part 2 ten

The story of a miracle-working yogi

    “A devotee sat on a very high mountain in a hut, repeating the Lord’s name, and spent his days living on whatever food came to hand. One day a miracle-working yogi came and stood before him. ‘What are you doing sitting on this peak?,’ he asked brusquely.
    The devotee replied, “I am sitting still and repeating the name of the Lord; what else?’
    ‘I’d like to show you my power,’ said the other. ‘Look, see what I can do.’ And waving his hand in the air he said, ‘Let a storm come.’ At once from all sides clouds came and heavy rain began to fall. Many trees and shrubs were uprooted. Among the travelers coming up the side of the mountain, some were swept away. Sheep and goats also died as if the mahapralaya had come.
    “Then the yogi said, ‘Shall I show you another power? Storm, abate. Sunshine come; sky, be clear.’ At his word all the storm clouds departed and very clear sunshine prevailed. Seeing all the destruction thereabouts, the devotee said,
    ‘These powers of yours have done much mischief. Through the taking of so many lives, how much misery you have brought! And all for the sake of expressing your own egotism! You have got this power, but have you got God-vision, brahmajnana? You began your tapasya with the idea of getting God-vision one way or another; now, stopping in mid-journey you have lost that ideal and taken a side path. This is no glory to you: it is your obstacle. Nor are you the sadhaka you were. You have fallen to a lower level. Give up totally this power; then you can approach Brahman.’
The yogi was ashamed on hearing this and, understanding his error, took refuge with this devotee and stayed with him for the rest of his life in the pursuit and contemplation of God.”

Seeing or hearing at a distance

    Many of Swamiji’s audience had some acquaintance with this phenomenon, but none of them really understood what it was. To show his own skill in the matter, Swamiji demonstrated it for about forty-five minutes. He said, “Whatever your question is, write it and put it in your pocket. I will tell you what it is.” All did as requested. Then Swamiji, turning to the left, began: “Now the question is this……….” As this question was announced, on the other side a man took from his pocket and looked at a piece of paper. It was that very question. Seeing his behavior, the people had no doubt that it was his. But lest this person be embarrassed, Swamiji, facing the other way, said, “On a main road beyond a gate there is a corridor leading to a stairway. On the right of that there is a room. Upstairs on the ‘first’ floor is another room with a bed on which a little boy is sleeping.” He whose question had come up was very happy and could hardly contain his satisfaction.
    Then he took up another question, and as before, faced the opposite direction and said. “This is the question……………..” The one whose question it was took the paper from his pocket, examined it and looked embarrassed. He looked fixedly at Swamiji, wondering what he would say. Swamiji said, “In a ‘first’-floor bedroom on a bed a child is lying; beside the bed on a small table are some vials of medicine; the boy is ill, but he will be all right; in a few days he will be quite well.” He took up another. Seeing this person’s restlessness, he said, “There is a room in the middle of which is a table; beside the table seated in a chair is an old man.” In this way he covered exactly many questions.
    This event took place in the question-and-answer period after the lecture, not at the regular lecture time. But another evening the audience did not experience their customary pleasure; instead, they were rather in a state of apprehension. Listening for some time about the perfected yogi, everyone got the idea that Swami Vivekananda was such a great one, himself. This evening, unlike the other days when they would chat pleasantries with him as they left, everyone went out looking at him in trepidation and shrinking. They had a strong feeling that Swamiji was a terrifying person who could read all their thoughts. That night there was no jolly mood; rather, a frightened feeling was in evidence. The lecture, too, was very serious and beautiful and the listeners heard it in great absorption.
    In the next day’s lecture, Swamiji began to explain this ESP affair. “When the mind in a high state becomes utterly free of body-consciousness, nothing stays at a distance. The mind must be made inactive or neutral. After awhile in this condition it is to be placed on some object and it will be able to see all the things comprised in that object. This is called clairvoyance. But when the thing comes as a picture, it does not come just as it is: when it comes by the subtle plane, it is upside down. For example, there is a room with several persons sitting at a table. Suppose I wish to know about a particular one of these; I will see that all others are sitting there normally, but that particular person is upside down. The chair legs are up and his head is down. Then one understands that this is the particular person to be looked at.”
    Many people came to all these lectures and were dumbfounded to see Swamiji’s uncommon yogic powers. They had read in the Bible that Jesus could do all sorts of miracles, but those were affairs of those days. They had the idea that at the present time no one could do such things.
But they saw Swamiji’s power and considered him a superior person and honored him accordingly.

The body transformed by yoga

If one does japa and meditation there comes a covering over the body. If these are done for some time, a transformation in the cells of the body begins, and the old molecules are changed for new ones. The body gets changed a bit. The body of a (accomplished) yogi is made of different material from that of an ordinary person. The vibrations and projection of the atoms are from our natural propensity; the mind creates this body. The yogi’s body is of a shining cast, the voice is sweet and his glance affectionate and full of attraction, and his appearance peaceful and calm. Then, when the yogi attains a high condition, from his limbs a magnetic power or luster is given off. When this luster comes close to the low-minded it gives them a kind of terror or apprehension. If he sits near wicked people, there come into his mind panic or restlessness, as if from inside that person something really horrid is issuing. But if a perfected yogi comes near him, an affectionate, joyful, peaceful feeling issues of itself. If he wishes, the perfect yogi can spread out this covering or aura to a great distance.

The story of Dhruva

“There was a guileless little boy who went into the forest to do austerity for realizing God. He did not know any rules or regulations. But he called on God with a pure heart and simple faith. Various dangers arose: tigers, bears and other wild animals came, but not a one injured him; each went its own way. Now, tigers, bears etc. are all dangerous animals; they molest people and devour human flesh; but why did nothing approach Dhruva? If I think about harming another – if from within me injurious vibrations arise, those vibrations will surround me and whoever comes into that area will feel thought of injury arising in him and ultimately these will come back on me as cruelty. But if I rejoice in the welfare of all and distribute thoughts full of peace, those too will go out and whoever comes within the radius of that will feel peaceful inside for the time being. I have seen something of this matter myself, and as for the rest, I have full faith in it. Wild animals are certainly affected by it. After all, they also have babies, they too at one stage wandered about with their mothers. ‘Wild’ means that for the first moments there was no cruelty; they are at the same time both wild and tame. From the episode of Dhruva we may realize that vibrations of affection flow out from the body of a yogi. This is not the only such example; there are many such stories.”

Allurement by divine nymphs

“In many books the story is told that a yogi practicing spiritual exercises achieved a high degree of advancement when suddenly his mind became upset and a divine nymph came and began to seduce him. This idea is current in many lands and in various forms. Why? Mind can go very high through austerity. Reaching that, one gets quite a bit of joy and feels secure, but inside, hidden and unknown desires remain which can rise up forcefully. When tapasya has been done for some time, all the nerves become subtle. They are easily touched off by slight vibration. So when old desires or memories get wakened a little, they assume very vivid forms and stand before us. No nymph comes from outside; these are projections from within the aspirants themselves. Taking form in the causal space, they become reflected as a suggestion in the mind. In accordance with the previous life of each aspirant, in accordance with one’s social milieu, this reflected picture stands before one. So no two people have the vision of the ‘nymph’ in just the same way. Mara attacked Buddha in one way, Jesus’ temptation was different, but all these come up from inside.”
Then Swamiji said, “When one reaches a very high state one has to give up the desires altogether – to ‘fry the seeds of desire’ [written in English], in the language of the yogi. If the seeds remain, they will sprout; but if they are thoroughly fried, they cannot sprout any more. On the part of an advanced yogi this is especially important. For this whole universe has come into being through desire, and it is in desire, also, that a person becomes bound. Desire is the creator of the universe.”