| |
by chance, I do not turn out to be a Mahatma, then how will you undo the act of touching the feet?"
He said, "No, no, how can it be? Your clothes proclaim that you are a saint." I told him that if clothes could make a saint of any person, then the whole of humanity would have become saints a long time back. He retorted that the fact that so many people had come to see me off was ample proof of my sainthood. I told him that these days many hired people can be had for such purposes, so such a crowd of well-wishers or admirers has no significance whatsoever. He said, "In any case, at least you are a Hindu." He thought that no matter whether I was a saint or not, even if I am a Hindu, that would do for him. In that case his touching of my feet would not have been any sin. But when I asserted that I was not even a Hindu, then he was indeed greatly surprised. He told me that he did not know what type of a person I was. I should be something at least, either a Muslim or a Christian. Upon this I enquired of him if he had any objection to my being a mere human being and whether it was not possible for me to live like a mere human being, and whether I had necessarily to be something in addition to that.
His restlessness was worth seeing. He called for the conductor and got his luggage transferred to another compartment. I went up to him after some time and said, "What has happened? It was you who had said a little while earlier that your journey in my company would be a matter of great pleasure for you. Didn't you think it fit to travel in the company of a mere human being? Perhaps you could travel with a Hindu, but to travel with a mere human being is fraught with difficulties for you."
The first act of revolt of those Western youngsters who are today known as the hippies is that they assert their right to live as mere human beings devoid of all labels. They do not want to be either Christians or Hindus or Communists or Socialists. They wish to try to live as mere human beings. I myself also love and place great value upon their attempt to live as mere human beings, and as far as I am concerned Jesus lived as a mere human being and also Buddha and Mahavir.
|
|
|