Question : We see movies and TV shows depicting Hindu Rishis and Saints having immense powers that enabled them to predict the present and future. It looks funny. My intellect refuses to believe this!
Answer: Dear young man, Muslims practice Islam. Christians are spreading Christianity. They don't question their faith. Their religious leaders stop immediately any such questioning of faith.
However, immature Hindus are vouching for secularism without knowing its negative influences and impacts. A question of this nature is the outcome of such ignorance.
Brother, you have asked your doubts in the right forum. If you ask the same question to atheists or missionaries, they will spin a web of deceit around you. You too either would have fallen prey to their misinformation or would have become a puppet in their hands. They simply ridicule Hinduism, their own mother.
You are captivated by the concept of Artificial Intelligence. I do not think that you have either experimented or have any deep knowledge in the subject but repose faith in AI.
Today our children and youth are ignorant of our heritage and hence presume our Rishis and Saints as mere fortune-tellers. But Rishis and Saints are spiritual scientists who are well acquainted with the secrets and miracles of the universe. They controlled their minds, and channelized their Pranic energy, in order to attain immense powers and transcendental knowledge. This knowledge can be termed as ‘Organic Intelligence’.
Swami Vivekananda stated, “Each soul is potentially divine”. It means each person has got a lot of powers. It is upon the man to manifest this power. You may ask how those Rishis are aware of the happenings around the world.
A small example. In an organization, the authorities with the help of CCTVs can monitor the movements of the entire office. With the help of satellites, world events can be telecast live, and with spy satellites, we are able to see the movements and existence of everything on Earth.
Similarly, the Rishis possessed a pure mind and stayed firmly on high levels of consciousness without greed, jealousy, ignorance, mistrust etc., which resulted in the manifestation of their wonderful powers, which are the potential divine nature of man.
Young man, avoid all types of distractions, focus your attention, channelize all your energies and you too may become a Rishi. That is the blessing of Swami Vivekananda for the world.
Swami Vimurtananda
29 June, 2023
Ramakrishna Math, Thanjavur