Friday, July 31, 2015

188. Jesus Christ in the eyes of a non-Christian. Part four

 

Swami Yogananda has narrated episodes of cure of persons who appeared dead, performed, both by Swami Yukteshwar and Lahiri Mahasaya, in his book, ‘autobiography of a yogi’. In one incident he was an active participant. Paul Brunton witnessed a person, Tahra Bey, who could stop his heart and all signs of life for one and a half hours (blog 124). I am going to repeat it briefly, for the sake of coherence:

“Tahra Bey induced auto-cataplexy in him, just as he had done before.

He was examined by doctors. No breathing, no heartbeat! He was like a dead man. There were no signs of life. It would have been hard to tell the difference between him and a dead body!

His assistants covered him completely with soft red sand.

After the allotted time, the sand was removed. He was put in a chair. Slowly, he became normal.

He had no memory of what happened to him during the time he was in the coffin”.

 

I have recorded a similar feat by a sadhu (holy man) in India (blog 123):

The Sadhu said that he will be buried underground for twenty four hours. They could cement it at the top and drive their car over it. He would show the rope trick. The third trick consisted of levitation. A price was agreed.

 A pit was dug in their garden. It was nine feet by four feet, and nine feet deep. The sadhu uttered some mantra and descended in the pit. He put some cloth in his ears and closed his eyes and nostrils with his fingers. He recited a mantra in Sanskrit eleven times. His breathing became slower and slower till it was hardly perceptible. The pit was filled with sand and earth. The top was cemented

Next day, the pit was opened and the earth removed. Sadhu was lying there like a dead person, with a thin cloth covering his face. The two children put drops of some green oil in his ears, nostrils and eyes, and also rubbed his body with the oil.

After a few minutes the sadhu opened his eyes. He was helped out of the pit. He looked a little bit tired but otherwise none the worse.

If these persons could raise people who looked dead, surely, Jesus Christ, the most powerful holder of such powers, must have been able to do it.

If the spirit of Prophet Muhammadpbuh could cure the malignant ulcer on the leg of Nazir Shah (blog 166), Jesus Christ, an equally mighty prophet, must have been able to cure incurable diseases:

 

“I replied ‘I have come to ask you to pray for cure of my disease. ‘He said ‘Go to your home in the morning. The merciful God will have pity on you. ‘Hearing these words I became certain that my leg will get better without any operation.”

 

A Fakir cured Indra Devi from the invariably fatal disease of Rabies (blog 87):

“She was fifteen years old when she was bitten by a dog and developed rabies (a universally fatal disease at that time) and hydrophobia (fear of water). As she was near death, her brother happened to meet the same fakir, who came to her bedside at once, and cured her. His name was Rajib Sain, and Indra saw him later, a few times, in her inner vision.

As I have explained earlier, miracles occur because, as yet undiscovered laws, are brought into play. When we see a heavy whale swim, we should ask the question, that, why is the fish not pulled to the bottom of the ocean by the force of gravity? How does an airplane with tons of cargo not pulled to the ground by earth’s gravity? Because in both cases, the force of gravity is not suspended, but is opposed by other forces.

 

Let us discuss other miracles of Jesus

  1. He could see things from a distance, like he saw a colt in a distant house (Mark 11:2). Seeing things at a distance comes early in the path of mysticism, as Swami Ramdas acquired it after a few years (1). The blind Russian beggar (see blog 52) could see the fire in the church from a distance:

“As it happened on one occasion when we were going through the forest. He was silent, wholly absorbed in the Prayer. “What a pity” he cried all of a sudden. “The church is on fire and the tower just collapsed.”
“When we came to the city I saw few burnt houses and the fallen belfry……….. As I figured it out, the catastrophe had occurred at exactly the time when the blind man had told me about it”

  1. Christ was transfigured, as mentioned above in section 8, in Part two. This is an unprecedented event, and shows his great place in the pantheon of prophets and mystics. Jesus calming the winds by a command is also an unprecedented event. However, a voice arising from an invisible source has been manifested by others. Here are some examples:

To be continued

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(1). This fact is mentioned in one of Swami Ramdas’s trilogy of books; ‘In quest of God” and others.


187. Jesus Christ in the eyes of a non-Christian. Part three

 

We were discussing the miracles performed by Jesus Christ                                                                                                                                                                      

  1. One of the most spectacular events was his transfiguration. His appearance changed and his clothes became dazzling white. He talked with mighty prophets like Moses and Elijah, and a voice was heard from the cloud. All this happened in front of three witnesses, Peter, James and John. Here is the account:                                                                                                        “After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus” (9:2-4).                            Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

This event is described in all three synoptic Gospels and in a letter by Peter:                                17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”[a] 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.(2. Peter: 17-18 )

When a modern reader like yourself, reads all that which I have written above, if he or she is not an unquestioning devout Christian, one of following reactions arise in him/her:

  1. It is not true. Such things don’t happen. Bible should not be taken literally. Why don’t these miracles happen now? Not one miracle has been recorded in recent times.
  2. There may be some truth in these tales; rest is all exaggeration, carried out by an army of authors, over two thousand years.

You don’t want to appear gullible and superstitious, so you deny the miracles. In a discussion with your scientific-minded friends, you are apologetic about miracles recorded in Bible..     

There is no need to be apologetic. It is they who are close-minded.            They fail to appreciate that Divine power can cause miracles by using as yet undiscovered laws of nature. The known laws are not suspended but other undiscovered laws are brought into action which make it appear supernatural.

But what about the argument that why don’t miracles happen now?

The answer is that miracles happen now also. The same Source from which prophets derived their power still exists. Men of God (mystics) appear in all times and go to the same Source where prophets had gone and got powers, though not in the same order of magnitude as prophets possessed. We see glimpses of such powers. Here are some examples:

Jesus cured sicknesses. My brother suffered from incurable sickness. He went to the Great Mystic of Khyber Pass, who sealed his disease (see blog 104 ).

He suffered from a chronic illness for years, which affected his daily life. He had surgery, but that did not help. Soon he started vomiting blood. He fell down in streets couple of times and was taken to hospital. He was diagnosed with cancer (although that part is not documented). One day he met a dervish. The dervish said that in a far flung area a Qalander lives; only he has the ability to cure him. That man took that difficult journey, (considering his sickness). He met the Qalander the following day. The Qalander heard his story. He gave that man some goat milk to drink, and told him, “I have sealed your disease. It won’t progress. You won’t have vomiting any more. All your symptoms will gradually get better, and you will be alright in a month”. That is exactly what happened. Several years have since passed

St Augustine narrated the miracle of restoration of vision of a blind man (blog 163). Let me repeat it for the sake of continuity:

  1. “While the bodies were being carried, on the way, several people who were tormented by evil spirits were cured. There was also a man who had been blind for many years, a well known figure in the city. He asked why the crowd was running wild with joy, and when they told him the reason, he leaped to his feet and begged his guide to lead him where the bodies lay. When he reached the place, he asked to be allowed to touch the bier with his handkerchief.  No sooner had he done this and put the handkerchief to his eyes, his eyesight was restored. The news spread”.
    St. Augustine was there in the city of Milan. He would not have recounted it unless it was authentic. He may even have witnessed it. Augustine was a highly rational man, as is clear from his struggle to understand time, astrology, and how prophets could see future. He was not likely to suffer from what Hume called ‘superstitious delusion’.
    St Teresa of Avilla narrates in her book, how she prayed for vision (blog 78). Here is the account from my blog:
                   Once she was earnestly begging Jesus to restore vision to a totally blind man. The Lord appeared and talked to her. Then He said that He would always grant her anything she asked, because she won’t ask Him anything which did not tend to His glory. The vision was restored within a week.”

To be continued

 

Friday, July 17, 2015


186. Jesus Christ in the eyes of a non-Christian. Part two


For those persons who wanted to follow him, physically, from place to place, Jesus Christ set an extremely high standard, which was impossible to adopt by ordinary people. The message was that it is not enough to lead a sinless life, but one has to give up everything. Here is what he said to a man who asked him that what he should do to have an eternal life (Mark, 10:17-19). Jesus replied that he should follow the commandments: 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" The man said that he has obeyed all the commandments. Jesus said:

21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mark, 10:21)

 A lot has been made about his message of non violence, but it is not found in gospel of Mark. Here is the famous passage from Mathews (5:38-41):38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain”.

I don’t know what to make of it. Maybe, Jesus never said it, and that is why it is not in Gospel of Mark; or Jesus said it in an idealistic way for an ideal world. It sure is impractical. If Hitler had not been resisted in Second World War, the world today would be different and evil. Hitler could not have been stopped by passive resistance.

Miracles. A miracle is a manifestation of Divine power and glory. People who perform it do so only by the permission of God, which He has delegated to His deputies or Forces of evil (for some mysterious reason). No man in human history has performed so many, so powerful, and such varieties of miracles as Jesus Christ. He is unique in this respect. Most often some power is given to a person, like speaking in foreign tongues or the ability to prophecy, or healing the sick of some minor disease, or curing mental illnesses, and so on. But it never happens (except in the case of Jesus) that so many powers are given to one person. Imagine how much power of God he had. Let me give you examples from the Gospel of Mark:

  1. He cured many persons who were suffering from mental diseases like hysteria, madness and epilepsy.
  2. He cured other diseases such as fever ( mother of Simon and Andrew ), leprosy ( an incurable disease at that time ), paralysis ( an incurable disease ), deformity of hand ( an irreversible problem ), near death ( Mark 5:39), bleeding problem for twelve years,  and blindness ( incurable disease ). He healed a deaf and mute person. He cured some other diseases/deformities according to other Gospels. A woman who touched the fringe of his robe got cured. He cured the daughter of a Gentile woman from a distance, just by saying “your daughter is healed”, without seeing or touching her. A man cured mental disease just by using Jesus’ name, although he was not even his follower.
  3. He could see things from a distance, like he saw a colt in a distant house ( Mark 11:2)
  4. He predicted events which were going to happen in future. He repeatedly predicted his death and resurrection after three days. He predicted that Peter will deny him:                                                          30 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice[a] you yourself will disown me three times. (14:30)”.                                                                                                                                 He foretold the destruction of the Temple: (13:1-2) “As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”  “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.” It happened just as he had told.
  5. Jesus walked on water
  6. Jesus calmed the storm, just by rebuking the wind
  7. Jesus fed five thousand people with meager amount of food:                                                    41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men. (6; 41-44).  At another time he fed four thousand people with small amount of food.

To be continued.

Friday, July 10, 2015


 

185. Jesus Christ in the eyes of a non-Christian. Part one.

 

This mote is not a Christian, not even a follower of any religion. I am a practicing apprentice mystic. I will try to describe what I think of Jesus Christ and why I think so. Furthermore, in another section, I will narrate my differences from some of the assumptions of Christianity which are contrary to my understanding of God’s system.

Jesus was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, person that walked on this earth. One does not find any imperfections in him. His greatness lies not in the fact that he was sinless (he could have lived in wilderness, in isolation, and be sinless), but that he laid the foundations of a system for others to follow. In order to do that, He had to pay with his life. To me, his greatness lies in the following aspects of his life:

  1. His message 
  2. His miracles.
  3. His death, which he chose as painful
  4. His resurrection
  5. Power of God manifested in all these activities, and was supporting him through these manifestations

Message. His message had three broad components, amongst others (taken from the Gospel of Marks, the earliest of Gospels, and thus the closest to truth). Love God with all your heart, love your fellow human being as yourself, and live a life of inner purity. There is a fourth message, but it is not found in gospel of Mark, and that is of non violence. For that reason I am not sure about it.

The first two messages were emphasized by Jesus Christ. Here is the excerpt:

“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”(Mark 12:29-31New International Version; NIV)

Why is love for God so important?

Because, you love something which is bigger than yourself. The more you love God, less you love worldly things. As if, your mind was like a room with limited space. The more you put one kind of furniture, less you can put the other kind of furniture. Selflessness will ennoble your inner life.

If one loves God, God notices that person and rewards that person. This is a law of nature.

Love your neighbor means love humanity. Jesus explained it in a lengthy example (Luke 10:29-37).

“And, who is my neighbor?” the man asked.

Jesus explained with a story. ‘A Jewish man was travelling. He was attacked by bandits and left half dead by the side of the road. A Jewish priest passed by but did not help the wounded person. A temple assistant saw him, but crossed over to the other side of road. Then a despised Samaritan came along, and felt deep pity for the wounded person. He soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. He loaded him on his donkey and took him to an inn and cared for him.

35 The next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:35-37; New International Version; NIV)


This story illustrated that the Jew and the Samaritan were each other’s neighbors. If they were each other’s neighbor, then law of logic dictates that members of all races should be each other’s neighbor. World becomes a better place if its inhabitants love one another.

Now, let us discuss inner purity. Jesus explained:

“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”(Mark 7; 18-23)

What was Jesus saying? Keep your thoughts clean, and then your actions will become clean. The world will become a better place if there were no such evil actions such as those he mentioned in the above paragraph.

To be continued

Friday, July 3, 2015


184. Doctor Manocha. Part two

 

His dormant spirituality reawakened after several decades of sleep around year 2000, when I told him that I have developed love for God, and practice meditation once or twice every day. He started pursuing God, in earnest. He had a deep attachment with Hindu religion, a deep love for Radha Rani (as a mother), Lord Krishna, and all the other Hindu deities. He also remembered what his deceased Guru had taught him. Very soon his love for Bhagwan (God) became so deep that mention of God’s name would bring tears to his eyes and his body hair would stand up. I remember, once he told me, that when he goes for weekly puja to the temple, he sits alone, separate from others, so that people should not be able to see tears rolling down his face, otherwise they would think that this ‘old fool’ has gone mad.

 

He really hated religious or racial bigotry. His father was Hindu, his mother had been born Sikh, and he studied in an Islamic school as a boy. He once had a vision of Jesus in a dream. He would often use the word Allah and rarely did recitation of Allah-hoo (traditional phrase in Islamic mysticism) too. He would visit gurudwaras (Sikh temple). One time when he went to a gurudwara, he saw penumbra of light around three persons, two were on the dais, and one was in the audience. This was his first and last experience of spiritual halos.

My brother became acquainted with a pious man who once a week or fortnight let his body be frequented by a spirit. During that time, he would give answers to needy person’s problems, free of charge. Dr Manocha submitted the question that when will he get his Guru? The spirit replied, “He already has his guru in the form of his maala (rosary). To find a live guru, he will have to do jatra (pilgrimage). Pakistanis are not familiar with Hindi words like maala and jatra. This pointed to the authenticity of the message. Dr Manocha later said that may be his maala was his guru, because it almost never left his hand; even in sleep he kept his maala wrapped in his hand. If he would wake up at night, he would start rolling the beads of his maala.

His personality was uncomplicated. He loved nature. One moonlit night as he stepped out of a building he was transfixed by the trees, the shrubs, and the flowers bathed in serene milky light. A security man was close by. Dr Manocha held the leaves of a plant in his hand and showed it to the man and said “Don’t you see God in these leaves?” the security man quickly left him. I mailed him the book “Living with the Himalayan Masters” by Swami Rama. He very much liked the book. It reminded him of the beauty and grandeur of Himalayas and of his life in the Himalayas as a young man. He did not like the philosophic part of my book (part one) and said that such matters were beyond him.

He had his share of spiritual wonders. Once he was watching a film on the life of Lord Krishna (or Ram). Leaving the film unfinished, he went upstairs to his bedroom to sleep. Before going to sleep, he made sure that the TV was off. After a while he felt a glow in the room. He opened his eyes, and was startled to find that the TV was turned on, and he film which he had left incomplete was running. There was no connection between the two TVs. He immediately realized what had happened and loudly exclaimed, “It is a miracle”

One time he was idly looking at the starting bead of his rosary, which is always bigger than the rest. Suddenly it multiplied into two, and after a few more moments into three. As he was watching in amazement, the three pieces detached themselves and got into air. He rubbed his eyes to make sure that he was not hallucinating. Suddenly a fear entered his soul. He loudly said, “That is enough Bhagwan”. Everything reverted to normal.

Once, as he entered into a temple, he saw a murti (statue) of Lord Vishnu on the stage. As he paid homage to the Lord, a sudden wave of blessing came out of the murti and hit him. The bliss was marked and palpable. It lasted for three days.

Not too long ago he went to India and visited holy sites. He visited the Amarnath cave, in Kashmir, one of the holiest shrines of Hinduism. It is located at 12,756 ft. He was exhausted by the climb. The pilgrims touch their foreheads to a certain holy stone in the cave. As he rested his head on the stone, waves of indescribable bliss enveloped him.

He had two visions of prophet Muhammadpbum, both times in dreams. In the first vision the holy prophet was sitting on a mat or something. A black blanket was wrapped around him. He had a thick beard of white and grey hair. His head was covered with a black turban. His face had pitted scars on it. Dr Manocha thought that Hazoor (a title of respect) must have suffered from small pox sometimes. He watched the holy prophet by walking in an arc. As he watched, he realized that those pits were emitting light like stars. Second time he saw prophet Muhammadpbum from a distance. He was walking with a group of people. When he visited India, he specially went to a shop and bought a black shawl.

 

Few years ago, he had tremendous spiritual progress. He started going into Samadhi, once or twice a day. It would last for ten to twenty minutes. Sometimes he would be completely oblivious to time and space, other times he would be partly conscious of his surroundings. Sometimes his hands, feet and body would smell of sandalwood, a fragrance associated with Lord Krishna. He would experience deep peace during that time.

It came as a complete surprise to everybody concerned, when the Great Qalandar of Khyber Pass, who lived thousands of miles away from Dr. Manocha, and had no ordinary way of knowing Dr Manocha, acknowledged his spirituality ( see, Introduction; Part one ). He said; “And he(mkadk) has a Hindu friend, a good man, a pious man, a man close to Allah” (see footnote). There is no greater gift from God that a man can aspire than to be close to God, and Dr Manocha attained it.

In his final years in life, God gave him a sickness. It confined him to his house. It was a blessing in disguise, because now he could concentrate full time on his beloved Bhagwan.

Dr. Manocha did not have lofty spiritual ambitions. He was happy at where ever God put him. He never had restlessness and despair which some of the travelers on this path get, and which leads to the dark night of the soul, which St John of the cross (blogs 39-50) has discussed (1).

 I want to repeat what I wrote earlier (blog 129):

When my brother asked the Great Qalandar that why my Hindu friend was given the gift of closeness to God, when he was so rich, had never performed any penances and austerities, and had never quit the world (tiag). The great mystic gave the surprising answer, “These things do not matter. He got it because of some spiritual site (which he visited). There are sites in the world where you get grace (of God). Consider Jerusalem, holy to three religions”. Although in this mote’s opinion he got the grace of God (from the site) because he loved God, perhaps, as good as anybody else.

 

 

Footnote. He used the word Allah and not Bhagwan, implying that Allah and Bhagwan are the same.

(1). The dark night of the soul, by St John of the cross. Translated by Allison Peers