Every single person has a particular specialty or job that they are here to perform. Like every single cell in a living organism has it's own specific task, we also have a particular role to play. (Notice the word “role” here) This is not something we have to find … it finds (and does) us!
Our roles come out of the story we are born into and take on … this is how we come to believe a particular story about ourselves and the world we live in.
There is no right or wrong role … it is all part of the story we have adopted and are invested in playing out (not that we are conscious of it).
And yes. the unwavering principle is that the external always reflects the internal story …. (“As Above – So Below”)
This is as true for Gandhi, for instance as it is for you and me.
It is easy to assume that Gandhi was at peace within his own mind … but do we know that absolutely?
When I read about Gandhi, I think of an impassioned man who was very much in resistance to the way things were. He was placed in a position where that resistance could be played out and his daily meditation was to meet that resistance without violence. Part of what he may have come to do was to model the possibility of meeting resistance with surrender.
That makes sense in my mind anyway as a reason why he came.
I'm not sure his life reflects total inner peace however. And I'm not judging that. I'm not saying his life should have been any different. Gandhi obviously did not come to demonstrate inner peace. He came to demonstrate to the collective mind another way of dealing with bondage (inner AND outer) through non-violence (ahimsa).
In my opinion, his is a path that reflects great internal stress. His outer world reflected his inner struggle with himself and his issues with the Indian caste system. He was very caught up in a story about not being free. His actions suggest that he believed strongly that self deprivation works – and so it did for him. (Remember he fasted for weeks at a time to force a political move, often with great success).
Remember it is ALL story. His world reflected to him, in the same way our world reflects to us) his belief that violence to himself (through self deprivation and starvation) would promote outer peace. His very death (shot in the heart on his way to meditation) reflected that belief. He believed in martyrdom and modeled it. He believed and verified his beliefs like each and every one of us do.
He left in the way that epitomized his own beliefs (“I will suffer and die for peace”) He came and did the work he was assigned. When he was done, he left … as will we each and every one.
I hope this is helpful.
Blessings, Lynne