144.  System of the World. Part Two

 

We were discussing the Materialistic Theory 

The trouble with string theory is its lack of data. However, if we disregard this problem and discuss it just as a possibility, still there are at least three problems with Materialistic Theory: 

(a). How did the universe come into existence? Scientists did not follow Sherlock Holmes dictum, because they did not consider all the possibilities. They should have considered the possibility of a Creator, and then refuted it, if they could. It cannot be refuted. The philosopher Bertrand Russell, in a debate with a bishop, conceded that he cannot disprove the existence of God.

(b). Where did string/brans come from? You see the scientist believe that universe was created out of nothing. But their nothing is not really nothing (an absolute vacuum, where nothing is present). The nothing of scientists is full of positive energy and an equal amount of negative energy, cancelling each other.

Thus we are led to the next question, where did all these particles, fields and energy come from? If there were precursors of them, where did they come from? And so on.  At some point the process has to start from absolutely nothing.

 

 That brings us to the point where we started. Can this huge, infinite universe or for that matter anything start from nothing? Prove it. Create one particle in an absolute vacuum.

 

(3). How do you explain miracles, answering of prayers, foretelling the future, and the existence of the spirits of dead persons who once inhabited earth, without a God. I have dealt with these phenomena, in great detail, in my eleven blogs; 102-112 in part three. If I narrate them here again, it will be needless repetition.

However, who, except God (or His deputies) could transform sandy soil into candy (blog 104)?

Who, except God ( or His deputies ) could answer the prayer of Mr Shevani’s to meet the greatest Qalander of present time, or for that matter Giri Bala’s prayer to learn the way to live without food or drink (blog 111)? Who, except God (or His deputies) would have inspired Swami Vivekananda to tell Mr Dickenson, 43 years in advance, that his guru will give him a silver cup? Who, except God (or His deputies) could provide proof of life after death, in the form of spirit of Bimla Kumari haunting a house in Cuttack, India?

 

A logician will say, where did this Creator come from?

The answer is that this mote does not know. This is an unanswerable question.  Our small mind is not capable of answering this question, just as a cow cannot learn to read.

 This mote has offered his arguments (blog 113). I will repeat them in an abbreviated form for purpose of continuity:

 

1. God can be conceptualized as energy, or something even more subtle than energy, with a supermind.  Human brain is an example. It is made, mainly, of nerve cells, created and fed by our daily food. These cells have the power to think, feel, and create movements and store as memory. These cells communicate with each other instantaneously, at the speed of light. If our brain, a collection of billions of cells, made of atoms, and atoms made of subatomic particles, such as electrons and protons and neutrons, can have thoughts of pain, pleasure, compassion, jealousy, and anger, why not God, a collection of pure energy, have a mind?

               2. How can such supermind arise, out of sheer nothing? The answer is that the same process of evolution, which caused the atoms to combine with each other and make chemicals such as amino acids, which led to the formation of a cell, and then to man, in 3-4 thousand million years( blog 99), could have created God ( I shudder at my own temerity ) in a limitless amount of time.  It may have happened with the same two engines of mutation and natural selection. There is no logical or biological reason for evolution to stop at a certain point. If not mutation, then deliberate experimentation, by the supermind, on the leptons and quarks, to continue its improvement.

 

Religious theory. God created this universe. He runs it. He is responsible for all the happenings in the world and universe, because everything happens by His divine will. I have discussed this theory in great detail in four blogs; 134-137. There is no need to repeat it. But, let me reiterate the points against it. 

Now, let us discuss the arguments against the Religious theory: 

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?

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.

Each of the above mentioned points are examined in detail in blogs 135-137. 

This theory is not valid

 

To be continued.

131. Some Updates/Additions.

 

                                 Locutionist in Medjugorje, Totapuri’s lesson, Drama at Mr. Shevani’s grave,

                                 Reading thoughts, seeing from afar, beyond religion,. How to control

                                 Wandering thoughts. Pawhari Baba. great Qalandar

 

 

Here are some updates/ additions to the episodes narrated in earlier blogs:

 

In blog 68, I mentioned that the spiritual sites serve as broadcasting stations to God or His assistants. They are also the receivers through which God’s grace descends.

Holy Mary appeared to six children in 1981 in Medjugorje, Bosnia. The village has become a spiritual site. In order for a site to succeed in attracting pilgrims, there has to be a spiritual presence there, just as the spirit of Data Gunj Bakhash is present at Data Durbar in Lahore Pakistan.

Do I have any proof of it being the case at Medjugorje?

Yes, as the following episode proves it. It has been taken from a book by Eric Weiner (1). The author interviewed the in-charge of a homeless shelter in South Bronx, New York. His name was Father Louis and he was a Franciscan monk. The monk told him the story of his conversion:

Father Louis, when young, led a life devoted to body building and womanizing. One day his mother asked him to go to a holy site in Bosnia. Louis loved his mother. To please her, he agreed to go on this pilgrimage, although he had no interest in religion.

Louis was bored by the second day in Medjugorje. He started idly thinking, that if Holy Mary was his and Jesus Christ’s mother and God the father of both of them, then he and Jesus should be brothers. He spent about 6 seconds on this thought.

Later, the same day, as he was climbing up a hill with other pilgrims, he heard that in their group there was a locutionist. This locutionist, a young girl, supposedly, received messages telepathically. At precisely 5.40 pm, they all kneeled and meditated for few minutes.

Afterwards, the girl told him that while meditating, she received a message from Jesus for him.

Louis thought that this must be a generic message, such as, go to church, be holy, etc. You cannot go wrong with such messages.

The girl said, “Jesus told her, that, yes, He was your brother and He wanted to anoint your hands”

I cannot improve on Weiner’s words; therefore, I am going to quote verbatim:

Louis was floored. She had given him the answer to the question she couldn’t possibly have known.

“And in that moment, I was infused with such love for Christ, knowing that He was in my head, He was in my brain, He was in my heart. I knew He was real. I knew this was the man I needed to follow the rest of my life.”

What was the spirit of such mighty and exalted prophet doing at Medjugorje?

 

2.  In blog 22, I mentioned that the guru of Sri Ramakrishna, Totapuri, was taught a profound lesson by God. At that time, for fear of digression, I did not narrate the new truth that he had found. Here is the incident:

 

Totapuri developed dysentery. It was so severe that he could not concentrate during meditation. He was used to mastery over his body, but now he had become a slave of his body. Body meant nothing to him; he decided to drown his body in river Ganges. He walked in the water of the river on one bank. To his surprise, he ended up on the other bank! (In another version, he ended on a sand-bank in the middle of the river).  In his amazement he looked at the other bank. In one dazzling moment he saw Divine Mother on all sides. She was in everything. She was in the water, She was in the land, She was in the body……She was everything that one sees, hears, or imagines.

She was the Transcendental Absolute. She was the Brahman, which Totapuri had worshipped all his life.

In the morning, he went with Ramakrishna, to the Kali temple, and for the first time prostrated himself before the image of the Mother.

Ramakrishna, later, told his disciples, the meaning of the vision of Totapuri

“When I think of the Supreme^____ as inactive; neither creating, nor maintaining, nor destroying^___ I call him Brahman or Purusha, the impersonal God. When I think of Him as active^___ I call Him as Sakti, or Maya, or Prakriti, the Personal God. The Personal and the Impersonal are the same thing, like milk and its whiteness…The Divine Mother and Brahman is one”

According to Hindu mysticism, God can be with Form, or without Form. To realize God with Form is much easier than to realize God without Form, because one can make a mental image of God with Form (such as Christ on Cross, idol of Divine Mother as Kali).

In this mote’s opinion, it is much easier to attract the attention of lesser gods and prophets than the Supreme God

 

 

3. There is a recent update on Mr. Shevani. (Blog67-8). The area where Mr Shevani is buried is surrounded by Wahabi Muslim villagers. They are a fundamentalist, extremist sect. These people had opposed the building of a tomb on his grave, and had injured a disciple of the great Qalandar. Three or four person plotted a scheme. They went to Mr. Shevani’s grave  in the middle of a dark night. They were equipped with an electric lamp and digging tools. There scheme was to steal Mr. Shevani’s dead body.

 

As the first shovel struck the ground there was a loud, blood chilling roar which came from somewhere. It did not sound human to them. It was blood curdling and terrifying. These men lost their senses, and ran helter-skelter, leaving the digging tools behind.

 

Two of the miscreants, including their leader, became delirious, talking nonsense, and had to be admitted to a hospital. Both died, one within a week, the other after several weeks.

 

Sometimes, God or His assistants interfere in human affairs.

 

4. Many persons attain the ability to read thoughts. A sufi person I know told me that he could not actually read one’s thoughts ( and is prohibited to do so by his order ) unless somebody came to him as a supplicant( for help). When such a person comes to him he comes to know why that person has come to him before the needy say a word.

The magician, Mahmoud, in blog122, whom Brunton met in India told Brunton that he was a thought reader.

Sri Daya Mata wrote in her book that her guru swami Yogananda had the power to read the mind of others, but he never intruded on anyone’s mental privacy unless invited (blog12)

The best description is that of Indra Devi: she could sometime read the thoughts of others. She was almost ashamed of it. However if she deliberately tried to read the thoughts of somebody, she could not (2).

5. Yogaparem told Dilip, “ It sometime happens that as soon as you are initiated into Yoga you begin to see things far away.”

I have narrated the story of the blind Russian beggar who saw the church fire and belfry falling when they were many versts away from the city (blog 52)

Swami Ramdas also wrote in one of his books that he could see people coming towards him while they were still far away.

Data Gang Bakhash wrote in his book (blog 104) that he went to meet a sage in Salang. The sage said, “My son you are in my notice from such and such date.” He also wrote that his murshed could read thoughts (blog62)

 

6. Problem of wandering thoughts. “As soon as I sit down to meditate my mind begins to wander. I can neither relax nor concentrate on the Lord”(2). That is the complaint Indra so often hears from people. How can it be otherwise, she tells them, when they make no attempt to keep up their contact with Him during the rest of the day? One should think of God as often as possible. In this way the mind eventually becomes accustomed to the heights and meditation is made possible. Think of God for one minute every half-hour…….

 

7. Miracle of Pawhari Baba. Yashoda Mai, the guru of Krishnaparem, once met the great saint Pawhari Baba when she was a fifteen year old girl (3). He lived in a cave. Once, it was announced that he was going to give bhandara (feeding, distribution of a vessel of foodstuff, and clothes to the sadhus ) ,the next day.  An intrigued Mai, disguised herself as a boy, and stood in the line of sadhus. Everybody was getting a vessel of food and a dhoti ( garment covering the lower half of the body). When her turn came, she just plunged head-on in the cave.

“ Believe it or not, Baba,” she said, “ I saw something absolutely incredible: It was just a tiny cave with no other exit. And there were neither vessels nor any dhotis^___not a vestige! The narrow space inside the cave was quite empty!”    

Pawhari Baba and Sri Ramakrishna were contemporaries, and knew each other. Pawhari Baba kept a picture of Ramakrishna in his cave and thought highly of him

 

8. I have mentioned in the Foreword of this book what the great Qalandar said about my book “ …..Such person is beyond religion”

The Yogi who always wore dark glasses ( blog 64) said the same thing. When asked by the saintly person that what was his religion? .  He laughed and said that he was beyond religion and anybody who reaches God is beyond religion. However, one still follows the religion through which one has reached God, and since he reached God through Hinduism, he calls himself a Hindu.

 

Since I just mentioned the great Qalandar, let me record some more of his sayings. He said “ This path has no end ( similar to what Shahab’s guide told him). There are rest areas and milestones. At first rest area one gets something. In the second rest area one gets sweets (reward).  People start eating the candy. Many more years pass. Then you get a ceremonial robe or a hat of honor. Such people become very proud of their gifts and accomplishment. They walk proudly, full of self-importance. God asks them to serve humanity. In other words, they are diverted from their original aim (path). But I did not deviate, and others do not, either.”

“Allah plays games. First he gave you the sickness, then sent you to me to cure. Who am I to cure? It is He Himself who cures.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1). Man seeks God  by Eric Weiner

(2). Pilgrims of stars By Dilip Kumar Roy and Indra Devi

(3) Yogi Krishnaparem by Dilip Kumar Roy

 

 

72. Mr. Shevani . part 2

 

Continued from Blog 67

Mr. shevani’s two sons had arrived at the cave few hours before their father’s death.

Great Qalander instructed the sons to take their father’s body, after he dies, to their hometown to be buried, near water, like a canal, and to build a tomb over the grave. He ordered two of his disciples to go and stay at the grave for 40 days. They were to recite holy verses from Quran and pray. The guide was to supervise everything and bring flowers from Data Sahib’s tomb at Lahore, every Thursday, and spread over Mr. Shevani’s grave. Mr. Shevani, dying, but still alive, was listening.

The final prayer over the dead body called Namaz-a-janaza ( as per Islamic custom) was attended by all present and led by  the great Qalander. The first row was kept vacant by Qalander’s orders. He also instructed that the first two rows , at the second Namaz-a-janaza, at Mr. Shevani’s home town should be kept vacant. Why the rows were to be kept vacant? Were there some invisible participants?

The two disciples stayed at the grave, as instructed. One went back, but the other was ordered to stay more. Some of the villagers did not like the presence of the disciple and the building of a tomb. They belonged to fundamentalist sects of Islam, like Wahabis, which don’t like people visiting the graves for favors (Their contention is, that one should ask directly from God, who is everywhere, and listens to everybody). They asked the disciple to leave, he refused. Then they beat him up. He still did not leave. Next, they broke his leg (he is now permanently lame) on one occasion and his arm at another occasion. The disciple said that he won’t go even if they kill him because he was staying at the the order of his  murshed’. All this strife brought fame and attention to the grave and Mr. Shevani’s life history. Soon the disciple was called back. Apparently the disciple was undergoing a test of his own. He passed the test of obedience and steadfastness.

How stars are born? How  spiritual sites are created? This story illustrates it. Nobody would have known Mr. Shevani’s grave. If more and more people visit the grave and if their prayers and wishes are answered, the tomb will gather fame. A shrine will be built. Holy people will visit it. A holy person may permanently stay there and increase the spirituality of the shrine.

Such shrines, and holy sites are distributed all over the world. Cities like Mecca, Medina, The Vatican, Jerusalem, Puri, Banaras, Ajmer, Amritsar,Rangoon,etc, have holy sites. Millions of people visit them each year. What is the purpose of these sites? One purpose is to keep the followers faithful to their religion. And there are other obvious purposes, which I do not want to go into. But a less known reason is ( which this mote discovered on his own), that these sites are the transmitting towers of broadcasting stations, to God or His assistants. Prayers over these sites have a good chance of  being heard. At some level these billions of wishes are sorted out. Most must be rejected. But if the prayer has intrinsic merit, it may be granted . If the prayer is unique, it may be granted ( like Mr. Shevani’s unparalleled prayer ). In human body, the electrical impulses travel to the brain, through special cable like structures called nerves. Impulses can travel through muscles and bones, but they travel much better through nerves. Same is true of these spiritual sites. They are like nerves. Holy Sites, like Kaaba, Jerusalem Holy Temple (or its remnants), Banaras, have seen and heard from pilgrims and holy people, even mighty prophets, for thousands of years. There is tremendous accumulated spirituality at these places.

Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to six children in June 1981 at Medjugorje, Bosnia. Before that appearance it was a small village. Now more than 30 million persons have visited it. This is another way of creating spiritual sites. Minds you, people must be getting something in return, for their visit, otherwise they will stop coming . Those shrines where no spiritual entity lives any more ( because there are no visitors ) are according to Aldus Huxley, Dead shrines.

 

 

67.  Mr. ShevanI . part 1.

 

Mr Shevani was a rich millionaire or billionaire of Gujranwala, Pakistan, who died few months ago. He was not a particularly religious person. He was a kind hearted man who liked to help others; particularly he spent money to help poor women get married.

He would some time pray to Allah for a very strange wish. He prayed to meet the greatest Qalander( high grade Muslim mystic ) of this period.

One day a bearded well dressed man came to his house. The man said that he has received orders through some channels to take him to a recluse mystic in FATA ( federally  administered tribal area). That man did not know why. This area is very dangerous. There is a continuous war between Pakistan Army and Taliban controlled local population. It is somewhat lawless area. The man asked Mr Shevani that what was his relationship with Data Darbar. Mr shevani said that he was not a devotee of Data Sahib and did not have any particular relationship. He had often visited the shrine because he greatly respected Data Sahib, but many a time he would often not even go inside, but say prayers or distribute food to the needy, outside. This man then asked Mr Shevani that what could be his reason to meet the recluse Qalandar. Mr Shevani then told him of his prayer. The man and Mr Shevani agreed that God must have answered his prayer. This man had met the great Qalander once before, and had firsthand knowledge of his great spirituality.

Now Mr Shevani was face to face with reality. He had also wanted ( and might have told God in His prayer that he wanted to spend rest of his life with the Qalander ) to give up the world and stay with this Qalander ( if he would allow him). This was the moment of truth. Should he give up this world of his children and grandchildren. The world of tasty foods to eat, soft bed to sleep, house to protect from heat and cold, servants to obey his wishes, money to buy whatever he wanted or go to a world of cold, poverty , fasts and hardship. He knew he will have to live in a cave, sleep on hay or grass covered floor, and eat very little food. He will have to face harsh approaching winter. The people surrounding him would be speaking different language ( although they could also speak Urdu ) and would have different customs.

Mr shevani was not deterred. He asked for 3 days to wrap his affairs

When Mr Shevani and the guide arrived at the Mystic’s place he was not there. He had left one day earlier to an unknown place. But by his spiritual knowledge he knew that they were coming . He had left instructions with his two disciples, that the guide should stay the night. He left some Poultice for the guide’s feet which had multiple sores from walking bare feet. He also said that the guide will be bringing dry food for everybody ( which guide had done on his own ). As for Mr Shevani, he said, that he was free to stay in a cave or go back.

Mr Shevani showed great courage and elected to stay, despite the absence of the great Qalander, who may not return for months

He spent the winter in a cave. He was not used to hardship, having spent all his life in luxury. He became gravely ill. A messenger was sent to Lahore to get medicines for him. He survived.

He started building a road and a mosque in that area.

Due to fasting, he was reduced to a skelton. The guide once visited him. They prayed together in his cave/

The great Qalander told him several times, that if he wanted, he was allowed to go back to his home. Mr Shevani always replied that if that was an order, he would obey, otherwise he would stay at his Murshad’s feet.

Mr Shevani stayed steadfast. He never wavered and went back. Approximately eleven months after his arrival he died. He took his last breath, with his head resting at the thigh of the great Qalander.

To be continued