The story is told that once, during the long
travel by railway he had, in his compartment as a
fellow-passenger, a young boy was budding occultist. Seeing a
monk sitting quietly on a nearby bench, the young man came
forward and taking a seat near him, opened a conversation with
him. In the meantime, the Swami, who was going without food for
a pretty long time and was very hungry, noticed that the young
man had with him a large tiffin carrier that seemed to be filled
with eating stuff. So, when the young fellow asked him whether
he had been to the Himalayas, he readily said that he had not
only been to them but stayed long there, sealed great heights
there etc., His curiosity inordinately increased, the young
fellow went on plying the Swami with questions – did he meet
Mahatma Kuthmi and others there and if so did they talk with him
about the coming end of the present cycle and the beginning of
the Satya Yoga once more, etc., etc., (Mahatma Kuthmi, it may be
noted, is, as stated by Madame Blavatsky, one of a brotherhood
of adepts scattered throughout the world- She having met some of
them in Tibet- who have their spiritual natures so highly
developed that their bodies have become ductile instruments of
the intelligence. These Mahatmas have lived for such more than
the Vedic statement about the duration of human life, viz, a
hundred years – sataryur via purushah-and are credited by the
Theosophists with the power to control natural forces and
thereby work miracles). The Swami said that he had long talks
with the Mahatmas he said they had told him about, that the
young man began to wonder if had not before him one of those
very mahatma themselves in the garb of the Swami. The
conversation over, the young man asked the Swami to partake of
some food, which he readily consented to do. After they had both
rested for some time, the Swami himself resumed conversation. He
had liked the young man’s simplicity and had found him
intelligent too. So, wanting to cure him of his strange weakness
of credulity, he said frankly and with some sternness in his
voice, “My boy, you are intelligent and well-read, but how is it
that you readily believe in such fantastic things as Mahatmas
and miracles?” In a very earnest tone he then gave an exposition
of the truth about it all. He said that spirituality had nothing
to do with miracle-making, and that the present-day craze for
psychic illusions was demoralizing the Indian nation. “What
we need, “said he, “is strong common sense, a public spirit,
and a philosophy and religion which will make us men”. It is
gratifying to learn from The Life, that the Swami’s
discourse did benefit the young man and that before they
left each other he told the Swami that he had been convinced
about his mistake way of thinking on religion and he would
follow his valuable precepts.
Join the year long 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda : sv150.org Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari
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