Talk:Virchand Gandhi

Unsourced

 * May peace rule the universe; may peace rule in kingdoms and empires; may peace rule in states and in the lands of the potentates; may peace rule in the house of friends and may peace also rule in the house of enemies.


 * The universe is not for man alone, but is a theater of evolution for all living beings. Live and let live is its guiding principle. Ahimsa Parmo Dharmah- Non-injury is the highest religion.


 * The heart of vegetarians is healed sooner than those of flesh-eaters.


 * To that man of high aim whose body, mind and soul act in correspondence, all secrets of nature become revealed to him. He feels within himself, as every where, that universal life wherein there is no distinction, no sense of separateness, but all around, all bliss, unity and peace.


 * On the higher plane the soul is sexless, and those who wish to rise higher than the physical plane must eliminate the idea of sex.


 * The purpose of concentration should be well-defined. In our routine life it may be for worldly gains and for increasing the knowledge, in moral sense it must be to improve the ethics of our life but in spiritual sense it is knowing one’s self.


 * In international commerce, India is an ancient country.
 * 19th October, 1899


 * As you go on forgetting yourself materially, just in the same proportion do spiritual peace and spiritual powers flow in towards you.


 * The greatest skeptic must now admit that the land and sea-borne trade of India had given her a world-wide fame not only for her gold, spices and silk, but for her religions and philosophies also.


 * We the Jainists of India say every day in our prayer, I worship all perfected souls, I worship all spiritual masters, I worship all spiritual instructors, I worship all holy men and women in the world.


 * Since the early beginning of history, India has been the Klondyke of the world.


 * In Western lands there is a distinct division between the religious and the secular life. There is one rule of conduct for laymen and another for clergymen. This distinction has never found its place in the life of the people of India. There, all of life is included in the word religion.


 * ...the soul lives its own life, not for the purpose of the body, but the body lives for the purpose of the soul. If we believe that the soul is to be controlled by the body then soul misses its power.


 * If a person's mind is controlled by forces of revenge and jealousy, it cannot express love & sympathy. And even if they show love and sympathy to others it will yield no good result. The thought will not be reflected in love but in hate.


 * ...am so deeply impressed with the fair mindedness and tolerance of the American people...


 * I have heard your orators speak on many questions. One among them the so-called vital question of money which is above all things the most coveted commodity but I, as a Hindu, as a Jainist, in the name of my countrymen and of my country, would offer you as the medium of the most perfect exchange between us, henceforth and forever, the indestructible, the unchangeable, the universal currency of good will and peace, and this, my brothers and sisters, is a currency that is not interchangeable with silver and gold, it is a currency of the heart, of the good life, of the highest estate on the earth and it is the currency of heaven.


 * In the history of a soul’s evolution there is a critical point of the human incarnation that decides for us whether we stay there, go down or progress upwards. There is a knot of worldly desires impeding us; cut the knot by mastering desires and go forward. This done, progress is assured.


 * When one consciously suppresses individuality by proper physical, mental, moral and spiritual development he becomes part and parcel of the immutable course of nature and never suffers.


 * In our country religion is not different from philosophy and religion and philosophy don’t differ from science.


 * As you go on forgetting yourself materially, just in the same proportion do spiritual peace and spiritual powers flow in towards you.


 * When one consciously suppresses individuality by proper physical, mental, moral and spiritual development he becomes part and parcel of the immutable course of nature and never suffers.


 * Cultural distinctions, agriculture, art, artistic skill, literature, good conduct, means of knowledge, science, hospitality, feminism, love, and respect - all these are found in India in quite a different form. If that culture was purchasable, England would have purchased it, adopted it. But it has not happened, it cannot happen.
 * Addressing Parliament

Quotes about Virachand Gandhi (unsourced)

 * Of all Eastern scholars, it was this youth whose lectures on Jain Faith and Conduct was listened to with the greatest interest and attention.
 * The Buffalo Courier, writing of Gandhi's speeches at the First World Parliament of Religions in 1893.