You Have Committed Many Thefts In my youth I was searching for miracles. Once when I saw a person lying on a bed of nails, I said to him, “I wish I could do that. Can you teach me?” He said, “Of course. But first you will have to beg alms for me and bring money to me. If you promise that you will give me whatever money you have, I will teach you!” One after another I met many such people and they despised each other, saying, “He is nothing. I will teach you something better.” One of them had a big steel needle, and he pushed it through his arm. He said, “See, there is no bleeding. I will teach you this, and you’ll be able to make money by demonstrating it to others. But you will have to become my disciple and give me a part of what you earn.” I left him and went to another person. Many people respected this man. I wanted to know why so many people followed him around. I wondered, “What exclusive knowledge does he have? Is he wise; is he a great yogi?” I stayed with him until everyone went away. When I was all alone with him, he asked, “Which is the most luxurious hotel that you know of?” I said, “The Savoy Hotel in London.” He said, “You pay me one hundred rupees and I will get you some delicious food from the restaurant of that hotel.” I gave him a hundred rupees and suddenly some food appeared before me, exactly as it was prepared at that hotel. Next I asked for some food from Hamburg, Germany. Again I paid him seventy rupees and he got the dish I requested. It appeared along with the bill. I thought, “Why should I go back to my master? I’ll stay with this man and all my needs will be taken care of. Then without any botheration, I can quietly meditate and study.” He asked, “What type of watch do you want?” I replied, “I already have a good watch.” But he said, “I will give you a better watch,” and he did it. When I looked at the watch I thought, “This watch is manufactured in Switzerland. He is not creating these things; he is only doing a trick, transporting them from one place to another.” Two weeks later I went to him again and bowed before him. I gave him an oil massage and helped him cook food. He was pleased with this and he instructed me, so I could do things similar to those he had done. I practiced until one of the swamis from our monastery came and slapped me, saying, “What are you doing?” He took me to my master, who said, “You have committed many thefts.” I asked, “What thefts?” He answered, “You ask for sweets and they come to you from someone’s shop. They disappear from the shop and the owner does not know what has happened to them.” I promised my master that I would never do it again. Later I met a man who worked as a salesman in a store that sold sewing machines in Delhi. I told him about the haji and his powers. The salesman said, “If he can get a Singer sewing machine from my store in Delhi, I will consider him to be the greatest man alive and follow him for the rest of my life.” So we both went to him and requested him to perform the miracle. He said, “I will get it immediately”— and it appeared! Then the salesman became concerned that it would be missing from the store and he might be accused of stealing it. The haji tried to send it back, but he could not do so. He started weeping and crying, “I’ve lost my powers!” When the salesman returned to Delhi he took the machine with him. In the meantime at the store they had discovered the machine was missing, and they reported the matter to the police. The police found it in the salesman’s possession and he was taken to the court. No one believed his story and the salesman was punished. I had many such experiences and I insulted my master many times by saying, “There are people who have powers greater than yours, so I like to follow them.” He said, “Go ahead! I want you to grow and be great. You don’t have to follow me!” Later I realized that mostly such phenomena are tricks. Wherever they are found to be genuine, they are black magic. Spirituality has nothing to do with these miracles. The third chapter of the Yoga Sutras explains many methods of attaining siddhis [powers], but these siddhis create stumbling blocks in the path of enlightenment. One person in millions does indeed have siddhis, but I have found that such people are often greedy, egotistical, and ignorant. The path of enlightenment is different from the intentional cultivation of powers. The miracles performed by Buddha, Christ, and other great sages were spontaneous and for a purpose. They were not performed with selfish motives or to create a sensation. On the path of yoga sometimes one comes across the potentials of siddhis. A yogi without having any desire for a siddhi might get one, but one who is aware of the purpose of his life never misuses them. Misuse of siddhi is the downfall of a yogi. To commit a theft is accepted to be a crime socially and morally. Jugglery is not any part of yoga. Siddhis do exist, but only with adepts. Swami Rama Living with the Himalayan Masters
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 20:00:00 +0000
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