Of Gods and Demons

After so much talk about the Gods and their darshan, we will look at the other side, spirits. Even people who believe in God or ‘super’ power, still have the doubt about the spirits. Many have asked me this question, time and again. The answer is, as the existence of the Gods, the spirits existence too is. Meaning, the level of truth in both existing is same, and there is no gradation. They are the different sides of the same coin. If the punya exists, then papa too, naturally should exist. So, if God exists, at the same level the evil spirit should exist. It is like the cinema stars :), for a particular hero, there will always be an anti-thesis and that ensures the survival of both.

But the only difference is, in experiencing them. Anyone with the right sadhana (practice) can definitely have the darshan of God. But, it is not the same with the evil spirit. This depends upon the kind of purity, which is obtained right from the birth. And this is the reason, the astrologist predict that people born in so-and-so stars cannot have the sightings of evil spirit.

There was this disciple (he is now a mahant – head of an ashram), who had this strange experience. Though we can brush these experience as psychic experience, in our inexperience, it is not so.  He is not altogether an impure person. If one listens to the last lecture of pancadasi tamil class second chapter, one can easily understand, it was finished in a hurry. The reason for this is, when the class was on this person got into a bhava Samadhi. His eyes go stuck to the upper lid, and there was no moment, either in his eye or body. The other students who were witness to this incident got very disturbed, and had lost the concentration (because of seeing one in such concentration :) ). And that or any kind of Samadhi cannot be achieved with an impure mind.

Ok, coming back to the story, this person wanted to be initiated in a mantra. And as his prakrti (his nature), I decided to give him a vaishnava mantra. Talking about mantra, always we should remember it should not be done for any specific result, other than purity of heart. For, the mantra shastras say, the mantra if is applied for a specific purpose, becomes his enemy. But then why will these master write such texts on application of mantras, if asked, is for a simple reason, there are people who do not worry about the aftermath, but only now, the instantaneous result. So, to initiate him In a vaishnava mantra, I picked up a copy of the books of mantras, and chose randomly. And every time I chose, the mantra that came up was one of Lord Rama, and that in which Sri Rama is described as a slayer of demons. Now, why will a pure person, with sattvic (pure) mind need a mantra like that. So, I tried to choose him a different mantra, and each time I chose to select randomly, it was the same Rama mantra which came up. Thinking this to be a problem because of the page block or something, I tried to setup some blocks in other different parts of the book. But, strangely, the same mantra came up. Giving up my divining for mantra, I decided to initiate him in this same mantra with questioning the providence, even without fully understanding the reasons.

After some days, when he wanted to move into a different place, little farther from Rishikesh, even after me warning him against it (felt something! odd and indescribable). After a couple of days in that room, he started to experience some strange things, when he sits for meditation the wooden slippers (kadav) which is kept on the window sill will fall from there without any external influence (remember it is made of wood, and will be little heavy, and therefore cannot be carried by the wind). Other times, when he sits for  meditation he felt like someone being thrown out of the body, and also, when he stops the chanting this something tries to enter his body. This went on for a couple of days, when one day when he was travelling in his cycle, without any mistake from his or the motorists part, he met with an accident, which changed his views towards these things. It didn’t create any fear, but he just accepted to respect, whatever that maybe, and left that place.  There is no doubt later for me about the reason for that particular mantra to appear again and again.

Now, he is in an ashram in Himachal Pradesh, and there is a temple in this ashram, to which the dead body is brought before the final  rights is performed.  Strangely, in South India, when there is a dead body in the vicinity, the gates of the temples will be kept closed.