Sec.4&5/Part 2Miracles

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhagavatas,

Presented below are Sections 4 and 5 of Part 2 Miracles from my book "Myths,

Miracles and Mysticism"

Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

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Section 4 : Miracles in Modern times

 

Even today, we have in our midst evolved souls in our Acharyas. The quite and

unostentatious benedictions of these Acharyas bestows unimaginable benefits on

those who come to pay obeisance to them with utmost sincerity.Since such

experiences are at purely personal levels, one has to mingle with such blessed

souls, discuss and get to know more intimately to believe the efficacy of the

miracles experienced by them. You will be stunned and stupefied as you hear

passionate narrations of their experiences. That is why in Hinduism, great

emphasis is laid on the need to approach a Guru for spiritual enlightenment.

The reliefs experienced, however, ensue to the disciples as a by-product, as

a bonus besides the main gain of spiritual illumination they secure. Hinduism

advises that the devotion to the Guru should not be less than the devotion to

God himself. Their very blessings have the effect of miracles (e.g).

 

i. The illustrious lineage of the Jeeyars of Ahobila Mutt, and of

Paundarikapuram Aashramam as also those of Srimad Andavan of Srirangam and

Parakaala Mutt etc, have blessed several business houses which have

acknowledged their success to the blessings of these pontiffs.

 

ii. A fast food joint, by name 'Grand Sweets and Snacks' in Adyar, Madras was

started with blessings of Paramacharya, the pontiff of Kanchi Kaamakoti

Sankara Mutt and within a very short time the business picked up so much as to

make the proprietor a multi-millionaire.

 

iii. Once, the senior pontiff mentioned above, was giving Darshan. As he eyed

the crowd, he suddenly spotted a particular gentleman. He beckoned him and

suggested that he return home. By the time the gentleman reached home, his

son had suffered serious injuries in an accident and was admitted to the ER.

He rushed to the hospital and uttered the mantra which the Acharya had earlier

initiated. The boy recovered miraculously and was soon discharged. Earlier,

the doctors had given up hopes and the recovery was beyond the belief of even

the doctors.

 

Section 5 :Role of Conmen- Godmen in modern society

 

Unfortunately, however, because of the halo attaching to such pious Acharyas

and Gurus, Conmen armed with Siddhi powers have been quick to cash on the

charisma of the real Gurus, and parade themselves as Godmen. It becomes very

difficult for the lay folk to distinguish between the fakes and the genuine

ones.

 

But, how come at least some of these are becoming popular and multitudes of

laymen flock to them?

 

( 1 ) Maybe, this is because, we are living in Kaliyuga. The important

characteristic of this age is erosion of values. As frequently happens, here

also ' fiction' has taken the place of ' fact ' and ' metaphors ' have taken

the place of ' proof '. As quoted in " Three Ways of Asian Wisdom by NANCY

WILSON ROSS of the description of Kaliyuga in the Vishnu Purana and various

other Puranas "the whole world will be wholly depraved...falsehood will be

the only means of subsistence; presumption will be substituted for real

learning and the decay will constantly proceed until the human race approaches

its annihilation'.

 

As predicted by Matsya Purana, " when substance of the world organism has

deteriorated beyond salvage, the universe is ripe for dissolution."

 

And, therefore, nothing can be done and perhaps nothing is required to be

done by us to stall this change and debasement of value systems. And,

perhaps, such is the will of God that it shall be so until this shift in

emphasis reaches an intolerable stage. He would then descend down to earth

as the apocalypsic Kalki to restore order and reestablish Dharma. It is futile

to fight against the inevitable march towards decline. It would , however, be

well for us to remind ourselves that despite such alarming decadence

overtaking humanity, it is still possible to salvage ourselves by not falling

for the false propaganda of these vested interests, and redeem ourseves by

adhering to the truths expounded in the Vedic scriptures.

 

(2) The common laity have absolutely no yearning for 'saving their souls' and

no thought of the stuff called ' salvation' or liberation from the cycle of

births and deaths and the concept of salvation is put on the back burner with

smug satisfaction, so long as the ' going is good'

 

( 3 ) A belabored 'quantum leap' invests a ' sense of security ' and '

comfort in numbers' for both the demi-urges, the fake Gurus and their

adherents .

 

( 4 ) A well orchestred and aggressive salesmanship on the part of the so

called 'God- men' spearheading one or the other of these mutitudinous deities,

divinities and demiurges is also responsible for the large scale polarization

towards them. It is seen that in the recent past, a plethora of self- styled

Godmen, with half- baked ideas have mushroomed strutting about the world

purporting to propogate the esoteric aspects of Hinduism. They establish

'Aashrams", start ' movements', publish glossy journals, gather around them

and carefully cultivate a coterie of chelas.

 

The chelas include successful businessmen, judicial officers, politicians of

hues, professors of repute, professionals in various specialities besides a

multitude of commoners. If you look at what binds these basically

incompatibles, you will find that they have one thing in common :each one is

having some public embarrassments to ward off or some private afflictions to

alleviate. Through the gift of the gag and the sleight of the hand acquired

through the various Siddhis, these demogogues project a facade of easy

solutions to their problems. Natuarally, the gullible folk fall for the

intrigue.

 

These fake Gurus plant excitable people in a crowd and the crowd being a

crowd gets into a frenzy of excitement, and acts in unison in a state of

induced mass hysteria.They are brainwashed, indoctrinated, intoxicated and

mesmerized so much that they develop a strange clannish comraderie among

themselves. In such a state of mind, they are ready to 'sacrifice themselves'

to accommodate any one

sympathetic to their cultish and fetish ideas. And, they will not hesitate to

'sacrifice others' who are not enthused about their idiosyncracies, ' just for

settling scores'.

 

No wonder, the westerners who are surfeit on materialism and starving in

spiritualism fall an easy prey to these con-men- who either proclaim

themselves or contrive their Sishyas to confer on them such honorifics as

ranging from the modest Acharya, Guru, Swami etc to the more ambitious

Mahatma, Maharishi, Mahaswami, Jagatguru, Jagadacharya, Paramaguru,

Paramacharya etc

sometimes even arrogating themselves as the very Bhagavan himself as a sort of

a modern Avatar, thus basking in the borrowed glory of the real ones.

 

This concept of modern incarnation is not a new phenomenon . Even in the days

of Krishna, a King of Kasi known as Pundareeka assumed the title of Vasudeva

Krishna and challenged Lord Krishna to give up all his insignia and surrender

to him. The story goes that Lord Krishna destroyed him employing his discus

and had to burn Kasi in his fight against him.

 

It should be remembered that quite a few of these pseudo godmen have been

exposed, discredited as fakes and hounded out. These cult leaders started

their trade as a money making device demanding personal allegiance to them ,

making it appear as the only course open to the hapless chelas.

 

These gimmicks are, however, not without an incidental and perhaps unintended

service to the cause of Hinduism. While contributing nothing towards the

spiritual advancement of its adherents to the goal of Moksha, they, however,

evoke in them such an ardent attachment bordering on frenzy that they are

effectively shielded from falling a prey to the waves of conversion and

proselytization indulged in by

certain other faiths.

 

This does not mean that there are no real good souls at all. This also does

not mean that all of those who have spread out are not fully informed. Quite a

few have, in fact, invested a certain dignity to their roles by exemplary

conduct as spiritual leaders.

 

The acid test of real spiritual leaders is that they never project themselves

as 'somebody', never show off their powers of Siddhis, never indulge in magic,

never seek after disciples and never presume to indoctrinate others. They

withdraw into seclusion, practice their dharmic duties unostentatiously in

humble dedication to God, shun publicity and are content to be inconspicuous,

selective in choosing only deserving students who would follow their own code

of conduct before imparting to them the eternal truths. They have to be '

searched for and sought after ' than their 'searching, scanning and scheming

'. They do not hanker after name or fame, are prepared to pass into oblivion '

unsung. unhonoured, unwept ' by the mere mortals

because their minds and vision are truly fixated on the transcendental

reality.

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