The Japanese Experience

Thus, the distance between the guru and me was about less than one meter. Since the guru did not know Hindi, the conversation took place in English. After some introductory remarks, I came to the point and asked him directly: “Do you claim that you are a Prophet of God in the same sense in which Moses, Jesus and Muhammad claimed to be Prophets of God?” A silence fell for a few seconds after my question, then the guru replied quite clearly: “No, I make no such claim.” Afterwards, there was no need for further questions on this topic. I talked to him about his mission for some time, then took his leave after receiving his special parshad—an orange. To conclude, we may confidently assert that the Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, was endowed with such divine vision as enabled him to visualize the future very clearly. That is the secret behind all his religious, social and political achievements. It is no wonder then that, by the virtue of this vision, he was also able to predict the continuing ideological supremacy of his prophethood—to the extent that the history itself has refused, and will refuse credibility to any later ideological counter claims, be they made in prophetic or nonprophetic terms. □ The Japanese Experience In August 1945, the U.S.A. dropped two atom bombs on Japan, thereby reducing two of its major cities to ruins. Strangely enough, the Japanese seem to bear no grudge against the Americans, for, they say, it had only reacted to Japan’s violence in the arena of war. The responsibility, therefore, needs to be shared