transformation.xi
State Content Standards:
 California Grade 2: 2.5 Students understand the importance of individual action and
character and explain how heroes from long ago and the recent past have made a
difference in others' lives.
 Texas: §113.37. Sociology
(13) Culture. The student understands how people develop social institutions to meet
basic needs in a society. The student is expected to: summarize the functions of
social institutions such as the family, religion, and education.
Guiding Questions:
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


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What does it mean to be aware?
What is truth?
How are religion and spirituality related?
How do Gandhi's ideas help us understand these issues?
Materials Needed:
 Access to quiet or outdoor spaces
 Paper, pencils, art supplies
 Snacks (pretzels, raisins, dried apricots)
Lesson Context:
This lesson is an exploration of spirituality and is part of a larger unit on Gandhi's idea of the
"the good life" that explores our relationship to the world through spiritual, political, social and
economic transformation.
Teaching Activities:
DAY ONE: Introduction Explain to students the over-arching unit on "the good life" and
how the lessons on spirituality fit in. For example, within spirituality, the students will explore
awareness, the idea of truth and look at how these ideas relate to religion.
On the life of Gandhi
1) Read aloud with the students, Sethia, Tara. "Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (1869-1948)"
Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History (2005), Volume 2, pp. 802-803.
2) In pairs, students will create a dialog between Gandhi and a reporter. One student will create
questions as the reporter and the other will answer according to the article, as if she was
Gandhi.
3) Students act out their dialogs in front of the class.
Awareness
Gandhi repeatedly urged people to "turn the searchlight inward." Awareness exercises will be
practiced throughout the lessons to facilitate experiential learning.
1) Breathing exercises: introduce long-deep breathing. Inhalation expands the belly and
exhalation pushes the belly toward the spine. Practice for up to 3 minutes.
2) Ask students what it means to be aware and if they felt a difference before and after the
breathing.
3) Ring a soothing bell and ask the students to listen until the end.
How is this level of listening different from everyday listening?
4) Tell students to get out their journals and have a pencil ready. Ask students to close their
eyes, breathe and follow their thoughts. At the end of one minute, ask them to write down the
very last thought they had and see if they can trace it to understand their train of thoughts.
Homework: ask students to choose between 3 minutes of mindful breathing or tracing and
journaling thoughts for 5 minutes a day.
DAY TWO: Awareness (Three minute breathing meditation: follow the breath in and out
with awareness of thoughts.)
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Discuss experiences with homework assignment
"Good Life" Discussion
1) Ask students what a "good life" is to them.
2) Ask them to get in groups and to create a diagram with four elements for a "good life" that
they all agree upon and then present it to the class.
3) Students present their ideas to the class.
4) Discuss this in light of Gandhi's ideas of Spiritual, Political, Economic and Social
transformation as the four main tenets of the good life.
Eating Mindfully to Cultivate Awareness
Explain and do steps 1-4
1) Offer raisins, nuts and crackers
2) Students silently select what they would like to eat by passing around a tray, making eye
contact and silently thanking the person who passes the tray to them
3) Students look at each item for one minute
4) Students choose to eat one item silently, and then the others
Then ask and discuss:
5) Which they ate first and why
6) Which food took longer to come to fruition
7) What they see was necessary for creation of the food
Homework: Ask students to try eating three bites mindfully at each meal.
DAY THREE: Truth (Begin class with a 3 minute silent meditation)
1) Discuss experiences with mindful eating.
Truth Discussion
1) Ask students what truth means to them and discuss.
2) Then present the following:
Gandhi's Ideas on Truth
A. Relative Truth
"It is a million times better to appear untrue to the world than to be untrue to ourselves.xii"
"What may appear as truth to one person will often appear as untruth to another person. But
that need not worry the seeker."xiii In this sense, truth exists insofar as it resonates with anxiv
individual.
Show students the famous picture of the vase that also looks like a face as an example of being
able to see one thing as two different things. Discuss with the students.
Now this idea can go even deeper to recognize the importance of honoring this truth by reading
the following statement in groups of four, discussing as small groups, then as a big group.
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you
into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.
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And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.xv
B. Absolute Truth
In regard to absolute Truth, Gandhi claimed the "realm of human values contains a level of truth
deeper than what meets the eye. For him, moral reality was as certain as physical reality: there
is 'truth in thought, truth in speech, truth in action.'"xvi This over-arching truth is the same, at
some level, for everyone. As a point of departure for discussion, the teacher could suggest that
peace, harmony and stability are possible absolute truths.
Ask students if they believe in this idea of Absolute Truth and why or why not.
4) Ask students to consider the two representations of truth and explore how they support
similar ideas or differences. Have they ever felt that something was really right for them?
When? Have they ever experimented with their diet, beliefs, exercise, or remedies? What did
they find out? Have they ever not listened to a voice inside of themselves (conscience)?
When? Why? How did they feel? How does this affect the world? Have they ever felt that
something that is right or true for them must be the truth for others and is therefore an absolute
truth?
5) Guided Meditation
 Have students sit or lie down in a comfortable position, close their eyes and do
long, deep breathing. Lead them through a guided meditation that begins with a
journey. On the journey, the students choose, in their minds, where they are
going. They see the place in their mind. When they arrive there are two
delicious meals laid out, one of roast beef and the other with fresh fruit. They
can only choose one. Which do they choose? There they meet a wise person
and they imagine what that person looks like. They ask the person the direction
home. What does the person say? They listen to the person, thank the person
and then they journey back home.
 Students share their journey: the place, the food, the person, the advice and what
they may see as their own truth.
 Students journal their journeys and reactions.
DAY FIVE: Truth continued (3 minute meditation starting with the sound of a bell)
1) Start class by passing out and reading, "popcorn style" the following poem:
Two Kinds of Intelligence
There are two kinds of intelligence: one acquired,
As a child in school memorizes facts and concepts from books and from what the teacher says,
Collecting information from the traditional sciences
As well as from the new sciences.
With such intelligence you rise in the world.
You get ranked ahead or behind others
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In regard to your competence in retaining
Information. You stroll with this intelligence
In and out of fields of knowledge, getting always more marks on your preserving tablets.
There is another kind of tablet, one
Already completed and preserved inside you.
A spring overflowing its springbox. A freshness
In the center of the chest. This other intelligence does not turn yellow or stagnate. It's fluid,
And it doesn't move from outside to inside
Through the conduits of plumbing-learning.
This second knowing is a fountainhead
From within you, moving out.xvii
2) Ask students to identify the two types of intelligence and discuss their differences. Ask how
the intelligences relate to the idea of truth. Do they value one type of intelligence over the
other? Can they identify an experience they have had with inner truth? Again, does this inner
truth have anything to do with absolute truth?
 Students journal their responses.
3) Now we are going to introduce yet another level of truth.
The term Gandhi used for truth, satya, is based on the Sanskrit verb meaning to be. It implies a
connection between truth and existence. Truth, in this sense, is what is.xviii
Ask the students what would happen if they mixed truth with Truth and put it toward an action
for social change. More specifically, have they ever felt moved by something they thought was
wrong - like one kid bullying another? Have they ever acted upon that situation because they
felt like it was so wrong?
Read the story, The Secret of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman with these questions in
mind and then facilitate a discussion.
This story presents the idea of satyagraha: use the content description to help explain this idea.
4) Revisit the idea of conscience coinciding with actions. What would the students do if they
were in the shoes of the protagonist in the story? The bully? What would you do if one of your
friends told you that they liked someone. Would you repeat it to others at school? What if your
friends make fun of you because you decide to eat lunch with kids from another classroom? Do
you listen to them? What do you say? What if there is a new kid in the school who sits alone at
lunch? Do you sit with the new kid? What if kids talk about another student behind her back?
Do you participate? What do you say?
 After discussion, students journal their responses.
Have students give their own examples of satyagraha.
Ask the students if they have any concerns for societal problems and how truth relates to those
concerns. Keep the idea in mind that students may first be able to identify their own truth with
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regard to a certain issue, like sweatshops, homelessness or hunger. What, if anything, do they
feel they could do about an injustice.
6) This is an opportunity to think about a social action for change. This would be an example of
implementing satyagraha. If the students are passionate or energized about the issues, it would
be appropriate to follow-up with a service field trip or other relevant action that they suggest.
DAY SIX: The Big Truth or Spirituality (Begin with a 3 minute meditation)
1) So far we have discussed truth on a personal and relative basis. The quest for a bigger,
absolute Truth is often the basis of spirituality. The realization of Truth is known as moksha,
which was Gandhi's goal.
2) Gandhi's spiritual practice:
Explain to students that while Gandhi did not desire the material trappings of life, he was
passionate about moksha, or the desire to see "God face to face." Explain and discuss moksha.
Gandhi relates his desire for moksha, or his spiritual underpinnings, back to service. In a
commentary he wrote:
If we desire to end the suffering of others, our suffering, too, will end . . .
In Sanskrit, the desire to end the suffering of others is described as a
maha-swartha (supreme interest). It means interest in the moksha of all
creatures. Anyone who feels such a desire would be striving hard for his
own moksha.xix
So one of the ways Gandhi may have been striving to see God face to face was by ending
suffering of himself and others.
Students comment on or ask for clarification of Gandhi's beliefs. Do they see a connection to
his ideas on truth? Draw a web map of the ideas presented so far with the whole class.
3) Students' spiritual experiences: this can be baseball, art, cooking or any activity in which
they feel as if they lose track of time and are totally present.
4) Are there any special places where they feel very comfortable and connected? Students
describe these places and feelings through artwork and then explain their work in words.
Homework: Ask parents their familial religious history and write it down.
DAY SEVEN: The Big Truth or Spirituality and Religion (Start with a 3 minute
meditation)
Gandhi had an expansive view of religion and included readings from the Koran, Bible,
Bhagavad Gita and other holy scriptures in his practice. He loved bhajans, or hymns, including
the hymn, "Lead, Kindly Light" by John Newman.xx
1) What religions, if any, are the students and what do they practice? Have they ever been in a
church, temple, mosque or synagogue? Share.
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2) As a class, the students will suggest any necessary elements for a religion. Then the students
will get into groups of four and create their own religions that incorporate the elements, and
create the practice. The students will describe their religion to the class.
3) Students visit a Jain temple as an example of a religion that incorporates non-violence.
DAY EIGHT: Culminating Class Activity (Begin with a 3 minute meditation)
1) Students again create a dialogue between Gandhi and a reporter. The reporter wants to know
what his conceptions of truth are, satyagraha, and his religious practices, among other things.
2) Students present their dialogues to the class and some volunteer to perform at the all-school
meeting.
Assessment/ Evaluation:
Awareness: students reflect on observations about their experience and teacher observes their
ability to practice awareness exercises.
Truth: Students articulate their own ideas of truth and analyze their ability to apply that truth to
in reality.
Spirituality: Students express their spiritual experiences artistically and then reflect upon it in
words.
Religion, Spirituality, Truth: Students create their own religion that reflects their ideas on
spirituality and truth.
Extension Activities/ Enrichment:
Field trips, family involvement and service projects are included in the curriculum.
Bibliography:
Brady, Richard. "I Haven't Changed, but I think Differently: Discovering the Contemplative
Dimension in Education." (draft) www.mindfuled.org.
Fischer, Louis. Gandhi, His Life and Message for the World. New York: New American
Library, 1954.
Gandhi, Mohandas K. An Autobiography: the Story of My Experiments with Truth. Boston:
Beacon Press, 1993.
hooks, bell. Teaching to Transgress, Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York,
London: Routledge, 1994.
JAINA Education Committee. The First Step of Jainism, Level Two.
Juergensmeyer, Mark. The Gandhian Way: A Handbook of Conflict Resolution. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2005.
Parel, Anthony. Gandhi’s Philosophy and the Quest for Harmony. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2006.
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Prabhu, Joseph. "Gandhi, Empire, and a Culture of Peace" Philosophy Department, California
State University, Los Angeles.
Sethia, Tara. "Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand" (1869-1948) Berkshire Encyclopedia of World
History, 2005, Volume, 2, pp. 802-803.
i
This information was discerned from many of Gandhi's readings and explained this way in Nirmal Sethia's lecture at California
State Polytechnic University Pomona, "Ahimsa Based Economics: A Gandhian Perspective", July 19, 2007. An idea of the
"good life" is also in Parekh, Bhikhu, "Gandhi on Poverty Eradication and People's Empowerment" address at the conference,
Peace, Nonviolence and Empowerment: Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st Century. New Delhi: 29-30 January 2007.
ii Fischer, Louis, Gandhi, His Life and Message for the World, New York: New American Library, 1954. p. 132. On awareness in
the classroom, see Brady, Richard I Haven't Changed, but I Think Differently: Discovering the Contemplative Dimension in
Education, Sidwell Friends School. (draft) Mindfulness in Education. www.mindfuled.org. For a more general understanding of
mindfulness, see, Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness. Boston: Beacon Press, 1975.
iii The act of experimenting in itself is very Gandhian. See, Gandhi, Mohandas K., An Autobiography: The Story of my
Experiments with Truth. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993.
iv See also, Gandhi, id.
v See the discussion on moksha in the section on Spirituality, infra.
vi Prabhu, Joseph, "Gandhi, Empire, and a Culture of Peace" Philosophy Department, California State University, Los Angeles.
vii Parel, Anthony, Gandhi's Philosophy and the Quest for Harmony. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. p. 155.
viii Parel, Anthony, "Gandhi as a Man of Prayer"
ix Smriti, Gandhi and Samiti, Darshan, Gandhi on Peace and Non-Violence. New Delhi: 2004.
x The First Step of Jainism JAINA Education Committee, Federation of Jain Associations in North America, p. 25.
xi For a more in depth discussion of education as liberation, see, hooks, bell, Teaching to Transgress, Education as the Practice of
Freedom. New York, London: Routledge, 1994.
xii Fischer, Louis, id, p. 71.
xiii Gandhi, Yeravda Mandir, 3.
xivSee, http://www.illusionworks.com/html/figure_ground.html for a copy of the vase/face.
xv Nachmanovitch, Stephen, Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1990. p. 25.
xvi Juergensmeyer, Mark, Gandhi's Way: A Handbook of Conflict Resolution.
xvii Intrator and Scribner, Teaching with Fire, p. 127.
xviii Gandhi, Yeravda Mandir, 1, cited in Juergensmeyer, id., p.18.
xix Gandhi, Collected Work, 32:257, cited in Parel, Joseph, "Gandhi a Man of Prayer."
xxThe lyrics can be found at www.hymns.me.uk/lead-kindly-light-favorite-hymn.htm
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