The Weather Wizards – Part Two
Some two thousand years ago a group of men entered a boat on the edge of an inland sea and set sail for the farther shore. It had been a tiring day, and as they sailed the leader of the group fell asleep. As they made their way across the lake a hot wind began to stir, causing the waves to slap against the timbers of the boat. The gusts of wind increased in strength and the waves became more turbulent.
Soon water began to pour over the shallow sides of the vessel as it heaved and plunged in the angry sea. Fearing for their lives the group turned to their leader in alarm, begging him to save them. The man awoke from his slumber and asked them why they were so afraid. Then turning to the raging sea and the wind he rebuked them. The storm was immediately stilled and a great calm settled on the waters of the lake.
For the disciples who witnessed this miracle on the Sea of Galilee, the quelling of the storm seemed further proof of the divine nature of Jesus and of his God-like powers. What they had just seen seemed clearly beyond the power of any normal human being. Anyone who could tame nature in such a dramatic fashion surely had to be divine. The attitude of those early disciples continues to prevail to this day. We still believe that we are powerless in the face of the overwhelming forces of nature.
Yet as we have seen from the previous instalment, the New Physics as described by Quantum Mechanics makes it clear that everything that we see and experience in nature is actually a product of our minds, and not of some outward force. The American physicist Fritjof Capra sums up this view of the New Physics:
“Physicists have come to see that all their theories about natural phenomena, including the “laws” they describe, are creations of the human mind; properties of our conceptual map of reality, rather than of reality itself.” (The Tao of Physics)
The 20th century Indian sage Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj continually stressed to his followers that the world that appears so real to us, and that appears to exist outside of ourselves, is actually a subjective phenomenon that is created by the mind, and is tailored to the mind of each individual observer. As we find recorded in his answers to questioners in his book I Am That:
“You create the world in your imagination like a dream. As you cannot separate the dream from yourself, so you cannot have an outer world separate from yourself.”
“The mind and the world are not separate. Do understand that what you think to be the world is your own mind”.
“As long as the mind is there, your body and your world are there. Your world is mind-made, subjective, enclosed within the mind.”
Because the world we see around us, including the world of nature, is mind-made, it can always be remade by any individual who has the knowledge and the power to do so. And this is what Jesus did when he rebuked the wind and the waves and stilled the raging storm. But the power that enabled Jesus to do what he did resides within every human being, and every person alive today has the potential power to do the same.
But we who have been schooled within the classical tradition of science find it almost impossible to deny the validity of our senses. We argue, like the skeptic who once confronted another 20th century Indian sage Ramana Maharshi, that the world must have an objective reality because it continues to exist for others even when we ourselves are asleep. In response Ramana replied:
“Such a world mocks you for knowing it without knowing yourself. The world is the result of your mind. Know your mind. Then see the world. You will realize that it is not different from the Self.” (Talks With Ramana Maharshi)
The power to control the weather has been exhibited by numerous other sages. One day Paramahansa Yoganada was asked by his Guru Sri Yukteswar Giri to lead his disciples on a parade across the beach at Puri, on the eastern shore of India. It was a scorching day and the disciples would have to walk barefoot over the fiery sands. Yoganada appealed to Yukteswar to intercede. As he later wrote in his autobiography:
“No sooner had we left the hermitage than the sky became filled with clouds as though by magic. To the accompaniment of astonished ejaculations from all observers, a light shower fell, cooling the city streets and the scorching seashore. The soothing drops descended during the two hours of the parade. The exact instant at which our group returned to the ashram, the clouds and rain disappeared”. (Autobiography of a Yogi)
The revered Muslim saint Sai Baba of Shirdi was also known for his power to influence the weather. On one occasion fierce monsoon rains lashed the village of Shirdi flooding the streets with incessant rain. Prayers to to the local Hindu deities to stop the downpour were in vain. Finally the villagers gathered around the mosque where Sai Baba lived and implored him to intervene.
Sai Baba commanded the wind and the rain to cease. Immediately the storm abated and the air was filled with a tranquil sweetness. (Sai Baba: The Saint of Shirdi)
