Hindu ascetic.

The Muhammadan faqir is altogether different from the Hindu Sadhu in
his motives, his ideals, his habits, his dress--in fact, in nearly
everything; yet contact with the Hindu Sadhus has had a profound effect
upon him, and their philosophies have coloured his religious ideas. The
Hindus have, on their part too, not been unaffected by the influx of
Muhammadans, bringing their new monotheistic ideas, and some of the
Hindu orders appear to be attempts to graft the Muslim monotheism on
to the mystical Hindu pantheism. This is seen most developed in the
Kabir Panthis and the various orders originating from Guru Nanak. A
desire to propitiate and attract their Muhammadan conquerors was
probably not wanting in the moulding of these new orders; indeed,
Kabir and Guru Nanak seem to have had visions of elaborating a creed
in which Muhammadan and Hindu could unite together.

The Indian religious ideal has always been ascetic and despondent:
ascetic, perhaps, because life seemed sad and hopeless. On the other
hand, the Western ideal is an altruistic and optimistic one.

The young missionary, who very likely appeared to his sympathetic
friends in England to be making great sacrifices in order to go
"to preach the Gospel to the heathen," sometimes ignorantly imagines
that the people round him in India will recognize what he has denied
himself in order to come among them, and will respect him in due
proportion. Poor deluded man! The modern Christian in England has not
even learnt the alphabet of austerities and self-denials practised
in the name of religion, of which the Indians are past masters. He
appears to them as one of the ruling race, surrounded by the comforts
and luxuries of a house, many servants, books, flowers, photographs,
pictures, and the various little creations of civilization, which
custom has made the Western no longer to look on as superfluous
articles of luxury! Their ideal has been nearer that of the Swami,
who had so overcome the bonds of the flesh that he required neither
clothes nor viands, but sat nude and impassive, maintaining his
vitality on an occasional banana or mango!

Should the missionary try to accommodate himself to the Eastern
ideal, and forego many things that are lawful to him in order to
gain more influence with the people for his message? Every Indian
missionary has probably asked himself this question at some period
of his career. At one time such questionings forced themsel