Gandhi and the World Peace Rose Garden

To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves. –Mohandas K. Gandhi

महात्मा

Mohandas Gandhi was first called Mahatma (महात्मा) by Rabindranath Tagore. It means 'great-souled', a person of profound wisdom...and that he was.

Gandhi extolled the virtues of the simple life, spinning cotton, making salt and gardening. In fact, at the end of his life he lived in a self sufficient community in India called Sabarmati Ashram.

Gandhi's life was his message.  And his message was non-violence, love and yes, working the soil. In effect, he was reminding us - with his lifestyle - not to forget ourselves...

Peaceful living and gardening to me are synonymous. If you are a contented soul then you will inevitably be in the presence of flowers.

(Poolside landscape by Johnsen Landscapes & Pools)

Flowers embody peace. Gandhi knew this.

It was probably inevitable that some wise people would establish a memorial amidst flowers to Gandhi.  The Gandhi World Peace Memorial  was established in 1984 at the beautiful Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades in California, USA.

There are 90 multi-colored roses framing the memorial.

This garden spawned the establishment of the non profit International World Peace Rose Gardens (IWPRG) in 1988. Its purpose is to create captivating rose gardens dedicated to engendering peace on public, accessible sites.


The Gandhi garden is the first of five world peace rose gardens. Others are in Atlanta, Ga.; Mexico City, Mexico; Assisi, Italy and Sacramento, California. Proposals are in place for gardens in Vietnam, Brazil and China as well.

Sylvia Villalobos, President of International World Peace Rose Gardens says the gardens serve as places of inspiration and magnets for community activities, including the IWPRG youth programs.

Gandhi sang the song of love and peace and tilling the soil  He reminded us not to forget ourselves but to rejoice in the little things, the important things, the basic things.

Everything else is just fluff.

(Peace Hybrid Tea Rose  - The most widely planted rose in the world)