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. ³ His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. ⁴ 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

 

135. Fate Versus Free Will. Part two

 

We were discussing the two causes of belief in fate

Prophecy or prediction of future events is a strong argument in destiny, and also God, as I have discussed in great detail in blog 102. If the future exists somewhere, then somebody wrote it, and that somebody can only be God. Nobody else is so powerful. How could Swami Vivekananda predict 43 years in advance that Mr Dickenson will receive a silver cup from his guru (blogs 79-81)? I have described 13 such prophecies in blogs 102-3. Events happened just as they were predicted years in advance. The ability of Chandi Das to go blank for few minutes and then tell Paul Brunton (blog 91) what was going to happen to him, strongly supports the notion that a scene of future was brought to the inner eye of Chandi Das, just as the scene of Sri Yogananda eating strawberries in America, years later, was brought to the mind’s eye of Sri Yukteswar.

One may say, that it would really add to our knowledge, if instead of guessing what transpires, we would know for certain what happens. In other words the person who has the ability to see future, shares it with others. This mote has the privilege of having this knowledge, because the seer shared it with me.

 

A seer wanted to test whether he can see the future in advance. There was a lottery which had live drawing of the numbers, on TV, next day. He used some spiritual procedure, after following its stipulations. After some time, like a flash, one number came. He wrote it down. He concentrated again, and the next number came, in a similar flash. The lottery had seven numbers. One by one, he got all the seven numbers. Next day he watched the live drawing on TV. His seven numbers were correct. He never repeated it, due to the following reasons:

               a. He became quite sick. These practices take a lot out of a person.

               b. He was strongly warned by higher powers, never to do it again. God’s laws, such as hiding the future, are for important reasons. To look into future, without God’s permission, is against God’s plans

 

You may argue that these prophecies do not necessarily prove that God willed all events to happen as they actually happened; he just knows them in advance. In other words, due to his infinite mind, he has foreknowledge of everything, but he does not make it happen. Events happen by free will and chance.

 

This is a valid point; we will discuss it when we discuss free will.

 

Now, let us discuss the arguments against fate:

 

1. It does not explain evil

2. It does not explain injustice

3. Makes God, indifferent, cruel and unjust

4. Why is God hidden?

5. If everything is preordained by God, then what is the purpose of creation by God?

6. It flies against our daily experience of events happening due to free will.

7. Does not explain the cruelty of predator animals to prey.

8. All human effort is completely useless.

 

Let us discuss each point.

1.It does not explain evil in this world. Everybody has heard of Holocaust. There is no greater example of pure evil, on a large scale, in modern human history. If God is responsible for all events then He is responsible for Holocaust. This mote has never in all his life, for even a moment, thought that my beloved God is responsible for any evil. We ourselves ( Nazi Germans in the case of Holocaust) and an indifferent, neutral Nature is responsible. However, my sentiments are not a substitute of argument. The argument is that God could not have created Holocaust because an infinite, limitlessly powerful mind would neither have the need nor derive any pleasure from the slow sufferings of millions of persons. It has to be the system which created such evil philosophy. Since human beings ( Hitler ) created that philosophy, so human beings are responsible. If humans are responsible then they acted by their free will. If that is the case then hypothesis one ( Fate ) is wrong and hypothesis two ( Free will ) is right, as we will discuss later when we examine hypothesis two.

2. It does not explain injustice in this world. We all have seen examples of injustice. Powerful, cruel, and selfish people thrive, while weak and righteous suffer. One sees hordes of professional beggars in India and Pakistan, their bodies distorted from poverty and disease. Some are born blind or crippled and their whole life passes in grief. Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Khan led lives of power and comfort. All of them died without suffering. Beating and cruelty to slaves was common in the past. I quote Darwin (1):

 

“I feel glad that this happened in the land of the Brazilians, for I bear them no good will - a land also of slavery, and therefore of moral debasement...On the 19th of August we finally left the shores of Brazil, I thank God, I shall never again visit a slave-country. To this day, if I hear a distant scream, it recalls with painful vividness my feelings, when passing a house near Pernambuco, I heard the most pitiable moans, and could not but suspect that some poor slave was being tortured, yet knew that I was as powerless as a child even to remonstrate. I suspected that these moans were from a tortured slave, for I was told that this was the case in another instance. Near Rio de Janeiro I lived opposite to an old lady, who kept screws to crush the fingers of her female slaves. I have stayed in a house where a young household mulatto, daily and hourly, was reviled, beaten, and persecuted enough to break the spirit of the lowest animal. I have seen a little boy, six or seven years old, struck thrice with a horse-whip (before I could interfere) on his naked head, for having handed me a glass of water not quite clean; I saw his father tremble at a mere glance from his master's eye. These latter cruelties were witnessed by me in a Spanish colony, in which it has always been said, that slaves are better treated than by the Portuguese, English, or other European nations. I have seen at Rio de Janeiro a powerful negro afraid to ward off a blow directed, as he thought, at his face. I was present when a kind-hearted man was on the point of separating forever the men, women, and little children of a large number of families who had long lived together ”

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________(1) Voyage of the beagle by Charles Darwin (1839), chapter V

 

To be continued

 

129. Yogi Krishnaprem

 

The original name of Krishnaprem was Professor Ronald Nixon (1). He was an Englishman, a graduate of Cambridge, who taught English literature at Universities of Lucknow and Banaras. He had been a pilot in First World War.

He became a disciple of Sri Yashoda Mae, a highly advanced spiritual lady. I have mentioned her, in blog 86, when she and others were visited by Lord Krishna in Mirtola, India. Nixon converted to Hinduism, and took the name of Krishnaprem (lover of Lord Krishna). He did not believe in half-measures, so he quit the world (sanyas) in 1928. He travelled the path of God till his death in 1965. His long time friend Dilip Kumar Roy (blog 86) writes of his earlier days, when he was a lecturer. One day a rationalist professor argued against miracles, and dubbed them as mere superstitions. Nixon genially replied:

“ As you know I was a pilot in World War……..One day as I was going to steer to the right, where I saw half a dozen planes whirring and zooming, thinking they were ours^___that is RAF planes. Just then some force simply caught hold of my wrist, and made me turn to the left. I was quite bewildered, the more so as the force was too incredible to doubt. Later on, as I returned to the base, I came to know that they were enemy planes…….I had a miraculous escape. I am as certain as certain can be that it was a miracle”

 

 

Dilip Kumar Roy writes, “What horrified me most was that Krishnaprem was actually begging alms in the streets and sleeping on a bare blanket on the cold heights of the Himalayas, 7500 feet above sea level”.

By virtue of his total renunciation and pure devotion Krishnaprem’s whole body was set on fire with the love of God (written By Haridas Chaudhuri)

While living at Mirtola, with his Guru, two other Britishers lived with them. They were also renunciants.

One was Haridas, an old friend from Cambridge, who gave up a highly successful medical practice, and tended to the sick villagers. The other was Madhava Ashish, a ground engineer posted to an air base in 2^nd World War. After the war, he came up on one brief holiday to the Himalayas, somehow heard of Krishnaprem, walked over one day to see him, and never left.

Now after this brief introduction, let me narrate two profound experiences of Krishnaprem. He told them to Dilip. He had a wonderful vision of Lord Krishna and Radharani, in the famous Srirangam temple.

“As soon as I prostrated myself in the shrine before the Lord’s image, I lost my outer consciousness. I saw a vast ocean made of liquid light. Time had stood still till a breath of Love started a ripple in the hushed ocean of Light, when countless white lotuses appeared on the blue waves………..on each flower stood a lovely Krishna with Radha­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­^____ She smiling and He playing His magic flute……..But O Dilip what beauty, what music, and what bliss……”

He shivered as his voice trailed.

The other experience was when he visited Maharishi Ramana, the guru of Paul Brunton (blog 91). In his own words:

“In the evening, I entered the hall where the Maharishi reclines daily on his couch, to meditate at his feet. As soon as I sat down I heard a voice questioning me repeatedly: ‘Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?’ I tried hard to ignore it, but could not. So, in the end I just had to formulate an answer; ‘I am Krishna’s servant’. At once a new question came ‘Who is Krishna?’ I answered ‘Nanda’s son’. No use: The question was repeated pauselessly. I gave other answers, but it was of no use. The question persisted. I gave up. I left the hall, deeply disturbed. I came back, to meditate, but I had no peace. The voice returned.

I asked Radharani for help. She asked me what answers had I given. I told Her the answers. She revealed to me the correct answer.

Next morning, when I sat down again at his blessed feet, the Maharishi suddenly gave me a lightning glance and smiled. I knew at once that he was the author of it all and he also knew that I had guessed his part correctly.

Then, a deep peace entered me like a block of ice^___an exquisite bliss.

As I meditated^___I suddenly took it into my head to return the compliment and put a question to him in silence: ‘And who are you? May I humbly ask? ’. It so happened that the next moment I had to open my eyes involuntarily, when^____ lo I found his couch empty!’

……….I closed my eyes once more and looked again^____ and there he was, tranquil……… A momentary smile flickered on his lips as he gave me a meaningful glance and then looked away.

You understand the point of the miracle, Dilip.”

‘That he was beyond nama-rupa( name and face )’.

“That is right” he answered.

I end this narration with the following addition:

Dilip writes; “I met my dear and esteemed friend S. Duraiswami, who told me; “ After Krishnaparem had left, I visited Maharishi…….He told me that I should have met him, a bhakta (one who practices bhakti or devotion ) and jnani ( one who follows the path of knowledge ) in one, a rare combination”. Such an encomium from such an exalted person, as the Maharishi.

 

 

(1). Yogi Sri Krishnaprem by Dilip Kumar Roy

127. If One lays The Life At God’s Feet: part two

I came across five examples of acts similar to the one narrated in the previous blog, I.e., willing to die unless one hears from God or His representatives. Three of them have been previously described. However, they will be very briefly narrated again.

1. Yogananda’s need to hear from God prior to his going to America. (Blog 79). When he was ordered to go to America, Sri Yogananda got worried that he will be lost in the materialism of the West. He started meditating, with the vow that he will continue praying till death, unless he hears from God. After several hours of his lamentation, Babaji (the founder of his sect and reputed to be several hundred years old) came to him, and assured him that his mission had Divine sanction.

2. Sri Ramakrishna was in utter despair (blog 20). Life was not worth living. He was sitting in the temple. His eyes fell on the sword hanging on the wall. He thought of ending his life. Like a mad man he grasped the sword and ran outside to end his life.  The blessed Mother chose to reveal Herself at that moment. He fell down unconscious, and was engulfed in a sea of light.

3. Giri Bala. (Blog 80). This holy woman was overweight when she was a girl. Her mother-in-law constantly criticized her habit of overeating. One day stung by her mother-in-law’s remarks, she vowed not to eat anything at all! She prayed to God for help. Help came in the form of her Guru, who taught her some secret mantras, by which she could live without eating and drinking!

4. Robert Bogucki, a 33 year old man from Alaska went into Australian desert to find some spiritual answers. In his own words, “I just wanted to spend a while on my own, just nobody else around, just make peace with God”. He was rescued after 43 days. He drank muddy water, and ate flowers and wild plants. He was without food for about 6 weeks and without water for about 12 days. Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert is one of the harshest places in the world. God did not let him die, because he had gone there for the sake of God

5. Brunton met the leader of a spiritual movement called Radha Soamis that had originated in 19^th century (the fraternity exists to this day) India. His name was Sahibji Maharaj. The leader thought that to travel on spiritual path, a master was absolutely essential. He told Brunton the story of his own search for the master.

“I was desperate to find a master. I asked the trees, the grass, and the sky to enlighten me if truth existed. I sobbed my heart out like a child.

One day I resolved to give up eating and starve to death, unless and until the divine power saw fit to grant me some illumination.

The next night I had a vivid dream, wherein a master appeared to me and revealed himself as such.

I asked his address. His answer was ‘Allahabad ’

I told the dream to a friend, who brought a group photograph, and asked me if I could recognize the master of my dream. I at once recognized him.”

God did not let him starve to death!

121. Brunton, and control over snakes and scorpions

During his travels in Egypt, Paul Brunton met Sheikh Moussa, who had power over snakes and scorpions. Sheikh Moussa could smell a hidden snake or scorpion. He could then command them to come out of their hiding places. He would pick them, and make them docile. They would not bite him. The snakes could not bite him with their poisonous fangs, but would, sometime, bite him superficially on the skin. One species of scorpion (and some snakes) were immune to his power. 
Sheikh Moussa had multiple layers of protection against these creatures. First, he had a mystic power, transmitted from master to disciple at initiation. Second, a public and secret invocation, which consisted of certain phrases from Quran and magical incantations, uttered forcefully, with adjurations. It was the main power, which was given to the pupil by his teacher that forced these creatures to submit. Thirdly, he had a talisman which he wore around his upper arm. The talisman had a piece of paper which had certain Quranic verses and some magical spells written on it.

Sheikh Moussa told him that he belonged to an old Dervish order, which specialized in handling poisonous snakes and scorpions.

Sheikh Moussa gave a demonstration of his power. He offered to catch a snake. To obviate the possibility that the Sheikh had secretly hidden a snake in some area, the area was selected by Brunton. They (thirty or so villagers) all marched to that area. To show that he was not carrying a snake on his person, Sheikh Moussa removed all his clothes, except the shirt and socks. He stopped at a stone and said there was a scorpion underneath that stone.

He started, loudly and continuously, a magical incantation which also had Quranic verses in it. He emphatically ordered the scorpion to come out. None came. He started the incantation and adjurations, again, in a louder voice. Finally a big scorpion came out. He picked it in his unprotected hands. Brunton examined it. Its sting was intact. Several times it will move its sting, as if by a force of habit, but stopped, as if by a barrier, and did not complete its motion of stinging. To further demonstrate his control over the creature, he put the scorpion on the ground. He started walking towards the debris as if to escape, when Sheikh Moussa ordered him to stop, and it stopped at once.

Next, Sheikh Moussa declared that there was a snake under the roots of a tree. He started again his magical incantation and exhortations. After some minutes, no snake emerged. Sheikh Moussa got frustrated. He declared that there really was a snake there. Finally, he kneeled, by the roots of the tree, and still reciting his spells, thrust his hand in a hole, and brought out a five foot long squirming cobra. After some tussle, he completed tamed the snake. Then he released him in the dust and pointing his forefinger at him, ordered him to lay his head in the palm of his hand.

The cobra stopped its hissing and laid his head in his palm, like a child might rest its tired head upon its mother’s lap!

It was a sight Brunton had never witnessed before. Not even in India where he had seen plenty of snakes and snake charmers

Brunton obtained a large table spoon and thrust it in the serpent’s mouth. After repeated bites, he obtained a quantity of poison in the spoon, one or two drops of which would have been sufficient to kill a man.

Soon, Brunton became the first European pupil (and second ever pupil) of Sheikh Moussa. After a week of fasting and prayers, he was given the “Word of power” (which was to be used mentally), and the magical incantation. He was also given the talisman. After receiving all three, he had immunity, against these creatures for two years.

Both master and pupil went over several field trips in the desert and handled snakes and scorpions. Gradually, over weeks, Brunton became quite proficient. He could grasp a poisonous snake and will it to go to sleep, by giving it a mental command of “go to sleep”. He would also hold the talisman in one hand at that time.

Brunton handled deadly cobras and poisonous vipers several times, and even put them around his neck, yet they never once attacked him.

Once, in the old temple of Edfu, Brunton was crawling along an extremely narrow, pitch dark tunnel, which had undisturbed dust of many centuries. Suddenly, a monstrous yellow scorpion emerged from a crevice and moved towards him. There was not enough room for Brunton to maneuver. He pointed his forefinger towards the creature, and uttered the word of power, loudly, and peremptorily ordered him to stop, with the utmost mental concentration and strength he could muster.

The scorpion stopped dead still.

It remained in the same spot, transfixed, till Brunton crawled back to safety with the light of his electric torch. For all he could tell, the unfortunate scorpion may still be on the same spot, awaiting the command of release.

The magical incantation is given in the book.

Despite all the powers, the immunity against snakes is not absolute. Sheikh Moussa’s first pupil was his son. He died of a snake bite, on his first solo field trip. His grandfather, died by a viper bite, after a life time of immunity against snakes.

118. Amma, Mufti Sahib  

I have mentioned Amma (literally, means mother) in blog 3, when a seeker dreamt about her. He was in great distress at that time. She consoled and guided him in that dream to a centuries old room. She had died sometimes earlier.

               One day the seeker saw, in the graveyard adjacent to the tomb of Mian Mir, a mad woman sitting under a tree. Nobody would go near her because she would throw stones on anybody who tried to come near her. Something in her struck the seeker. The seeker was endowed with this gift of recognizing holy persons, and holy persons recognize something in the seeker and allowed him to have their company. Her clothes were clean, an oddity in a mad person. He tried to approach her, but had to retreat, in the face of stones and volley of angry words. He tried to go near her another day. The woman said, “It is you again” and threw a stone. The seeker sat down behind a grave, far from the reach of stones. The woman said “so you are afraid of stones, alright, you can come near, I won’t hit you”. After that the seeker would visit her every 1-2 weeks. He noticed that during sitting or sleeping, she would always keep her face towards Mecca, where Kaaba, the holiest site of Islam, is located.

               She had meager belongings. It included a kaffan (burial cloth) for herself. She told the seeker that it had been washed with aab-a-zamzam (water of zamzam well, located in Kaaba)

               One day it was very hot. The seeker asked her whether he should bring water for her. She said, “Yes, bring it from the faucet”.  The seeker brought a glass of water. She drank some water, and then gave the glass to the seeker and said; “you drink too”.  The seeker also drank. In mysticism, it is considered a great gift, if a saint offers you something to eat, or his own clothes or shoes

               One day, after amma’s death, the Qalander who trained the seeker, sarcastically said to the seeker, “even amma’s water failed to transform you”. How did he know the incident? The seeker had not told him. This is a proof that amma was a spiritually exalted person and not a mere mad woman

               One day the seeker found her deathly sick. It was very cold. She was lying under the tree without any cover. The seeker went home and brought a blanket. Amma refused to use it, saying “God will provide her”. The seeker brought a packet of biscuits. She threw the packet away, saying something like, “My Allah will give me biscuits, if He wants to”. The seeker informed the Mufti Sahib (mentioned below) that the amma was dying. Later that night Mufti Sahib had a dream in which he was told to bury her under the same tree where she lived, and wrap her in the kaffan, she had carried on her head for many a miles. Her grave is located under that tree.

               A man kept vigil the night she was dying. The seeker asked him how he was related to the mother. The man said that some years ago, as a boy, he got paralyzed. Amma during her wandering happened to visit his village. His elder brother carried him to the mother. Amma told his brother to leave the boy, overnight, with her. She gave him gur (brown sugar candy). The strength in his legs came back gradually, and in a few weeks they came close to normal. After that incident he lost interest in the world, and with her permission, followed mother in her wanderings. He was not allowed to stay with her at night or where she camped. Eventually amma arrived in Lahore. She liked the tomb of the famous saint, Mian Mir. There was running water in the faucets for pilgrims. Free food was distributed, and there was a hundreds of year old graveyard, where there was solitude and shade. He would visit mother every day or two. Mother would give him money to buy her food and other provisions.

               I have mentioned in blog 64 of a person who had been wandering for 25 years in his spiritual quest. His guide brought him to the mother’s grave and told him the story of mother. The wanderer expressed the desire to do meditation at the grave. As I remember, he meditated over there for 2-3 days. The guide asked him what was happening. He replied amma’s asthan (a Hindi word for site) is showing him worlds.

               The proof of mother’s greatness is evident by these incidents: her helping the seeker as recited in blog 3, Qalander acknowledging her spirituality in the leftover water incident, Mufti Sahib having a dream directing him what to do with her dead body, her curing the paralysis of the boy, the experience of the 25 years wanderer when he meditated on her asthan , and finally the old man’s (mentioned in blog 117) desire to visit her grave.

Mufti Sahib.  I have mentioned Mufti sahib, above, in my foreword to book 2, (blog 53), and in blog 112. He was posted, by government, as the mufti (religious scholar) at the shrine of Mian Mir, the famous sufi saint. As such, he led the Friday prayers.

Mufti sahib was a simple, humble man. He was a poor man. The government salary barely met his, and his family’s, needs. I have narrated in blog 112, the two incidents, when his tearful prayer to feed the guests, and to visit his family at Eid, were instantly answered by God. Mufti sahib himself used to say that God listened to him. When, for the first time, he visited Kaaba (the holiest site in Islam) he did not find in himself the courage to enter the holy building (house of Allah), and sat outside for a week or two. He prayed to God “make me Yours”

When I asked Mufti sahib, through an intermediary, to look into my affairs and see what the reason for my lack of spiritual progress was. He gave the answer, “everybody, eventually, gets it, some early and others late. He is doing alright”. At another time, I conveyed to him, that I am not getting the Lms (touch of God). I thought, that Mufti sahib may find it blasphemous (in orthodox Islam it is an evil thought, because God and man cannot come physically close). But no, according to the intermediary, the Mufti sahib went into almost an ecstasy, and exclaimed, Lms! Lms!

 He had the power to alleviate common sufferings like headache, scorpion bite, etc, by performing dum on the sick person. The dum, is an Islamic spiritual process, bestowed to an authorized person, by his murshed. Certain Quranic verses are recited. The relief of sickness is temporary. A person cannot perform a dum on himself. Mufti sahib would make his daily round of the sick and needy, and do dum, if needed. He did it for free.

               As an example of the healing power, here is an account by Brunton, in his book, ‘a   search in secret Egypt’: “Among the other activities of……..was the practice of healing. One day I watched a demonstration. A man came to him with rheumatic pains in the left thigh. He gently stroked the latter for a minute, recited a prayer from the Quran, for another minute, and told his patient that the pain would soon go………..There was certainly a diminution of the pain, although it was difficult for me to ascertain whether this was a permanent relief or a temporary one”. Sheikh Abu Shrump bestowed two powers to Brunton, one over evil genii, and the other a healing power. The Sheikh got these powers from his ancestors, and traced it back to the holy prophet Muhammad ^pbuh. Another Sheikh ( Moussa) gave Brunton power over snakes and scorpions ( he used this power many times)         

               Mufti sahib’s superior, a petty Govt. official, ordered Mufti sahib to charge people for dum, and to share the money with him. Mufti sahib refused. He said, “I will not make Quran a source of income”. The officer was not mollified. He received a transfer order to another shrine at Pakputtan.

               An influential person asked Mufti sahib that should he approach some officials to get the order cancelled. Mufti sahib said “No, my days in Lahore, are now complete”

92. Paul Brunton. Part Four

There are two spiritually noteworthy episodes during his travels in Egypt (‘a search in secret Egypt’). One is an account of the night he spent in the Great Pyramid and the other is his meeting with an Adept.

Night in Great Pyramid. Brunton spent a night in King’s chamber. The place was pitch dark and there was oppressive death like silence. Brunton was a psychic. He soon felt implacably hostile forces surrounding him. At first he could not see them, but could only feel them with absolute certainty. The atmosphere became uncanny and frightening. With intense concentration of mind he became able to see them. At first there were shadows flitting in shadowless room. Soon they took form. Malevolent faces took form quite close to his face. A dark apparition advanced, looked at him sinisterly, and raised its hands menacingly.

After some time the climax came. Monstrous elemental fiendish creations surrounded him and filled him with unimaginable revulsion. In a few minutes he suffered such torment that he could not forget it for the rest of his life

Atmosphere suddenly changed to peace and benevolence. He was soon aware of two tall beings clad in white robes and sandals. They appeared to be high priests of some ancient Egyptian order. One of them said, in a voice “why dost thou come to this place, seeking to evoke the secret powers? Are mortal ways not enough for you? ”

“They are not”

The priest warned him of the dangers, but Brunton was adamant

“He who gains touch with us loses kin with the world. Are you prepared to walk alone?”

“I do not know” Brunton replied

“So be it. Thou hast chosen. There is no recall………” And he left.

The other priest made him lie flat on the stone sarcophagus. He did something. Brunton felt an ascending paralysis, which started from his feet and rose to his brain. He was conscious but completely paralyzed. He felt like being going out of a hole and passing out in space.

He was free.

He had changed into a mental being. He felt blissfully free, in this fourth dimension.

Somebody turned him from a horizontal to a standing position. He was both standing and floating simultaneously.

He gazed down upon the deserted body of flesh and bone, which was lying prone and motionless on the stone block.

He noted an umbilical cord like faint silvery string connecting him, the new him, to the motionless body on the stone.

A distinct idea formed in his mind;

“………..now I have proven that I am a soul. I do not need convincing anymore. I can exist apart from my body.”

The priest appeared at his side and said prayers “O AMEN, O AMEN……………….”

Then he said “thou hast learnt a great lesson. Man whose soul was born out of Undying, can never really die…………”

The priest told him some other things and also took him to a secret chamber.

The reader can read the details in Brunton’s book.

He regained consciousness. He had fever for three months.

Meeting with an adept. Brunton was doing studies in the Valley of the Tombs of Kings. One morning, he climbed up the Theban hills with his donkey.  On the summit he saw a man sitting on a low boulder. When the man looked at him, Brunton was so impressed by the stranger’s eyes that he became speechless. He became aware that he was in the presence of an utterly unusual man. The eyes were large and beautiful, perfect circles of luminous color, and the whites were so pronounced as to give supernatural depth to the jet-black pupils. They were penetrating and hypnotic. Brunton felt that they read his soul and then ruled it.

Suddenly Brunton saw a radiant spoked wheel of light revolve before him ………..at high speed. With its working there was a receding of his physical moorings………

“Sir, I feel sure that you will understand a peculiar experience which I have just had whilst standing near to you”

“I do”

Brunton said something else.

The stranger said “I deliberately wanted you to have this experience. I willed that it should silently carry to you a certain message; and it has”.

“You mean----?”

“That now you recognize the Order to which I belong”

The Adept told him that this was not a chance meeting, but a higher power had first ordained and then arranged it.

The Adept told him about himself and the ways of fellow Adepts. They preferred to work in secrecy. They could communicate with each other at will and at any distance. They could temporarily take over the body of a willing person-------usually a disciple.

They hold the spiritual welfare of mankind at heart, and battle against the dark forces at their own level. They are not permitted to destroy evil forces or evil men by Nature’s laws. Their powers were restricted to protection of persons and institutions which were under their shield.

The purpose of this meeting was, for Brunton to warn mankind, through his writing, that with digging of these ancient tombs, evil spirits which were captive in these tombs for thousands of years, were being released. The people buried in some of these tombs dealt in black magic. These malevolent forces were going to harm humanity, and if the digging was not stopped, mankind will have to pay a price ( this warning was off course ignored by governments. Few years later there was 2nd World war in which over 60 million people were killed, over 2.5% of the world population.). However, there were good sages too. Pharoah Akhnaton , who preached one God, 3500 years ago, was one such.( see footnote)

In their next meeting the Adept gave this astonishing statement, that some of the Adepts of ancient Egypt were still alive!

Their bodies were buried in secret tombs. Their bodies were intact. To all intents and purposes, they were dead , with no respiration or heart beat. Their tremendous spirituality protected their bodies from insects and decay. But they were not dead but entranced. Their spirits roamed freely in the world. They communicated with each other and alive  Adepts

There was one Adept who was in his tomb since 260 B.C., another more than 3000 B.C., and still another for 10,000 years. They were all working very actively in secret for the spiritual welfare of mankind.

As I am writing these lines, a strange thought comes to me, that maybe Data Gunj Bakhash ( blog 62-4 ) is an Adept just like those described above. His intense interest for welfare of humanity and active help to needy for a thousand years, resembles those of Adepts who are dead but not really dead.

Who knows such sublime secrets, certainly, not this unworthy mote.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Note. Some times after Brunton’s death his son had a dream. In the dream Brunton said that over here his teacher was Amenhotep. His son, after some search, found out that Amenhotep was the original name of Akhnaton (in ‘ Paul Brunton, a personal view by Kenneth Hurst )

91. Paul Brunton. Part Three

 

One day, while motoring, he saw a holy man and his disciple by the road. The holy man was meditating. He was dressed in a loin cloth only. Something in the man’s face attracted Brunton. He offered them a ride to the nearby village. The yogi’s name was Chandi Das, and according to the disciple, was gifted with exceptional powers. They had been wandering, village to village, now for two years.

At night, he interviewed the yogi. During the interview the conversation turned to time. The yogi asked Brunton if he was sure there was such a thing as time. Brunton implied, that there was present, past, and future, therefore, there was time, because, otherwise, past and future should be here at this time, but that was not our experience. The yogi countered that such was Brunton’s experience, not necessarily true. Puzzled, Brunton asked Chandi Das whether he could see future. The yogi replied “if I wished……yes.”

Then he uttered this sentence, which this mote has thought about for years.

“Only in part. The lives of men do not move so smoothly that every detail is ordained for them.”

In the discussion about fate versus free will, this sentence carries great significance, because this pronouncement was uttered by somebody who knew what he was talking about.

The yogi told him many things about his future. Some of them had already come true by the time the book was written while others still waited the verdict of time ( see footnote )

One of the things, the yogi said, was that to achieve his goal; he must turn his car back to Bombay. He also said that he will get his wish before the next full moon. A sage awaited him, with whom he was tied by ancient ties. (These predictions came true).

Brunton followed the advice. After great mental conflict and ill health, he decided to cancel his berth in the ship, sailing next week to England, and returned to Maharishee in Arunachala.

Brunton asked Maharishee to become his master. Maharishee refused, and said, “You must find the master within you, within your own spiritual self.” He spent several weeks with Maharishee. Sometimes Maharishee would visit his hut. One day he told Brunton, “The same force which drew you to this place from Bombay, drew me to it from Madura (his hometown )”.

Brunton would get ineffable tranquility by sitting for a while in the neighborhood of Maharishee. Maharishee was not a yogi in the orthodox sense, he had never studied any system of yoga, and he had never practiced under a teacher.

One night, while sitting in the hall, Brunton got his first smadhi. It lasted for about two hours. He lost all consciousness of his surroundings. He felt rapture. He found himself outside the rim of world consciousness. Earth disappeared.  He found himself in the midst of blazing light………………………..

Brunton has described his experience in six pages of his book.

His friend, sitting next to him, told, “the Maharishee watched you closely all the time………” Brunton lost his power of speech for fifteen minutes.

Maharishee returned to his divan and looked intently at Brunton. Their eyes met. Their eyes were locked, across the room, for the next forty minutes. They did not exchange a word. His eyes, as always, had a strange luster.

Brunton reminded himself that never had he met any man with such remarkable eyes. In so for human eyes could mirror divine power, it was a fact that the sage’s did that.

Brunton was happy to achieve certitude. He was also happy that he did not sacrifice his rational way of thinking to blind credulity (also called faith or belief in religion)

What was the purpose of Maharishee’s life, which many Westerners would consider a waste?

This mote thinks his life served three purposes:

1. According to Brunton, people like Maharishee, ensure the continuity down history of a divine message from regions not easily accessible to us all. They make us believe in God

2. They tell us of a method to reach God, or one’s own self. They tell us  what self was and what were its characteristics, and why should one try to reach it. Why is such quest the noblest of all quests?

3. Maharishee, in his own invisible way, applied balm to the wounds of tortured souls, everyday. He imparted peace and tranquility upon them. Even his close disciple , Ramiah, had this power, as experienced by Brunton himself, in his hour of distress.

Remember in blog 89, Brunton stated, that not too long ago, he thought of God as a delusion. Let me quote from his book, “ a hermit in the Himalayas” published in 1937:

‘ I think the final news which I bring…………………….that of God’s reality. The highest power is no mere article of belief to me, but a verity…..authentic, undeniable and supreme………..’

‘ His language is nothing else than this stillness………….we must learn His language……………..’

‘ be still, and know that I am God’                                         

To be continued
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note. Chandi Das said that Brunton would not again meet a saint in Bengal, who Brunton was planning to meet, that he would leave India by the next  solstice, that he would become very sick as he left India, and that the would visit India three times in his life.

,

90. Paul Brunton. Part two

Next day the swami took Paul Brunton to the hill of Arunachala where the Maharishee lived. The Maharishee had come to that hill about thirty years ago, as a young man of seventeen, and never left that place even for a day. A mysterious force pulled him from his home. He left family, studies, and arrived at Arunachala without money. He sat in meditation, naked, near the temple, and talked to no one for three years. He was persuaded by the priests to wear a loin cloth. After sometime he moved to a cave in the hill and pursued his trance like state for several years. He would go to the village and beg for food. His fame spread. He now lived in a shed (hall). He talked extremely little and sat and slept on a divan in a corner of the hall. Visitors came everyday and sat in semicircles on the red-tiled floor at a respectable distance from the Maharishee.

Brunton saw a man seated in a rigid posture on the divan, completely immobile, gazing outside. After one hour, Brunton was convinced that the Maharishee was in a trance. After one hour of sitting in the hall, Brunton became aware that a deep peace had come upon his soul. All the questions he had prepared in his mind to ask from Maharishee were gone. He did not feel any need for questions.

Brunton had two interviews with the Maharishee. He asked the Maharishee whether he could help him to experience enlightenment, or if his search for Truth was a mere delusion?

After some preliminaries, the Maharishee replied “there is only one thing to be done……look into your own self……..”

He further added “Through deep reflection on the nature of one’s self, and through constant meditation, light can be found.”

Brunton asked that what was the average time required for such a quest.

Maharishee replied that there was no average. It depended on the maturity of the seeker’s mind, gunpowder lighted at once whereas much time was needed to light coal.

That night, in the hall, Brunton fell in half-sleep and had a vivid dream:

‘He had become a boy of five, and was holding the hand of Maharishee, who had become a tall towering figure. They climbed the hill of Arunachala………………………………….Maharishee looked at him and he at Maharishee………………he felt a change occurring in him………………………..all his previous fears, desires changed into nothingness……an indescribable peace fell upon him………………………………….

Maharishee bade him look down. To his astonishment he found the Western hemisphere sprawled far below, with millions of people………………

Maharishee’s distinct voice comes in his ears: ‘ when you go back , you shall have this peace which you now feel…………………..but you shall have to forget your self…………….and turn it over to THAT’

He woke up. He met Maharishee’s eyes. Maharishee was fixedly looking into his eyes.

On his second interview he learnt some more pearls of wisdom:

‘Maharishee said that every person was ever wanting happiness. …………………………Therefore man’s true nature was happiness…………………….his unconscious search for happiness was the search for his true self. The true self was imperishable; therefore when he finds it, he finds everlasting happiness.

When a man finds his true self, something else arises from the depth of his being, which takes possession of him. That something is eternal, divine, and infinite.

Happiness and true self were identical.’

He also became fully convinced that a mysterious power arises from the Maharishee which imparts peace and tranquility over others

 

Brunton resumed his travels of India. In Benares, one of the holiest cities of Hinduism, he heard of an astrologer who was very good in his craft. Since Brunton did not believe in astrology, he was intrigued, and decided to give it a test. He went to the astrologer’s house with a friend. He was startled by the death-like countenance, incredibly lean body, and unearthly slow movements of Sudhei Babu, the astrologer. They discussed some subjects. Sudhei Babu invited him for more talk, next day.

Sudhei Babu told him that he was in possession of some parts of a thousands of year old book called Brahma Chinta, written by the sage Bhrigu. It taught a different form of yoga than any other. In this yoga, the spirit of Bhrigu guides the practitioner. One does not need any teacher; one’s own soul becomes his teacher.  The purpose of this yoga was to go into a ‘Holy Trance ‘. In that condition, man becomes free from his surroundings. He discovers the soul as a real living thing within himself; its bliss, peace and power overwhelms him. When one enters into the sacred trance, a kind of vacuum is created in the mind; God…………………………the soul, the higher power, fills this vacuum. There is intense happiness. One feels a great love for the whole of creation.

“Once, during the sacred trance, I saw Jesus.”

Sudhei Babu taught Brunton this secret yoga over the next several days

To be continued