Saraswati's Wisdom Magic

“Children of Buddha, the oceans of worlds

Have various forms and characteristics…

There are infinite distinctions. 

Some are shaped like whirlpools,

Some like mountains of flames,

Some like trees, some like flowers,

Some like palaces, some like Buddhas.

There are as many forms such as these as there are atoms

In an ocean of worlds.

-Avatamsaka Sutra, ‘The Formation of Worlds’ 

From the above quote, we may conclude that in ancient times people were living in a multi-faceted and -layered universe, allowing their senses to reach beyond apparent limitations, conceiving of innumerable worlds and describing them in their scriptures and experiencing them in visions.  Whereas in present times we often seem unable to see beyond the concerns of our own petty needs and emotions.   We likewise tend to reduce all issues to the tiny reference frame of this one planet, life and brain, through the mirror of a very limited understanding of mind.

Yet even today, perception beyond what is considered ‘normal’ is not only possible; it is actually so common and occurs, albeit unnoticed, so often that it might as well be regarded as ‘norm’ denied. 

The only trouble is: We usually cannot acknowledge these perceptions because, by force of fear, we are inclined to dispute the ‘paranormal’.  From childhood we have been taught to be afraid of what lingers outside the boundaries of the socially accepted norm. This habit makes us lazy and blinds us to recognizing the whole palette of options for perception and action at our disposal in any given situation. Habit, especially when enforced by fear, blocks and suppresses our natural flexibility.  Consequently, it makes us dull and dumb.

However, paranormal perception, or anything beyond the boundary of the established ‘norm’, can be much more than a flight of fancy:  it can be a useful tool.  It can help us, for example, in the kind of crisis or ‘conflict situations’ to which there appear to be no so-called ordinary solutions.  In such cases, any intervention based on ‘paranormal perception’ does not, in fact, involve any phenomena, which we would need to regard as ‘extraordinary’ per se.  Rather, the practical workability of paranormal perception through the ordinary ‘magic’ brought to bear through a trained heart, mind and hand, only proves how ordinary this all is.  In the last analysis, in all of these cases, it is first our minds that stretch beyond their limits - and ‘perception’ or ‘reality’, then only follow. 

In order to illustrate our point, let’s examine a real life event that actually happened.

Several years ago, a personal friend of ours underwent a sudden and inexplicable change of character, from generally displaying the traits of a loving, compassionate and supportive human being to becoming, let’s say it as it was, the proverbial ‘son-of-a-bitch’, and insufferable to boot.  People tried to point the obvious alteration for the worse out to him, but he could not notice anything of this sort, and thus would not even listen.  In his own eyes, he still was the same – the ‘nice guy’ he had always been.  As a result, he felt wrongly accused, and in response to outside criticism became even more obstinate and, of course, irritated.  ‘Being irritated’, ‘becoming violently angry’ and ‘acting with smug arrogance’ had turned into his ‘new normal’. Which made it difficult to stay in touch with him, and much of his family even stopped calling him or talking to him. 

We were saddened but also intrigued.  What had happened? 

When we examined the situation on the basis of the information that we had at our disposal, we could not come up with any logical explanation.  It was impossible to pinpoint any clear-cut psychological or physiological cause, for example in terms of sudden drastic lifestyle changes, relationship and other emotional troubles, let alone alcohol or substance abuse.  We could not make heads or tails of it.  For lack of an explanation based on reason, we went to see our Buddhist root teacher Acharya Dawa Chhodak Rinpoche to ask for his opinion and advice.  He suggested that we do one of his so-called Saraswati mirror divinations.  Let Saraswati shine some light on this issue. 

For some, involving Sarasawati, the Hindu goddess of learning and also one of the Buddhist deities of wisdom, would automatically infer a call on the ‘divine’ or ‘paranormal’. For others, such as ourselves, appealing to Saraswati for help is like seeking recourse to a different aspect of mind, not restricted to ordinary human mind, but also not totally beyond its reach, especially for those properly trained. We don’t see anything special or ‘esoteric’ in it, just another feature of reality.

After having completed years of training in this discipline and with decades of practical experience, Lama Dawa by now has become an undisputed master in this kind of divination.  And prior experience had showed us time and again that it was helpful.  The divinations had proved accurate whenever we had consulted Saraswati’s mirror, regarding all different kinds of problems. Not only that:  the advice given had also contributed to solving these same problems.

Our question regarding our friend‘s total change in personality, then, solicited the following unusual answer.  According to Saraswati, “When on foot on the sidewalk in a busy city our friend had bumped unintentionally and unknowingly into a so-called ‘king-demon’.  Angered by the affront the ’king-demon’ in turn had cursed our friend by transferring part of his own habitual bad temper unto him.  And from that moment the poor guy could not help himself but had to act out the ‘king-demon’ part, while remaining totally ignorant of the fact.  The remedy”, Saraswati continued, “would be, to have a particular Mahayana Sutra recited and dedicated to him according to his age (i.e. recited as many times as years that he had lived).”  Lama wrote the answer down on a piece of paper and gave some additional information about the character and actions of  ‘king demons’.

We had received seemingly off-the-wall replies before – strange according to conventional wisdom.  We nevertheless had always followed the recommendation.  Thus, we did not hesitate and commissioned the sutra recitation that Saraswati had suggested and had it done by some yogis in Kathmandu. 

A few weeks after the recitation had been completed, we called our friend.  Naturally, we were quite curious and wanted to find out if the ‘magical intervention’ had been successful. 

From the way our friend responded when he picked up the phone it became obvious on the spot that he had reverted to his previous amicable self.  By the way, we had never informed him about what we had initiated on his behalf.  It was not mentioned at the time.  We only talked about it recently, several years later.  Now in retrospect, he was actually able to connect the dots. There had dawned a previously buried awareness in him regarding the sudden switch of character in him, from ‘generally friendly’ to ‘generally irritated and angry’ – and back to ‘friendly’.

If such occurrences as told in this story still surprise us, this only shows how ignorant we remain of the extreme limitation of what we normally think is ‘conceivably possible’.  The ‘conceivably possible’ constitutes but the thinnest of slivers of this vast multi-faceted, grandiose reality, this totally magical world that we inhabit.

A few months ago, I quoted in one of my FB pages from basic science’s ordinary wisdom.  Yes, you read correctly, science not spiritual wisdom.  And this is the quote: “You can see less than 1% of the electromagnetic spectrum, and hear less than 1% of the acoustic spectrum.  As you read this you are traveling at 220Km per second [NOT per hour, PER SECOND!!!] across the galaxy… RELAX!”

In other words, due to the limitations inherent in the way we have been programmed to use our senses, we are almost blind and near completely deaf.  Our capacity to perceive is pretty undeveloped, and our world a much more dynamic and ever-unfolding process than our rigid ego-minds are able, or even willing to comprehend. Which is less due to an inherent lack of capacity of the senses but rather more due to the way they have been conditioned to function. As one of my former Lamas used to say, “In ordinary circumstances mind will neither be open nor flexible; it merely functions as a reduction valve.”  One of the causes is fear, which has been put into us to keep us feeling small and our view narrow.

Indeed, many a world exists that we cannot see; many a beauty and truth vibrate inside and around us that we are not yet equipped to hear.  Ordinary mind filters them out.  Much of the cosmic, and all of the sub-atomic interplays escape our ordinary noticing.  Such is the situation. And modern science confirms it. Yes, we are 99% blind and 99% deaf.  So, may be, the time has come to open and fine-tune our eyes and ears.  If we do that even our so-called ‘ordinary’ world will be imbued and reflect a very different kind of light – and lightness than the drab and unresponsive version of reality that we take for the ‘only’ reality there is.

Reality is so much closer, and so much more vital.  All realities unseen and unheard of, like in our example the world of the ‘king-demons’ (as only one among innumerable possible worlds), are given together with ‘our’ everyday reality.  At certain points they intersect with it.  And as we showed in above anecdote, they can also impinge upon us.  They can influence our life in a negative or positive manner, no matter how much rational mind prefers to deny it. 

In all of this, we are not at all powerless victims governed and pushed around by outside forces too strong for us to understand, harness, transmute or transcend.  To the degree that we allow our minds to manifest its own vastness, to the same degree our resources become vast, too.  Yet as a result, we do not turn into tyrannical ‘puppet-masters’, lording it over the rest of the mankind.  Rather, we remain part of the play of infinite enjoyment. 

Yes, people like you and I who from the outside appear plain and ordinary, and are free of delusions of grandeur, can achieve extraordinary things… without becoming full of ourselves or clinging to these strange powers that may be moving through us occasionally.  We simply play our ungraspable part in this continually co-emerging infinitely faceted universe… and be done with each particular play when it is complete.