The Dialectic of God: the Theosophical Views of Tagore and Gandhi

This is the first book which compares the philosophical views of Tagore and Gandhi, who were the most important thinkers of Modern India. They have not conceived God in traditional way but rather in humanistic way which relates to present day thinking mind. Neither have left any systematic presentation of their ideas about God.It has been deciphered from their poerty, writings, speeches, discourses and letters.Present-day concept of God has evolved from rudimentary ideas of God. Even in the present scientific age, we come across different ideas about God in different men. The layman, the man on the street with little or no education has an idea of God much different from the idea of God which a cultured and educated holds.Almost all the Indian contemporary thinkers have been influenced by the basic scriptures of the Hindus. Tagore and Gandhi have also been influenced by them. Tagore and Gandhi both had contacts with the Muslims and the Christian missionaries who had come to India. Of these, the Christian missionaries made scathing attacks on the Hindu religion and practices. Both Tagore and Gandhi visited Europe and came into contact with the Unitarian Christianity. It is possible that their thinking about God might have been influenced by such contacts.