India and the West in Encounter

Abstract

After years of experiments in South Africa with spirituality and passive resistance, Gandhi wrote Hind Swaraj (1909). Sri Aurobindo, after five years of political involvement, ten years of sadhana, and decades of study, composed a series of essays on Indian culture. These are, “The Renaissance in India” (1918), “Indian Culture and External Influence,” (1919), “‘Is India Civilized?’” (1918–1919), and “A Defence of Indian Culture” (1919–1921). Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj and Sri Aurobindo’s series on culture considered the tension, at that time, between British civilization and Indian civilization. Both men considered the tension in terms of a conflict between materialism and spiritual values. Also, Sri Aurobindo wrote that Indians need to be ready to defend their civilization with arms, whereas Gandhi wrote that to use violence is to become like the West itself, and to lose touch with India’s ancient civilization. There are other differences between them. For instance, Sri Aurobindo stressed a creative engagement with the West and laid out guidelines for that. Today, India is not under British rule, and the tension between Asia and the West is much less. Still, Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo’s writings give insight into how both India and the West can interact positively and how each can reclaim their ancient heritages in the contemporary context.