During this time, have you encountered para-normal incidents yourself? Something that you witnessed first-hand and was convinced that it was not a hoax?
Wow, I'm not
@George-ananda ji, but it's astonishing to me how easily you guys are dismissing the very well known concept of
siddhis. The only obvious conclusion is that although you are familiar with the term "God-men," you have never met one. May God bless each and every one of you--in this lifetime--with that experience. Beyond any doubt, it is life- and consciousness-altering.
True story from my past:
On my 39th birthday, six years after meeting Guruji, the resident cook of the ashram, Rajeshwari, prepares a giant-sized, institutional-sized sheet cake in addition to the normal hearty meal. At the end of the satsang, during the arati, she disappears for a few moments and returns with that huge cake, candles spread and on fire, forty of them—one extra for good luck—with as much distance as possible between them. It looks like a little football field at half time with the band spread yards apart from each other across the field from one goal post to the other, all waving sparklers.
Guruji is still seated on his asana. The room is pretty crowded. Everybody sings “Happy Birthday to You” and when they finish, Guruji says, “Make a wish.”
I don't get a fraction of a second to think, not even, before Guruji says for me, “Wish for the success of the Lord Dattatreya and Ganesha books!” Those are the ones I was currently typesetting on a Mac Plus with the 9” screen. Happy to oblige, by now I know the Indian way of signaling assent, which until you do, you think people are saying ‘no’ when they’re really saying ‘yes.’
So, I consent to his wish for my birthday, open my mouth and draw in a deep breath. I will need a lot of wind to mow down the band. But
before I can exhale, while I and most everyone else are looking at the flaming candles, the power to burn is withdrawn from every single one of them all at the same time. Out. Flames out. Gone. Snuffed. All of them. At the same time.
A chorus of audible gasps fills the room. Beyond delighted, I spin around to Guruji and laugh loudly, exuberantly, like a little girl. What a great birthday present! His eyes are twinkling and he just smiles.
Everybody sees it happen… except the one devotee who frequently hints how pleased he would be if Guruji would only show his powers.
Y'all don't know what you're missing and by stubbornly keeping your minds closed even to the possibility, you are guaranteeing that you will continue to miss out. As you think, so shall it be. Unless, of course, Ishvara decides to shake you up a bit. May it be so, tatastu.
