By Michael Avery
In Gifts of Unknown Things: A True Story of Nature, Healing, and Initiation from Indonesia’s Dancing Island, Lyall Watson tells the story of a woman named Tia’s miraculous manipulation of reality. This South African scientist, despite numerous academic degrees, found traditional science inadequate in explaining the mysteries of nature. His search for answers led him to remote corners of the globe where he was introduced to the paranormal.
Michael Talbot, author of The Holographic Universe, interprets Watson’s experience with respect to holography. He describes Tia’s power: “it was consciously controlled and stemmed from Tia’s natural connection to forces that lie dormant in most of us.” Although Watson had seen Tia use her powers in many ways, Talbot says, the most impressive was not in the presence of an audience.
Watson witnessed one of Tia’s most awesome displays when he accidentally stumbled upon her talking with a little girl in a shady grove of kenari trees. Even at a distance, Watson could tell from Tia’s gestures that she was trying to communicate something important to the child. Although he could not hear their conversation, he could tell from her air of frustration that she was not succeeding. Finally, she stopped talking, paused, and then started an eerie dance.
Entranced, Watson continued to watch as she gestured toward the trees, and although she scarcely seemed to move, there was something hypnotic about her subtle gesticulations. Then she did something that both shocked and dismayed Watson. She caused the entire grove of trees to suddenly blink out of existence.
As Watson states, “One moment Tia danced in a grove of shady kenari; the next she was standing alone in the hard, bright light of the sun.”
A few seconds later she caused the grove to reappear, and from the way the little girl leapt to her feet and rushed around touching the trees, Watson was certain that she had shared the experience also. But Tia was not finished. She caused the grove to blink on and off several times as both she and the little girl linked hands, dancing and giggling at the wonder of it all. Watson simply walked away, his head reeling.
Watson’s interactions with Tia played a prominent role in Gifts of Unknown Things. In the book, he reveals how Tia accomplished her feat. While yet a child, she had learned that our outer reality is constructed by the mind. Watson explains: “She blotted out the image in her mind, and the trees [in the physical world] vanished with it.”
In Autobiography of a Yogi, we find another account of such powers of the mind. Lahiri Mahasaya, an adept in Yogananda’s line of teachers, described his initial meeting with his own teacher, Babaji, the Ageless Saint, in the autumn of 1861. Lahiri worked as a government accountant. When transferred to the Himalayan post of Ranikhet, his duties allowed him ample time to roam the hills where a number of spiritual masters were said to reside.
On one such outing, Lahiri ascended Drongiri Mountain and found himself at the edge of a small clearing. A number of caves dotted the granite walls flanking the meadow. Lahiri heard someone calling his name. Standing on a rocky ledge near the opening of a cave, his hand extended in welcome, was Babaji!
The adept asked Lahiri if he recognized his surroundings. He did not. Then Babaji struck Lahiri lightly on the forehead. A wondrous current surged through his brain and released the memories of his previous life. During that incarnation, he’d spent many years as Babaji’s close disciple. This cave had belonged to Lahiri. His bowl, brass cup, and blanket were waiting for him here. Babaji had looked after them. Lahiri then stayed overnight with his teacher and other disciples sleeping around a campfire outside.
Around midnight, Lahiri was roused from sleep by another disciple, who led him on a trek through the forest. In the distance was a luminous glow. His guide explained that the light was the glow from a golden palace. He reminded Lahiri that in the dim past Lahiri had set in motion a desire that had gone unfulfilled—he had dreamed of enjoying the beauties of just such a palace. Tonight, his guide explained, Babaji was fulfilling that wish, thus freeing him from future karma.
Lahiri’s description of the palace has become a legend, oft recited by his disciples:
A vast palace of dazzling gold stood before us. Studded with countless jewels, and set amongst landscaped gardens, it presented a spectacle of unparalleled grandeur. Saints of angelic countenance were stationed by resplendent gates, half-reddened by the glitter of rubies. Diamonds, pearls, sapphires, and emeralds of great size and luster were embedded in the decorative arches.
Lahiri’s guide explained, “…the entire cosmos is a materialized thought of the creator…All its molecules are held together by the will of God. When He withdraws His will, the Earth again will disintegrate into energy…”
As morning approached, Babaji asked Lahiri to close his eyes. When he opened them again, the enchanting palace had vanished. He was now seated on the bare ground with his master and a few disciples in the exact location where the palace had been.
from Wide Awake in Dreamland, pp. 83-87, by Michael Harrington [Avery]