Many but by no means all of the people who have lived in a Satyananda ashram have experienced things which are beyond the norm, outside the realm of the ordinary, everyday. No doubt this has happened to many outside SYA as well. However, I think it is the case that these experiences play a huge part in the beliefs and culture surrounding Satyananda and his purported divine qualities. Those that have had such experiences see them as emanating from Satyananda (or, if it is still happening today, from Niranjan or even Satsangi). I consider this to be a major factor in the inability of many disciples to even consider reports of abuse by Satyananda the remotest possibility, let alone true. I would like to look at some of these paranormal phenomena that I experienced or witnessed. One by no means unique experience (in that it seems to happen to others, as well) is a visual perception of interconnectedness. For me there seemed to be threads across the sky, linked to all the plants and earth, something like a neural network. Every THING had subtle connections to every other THING. I also had almost the identical experience once with the aid of an hallucinogen. One of the siddhis I witnessed (other than through Satyananda or Akhandananda) was the ability to manifest things. Some people could think of and ‘call up’ things, such as ‘goodies’ (any sweet food not readily available in the ashram) or even a trailer load of plants for the garden. Another experience often came with coming to live in the ashram. People usually were given a task of acquiring some money to give to the ashram or just had to sell up their possessions. Some people asked for signs before making the decision to live there. There were many stories of very unusual things happening at this time in their lives. If we consider pure awareness to be the oneness, the reality that doesn’t change when all else does, then I consider each of these experiences to be an ‘unveiling’ of the mind in the journey to awareness. The mind is the tool which creates separation, which deals with and allows us to manage our everyday lives and, as such it has an everyday way of compartmentalising the ‘things’ and interactions between these things. But this is not ‘reality’. There is no separation in reality, only in the mind’s conceptualising of it. Each of these experiences gives a glimpse of greater connectedness, or more specifically of less separation. The other side of this is why it happens more in the ashram environment than outside. Some attribute this to the guru. I suggest it is the interconnectedness of such like-minded, searchers of truth, who are open to these more subtle perspectives of mind. Just as the ashram has been built by the energy of all those who lived there, similarly these psychic perceptions rise through the psychic environment created by all those who live there. The guru is not the essential ingredient, it is the interconnectedness and focus of multiple individuals’ openness and energy. What are your thoughts on this?
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:21:02 +0000
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