Why is there such a lot of anger and hatred rising among certain influential quarters in India towards anything “western” in recent times? Is their contempt against the religious doctrine of the colonisers or their ideology or some of their oppressive and dehumanising methods?

Francis Xavier has been described as a pirate in priest’s clothing. Is he? When one reads the Letters of Xavier, transcending the inherent cultural and religious baggage and grasps, to the extent possible, the underlying experience, and when one does the same with Bhakti Padas of India’s very own Narsinh Mehta, one comes to realise that they are more like than unlike each other. This book places the two spiritual giants in dialogue. It proposes a method of re-reading the wisdom of Xavier mediated through the religious experience of Mehta, thus making Xavier more accessible to the Indian reader.

Mysticism, which is an authentic experience of the divine, is a spiritual power that is capable of subduing the shaāripu (the six core enemies) of human nature, irrespective of one’s religious or non-religious affinity: kāma (lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (attachment), mada (pride) and mātsarya (jealousy). Amidst the rising tensions and charging polarities that are in the interest of a few power-crazy leaders who fuel the fire of shaāripu, we need a superior power that can quench that fire. Could love-bhakti mysticism be that power?

• Title: A Tale of Two Saints
• Author: Paul Rolphy Pinto, SJ
• Publisher: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, Anand
• Pages: 260
• Price: Rs. 300

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