Psychic Ability versus Spirituality

Anand Krishna*

Sanjaya was an attendant, kind of a private secretary, to the blind king of

Hastinapura, Dhritrashtra. He spent two thirds of his life attending to the king.
He had no private life of his own.

Then, one day, just before the sons of the blind king would go to war with their
cousins – came along the great seer Vyaas, “Sanjaya, you must report the entire
preceding of the war to Dhritrashtra.”

“But, how could I possibly do that, Sir?Hastina is tens of miles away from the
battlefield of Kurukshetra. How could I leave the King?” asked Sanjaya.

“Oh no, you don’t have to leave Hastina,” replied the great seer, “be where you
are, serving your king. I shall endow you with psychic ability so you can see what
is happening at the battlefield and report it to the king.”

And, the seer did that. He endowed upon Sanjaya the ability that he promised.
Sanjaya did not have to undergo any special training for that. He got it just like
that. Yes, just like that!

That was about 5,000 years ago. Things, however, haven’t changed much. Psychic
ability can still be endowed just like that. One can acquire it just like that, with, or
without training. Following any discipline, or without any discipline whatsoever.

Like any other ability, Psychic is one of the basic human abilities. Unfortunately,
so far we have not paid much attention to this. So far, our time and energy have
been focused on developing other abilities like physic, mental and emotional.

It is only in the recent years - that is during the past century or so - that we have
begun to open ourselves to this ability. So, this is still a novelty to us. No wonder,
many of us is bewildered. Many of us are just stunned. Many of us are so
engrossed in it, with it, that we forget everything else - as if, psychic ability is all
in all.

Indeed, psychic is an important domain, an important layer of our consciousness

– but just one of at least 5 equally important domains, important layers of our
consciousness. Without the help of other domains – physical, mental/emotional,
intellectual, and last but not least, the spiritual domain – the human psyche
cannot fully express itself.

Psychic ability remains dormant in human, remains hidden, until it finds

expression through the Physical and at least one another domain,
Mental/Emotional. And, this is where this ability can be problematic, can create
problem for us.
Mental/Emotional Domain within us is governed by the Instincts. And, instincts
are connected with our subconscious, which is the storehouse of all our
experiences. These experiences are not all human. Indeed, most of them are
animalistic. We have inherited animalistic instincts from our past evolution.

As such, if the Psychic ability within us expresses itself through our Physical
Domain, with the help of just Mental/Emotional Domain – it can have a very
animalistic flavor and aroma. This is the kind of Psychic Expression that we see
all around us today.

Sanjaya, in the story quoted above, was fortunate enough, to have his Intellectual
Domain substantially developed. His name indicates that. Sanjaya means “One
Who Has a Control over the Lower Senses”. Sanjaya also has another meaning
very similar to the first one: “One Who Has Mastery over Mind”. He had his
Intellectual Domain fully developed.

Therefore, the Psychic Development in Sanjaya was no ordinary development.

With it, he took a quantum leap in consciousness. He did not only see the war
between cousins, but could see both the folly and the necessity of the war.

No problem can be solved through Violence. Indeed, Love is the Only Solution. So,
war is stupid, silly. But then, at times surgery cannot be avoided. A tumor must
be removed to save the body. If war is likened to a surgery, then it has some
purpose too. Sanjaya could “see” that. He could clearly see the outcome of the
war. He could see the Divine Surgeon performing surgery. So, he had no doubt
whatsoever in the success of such operation.

Sanjaya voiced out his conviction: Where there is Krishna, the Embodiment of
Divine Love, and Arjuna, the Personification of Human Skill and Efficiency –
success is certain! To us, it may sound like a prophecy. To Sanjaya, it was a
simple mathematic. His conviction was natural in the sense that it was in line
with the Law of Nature. Love plus Skill is equal to Success.

Sanjaya was a man of great intelligence. The Psychic Ability, which he got
through the grace of the Master, Vyaas, therefore, did not turn him into a
bighead. It did not create any sense of ego within him. He did not make any claim
of prophet-hood, although he made a prophecy. He did not claim to be a
clairvoyant, although he was one, and really a good one. And, why he did not do
so? The answer is: He was a man of intelligence.

A man of intelligence knows for sure that like any other ability, psychic is a
passing phenomenon too. You have it this moment; you may not have it the next
moment. As you age and your physical ability is lessened – so too your psychic
ability may diminish because of some other factors.

So, ABC! The Master always reminds us: “Always Be Careful!” Psychic Ability can
do much damage to us, if we do not have our Intellectual Domain fully or
substantially developed before we acquire it. Psychic Ability minus Intelligence
can be the greatest hindrance in soul’s evolution. The ego, the arrogance, the
vanity, the pride that comes with it can stop soul’s evolution. One can be static in
one place for eons.

Alas, this is happening with many of us. Our souls have stopped evolving any
further.

Psychic Ability without Intelligence can make us good healers, but we can only
heal those who are without intelligence. We can only swim in the same pool with
them. We cannot dive and reach the depth of the ocean.

With our limited and vain ability, when we try to heal, even touch a person who
has his or her Intelligence fully developed, we may cause him or her burning
sensation. which is very unbearable. Ramakrishna, the master of Vivekananda,
always complained of such sensation whenever touched by people like us.

In their compassion however, masters like Ramakrishna may not utter a single
word. They may bear the burning sensation without complaint. We may not
appreciate their act of compassion, for we have no inkling of their suffering.
Indeed, their very presence amongst us is but one grand act of compassion.

The evolved souls are actually allergic to this world, the worldliness, and the
worldly people like us. Such souls decide to live amongst us to help us. They
undergo much suffering because of us. They remain with us, because they truly
love us.

This is Spirituality. Psychic Ability plus Intelligence is equal to Spirituality.

Intelligence is not Intellectuality. One can be intellectual by borrowing

knowledge from books, from any other outer source. One can become intellectual
by undergoing certain training, or program. But, that is not the same as being a
man or woman of Intelligence.

Intelligence comes from “knowing oneself” – knowing oneself in soul’s utter

nakedness. Soul is not divine, as the intellectuals would like to put it. Soul is not
sinful, as the ignorant believe. Soul is neither divine, nor ignorant. Neither that,
nor this. It is only a man of intelligence, a woman of intelligence who can know
what soul is. Knowing it one knows oneself.

And yet, knowing it may just be the beginning of a long journey unto the
Unknown and Unknowable. One who knows It, knows All. One who knows All,
knows Nothing. The more one knows, the farther one gets from ordinary
mundane knowledge and closer to the Unknown.

One, who does not know anything of any value, claims to know. One, who knows
something of great value, makes no such claims. One, who can truly heal the soul,
refuses to be called a healer. One, who can only heal the body, makes big and tall
claims.
One, who loves, claims not to be a lover. One, who loves, expects nothing in
return. One, who loves, does so unconditionally. There is no reason to love, no
season. It is Love all the time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week/ Love, love, and only
love…..

There comes a time in the lives of each one of us, when we are very, very close to
a Buddha, or a Christ, a Muhammad, a Krishna – but we miss them. They pass us
by, and we do not recognize them. Why? We lack the intelligence to recognize
them – that is why.

What we need today, is the sharpening of intelligence. We all must go within to

find the traces of Christhood there, so when a Christ is passing by, our ego does
not come in between and stop us from recognizing Him, Her, It!

Sharpening of Intelligence, Viveka – that is the call of the hour. For, it is only
when the Intelligence is Sharpened, that we can get closer to Spirituality!

* Spiritual Activist, author of more than 130 books, several in English ( www.aumkar.org,
www.anandkrishna.org). His organization runs Holistic Health/Meditation Centers,
National Plus/Interfaith School, Charitable Clinic, Public Reading Room, etc in Bali. You
may call Aryana or Debbie on 0361 7801595, 8477490 to know more.