Use occult power, misuse occult power

A great occultist came to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and hundreds of ashramites went to see him. He would look at your forehead or read your palm and he would be able to say things about you. Then you would pay some money. My dearest friend Baburam went to see him. Everyone was very satisfied, because he was a great occultist. Then my dearest Baburam started begging and begging me to go and see this man. Hundreds of people would be going. It would be a big event. I said, "I will not go, I will not go. I do not need to meet with this yogi-occultist.”

At Baburam’s repeated request, finally I did go. He was so nice to me, so I said I would go in order to please him. I stood in a very long line only to please my dearest friend. I think a hundred people were ahead of me. Baburam was right behind me. The occultist was sitting in a small room. They kept the door a little open. The occultist would read your head or your palm.

Finally my turn came. As soon as the door opened, the occultist stood up. He said, "I had occult power. I had it, I had it, but I have lost it all to drinking and women.” He said this in front of me! He stood up and said that by drinking and by mixing with women he had lost his occult power. My friend was behind me. Again I wish to say that, if you misuse occult power, you can lose it.

This fellow was an occultist and he pleased so many people. One day he decided he would walk on water at six o’clock in the morning. Thousands of people thronged to see him. They were all eager. As soon as he started to walk, he sank. Then he started blaming the sun. He said that the sun did not help him. These are my cock-and-bull stories!

Here in New York there is a fellow who said that he walked on water. He showed photographs. He is a joker!

My father wrote to his cousin saying that he would be responsible for his cousin’s business and would meet with all his expenses. This particular cousin was a rogue who misused all his funds. He was trying to take advantage of my father’s kind and generous offer. Finally there was a court case. From our village it went to the Chittagong High Court. It was the last day. My father’s postcard to his cousin was with the lawyer. My distant uncle was a yogi and a great occultist. My mother had tremendous devotion for that uncle. He was very close to our family and he lived about three miles away. My mother went to his place crying. He sent a courier saying, “Nothing will happen. I will do something.”

In the court, the lawyer was so happy because my father’s signature was on the postcard. He brought the postcard to show the judge that my father was responsible for his cousin, because he had promised that he would give him money. Even that morning the lawyer had been so thrilled to see my father’s signature. But when he showed the postcard to the judge, there was no signature. All the words were there, but my father’s signature was missing! It was done in a Chittagong village, three miles away from our place. We won the case. Then the judge asked my father to write something. My father was smart — he signed his name in a totally different way.

How can you deny occult power?

And what happened in the court? My father had a friend. My mother used to cook and do everything for my father’s dearest friend. He went with my father to the court. Then he changed his mind: he took the side of my father’s enemy.

Soon afterwards this man died. Look at my father! This man’s son was completing high school and his daughter was in college. My father paid for both of them, the son and the daughter, to finish their studies. My mother was dead against it, but my father said, “What can you do?”

Again, my father’s signature disappeared. The occultist did something from a Chittagong village three miles away from our place. He also used to make predictions. Everything came true. Then he saw that he had no time to meditate and devote himself to Mother Kali. He cried and prayed to Mother Kali to take away all his occult powers. But Mother Kali just advised him to say everything wrong. He knew where the stolen cow was; he knew what had happened. Before, he used to say everything correctly. He knew what was true. Then he started saying everything wrong, wrong, wrong. People stopped coming to him and he was able to pray again.