India Sutra Insights on India

The fictional Superman of America may return on screen, but the real supermen of India never return. India – the land of mysticism has always had people with amazing supernatural powers. They are the very people who had powers to levitate, be invisible, reduce their body to the size of an atom, fulfill whatever they desired, walked above water without getting wet etc. They could practically do anything but chose to ignore their powers and even renounce them. Be it the past or the present, these supermen of India never bothered to openly publicize their powers. Unlike the fictional American Superman who returns, these real supermen of India never return to change the world. Why is that?

Some gurus perform miracles while other Gurus show their ‘namaskars to chamatkars’? Are miracles the only proof that the Divine exists? Given our heritage of Indian Gurus and their mind-boggling siddhis (powers), here is a little probe on the role of miracles in the realm of faith.

Of the many disciples of the great Guru Swami Vivekananda, there were a few from outside India who became famous and did some phenomenal work in the spiritual upliftment and education of the masses. Sister Nivedita from Ireland was one such famous devotee and disciple of Swami Vivekananda and that too during his times. Her 143^rd birth anniversary falls this month on the 28^th Oct 2010.

26^th June is Sant Kabir’s birth anniversary. Why is Sant Kabir so significant to seekers of truth? What is his message? Why were the great learned pundits of his times baffled by Kabir though he was unschooled? Why he is one of India’s most quoted mystic? What is his contribution to Sikhism?

This week on 27^th May was Buddha Purnima – the birth anniversary of the great Prophet from India – Gautam Buddha. Buddha meaning ‘the Enlightened One’. Most of us know about the life story of the prince Gautam who became the prophet of compassion and founder of Buddhism and its best to know the real teachings that will benefit us rather than legendary story. Gautam Buddha is said to be born around 563 BCE and passed away around 483 BCE, most modern scholars agree on these dates.

Swami Vivekananda ~ one of most admired spiritual genius of India is regarded by Indians as the patriot saint of modern India, a Vedantic Guru with global impact, a nation builder, a source of wisdom, dynamism and spiritual power. About this great monk, India’s Nobel Laureate and Poet Rabindranath Tagore had said, “If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him everything is positive and nothing negative”.

India produced a multifaceted freedom fighter who was also an intellectual, linguist, yogi, poet, scholar, philosopher and a great spiritual leader. Who was this great personality?

Very few spiritual teachers diverge from ancient techniques to guide the masses. But one Guru was different and contemporary. Though many of his teachings and methods were ‘heterodox’, they have made head way as mainstream spiritual practices in the modern world.

Last week on 7^th May it was the 150^th birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941). Tagore as we know him was a Bengali poet, philosopher, artist, playwright, composer and novelist. Just late last year we even saw the inauguration of a Tagore library here in Auckland at the Mahatma Gandhi centre.

OSHO has been one of the most provocative and inspiring spiritual teachers the world has ever known. He was known for his contemporary contribution to inner transformation and the influence of his teachings continues to grow even today, reaching seekers of all ages in virtually every corner of the world.”