Perry Garfinkel, a freelance writer on travel, wellness, and spirituality and the author of the 2007 book Buddha or Bust: In Search of Truth, Meaning, Happiness, and the Man Who Found Them All, is straight with the reader from the outset of his new book, Becoming Gandhi: Living the Mahatma's 6 Moral Truths in Immoral Times (Sounds True, Jan. 2024). Garfinkel never became Gandhi-like or even Gandhi-lite and you probably won't either. But by examining the moral choices made by the ascetic Indian champion of a simple, non-violent life, Garfinkel offers a how-to book on personal transformation. He tells PW that there's a lot to be said for becoming a healthier, calmer, kinder version of yourself by emulating Gandhi's commitment to "truth, non-violence, vegetarianism, simplicity, faith, and celibacy."

You write that you tried to "walk the moral talk" for a year and found it to be "like swimming in an infinity pool, there was no finish line; there would just be endless laps of realization and hopefully self-realization." Why is change so hard?

The prism of the book is seeing the world through Gandhi's eyes. But we are not mahatmas (honored sages). We are not avatars. We do what we can do. We can become more self-aware. We can recognize that our values are our destiny. I'm a straight white Jewish American man who wanted to see if changing myself was possible.

You describe today's world as beset with terrorism, corrupt politicians, attacks on women and LGBTQ+ people, rampant consumerism, and liars and cheaters abound. How can one ordinary person matter?

We can't level up to Gandhi, but in the book, I tried to translate Gandhi down to the personal scale. You may not change the world but what you do emanates to your family, your friends, your loved ones, and your community at large. If you walk by your values, your actions will have repercussions. There will be others who mirror what you do. The power of one is like a good virus that spreads.

You end every chapter with a section called "How to Gandhi," turning his name into a verb. Where do we start?

Start by being mindful. Mindfulness is essential. Notice the small things, the words people use. For example, have you noticed that TV pundits almost always begin talking by saying, "Look...". That's a command word. It signals you are asserting your power from the get-go as the one who knows things. It's aggressive. Maybe you use sarcasm, which is a weapon of passive-aggressive behavior. If you want to be non-violent, you don't want to use violent language. Maybe you are violent toward yourself -- impatient and overly self-critical.

Gandhi was a vegetarian but you write in your How To section that "it's not necessary to level up to Gandhi." What "level" of transformation has stayed with you since you finished writing the book?

I'm not a vegetarian like Gandhi but I am a pescatarian. I don't walk 10 miles a day like he did but I do religiously walk three miles every day. I don't watch violent movies and I've turned away from the news and some sports like football because I can't stand seeing the concussions and fights. I've also expanded my definition of violence to include cutting back on self-criticism and becoming more empathetic with myself as well as others. I cry more and I laugh more. I practice two things every day: meditation and attention to the present moment so that I can be here now and show compassion for myself and others.