Apr 13, 2007 12:03 AM
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Let me begin by narrating an incident that happened to someone I know. A couple of years back this'someone' was traveling on a bus in Uttranchal. They were somewhere close to RudraPrayag. There was a lady in the bus who had an ailing baby with her. The bus was stopped by one ascetic who wanted to get a drop somewhere close by. People in the bus were a little skeptic of this fellow and urged the driver to move on.
Sometime later the bus broke down. The baby's condition began to deteriorate. And no matter whatever the mother tried, the baby would just not stop crying. All of a sudden that ascetic emerged from nowhere. He gave some water to the baby from his pot and guess what? The baby got better instantly. Soon everyone in the bus was drinking from the same pot which never got empty! Everybody begged the ascetic to pardon them but by then the ascetic had made his mind to travel on foot. The shock of life came when the ascetic got down from the bus, walked a few steps and then just vanished!
I was not there myself so cannot comment much. But incidents such as these have kept my interest(and faith) alive in something that has eluded us for ages, some lost ancient wisdom which gets reported in some form or the other but gets forgotten soon. Someone recommended me this book on a similar subject and I got it instantly.
This is a story of an Englishman - Dr. Paul Brunton who has also heard of similar stories and comes in search of that secret India! Like any other Westerner he knows this country to be the land of snake charmers and rope tricks and spirituality. **His findings are that 90% of the people who claim to perform such feats are crooks!
So, why this book? Well, remember I said that his findings reveal the 90% figure. What about his remaining 10% findings? Well yes you guessed it right. His book is a beautiful story of such remaining 10% marvels such as the one I mentioned at the start.
Dr. Brunton lands in Bombay and spends time in a hotel. His first rendezvous with the secret India happens here itself. There is a person in the same hotel who makes him write any question on a piece of paper. Brunton does that and too his shock that person tell him the question that he has written and gives the correct answer to them as well. Welcome to India Dr. Brunton!
He is somewhere close to Madras where he chances to meet a yogi of some stature. He realizes that the true secret behind this ancient wisdom is yoga. This yogi asks him as to when is a person considered medically dead? And then goes on the prove that even when he has ceased to breath for a very long time, he is still alive! This makes Dr. Brunton see that there is something more than what meets the eye. It is this enlightenment that he wants to attain and requests the yogi to become his guru - his spiritual teacher. His request is promptly declined on the grounds that the yogi is not qualified enough to take personal deciples.
Brunton meets erstwhile Shankaracharya who urges him to meet Ramana Maharishi. By then he has already decided to leave for Calcutta. At night Brunton is woken up by a radiant light in his room with Shankaracharya again appealing him to go and meet Maharishi before leaving for Calcutta. By the time this spectre fades, Brunton is fully awake and awestruck and totally taken in.
Brunton travels to holy hills of Arunachala and finds Ramana Maharishi to be the epitome of serenity, poise and austerity. All the pleadings of Brunton are turned down by Maharishi and he returns from Arunachala dejected.
He reaches Calcutta and meets another great rishi - Mahasaya. He tells Mahasaya that he is planning to leave India as he is running low on funds. Mahasaya tells him that you will not be able to leave us like that. You can only leave after getting enlightened. Brunton dismisses this forecast about him. Little does he realize that there are people who can do anything that you perceive as impossible! If the great rishi has said so, then that is bound to happen.
Another incident that Brunton tells is of a great yogi who was called to give some demonstration of his skills at University Of Calcutta. He was first given metals, scraps, etc to eat. Post that he was given a mild poison and then he was given cyanide! Guess what? The swami ate all and then just walked away. The great Dr. C.V. Raman was also present there and he termed the incident as "a challenge for modern science to decipher and give reasons for".
This story really needs to be read to be believed. It is a true and a fascinating account of the so called land of snake charmers, the land of sadhus and fakirs, the land of mystics, the land of spirituality itself! You will realize that all the great ancient wisdom people keep talking about, seems to have some deep and powerful logical meaning.
Two things will stand out in this book -
1. The incidents that we keep hearing and dismissing as myths, or the kind of incidents like the one I narrated at the start are not just sleight of hand.
2. And that there is so much that we do not know.
Welcome Dr. Paul Brunton. Welcome to the world of sacred ancient wisdom, to the land of deep and unshakable beliefs(so deep that sometimes they defy all logic and common sense).
Welcome to India!
