Malfuzat – Volume II — Page 35
35 1 August 1899 A Dialogue with a Hindu Sadhu on Cognisance of the Divine On 1 August 1899 after the Maghrib Prayer, a Hindu ascetic (sadhu), from a well-known class of people, came to visit His Holiness and had a discussion with the Promised Messiah as. The following is a summary or abridgement penned in my own words according to memory. —Editor Al-Hakam Promised Messiah as : Is your practice of meditation according to the tenets of the Sanatan Dharam or the principles of the Arya Samaj? Ascetic: According to the Sanatan Dharam. Promised Messiah as : The Arya Samaj are a sect with words but no action. Ascetic: Absolutely. These people do not believe in the need for a spiritual teacher (guru). In fact, they do not even believe in Dyanand to be a spiritual guide. They simply say that he has showed them a path and now everyone ought to follow that way. Promised Messiah as : Your meditation is full of very strenuous exercises. Ascetic: Yes, indeed. Promised Messiah as : After this exercise, do you develop some sort of strength or power, which causes one to perceive that love which the individual engaged in meditation, possesses for God? For love cannot be perceived or seen to exist until a perfect expression is made from both sides. On the one hand, man must be ready to bear all sorts of grief and pain in the fervour of love, while on the other hand, God (Parmeshwar) endows a lustre or light (parkash) to such a person, which distinguishes them from others in general. Ascetic: Yes, a person does manage to develop a certain degree of strength and power. Promised Messiah as : Please, do relate something in the context of this power and strength. Not something that you have heard of, but something that you have witnessed yourself, either in your guru or in his guru. You see, things that we have heard about do not possess the same effect, no matter how true they may be, and people consider them to be nothing more than tales and stories. For example, someone may say that there is a certain country where