Autobiography of a Yogi
had a power which I wish were possessed by the starving millions
of Asia and, today, of Europe as well.
“I was present with a hundred other guests at Gandha Baba’s home
in Burdwan,” Alakananda told me. “It was a gala occasion. Because
the yogi was reputed to have the power of extracting objects
out of thin air, I laughingly requested him to materialize some
out-of-season tangerines. Immediately the LUCHIS {FN5-4} which
were present on all the banana-leaf plates became puffed up. Each
of the bread-envelopes proved to contain a peeled tangerine. I bit
into my own with some trepidation, but found it delicious.”
Years later I understood by inner realization how Gandha Baba
accomplished his materializations. The method, alas! is beyond the
reach of the world’s hungry hordes.
The different sensory stimuli to which man reacts-tactual, visual,
gustatory, auditory, and olfactory-are produced by vibratory
variations in electrons and protons. The vibrations in turn are
regulated by “lifetrons,” subtle life forces or finer-than-atomic
energies intelligently charged with the five distinctive sensory
idea-substances.
Gandha Baba, tuning himself with the cosmic force by certain yogic
practices, was able to guide the lifetrons to rearrange their
vibratory structure and objectivize the desired result. His perfume,
fruit and other miracles were actual materializations of mundane
vibrations, and not inner sensations hypnotically produced. {FN5-5}
Performances of miracles such as shown by the “Perfume Saint” are
spectacular but spiritually useless. Having little purpose beyond
entertainment, they are digressions from a serious search for God.
Hypnotism has been used by physicians in minor operations as a sort
of psychical chloroform for persons who might be endangered by an
anesthetic. But a hypnotic state is harmful to those often subjected to
it; a negative psychological effect ensues which in time deranges
the brain cells. Hypnotism is trespass into the territory of
another’s consciousness. Its temporary phenomena have nothing in
common with the miracles performed by men of divine realization.
Awake in God, true saints effect changes in this dream-world by
means of a will harmoniously attuned to the Creative Cosmic Dreamer.
Ostentatious display of unusual powers are decried by masters. The
Persian mystic, Abu Said, once laughed at certain FAKIRS who were
proud of their miraculous powers over water, air, and space.
“A frog is also at home in the water!” Abu Said pointed out in gentle
scorn. “The crow and the vulture easily fly in the air; the Devil
is simultaneously present in the East and in the West! A true man
is he who dwells in righteousness among his fellow men, who buys
and sells, yet is never for a single instant forgetful of God!”
On another occasion the great Persian teacher gave his views on
the religious life thus: “To lay aside what you have in your head
(selfish desires and ambitions); to freely bestow what you have in
your hand; and never to flinch from the blows of adversity!”
Neither the impartial sage at Kalighat Temple nor the Tibetan-trained
yogi had satisfied my yearning for a guru. My heart needed no
tutor for its recognitions, and cried its own “Bravos!” the more
resoundingly because unoften summoned from silence. When I finally
met my master, he taught me by sublimity of example alone the
measure of a true man.
{FN5-1} Kali represents the eternal principle in nature. She is
traditionally pictured as a four-armed woman, standing on the form
of the God Shiva or the Infinite, because nature or the phenomenal
world is rooted in the Noumenon. The four arms symbolize cardinal
attributes, two beneficent, two destructive, indicating the essential
duality of matter or creation.
{FN5-2} Cosmic illusion; literally, “the measurer.” MAYA is the
magical power in creation by which limitations and divisions are
apparently present in the Immeasurable and Inseparable. Emerson
wrote the following poem, to which he gave the title of MAYA:
Illusion works impenetrable,
Weaving webs innumerable,
Her gay pictures never fail,
Crowd each other, veil on veil,
Charmer who will be believed
By man who thirsts to be deceived.
{FN5-3} The RISHIS, literally “seers,” were the authors of the
VEDAS in an indeterminable antiquity..
{FN5-4} Flat, round Indian bread..
{FN5-5} Laymen scarcely realize the vast strides of twentieth-century
science. Transmutation of metals and other alchemical dreams are
seeing fulfillment every day in centers of scientific research over
the world. The eminent French chemist, M. Georges Claude, performed
“miracles” at Fontainebleau in 1928 before a scientific assemblage
through his chemical knowledge of oxygen transformations. His
“magician’s wand” was simple oxygen, bubbling in a tube on a table.
The scientist “turned a handful of sand into precious stones,
iron into a state resembling melted chocolate and, after depriving
flowers of their tints, turned them into the consistency of glass.
“M. Claude explained how the sea could be turned by oxygen
transformations into many millions of pounds of horsepower; how
water which boils is not necessarily burning; how little mounds of
sand, by a single whiff of the oxygen blowpipe, could be changed
into sapphires, rubies, and topazes; and he predicted the time when
it will be possible for men to walk on the bottom of the ocean minus
the diver’s equipment. Finally the scientist amazed his onlookers
by turning their faces black by taking the red out of the sun’s
rays.”
This noted French scientist has produced liquid air by an expansion
method in which he has been able to separate the various gases of
the air, and has discovered various means of mechanical utilization
of differences of temperature in sea water.
CHAPTER: 6
THE TIGER SWAMI
“I have discovered the Tiger Swami’s address. Let us visit him
tomorrow.”
This welcome suggestion came from Chandi, one of my high school
friends. I was eager to meet the saint who, in his premonastic
life, had caught and fought tigers with his naked hands. A boyish
enthusiasm over such remarkable feats was strong within me.
The next day dawned wintry cold, but Chandi and I sallied forth
gaily. After much vain hunting in Bhowanipur, outside Calcutta, we
arrived at the right house. The door held two iron rings, which I
sounded piercingly. Notwithstanding the clamor, a servant approached
with leisurely gait. His ironical smile implied that visitors,
despite their noise, were powerless to disturb the calmness of a
saint’s home.
Feeling the silent rebuke, my companion and I were thankful to be
invited into the parlor. Our long wait there caused uncomfortable
misgivings. India’s unwritten law for the truth seeker is patience;
a master may purposely make a test of one’s eagerness to meet him.
This psychological ruse is freely employed in the West by doctors
and dentists!
Finally summoned by the servant, Chandi and I entered a sleeping
apartment. The famous Sohong {FN6-1} Swami was seated on his bed.
The sight of his tremendous body affected us strangely. With bulging
eyes, we stood speechless. We had never before seen such a chest or
such football-like biceps. On an immense neck, the swami’s fierce
yet calm face was adorned with flowing locks, beard and moustache.
A hint of dovelike and tigerlike qualities shone in his dark eyes.
He was unclothed, save for a tiger skin about his muscular waist.
Finding our voices, my friend and I greeted the monk, expressing
our admiration for his prowess in the extraordinary feline arena.
“Will you not tell us, please, how it is possible to subdue with
bare fists the most ferocious of jungle beasts, the royal Bengals?”
“My sons, it is nothing to me to fight tigers. I could do it today
if necessary.” He gave a childlike laugh. “You look upon tigers as
tigers; I know them as pussycats.”
“Swamiji, I think I could impress my subconsciousness with the
thought that tigers are pussycats, but could I make tigers believe
it?”
“Of course strength also is necessary! One cannot expect victory
from a baby who imagines a tiger to be a house cat! Powerful hands
are my sufficient weapon.”
He asked us to follow him to the patio, where he struck the edge
of a wall. A brick crashed to the floor; the sky peered boldly
through the gaping lost tooth of the wall. I fairly staggered in
astonishment; he who can remove mortared bricks from a solid wall
with one blow, I thought, must surely be able to displace the teeth
of tigers!
“A number of men have physical power such as mine, but still lack
in cool confidence. Those who are bodily but not mentally stalwart
may find themselves fainting at mere sight of a wild beast bounding
freely in the jungle. The tiger in its natural ferocity and habitat
is vastly different from the opium-fed circus animal!
“Many a man with herculean strength has nonetheless been terrorized
into abject helplessness before the onslaught of a royal Bengal.
Thus the tiger has converted the man, in his own mind, to a state
as nerveless as the pussycat’s. It is possible for a man, owning a
fairly strong body and an immensely strong determination, to turn
the tables on the tiger, and force it to a conviction of pussycat
defenselessness. How often I have done just that!”
I was quite willing to believe that the titan before me was able to
perform the tiger-pussycat metamorphosis. He seemed in a didactic
mood; Chandi and I listened respectfully.
“Mind is the wielder of muscles. The force of a hammer blow depends
on the energy applied; the power expressed by a man’s bodily instrument
depends on his aggressive will and courage. The body is literally
manufactured and sustained by mind. Through pressure of instincts
from past lives, strengths or weaknesses percolate gradually into
human consciousness. They express as habits, which in turn ossify
into a desirable or an undesirable body. Outward frailty has
mental origin; in a vicious circle, the habit-bound body thwarts
the mind. If the master allows himself to be commanded by a servant,
the latter becomes autocratic; the mind is similarly enslaved by
submitting to bodily dictation.”
At our entreaty, the impressive swami consented to tell us something
of his own life.
“My earliest ambition was to fight tigers. My will was mighty, but
my body was feeble.”
An ejaculation of surprise broke from me. It appeared incredible
that this man, now “with Atlantean shoulders, fit to bear,” could
ever have known weakness.
“It was by indomitable persistency in thoughts of health and
strength that I overcame my handicap. I have every reason to extol
the compelling mental vigor which I found to be the real subduer
of royal Bengals.”
“Do you think, revered swami, that I could ever fight tigers?” This
was the first, and the last, time that the bizarre ambition ever
visited my mind!
“Yes.” He was smiling. “But there are many kinds of tigers; some
roam in jungles of human desires. No spiritual benefit accrues
by knocking beasts unconscious. Rather be victor over the inner
prowlers.”
“May we hear, sir, how you changed from a tamer of wild tigers to
a tamer of wild passions?”
The Tiger Swami fell into silence. Remoteness came into his gaze,
summoning visions of bygone years. I discerned his slight mental
struggle to decide whether to grant my request. Finally he smiled
in acquiescence.
“When my fame reached a zenith, it brought the intoxication of
pride. I decided not only to fight tigers but to display them in
various tricks. My ambition was to force savage beasts to behave
like domesticated ones. I began to perform my feats publicly, with
gratifying success.