In April 1893, Gandhi was recruited to South Africa to assist in handling a lawsuit. In May, he set foot on the land of South Africa and boarded the train to Pretoria. On the train, something happened that he called "a decisive experience in his life": a white man rushed into the first-class carriage where he was riding and ordered him to move to the luggage compartment. He refused, and the other party called the police and forced him off the train. At this time, Gandhi made the most important decision in his life and resolutely resisted racial discrimination from now on.

After Gandhi successfully concluded the cases he accepted, he decided to settle in South Africa and take a career as a lawyer to fight against racial discrimination under the detention of local Indian overseas Chinese. This residence is 21 years. These 21 years are the years when Gandhi's non-violence thought was formed and put into practice. Gandhi's thought of non-violence mainly comes from the teachings of Vishnu Sect of Hinduism. This sect advocates benevolence, and takes the phrase "repay evil with good, repay evil with resentment" as its motto. In South Africa, Gandhi studied the Bible and the Koran. He believes that all religions contain the spirit of kindness.

In South Africa, Gandhi completely changed his way of life and lived a puritan abstinence life. He vowed to abandon all material comforts in the world. From then until his death, Gandhi gave up all the comforts of human life, including sexual desire, and always lived an ascetic life.