A young student repeatedly urged his master – a mystic – with growing impatience to reveal his greatest secret to him. After many years of practice and with great efforts the master had accomplished to bring one of the most powerful poltergeists under his control. Now, he held him captive in a bottle. The master informed his impatient student that the ghost would constantly have to be kept busy, once he was freed from his confinement. He could only be taken captive again, if he voluntarily admitted defeat. Thinking of his endless desires, the naive and inexperienced student replied that it would be very easy for him to keep the ghost busy.

The master had no choice but to give his consent. He called the poltergeist and ordered him to accept the boy as his new master to offer his services to. The poltergeist bowed to the boy and spoke with a deep voice: “I am at your command.” He was incredibly big and frightening. Taking his long sword from its sheath he yelled, “Don’t fail to engage me! Otherwise, I will cut off your head!”

Thereupon the boy ordered him to construct a big and splendid palace. The ghost accomplished this in a few days and, with his sword unsheathed, soon stood waiting for the next order. The boy listed all his desires, like gorgeous interior fittings for the palace, a park, ponds, a horse-drawn carriage, animals, toys etc. In an instant the poltergeist provided for everything and sometimes he woke the boy in the middle of the night, in order to receive new commands. Because he always had to think of new commands to engage his ghost servant, he couldn’t find the least bit of time to eat or sleep. Exhausted and without any unfulfilled desires left he ran to his master and begged him to protect him from the poltergeist, who came running behind the boy. Moved by compassion the master advised the boy to build a high pillar, which the poltergeist should climb up to the top. Upon reaching the top he should immediately slide down and then climb back up again. He should continue like this until he received new commands. Like this the poltergeist was brought under control.

The Power of the Controlled Mind

The poltergeist is just like the human mind. The secret of the master was that he developed the strength to control the mind, thereby freeing himself from the bondage of the uncontrolled mind. An uncontrolled mind wastes its strength, is misleading and keeps one bound to illusion, whereas a controlled mind can achieve miraculous deeds.

The issue of the power of the mind has been discussed in all cultures for thousands of years. The Vedic scriptures, especially the Upanishads, offer an explanation to this. They state that the living entities possess two bodies – a gross and a subtle body. The gross body, which constitutes a microcosm, corresponds to the macrocosm of the universe. It also consists of a mixture of the five gross elements: earth, water, fire, air, and ether or space. The subtle body is composed of the energy of the soul, which is also referred to as consciousness. Consciousness consists of three parts: the mind, intellect and ego. In many cultures consciousness is equated with the “spirit”.

Yogis following the eightfold path of mystical yoga of the Patanjali-Sutra scripture discover the incredible power of the mind. By this process of mystical yoga the yogi attains different subtle powers of the mind, for example “laghima-siddhi” the power to become lighter than air, “anima-siddhi”, to become very small, “garima-siddhi”, to become huge and heavy, “prapti-siddhi”, to attain whatever object one desires, etc.

Perceiving the Subtle Body

All living entities are spiritual souls, which means they are susceptible to subtle and spiritual powers. What holds the power of their minds captive is their identification with the gross and limited body which for them constitutes the real self. This means our perception stays limited to the five senses, which are imperfect because they are subject to delusion. Who can see the moon and the stars with his or her naked eyes during the day, or the sun at night, although they are always in the sky?

Because the living entities solely accepts the material, gross body to be the true self and are constantly concerned with it, their minds are closed to the possibility of perceiving the other part of their being, i.e. their subtle body. Therefore, for them the future always remains hidden and the past forgotten. Without wanting to get to know the subtle body and its diversity, it is not possible to experience the power of the mind inherent in all of us. All information which we have about our gross body and its activities, come from the activity of this subtle body.

The Mind is Independent of the Body

During sleep we are not aware of the gross body. However, the remembrance of dreams proves that the mind acts independent of the gross body. In the state of wakefulness the identity connected to the gross body comes to the fore and often we limit the actions of our mind to the bodily platform. In doing so, we forget the unlimited power of the mind which is independent of the body. This dormant power of the mind not only needs to be evoked, but also disciplined. If the power of the mind is not disciplined, it can lead to disastrous situations for oneself and for others.

The easiest task of a controlled mind is telepathy. Telepathy shows that it is possible to communicate with others with minimal effort and without any kind of device. Furthermore, a person with a highly developed mind can perceive his or her fate and that of others. He or she does this by reading the unmanifested code of fate latently present in space or ether. The unlimited power of the mind reveals itself gradually, or to the extent that one is freed from the bondage of ignorance.

Is there free will, or not? This can be answered by a counter question: Are we responsible for our actions?

If one wants to act out of free will, one must consequently also accept the concomitant result. However, if all our actions are determined by a higher force or fate we are free from any responsibility. According to the Vedic scriptures and the law of karma, a person must suffer or enjoy the consequences or fruits of his or her actions.

The German version of this text was published in the SEIN magazine, issue 02/06, in Berlin.