‘I have not read the Vedas or the Upanishads. I confess I haven’t read the Gita’

It’s no more a Land Rover; it’s a

Tata now.

• But you are an unusual mystic.

I think every mystic has been unusual, always. If he is usual, why will he be a mystic?

• But when you describe yourself as an unusual mystic, and an unusual among all mystics, in that case, what makes you unusual?

The usual belongs to people who imitate. Only if you imitate somebody do you become usual.

• But by definition, do mystics imitate?

No, but if scholars could imitate, sadhus and sanyasis could imitate too, because they are followers of a certain order. A mystic is someone who is coming from his inner understanding and inner experience, so there is no question of imitation, so he looks unusual while actually he is just natural. Because people are used to so much of repetitiveness in everything, if somebody just comes out from his own nature, people think he is unusual.

See, I don’t come from any scholarship. I have not read the Vedas or the Upanishads. I just confess I have not read the Gita.

• It’s not a confession many in the business would want to make.

The only thing that I know is this piece of life, absolutely. If you know this piece of life, absolutely, you know almost everything that is worth knowing.

• And how have you learnt about this piece of life?

Just by looking inward, nothing else.

• Tell us a little bit about your experiences. You started out as a regular guy.

Even now, I am pretty regular.

• Except maybe the beard.

The beard is a very regular thing. It grows on all men. It is very unfortunate that people think it is very irregular; people have cut it and shaped it in different ways, and that is irregular. This is the way nature made you. I don’t think nature made any part of your body that is not necessary.

• So would you rather that all men have long beards?

... contd.