Phoenix represented an ideal, which is accepted today in our constitution and bill of rights - respecting each others differences and religious beliefs. The message at Phoenix was not to just tolerate one another but to extract the best one can from the different faiths. Gandhiji was profoundly influenced by a Russian Theosophist emigre in London, Madame Blavatsky, whom he met and whose works he read. He also read the Gita, the Bible and the Qu'ran. His understanding of all religions made him a universalist.

Albert West, a co-founder, best describes the community's religious practice:

At the daily prayers and the Sunday services at Phoenix, there was a joining together of men, women und children in a united spiritual exercise. Hindus,

Muslims, Pursees and Christians sang hymns and read the various scriptures in different languages. This, to my mind, was a unique example of universal church service, where no particular religion was placed in a superior position and where truth and love were acknowledged to be the universal attributes of God.