Jesus In India — Page 56
46 JESUS IN INDIA Messiah, had also appeared to Paul long before this in the same manner. It appears that the prophecy contained in Matthew 16:28 has caused great panic among the padres and they have not been able to give it a rational meaning consistent with their own beliefs. It was difficult for them to say that Jesus, the Messiah, at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, had descended from heaven in glory, and that, like the lightning which lights up the heavens, was seen by everybody; and also it was not easy for them to ignore this statement of the Gospel that, ‘Some of those who are standing here will not taste death till they have seen the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Therefore, as a result of a laboured interpretation they believed in the fulfilment of the prophecy in the form of a vision. But this is nevertheless not true; the righteous servants of God always appear in visions to the divinely elect, and for a vision it is not even necessary that they should appear only in a dream, they can be seen even when one is awake, and I myself have expe- rienced such phenomena. I have seen visions in which I met Jesus, the Messiah, may peace be on him, many a time, and I have also met some of the other prophets, while I was fully awake. I have also seen our Chief, Lord and Master, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, many a time in this condition, and I have talked with him. And I have seen him in such a clear state of being awake that sleep or drowsiness had nothing to do with it at all. I have also met some dead people at their graves or other places while I was awake, and have talked to them. I very well know that such a meeting with the dead in this state is possible, and that not only can we meet, we can also talk to them and even shake hands. Between this and the ordinary state of being awake there is no difference during such an experience;