Beyond Psychic Powers (Part 7)

QUESTION: Then there is another person who has psychic powers, which he uses to convince his disciples that he is God.

JAGAD GURU: As I said before, powers are relative. The ant offers a perfect example. An ordinary ant may be awed by a super ant who can jump five times higher than and can lift two hundred times as much as an ordinary ant. He can do all these amazing feats. The other ants may view the super ant as a great God, a great psychic. But let an ordinary dog walk by and step on the super ant, and it is finished.

Human beings think that some guy is some kind of super God because he can do things that no one else can do. But this power is relative; it is not necessarily spiritual.

Just because a person is more powerful doesn't mean I will accept him as God. When I speak of the Supreme Person, I am not speaking of someone who is trying to develop his powers, or of someone who undergoes the process of self-realization, or of someone whose powers are limited.

For example, you may have the power to read another person's mind. But the Supreme has the power to continually know what's in every living entity's mind, even if that entity is in the body of a dog, hog, or ant. He knows what's in every single living entity's heart and is actually providing every desire according to the entity's heart's desire. He knows every person's goal, every thought, every desire—continually, all the time. You cannot be in that situation just by saying you're in that situation, just by saying you are God. You may be able to impress the less intelligent followers just because you have more power than they have. But it is a great mistake to claim to be God.

QUESTION: Actually, this particular teacher was once asked if he was God and he said, "Yes." He went on to explain that everyone is God but that they haven’t realized it. He said the difference is that he knows he is God and we haven’t realized it.

JAGAD GURU: This philosophy that "I am God, we are all God" has become very popular. But just because something is popular doesn't necessarily mean it is true. Of course, it is popular because actually everyone wants to be God. Actually, it is our disease that we want to be the Supreme. It keeps us away from the Supreme Person.

Let me quote to you my answer from my book, Are Mystic Powers Perfection?:

People who like to be told that they are God will appreciate his flattering them. They are such fools that they fail to ask: "If I am God and you are God, it means I am you and you are me ... so how come you can know that you're God without me knowing it also? If we are really the same one God, how come your being enlightened doesn't make me enlightened simultaneously? And how come you're trying to communicate something to me? If I am God and you also are God, there would be no need for talking—your thoughts would be mine and mine yours. And furthermore, if I am God but have forgotten, how did I forget? Forgetfulness implies that the force of ignor-ance or maya is stronger than me. That means that I am not God; that is, all-powerful."