India is one of the few countries left in the world which still has the capacity to produce saints. One of the most authentic of these was Ramana Maharshi, who died only a year or two ago and whose life by an English disciple, Arthur Osborne, was published recently. He lived a life of austerity equal to that of the greatest of the Fathers of the Desert and reached a state of contemplation which in Christian terms could only be described as habitual union with God. He himself remained a Hindu of the strict advaita (non-dualist) school and maintained simply that his ‘self’ had ceased to exist and that he had realized his true ‘self’ in God. I have met many people, both Christian and non-Christian, who have known him, and all of them testify to the extraordinary holiness of his character, which was shown not least in his wonderful compassion and kindness. It can hardly be doubted that the transition from a life of complete silence and solitude in the isolation of a cave to the later life of the Ashram with its constant concern for every human need marks the influence, at least unconsciously, of Christianity on the Hindu mind, but Maharshi remained typically Hindu in his character.

The same must be said of Vinoba Bhave, who continues the tradition of Hindu sanctity in our own day and who has also found an English disciple to write his life. Mr Tennyson has written an extremely good book. He lived and worked, and what is more walked, with Vinoba, and though his actual contact with him was only for a short period, it was obviously the most momentous experience of his life and he has the bom writer’s flair for revealing the feeling and quality of his experience. The result is a book which not only gives a vivid record of the life and work of Vinoba, but is also able to show something of its historic importance for India and for the world.