Theos-Talk Archives (January 2004 Message tt00042)

The story about Yogananda's non-rotting corpse reminds me of a poem I 
read tears ago called "Rotting Away!" Anywaym there are severla 
things about this story which strike me as suspect:

(1) Most states have laws regarding the disposition of dead bodies, 
so that a rotting corpse would be left in unembalmed state for 20 
days seems strange. This makes the story suspect in itself.

(2) If the corpse was embalmed it probably would not decompose within 
a short period of time. Lenin's corpse is stll somewhere in Russia 
slowly rotting after some 80 years ot so, observed by his admirers.

(3) If Yogananda was not vegetarian but a voracious meat water he 
would have consumed prodigious quantities of perservatives, which 
prevent normal rotting after death.

(4) Most yogis opt for cremation and do not leave corpses around 
rotting long after they depart them.

In short, the story could be true, but I think the story itself is 
rot. Anyone can get anything notarized. Iam sure I could get a 
blank sheet of paper notarized if I wanted to.

Everyone who has practiced yoga has experienced all sorts of strange 
phenomena, including visions of Babaji and every one of the 
Theosophical phenomena except materialization. Despite long search I 
have found no one alive today who can demonstrate the ability to 
materkialize solid objects. Sai Baba has made claims to the effect 
that he can do it, but he has been accused of being a sleight of hand 
artist. It is impossible to prove a negative, but the reality of 
materializatio would have to be considered unproved unless someone 
knows someone who can do it. The fact that nobody can do it does not 
constitute proof that the thng can be done, in other words.

As for the mahatmas, it is reasonable to assert that because of the 
long time which has elapsed since the SD was writen they are all 
deceased. When Nicolas Roerich was in Tibet in the twentiies he was 
told that the mahatma KH was deceased and that the Kauthumpas ("Men 
of Koot Hoomi") were disbanded. He claims to have met Morya and to 
have studied under him, which, if the stories are true, would mean 
that Morya was still alive in the twenties. It is reasonable to 
assume thatm he, too, has moved on in the eighty years since then.

The cynics will sneer, but that there are mahatmas in the world today 
is a fact. Hankering after wonders is considered by most of them to 
be a sign of spiritual immaturity, and "phenoomena" are demonstrated 
rarely, and in private gatherings. Anyone who operates out of a 
store front is suspect. I have been told, for example, that if you 
are to meet Babaji all that is required is to go to northern India. 
If he wants to meet you, someone will approach you on his behalf. 
Searching for him is useless. There have been several impostors, 
some of them perhaps well intentioned, who claimed to be Babaji, but 
if you have to find them they are not the real deal.

In any ecvent you would have to prepare yourself. The adage "when 
the student is ready the master will appear" does not refer to idle 
reading.

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "krishtar_a" <krishtar_a@b...> 
wrote:
> Dears
> 
> Be all of you in deep peace.
> A question.
> If the original Mahatmas were still alive on earth could they still 
produce phenomenons?
> I mean, in other words, can a deceased adept or highly special 
talented people produce phenomenons in this physical plane only by 
the use of will-power and awareness of mystical laws involved???
> I am not meaning mediumship which all we know use other sources of 
beings and vehicles allied with will power.
> I also know that some adepts such as Babaji, who was the guru of 
Lahiri Mahashaya and, consequently, of Paramahansa Yogananda claimed 
that his physical body was senturies old.
> Does anybody have any clue on the " theosophical Mahatmas" being 
still alive in this plane, based in these same circumstances?
> If someone wants to know more about these Yogis and Mahatma Babaji, 
in his book " Self-biography of a a yogy" , P. Yogananda beautifully 
reports.
> Something I find very interesting is the purification that can 
devoted Men and Women achieve through meditation and work.
> On March 7, 1952, Paramahansa Yogananda passed away, in a conscious 
exit from the body at the time of physical death! 
> His passing was marked by an other extraordinary phenomenon. A 
notarized statement signed by the Director of Forest Lawn Memorial-
Park testified: "No physical disintegration was visible in his body 
even twenty days after death....This state of perfect preservation of 
a body is, so far as we know from mortuary annals, an unparalleled 
one....Yogananda's body was apparently in a phenomenal state of 
immutability." Isn' it fantastic?
> 
> 
> Krishtar
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]