mysticism for swamis in waiting 2.0

Now peace of mind can be yours. You too can answer that question, ” why is that swami smiling?”

…The more benign side of Tantrism barely survived, and still has a few esoteric believers. What did not die and positively flourished was the belief that a holy man who had gone through hatha-yoga and attained enlightenment also acquired supernatural powers. Many yogis believe this. Miracles. waiving their hand in the air and producing a handful of holy ashes.

Read More:http://www.economist.com/node/18678803---WITH a mere circling wave of His Hand, Sai Baba could make objects materialise out of the air. Gold rings, amulets and necklaces; blocks of sugar candy; images of Shiva made of topaz and sapphire; bottles of tonic and packets of blue pills; rosaries, silver vessels and even medallions inscribed with the name of the recipient, the day and date. He could produce vibhuti too, holy Ash that poured from under His fingernails. On average a pound a day flowed from Him as He gave darshan, allowing His followers a sight of God as He moved among them, a tiny ochre-robed figure with an immense black afro, or halo, of hair. The Ash might be salty or sweet, blackish or white. Smeared on the body, it forgave sins; taken in water, it helped digestive complaints.---

…Satya Sai Baba would often say “miracles are my visiting cards”, a phrase which is also the title of a largely hearsay, cock-and-bull account of Satya Sai Baba’s paranormal powers, by Icelandic para-psychologist Errlelndur Haraldsson. Despite His insistence that His religious message was more important that the “tinsel” miracles He performed, the stupendous “powers” of Satya Sai Baba soon come to be know all over the world. Based on the “most reliable information”, but mistaking God for guru, the Reader’s Digest book entitled “Strange Stories, Amazing Facts II” gives us this incredulous account: “Sai Baba is an Indian guru blessed with extraordinary powers. He can produce gold rings and coins out of thin air, change rock into candy and flowers into jewels. He heals the sick with the aid of Vibhuti(sacred wood ash), which seems to appear from nowhere as he waves his hand. Perhaps the most astonishing display of Sai Baba’s powers took place in 1953, when the blue and stiff body of Radhakrishna which was cold,shrunken and starting to be decompose, was brought back to life by Baba. In the 50 years that Sai Baba has been demonstrating his apparently miraculous powers, no one has found any evidence of trickery”….

Read More:http://sathyasaibaba.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/swami-vivekananda-remembered-january-12th-1863-to-july-4th-1902/---He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a world religion during the end of 19th Century. Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India. He is best known for his inspiring speech beginning with “sisters and brothers of America”, through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World’s Religions at Chicago in 1893.---

By the time of the Middle Ages in India, the Upanishads though revered, were seen to be in conflict with the Vedas, books that enshrined the fundamentals of the Hindu religion. Just as Saint Thomas sought to iron out the contradictions in the Catholic faith, so philosophers in India sought to do the same for Hinduism, but at even greater length. The result was the Vedanta, meaning the end of the Vedas with a hint that it is also their climax. Vedanta needs a lifetime of study, at the end of which the student should be left with the conviction that his whole lifetime was nothing but an illusion. The philosophers of the Vedanta, however, had a higher moral tone than the anarchist types of the original Upanishads, so a great deal of respectable morality was added.

Read More:http://souljerky.com/articles/radha_st_denis.html---the dance underwent elaborate incarnations involving a Jain temple and a free-standing shrine that enclosed the meditating Radha, but also included simpler symbols and props like a rope of marigolds, used in the piece’s “The Dance of Smell.” The performance was a hit on the American stage and abroad, partly because of St. Denis’s novel style and subject, as well as the public’s growing interest in orientalism and “exotica.” Nonetheless, St. Denis believed in the divine ecstasy of dance, even if her audience saw something quite different. Describing her performance White Jade, in which she played Kuan Yin, the Chinese goddess of mercy, she wrote, “I move to the rhythm of the Drums of Heaven . . . My body is the living temple of all Gods.”---

If life was an illusion, it proved to be a remarkably bitter one for the Hindus. They were conquered first by the Moslems and then by the British. Most of the Moslem rulers despised Hinduism; the British rulers, with no exceptions, made not the slightest effort to understand what it was. This wooden lack of curiosity had one advantage: it left the Hindus in peace. But, it was too much peace, leaving the Hindu mind stagnant. Hindus were finally shaken out of the somnolence by Narendranath Dutt, later known as Vivekananda who had been educated by Christian missionaries. He would have probably ended up in a government job had he not met the extraordinary figure of Ramakrishna….

…In addition of these reports, Dr. John Hislop, “American industrialist and management consultant”, and also Chairman of the Central Committee of American Sai tells us earnestly how in 1971 Satya Sai Baba resurrected Walter Cowan, declared dead due to cardiac failure. The late Dr.Suri Bhagavantam, director of the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Scientific advisor to the Government of India, and also Baba’s interpreter narrated how once Satya Sai Baba created out of nowhere a copy of the Bhagavadgita (alas even the Lord is not immune to orthographic error, as a skeptic pointed out!). In a contemporary enactment of New Testament miracles, He once converted water into petrol by dipping His finger into the water. HE relieves devotees’ ailments by taking them onto Himself, conducts surgeries with psychic powers and plucks out-of-season mango fruit from tamarind trees. It is believed that Baba was responsible for repelling the Chinese army “invading India like locusts”. Reports abound of His bi-location (having appeared in two places at the same time) appearance; He Himself claimed that He never sleeps…. Amusingly, in the past, premanand and K.N Balagopal, rationalist advocate in the Supreme Court of India,had dragged Satya Sai Baba to court for violation of the Gold Control Act which imposed restrictions on the”manufacture, possession, sale and transfer of gold” since Satya Sai Baba “materialized gold ornaments to be given to devotees. While rejecting the petition, the High Court Judge Justice Y.V. Anjaneyulu, a member of the Satya Sai innercircle, allowed the argument that an article materialized by spiritual powers cannot be said to have been manufactured, prepared or processed. Perhaps for the first time in jurisprudence, spiritual powers were recognized as valid defense in law! Read More:http://www.uni-giessen.de/~gk1415/sai-baba.htm a

Read More:http://worldartresources.com/blog/2011/06/10/maqbool-fida-husain/ ---Of course what the religious thought police conveniently overlooked was that nudity and sexuality are prominent themes in Hindu and Indian art history – if you don’t believe me go look at some temple carvings next time you visit India. Fortunately Maqbool Fida Husain – aka “India’s Picasso” – was too highly regarded in India and worldwide to be subjugated by the zealots, and the Supreme Court of India refused to prosecute the artist in 2008. I do wonder if a lesser known (and poorer) Indian artist would have fared so well. Rule of law is still an ideal in India more than a reality. The fact that Maqbool Fida Husain was a millionaire may have have played a part too. Money talks in India and his paintings sell for millions of dollars ...----

Ramakrishna was a man whose religious zeal burned so intensely that he could summon up visions of the Hindu gods to whom he was devoted. Problematic as that was, it was even more disconcerting that by living temporarily as a Moslem, he could summon up the prophet Mohammed, and later visions of Jesus Christ himself. He then began preaching that all religions were the same, and all their prophets were god, who indeed, was everywhere. His fame spread. Rabindrath Tagore did him the honor of asking him to lunch, but cancelled the invitation when Ramakrishna refused to wear anything but his loincloth. The young Vivekananda met him, and Ramakrishna , deeply impressed, would often fall into a trance at the mere sight of him

th this recommendation, Vivekananda took to the religious life, touring all India…

ADDENDUM:

WOMAN STUDENT: Well, Swami, what would become of the world if everyone renounced?

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: Madam, why do you come to me with that lie on your lips? You have never considered anything in this world but your own pleasure!

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: I am the disciple of a man who could not write his own name, and I am not worthy to undo his shoes. How often have I wished I could take my intellect and throw it into the Ganges!

STUDENT: But, Swami, that is the part of you I like best.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: That is because you are a fool, Madam ” like I am.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: I have to come back once more. The Master said I am to come back once more with him.

MRS. ALLAN: You have to come back because Shri Ramakrishna says so?

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: Souls like that have great power, Madam.

WOMAN STUDENT: Oh, if I had only lived earlier, I could have seen Shri Ramakrishna!

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA (turning quietly to her): You say that, and you have seen me?

MISS BELL: This world is an old schoolhouse where we come to learn our lessons.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: Who told you that? [Miss Bell could not remember.] Well, I don’t think so. I think this world is a circus ring in which we are the clowns tumbling.

MISS BELL: Why do we tumble, Swami?

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: Because we like to tumble. When we get tired, we will quit. Read More:http://balajipalamadai.blogspot.com/2011/06/conversations-with-swami-vivekananda.html

 

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