Dream, Telepathic Vision and Clairvoyance

The nervous system is the crude receptacle of the kámamaya kośa [crude layer] and the mind. It becomes unsteady and restless:

• when certain sentiments or impressions are received by the organs and agitate the conscious mind, or
• when sensual or material thoughts are powerfully awakened in the conscious mind,

An impression of that restlessness is left on the nerve cells, and that impression remains short-lived or lasting according to the degree of its intensity. Sometimes even a significant impression loses its previously-acquired permanence because it is compelled to make room for a newer one under the impact of a counter- agitation or restlessness.

In the sleeping state, if a person’s nerve tissues get agitated, more often than not due to some physical cause or due to cerebral heat caused by vehement thinking, the nerve-cells also get stirred up and disturbed.

Such agitations give rise, in the mental sphere, to desires similar to the impressions accumulated in the nerve cells. Thus the agitated citta (the subconscious mind) accepts as real the stream of thoughts arising from one or more such impressions.

The crude organs having stopped functioning, the identical desires arising from the previously-acquired desires do not then seem to be imaginary but appear to be quite real. Such dreams do not often come true as they are pure imaginations or a mere stringing together of different disjointed thoughts.

That is, such dreams are what we colloquially called confused or inconsistent dreams. Only those whose nerve tissues have become weak due to some ailment of the brain or head or because of some protracted illness, or those whose digestive systems have gone out of order, generally “see” such orectic dreams. Such dreams may be called passionate or sensual dreams. These dreams, I have already said, are the true reproductions of the previously imagined objects or the scattered expressions of previous thoughts. Excessive eating also gives rise to such dreams. Those who have pure thoughts and restraint over their diet are generally less susceptible to such dreams. These dreams never come in deep sleep.

There is yet another type of dream. Even when a person is in deep slumber, a premonition of a major calamity or some good or bad news may arise in the subconscious mind through a dream.

The all-knowing causal or unconscious mind cannot give expression to its omniscience due to the fickleness of the conscious and subconscious minds, and due to its own expressional inability. But it can awaken in the calm conscious and subconscious minds of a person in deep slumber those visions and premonitions of past, present or future events which may deeply involve or overwhelm the person. The surging vibrational flow which comes out of the fountain-head of the unconscious mind and vibrates the subconscious mind is also a sort of dream.

Such dreams are not devoid of significance because their cause is the omniscient causal mind. This may be called “supramental vision”.

Sometimes, even in the wakeful state, the cognitive flow of the unconscious mind makes its way into the subtle mind. The result is that even in the wakeful state, with a little concentration, one can grasp and guess events concerning one’s near and dear ones who are far away. This may be called “telepathic vision”.

Through concentrated telepathic vision, that is, when the conscious mind is calm and sedate, one can visualize the external events concerning one’s distant loved ones enacted before one’s eyes in the external world also, or one can feel as if one is seeing them. This may be called “telepathic clairvoyance”.

If one mistakenly believes such acts to be those of spirits, one may come to believe in spiritualism or spiritology. In fact, such incidents have no connection at all with spirits or ghosts.

Telepathic vision and telepathic clairvoyance are intrinsically the same as supramental vision. Indeed, they are born out of the unconscious mind, the knower of the universe, in the form of intuitive feelings or inspirations from it. To believe in ghosts and spirits is nothing but to remain shrouded in the fearful mentality of prehistoric people. Incidents of telepathic vision are rare in comparison with supramental vision, and rarer still are occurrences of telepathic clairvoyance, due to the activity of the conscious mind. Even supramental vision does not usually occur more than eight to ten times in the life of a person. However, the frequency of this experience is wholly dependent on one’s intuitional practices or one’s saḿskáras [mental reactive momenta]. (One must bear in mind that self-acquired telepathy or self-acquired clairvoyance is something different). Even in supramental vision, one often does not grasp things correctly, for such cognitive waves generally find expression through the media of one’s personal saḿskáras. Suppose in some country cows are indispensable in various necessary jobs such as cultivation, milling of oil seeds or conveyance.

Normally the people in such a country will have a very great regard for cows. Having lived on cows’ milk since their childhood, they will hold cows in high esteem, and regard healthy, strong cows as noble animals and symbols of good luck and prosperity. These sentiments about cows are the resultant saḿskáras born out of the necessities of daily life. Now, suppose somebody from such a country had a dream about a cow growing lean and thin because it lived on dried straws of the paddy field. Then another cow came and met with more or less the same fate.

Then yet a third cow appeared, and that too fared no better, though such a trend of thought had never before occurred in the person’s mind. From such a dream the person might infer that the next three years would be ominous. Taking cows and paddy as symbols of good luck and prosperity, the dream may be interpreted as a premonition of misfortune due to the lean cows and the dry paddy straw. So to have the prescience of truth through the medium of dreams, it is necessary to have some control over one’s conscious and subconscious minds. Those who have brought both these levels of mind under control through spiritual practices can, with a little effort, visualize pictures of past, present and future events even in their waking state. This accounts for the meditational clairvoyance or internal foresight of distant objects or events demonstrated by many sages.

Some power in visualizing past, future or distant events may be exhibited by an average person through crystal-gazing, fingernail mirrors, mirror-gazing, etc. This is nothing but the expansion of the cognitive field caused by the partial absorption of the conscious and subconscious minds into the unconscious mind as a result of intense concentration on a particular bright object. In the hypnotized condition or in planchette concentration, the activities of the conscious and subconscious minds get stilled, and the range of a particular individual’s knowledge may get slightly expanded, at least for the duration of such a condition. But then, here one must bear well in mind that those who see in a hypnotized state, in fingernail mirrors, or through mirror-gazing, only see the reflection of their own saḿskáras or their own previous mental bias, if any. This happens in almost cent per cent of such cases. That is to say, the hypnotized person goes on uttering words according to his or her own saḿskáras, while those looking at him or her watch aghast with folded hands, taking their utterances as absolute truth. Those who feign theophanic or demoniacal trances are outright fakes; everything they do or say is nothing but trickery and moonshine. But even those who invoke the spirits or gods with devotion (be it out of fear or love), or sit around the planchette – even their statements are almost entirely the expression of their respective saḿskáras and previous bias. One or two per cent of their predictions may even come true due to their mental concentration. But such chance truths are not always expressions of the unconscious mind, for there is nothing unnatural or unusual about one or two predictions out of many coming true. This can also happen to an ordinary person.

Agraháyańa Púrńimá 1956, Monghyr

The Two Human Approaches

What is this? What is this? “It is a flower.” How could you say that it is a flower? Because particular light waves come and touch your eyes, and a similar flower is created in your mind. Actually, you are not seeing the flower; you are seeing the mental image of the flower within. Do you follow? You never see anything, you never hear anything, you never even touch anything. When you see something or touch something, the corresponding sympathetic vibration is created within your mind. At that time, you feel that you are seeing the flower, or you feel that you are hearing some song, or you feel that you are touching something hot or cold. In fact, you never come in physical contact with anything. Your contact with everything is through your mind, through your nerve fibres, through your nerve cells, and your entire objective mind. When you feel you see, it is an internal projection with the help of your nerves. What a mystery! It is a great mystery that whatever you perceive or whatever you conceive – everything is within you, nothing is outside of you. That is why it is said that the entire universe is within you in miniature form. You are seeing the psychic projection of the material world, which is why I say that the human entity is more psychic than physical. Your existence is more important in the psychic world than in the physical world. But, in DMC, I said that you must maintain parallelism between your entitative waves, incantative waves, and spiritual waves. Human approaches are of two kinds – extro-internal and intro-external. Here is a flower. The waves move from the external world to the eye, then through the optic nerve to the nerve cells and finally to the brain. There, a similar flower is created inside the mind according to the light waves that are outside your body. This movement is from external to internal. It is something external, and its creation is in your mind, that is external to internal. Extro-internal – created outside but going within. This is the subject of applied psychology. There may also be intro-external movement, created within the mind and sent outside. Suppose you have created an elephant within your mind, and you have got a strong ectoplasmic structure. With the help of this strong ectoplasmic structure, you create sympathetic vibrations outside. That external projection can be seen by you and by others. In your mind, you are creating an ectoplasmic elephant, and that elephant is projected outside. Others may see it. In the language of psychology, it is called a “positive hallucination”. Similarly, suppose there is an external elephant, and with the help of your ectoplasmic power, you withdraw the light waves emanating from the external elephant. Everyone will see there is no elephant, although actually there is an elephant. In psychology, this is called a “negative hallucination.” A positive hallucination means that what appears to exist does not exist, and a negative hallucination means that what actually exists appears not to exist. Have you understood?

Now, for you there are two worlds, the external world and the internal world. Waves from the outside enter the internal world, and ectoplasmic waves with a strong pressure may create strong extroversial waves. In order to create positive hallucinations or negative hallucinations, there is always extroversial projection of your thought-waves. It is a very nice, interesting and intellectual subject. But for Parama Puruśa what happens? Who is Parama Puruśa? Parama Puruśa means He who, with His ectoplasmic force, is creating everything. When a man has got devotion, he may or may not be a scientist, but he may unify his existence with Parama Puruśa because of his extreme love for Parama Puruśa. In that case, he will become one with Parama Puruśa. At that time he maintains no separate identity. Suppose, the name of the man is Mr. Joseph. When he becomes one with Parama Puruśa, there is no Mr. Joseph.

So, Parama Puruśa is one. You, little girl, can you dance? Yes. Can you sing? Yes. Are you an expert in painting? Yes. Can you speak French? No. Now you have one weakness. So everybody has got certain imperfections. Parama Puruśa has got two imperfections. One is that He cannot create a second Parama Puruśa. Whoever will be in love with Him, in close contact with Him, will also become Parama Puruśa. But Parama Puruśa remains one. Magnet and iron. When iron comes in contact with the magnet, the iron and magnet become one entity. So, Parama Puruśa remains one. Have you heard the name Huang Ho? What happens when it comes in contact with the Pacific Ocean? When a person comes in contact with Parama Puruśa, one does not remain a person. One becomes absorbed, just like the Huang Ho. Parama Puruśa has got two imperfections. He cannot create a second Parama Puruśa. Parama Puruśa is always one. The second imperfection is that He cannot hate anyone. Suppose you dislike a person. You will say, “I do not want to see your face. I hate you.” You may say this if you are dissatisfied. You may also say, “Get out! Get out!” But Parama Puruśa cannot hate anyone. If Parama Puruśa hated you what might He say? “Get out! Get out!” Then you may challenge Him. “Parama Puruśa, you are everywhere, and yet you order me to get out. Where will I go?” Then Parama Puruśa will have to say, “Go outside my area.” But outside there is nothing. Everything is inside. So then you will challenge Parama Puruśa. “Either you change your name or withdraw your order.” Do you follow? So, Parama Puruśa cannot do two things. He cannot create a second Parama Puruśa, and he cannot hate anyone. He cannot even hate a bad person. All are His creation. Suppose in your mind you have created a drunkard, a bad man. You cannot hate that man because he is within your mind. So Parama Puruśa cannot hate.

Now I was saying that for you, there are two worlds, the external world and the internal world. For you, there are extro-internal vibrations and intro-external vibrations. But for Parama Puruśa, everything is within, everything is internal. Nothing is without, nothing is external. So for Him, there can neither be extro-internal projection nor intro-external projection, because everything is within, nothing is external. So whatever He thinks in His mind, others see as real. You see the Pacific Ocean externally, but for Parama Puruśa, the Pacific Ocean is within His mind. He has created the ocean within His mind, and mentally He is seeing it. Seeing mental objects requires no eyes. If you create a tiger in your mind, do you require any eyes to see it? You will mentally be seeing the tiger you created. For seeing anything Parama Puruśa requires no eyes. He sees with His mental eyes. For Him, there is nothing external. Everything is internal. Now what will an intellectual do? Many learned people are puffed up with vanity. Have you seen some scholars who have much vanity, who are proud of their intellect? You have seen such people. Can they become one with Parama Puruśa? Never, because their psychic projection is towards the external world. They want to get more name and fame, to establish themselves in the arena of vanity. Those who have intellectual vanity will never be able to come in close contact with Him.

Those who are established in actional faculties will be engaged in action. What is action? Action means relative change of place. When there is a change of place, you will say that an action is being done. It is a relative change of place and not an absolute one. Those who are engaged in actional faculties are doing so with time, space and person, but Parama Puruśa is beyond the periphery of time, space and person. So, by dint of one’s actional faculties, one cannot get Him. Then who can get Him? They say it is very, very easy. What to do? “O Lord, I am Your creation. I am Yours, I am at Your disposal. This body is a machine. Utilize it.” But you are to do one thing. What? Is there any want in Parama Puruśa? There are two imperfections. He cannot create another Parama Puruśa and cannot hate anybody, but is there any want in Him? There is no want – name, fame, money, etc. – because the entire universe is within His mind, so all the properties of the universe are His. He has no want. But the true devotee says, “Oh Parama Puruśa, there are so many great devotees, and I am only an ordinary devotee, the worst devotee. But Lord, those who are your big devotees have done one thing. They have stolen Your mind.” Because Parama Puruśa loves His devotees very much, His mind has been stolen by them. Now Parama Puruśa’s mind has been stolen by His devotees, so He has got one want – mind. His mind has been taken by His devotees. “Oh Lord, your devotees have stolen your mind, so You have got one want. You have lost your mind. Do one thing, Lord, take my mind. Let there be no want in You. I offer my mind to You. Accept it.” So the devotees are very intelligent, they are more intelligent than intellectuals, and more intelligent than those engaged in actional faculties. 24 August 1979, Taipei

Mysticism and Yoga

When the aesthetic sense, based on the subtle aesthetic science, comes to touch a certain standard, it is what is called mysticism. And when this mysticism reaches the pinnacle of human glory, or the excellence of human glory, it is called spirituality. What is mysticism? Mysticism is the never-ending endeavour to find out the link between the finite and the infinite. It is a never-ending endeavour to find out a link between the self and the Super-Self, khud and Khudá. This is mysticism. It is one of the human wonts that human beings are never satisfied with something finite. They are never satisfied with something limited. In Sanskrit it is said, Nalpe sukhamasti bhunaeva sukhamasti [“Human thirst cannot be satisfied with something limited, human hunger cannot be satisfied by something finite”].

That is, in the quest for the Infinite, human beings first come in contact with aesthetic science. Aesthetic science does not always mean to get something pleasant; it may mean to get something troublesome, something embarrassing – it may or may not be something pleasant. Aesthetic science is that which one can express in a subtler way, from subtle to subtle, and when it reaches the subtlest point, that point is the pinnacle of human glory. Now, it is the duty of artists to express their work in a nice way, in a lucid way, and place it before the world. Not everyone can do this. But enjoying something with aesthetic taste or aesthetic charm is within the capacity of each and every human being. When human beings started their movement towards the Supreme Being, in quest of Supreme Bliss, they first came in contact with spirituality. As spirituality is coming in contact with the Infinite, that is, the finite comes in contact with the Infinite, it is called yoga. Yoga is the unit moving in quest of the Infinite, the finite moving towards the Infinite in a mystic style. In Sanskrit, yoga means “addition”. For instance, two plus two is equal to four. But for a mystic, for an aspirant of the mystic goal or the mystic desideratum, yoga is not only addition; here yoga means “unification”. What sort of unification? It is just like sugar and water. Say there are two plus two apples. In the case of addition there will be one apple, then two, then three and then four apples. Every apple will maintain its individuality or its identity. The identity of the apples remains unchanged before and after the addition. But in the case of unification, that is, in the example of sugar and water, the sugar does not maintain its identity because it becomes one with the water. This is unification. In the realm of mysticism, yoga means this type of unification. That is, it is unification like sugar and water, and not simply addition like two plus two. Now the starting point is aesthetic taste or aesthetic science. The culminating point, that is, from the culminating point, starts the movement of Supreme charm. In that movement with the goal of Supreme charm, human beings become unified with the Supreme Entity, whose seat is above the pinnacle of existence.

This movement for yoga, for the unification of the unit with the Supreme, the finite with the Infinite, is a must for each and every human being. The human physical and psychic structure is most suitable for this purpose. Animals and plants act according to their inborn instincts. They are mentally undeveloped, and because of this their brain is also undeveloped. The cranium is very small and the conscious portion of the mind is sufficient for them; there is no necessity or little necessity for the sub-conscious or unconscious strata of the mind. A plant gets pleasure or pain when its inborn instincts are either encouraged or discouraged. When the inborn instincts of a plant or an animal are encouraged it gets pleasure, and when the inborn instincts are discouraged, suppressed or depressed, it gets pain. This is how the brain or the mind of plants and animals functions. But in the case of human psychology, human psycho-spiritual movement cannot be suppressed, cannot be checked. There lies the speciality of human existence. Now yoga. Yoga is the most developed and most valuable expression of human wonts, so it is in the first phase of yoga that one expresses oneself through so many arts and sciences. The final point of all artistic movement and the final point of all branches of sciences is the supreme source, the perennial source of all energies, the supreme seat of all energies. It is Parama Puruśa, the Supreme Entity, who is the Father of all, the Causal Matrix of all created beings in this universe, both animate and inanimate. That is why for all people, whether they are intelligent or illiterate, thin or fat, educated or uneducated, the Supreme Entity must be the goal of life. That is, the Supreme Entity is the culminating point, the desideratum of all human expressions. When human beings are lacking in this spirit of movement, they degrade themselves from the human status. All you boys and girls, you should remember this supreme expression of veracity. 14 September 1979, Istanbul