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In his scholarly paper Dr Masson (this issue) mentions some points which, according to him, Erikson did not include in his study of Gandhi. As the allotted time does not permit a thorough discussion of all the points raised by him, I shall be brief.
Dr Masson mentions three areas of Gandhi's experience in which, according to him, Erikson failed 'to present the complexity, both pathological and otherwise, of Gandhi'. The areas are: (1) fasting and diet, (2) sexuality, and (3) 'worlds of stories, legends, poems and even subliminal sensory impressions from Gandhi's childhood and the religious and non-religious atmosphere in Kathiawad'.
In dealing with the problem of fasting, Dr Masson included the opinions of Glover and others to indicate the connexion between fasting and oral aggression (incorporation), etc. He seems unnecessarily to have limited the connotation of what is meant by 'animal passion' to genital sexuality. From this limitation has arisen a number of misconceptions about the necessity and purpose of fasting in Gandhi's life. As I have already indicated, 1 aggression is traceable even in the non-violent non-cooperation movement sponsored by Gandhi.
In many parts of India, restricted diet and even fasting is observed by the active participants on days preceding, or even coinciding with, religious rituals and socio-religious observations. This practice is not limited to India but is also common in many other countries among religious groups. We know that there are chemicals which have stimulating, depressing or soothing effects on our system. Similarly, it may safely be said that the different foodstuffs have different types of effect, both general and particular, on our bodily and mental functions. We know that some foods considerably stimulate mental activity and others do so to a lesser degree, yet on the other hand others are positively soothing and even depressing. There are also individual variations in the degree of such effects. Generally sp