Satyagraha in Einstein

Have you ever notice the parallelism between the destruction and peace....

Both had been evoluted side by side.......see report and judge urself::

Ghandhi ji was assassinated in 30th January 1948. The following year, when Nehru visited the US he related his conversation with Gandhi to Albert Einstein. With a twinkle in his eyes, Einstein wrote down a number of dates on one side, and events on the other, to show the parallel evolution of the nuclear bomb and Gandhi’s satyagraha respectively — almost from decade to decade since the beginning of the 20th century.

It turned out that by a strange coincidence that while Einstein and his fellow scientists were engaged in work which made the fission of the atom possible, Gandhi was embarking on his experiments in peaceful, non-violent satyagraha in South Africa; indeed the Quit India struggle almost coincided with the American project for the manufacture of the atom bomb.

Einstein Letter To Mahatma Gandhi

Einstein Letter To Mahatma Gandhi::->

Translation::
Respected Mr. Gandhi !
I use the presence of your friend in our home to send you these lines. You have shown through your works, that it is possible to succeed without violence even with those who have not discarded the method of violence. We may hope that your example will spread beyond the borders of your country, and will help to establish an international authority, respected by all, that will take decisions and replace war conflicts.
With sincere admiration,
Yours A. Einstein.
I hope that I will be able to meet you face to face some day.

And here is Gandhi's response to Einstein's letter:
LONDON, October 18, 1931
DEAR FRIEND,
I was delighted to have your beautiful letter sent through Sundaram. It is a great consolation to me that the work I am doing finds favour in your sight. I do indeed wish that we could meet face to face and that too in India at my Ashram.
Yours sincerely,
M. K. GANDHI

source::http://streams.gandhiserve.org/einstein.html

Who Was Great::Einstein Or Gandhi

The year 2005 is being celebrated as the World Year of Physics (WYP 2005) to honour the centenary of Einstein's contributions to physics in 1905.

In that year Einstein had published the papers on photoelectric effect, theory of relativity and the Brownian motion. In my openion Einstein is one of the two greatest men of the last century, the other being Mahatma Gandhi. While Einstein represents the best in physics, Gandhi was the greatest spiritual person of the period. Einstein once remarked about Gandhi in the following words:

Thousand years after, the world would scarcely believe that such a man in flesh and blood had ever walked on earth.

This was a remark coming from a great scientist about a great spiritualist.

Einstein On Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi's life achievement stands unique in political history.

He has invented a completely new and humane means for the liberation war of an oppressed country, and practised it with greatest energy and devotion.

The moral influence he had on the conciously thinking human being of the entire civilized world will probably be much more lasting than it seems in our time with its overestimation of brutal violent forces.

Because lasting will only be the work of such statesmen who wake up and strengthen the moral power of their people through their example and educational works.We may all be happy and grateful that destiny gifted us with such an enlightened contemporary, a role model for the generations to come.

Einstein::A Letter To Nehru

Einstein's letter of June 13 1947 to Nehru focused on moral and historical arguments. He opened with praise for India's constituent assembly, which had just abolished untouchability. "The attention of the world was now fixed on the problem of another group of human beings who, like the untouchables, have been the victims of persecution and discrimination for centuries" - the Jews. He appealed to Nehru as a "consistent champion of the forces of political and economic enlightenment" to rule in favour of "the rights of an ancient people whose roots are in the East". He pleaded for "justice and equity". "Long before the emergence of Hitler I made the cause of Zionism mine because through it I saw a means of correcting a flagrant wrong."

But then Einstein took the bull by the horns, "the nature of the Arab opposition. Though the Arab of Palestine has benefited... economically, he wants exclusive national sovereignty, such as is enjoyed by the Arabs of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria . I

t is a legitimate and natural desire, and justice would seem to call for its satisfaction." But at the end of the first world war, the Allies gave the Arabs 99% of the "vast, underpopulated territories" liberated from the Turks to satisfy their national aspirations and five independent Arab states were established. One per cent was reserved for the Jews "in the land of their origin".

"In the august scale of justice, which weighs need against need, there is no doubt as to whose is more heavy." What the Jews were allotted in the Balfour Declaration "redresses the balance" of justice and history. He concluded by appealing to Nehru to brush aside "the rivalries of power politics and the egotism of petty nationalist appetites" and to support "the glorious renascence which has begun in Palestine".

Nehru replied back saying that due to India's national interests (Muslim minority and Arab friendship), we could not support them and India voted with the Muslim states against partition. Einstein's exchange with Nehru recently surfaced in the Israeli archives and provides details of the mails they exchanged and the mails they did not exchange. Even though Nehru declined Einstein's request, he went and met him later in 1949.

Einstein And Tagore

Tagore on Einstein:

Einstein has often been called a lonely man. Insofar as the realm of the mathematical vision helps to liberate the mind from the crowded trivialities of daily life, I suppose he is a lonely man.

His is what might be called transcendental materialism, which reaches the frontiers of metaphysics, where there can be utter detachment from the entangling world of self. To me both science and art are expressions of our spiritual nature, above our biological necessities and possessed of an ultimate value.

Einstein is an excellent interrogator. We talked long and earnestly about my "religion of man." He punctuated my thoughts with terse remarks of his own, and by his questions I could measure the trend of his own thinking.

Einstein to Tagore:
You are aware of the struggle of creatures that spring forth out of need and dark desires. You seek salvation in quiet contemplation and in the workings of beauty.

Nursing these you have served mankind by a long fruitful life, spreading a mild spirit, as has been proclaimed by the wise men of your people.

Einstein::Man Of The Century

Einstein is an instantly recognisable figure, an icon of intellect and free thinking. He was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1879.

Popular legend indicates that he was a slow learner, learning to speak much later than is average.

Elementary school records show he was a gifted child, particularly in maths, physics and violin playing. He rebelled against formal education by rote learning, and was apparently expelled at the age of 15 (reputedly just before he dropped out). He completed his education in Switzerland. Throughout his life he was a non-conformist shunning ceremony and disregarding many societal expectations.

Einstein lived in Berlin during World War I and publicly expressed dissatisfaction with German militarism. He suggested that warfare be abolished and an international organisation be set up to mediate between nations.
While Einstein was visiting the US in 1933, Hitler came to power. Einstein publicly criticised the racial and political policies of Hitler and declared that he would not return to Germany but would base himself at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton New Jersey as Professor.

In 1939 Einstein wrote his famous letter to President Roosevelt pointing out the possibilities of a nuclear bomb, and recommending US research into nuclear weapons. An ardent pacifist, he was prompted to do this by several prominent scientists and the thought that Hitler would develop such a bomb first.

In actuality the first bomb fell on Japan after the fall of Germany in the war
A compassionate man, Einstein had a deep regard for his fellow humans. He had a keen sense of humour and loved children, often responding to their letters in a way that encouraged their inquisitiveness. He believed that humanity needed to create a moral order if it was to survive.
Einstein did not believe in the concept of a personal God, believing that the divine was revealed in the physical world.

He was a committed atheist but was strongly influenced by his Jewish identity, viewing Judaism as a culture rather than an institutionalised religion. In 1952 he was offered the post of President of Israel. He was deeply moved, but declined the offer.

source::http://www.questacon.edu.au/html/einstein.html