"After wandering about for a while he met another rider. Glad to see somebody he hailed the rider with a friendly 'Hello.'

"'Hello,' answered the second.

"'I'm English,' said the first.

"'I'm English too,' answered the second.

"'I'm Oxford,' continued the first proudly.

"'I'm Cambridge,' came the answer.

"'Sorry!'

"It is very difficult to drop old habits, and that must have been the case with Dionysius. He was trained as a theologian; he speaks the language of a theologian, although now he is no more a theologian, he is a mystic. But the moment he starts expressing himself it is but natural that his whole training, upbringing, will come into his expression. So please forgive him for his expressions. They are not as clear as the statements of the Upanishads, because the Upanishads were sung by mad poets not by theologians. Hence the beauty of the Upanishadic statements.

"It is fortunate, very fortunate, that Jesus was never trained by the rabbis; otherwise we would have missed the immense poetry and the grace of the New Testament, particularly of the Beatitudes: 'Blessed are the meek for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are those who are the very last because they shall be the first in my kingdom of God.'

"These are not the words of a rabbi; these are the words of a simple man – not very articulate, not trained in reasoning. He is simply making statements without giving any reasons for them; he is not argumentative. These are shouts of joy. They are like small children playing, shouting, running, for no reason at all, just the overflowing energy. They are innocent statements.

"One can see very easily the difference between Jesus and Dionysius, between Lao Tzu and Dionysius, between Zarathustra and Dionysius. It was unfortunate that this tremendously great man had to pass through a theological training. It was just an accident. But his training hangs around him; it is very difficult to get rid of old habits. What he is saying is of immense importance, but the way he is saying it is that of a very ordinary theologian."