During my ScaredSacred pilgrimage I stayed at the Sevegram Ashram in India and the women's ashram nearby that was founded by one of Gandhi's teachers Vinobah Bavan.

In 2007, I traveled to South Africa where Gandhi's non-violent resistance movement was born. I visited the Phoenix Settlement established by Gandhi near Durban in 1903. Mahatma Gandhi's Great Grand-daughter, Ashish Gandhi, who is creating social change in South Africa and worldwide welcomed me to the Settlement and shared her thoughts on Gandhi's legacy and the world today.

Gandhi has been described as the "Original Sacred Warrior", and his powerful non-violent philosophy continues to act as an inspiration for spiritual activists and social movements the world over. Walking the ground Gandhi walked and hearing the stories that led him to create Satyagraha, the non-violence philosophy which was also adopted by Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, deepened my own understanding of the way of the peaceful warrior.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi arrived in Durban, South Africa on 23 May 1893. During his stay here he engaged in peaceful confrontation in the struggle for equality, justice and human dignity. His non-violent strategy was conceived as Satyagraha. In 1903 he established the Phoenix Settlement in Durban, which is where he published the ‘Indian Opinion' in four languages. The newspaper was the prime vehicle for the growth and dissemination of Gandhi's thoughts.

Throughout its long history, the Settlement played an important role both from the spiritual and political point of view in promoting justice, peace and equality. The Settlement and the immediate surrounding area is presently collectively known as Bhambayi. About 20,000 people live in the area. The Phoenix Settlement Trust Committee (established in 1969 to celebrate the Centenary of the birth of Gandhi) is presently promoting the reconstruction and development of the Settlement. 2007

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Video Diary #5 - South Africa