Vikraman Nair lost everything in his business of running a wayside shanty restaurant. He had to sell his house and move out. A straightforward, honest and devout person, he was offered a room in a choultry, by the trusties of the nearby temple. He stayed there with his wife, for a small monthly rent. With no regular job, he was finding it difficult to find money enough to even pay that rent with the meager income he earned by selling odd things as a door to door salesman. And he knew that the trusties would not be able to allow him to stay there for long. His ailing wife added to his burden. He could only lament, and pray to his favorite deity. But instead of any immediate relief, he found himself in hospital with high blood pressure when he fell dizzy walking on the road.
In the hospital he chanced to meet a school teacher who used to frequent his restaurant when it was running well. On learning about his predicament, the teacher offered him accommodation in the small house of his which had fallen vacant and for which he said he was looking for a tenant. ‘Mr.Nair can stay there for the time being’, he had said. On leaving the hospital Nair hesitantly shifted his residence wondering what would be the amount he might have to pay, and how he would pay it. He got the house cleaned meticulously with the help of his wife who was by then feeling better and decided to discuss the rent with the teacher. After all, the landlord knew the situation well.
When the teacher visited the house next day he was happy to see it free of cobwebs and dust, appearing spic and span. When Nair enquired about the rent to be paid, the teacher replied that if he was very particular he could pay a token amount of Re 1/= per month! He said he did not expect any rent but just wanted somebody who would look after the property and maintain it clean.
Vikraman Nair could hardly believe it. He is absolutely sure that the meeting of the teacher in the hospital and his offer of the house is a great miracle brought about by his favorite deity to whom he had surrendered his fate!
Normally improbable events and coincidences are seen to be miracles depending upon the wonder element in the perception of the person experiencing them. All happenings can be miracles or supernatural events if one sees them so. The mind sees good happenings, especially those which are not expected, as miracles, but accidents and bad happenings are seen as ill luck or God’s wrath. Or it is condemned as the work of evil supernatural forces.
It is generally said that Godmen do not perform miracles, but miracles just happen in their presence. Strange things do happen on this earth. The viewers make it either sacred miracles or evil tragedies caused by supernatural forces.. This is not to discount supernatural or supra-normal phenomena for which explanations are not yet available or not yet found. But the vast majority, in my opinion is mind’s play. So many tricks are available for the mind to play, like illusions, self hypnosis, visions, unfulfilled desires, hallucinations and even strong beliefs.
For example, I have come across a paranormal phenomena believed to be supernatural by many. My friend’s wife Kala was the only child of her parents. It was her mother who brought her up after her father’s death, and they were too much attached to each other. The mother stayed with the daughter even after the latter’s marriage till her death about six or seven years ago. Thereafter every year on the death anniversary (on the day rituals are due to be performed) a crow makes its presence before Kala without fail. Kala makes it a point to feed it also. If Kala forgets the day in any year, the crow’s visit reminds her! She is of course not sure that it is the same crow which visits every year. May be a different one. But sure and certain, the crow came, sometimes when she least expected it, and when she did not know that it was the anniversary day till she looked at the calendar on seeing the crow. Kala and many others believe that it is the soul of her mother that visits her through the crow. It appears that this year the crow did not visit, but her mother herself appeared in her dream on the death anniversary day!
I am inclined to explain this phenomenon as follows. Her mother’s death and the particular day are deeply engraved in her memory. It is always there in her sub-conscious. The sub-conscious becomes automatically alert as the day of the anniversary nears. The mind has the capacity to monitor the day. There is a mental clock and a sort of calendar working in our minds. We often find ourselves waking up without an alarm to meet an emergency. The intensity of her attachment to her mother makes Kala’s subconscious to monitor the day without her conscious participation.
Crow is a universal bird. We see it everyday, but do not notice it particularly or attach any significance to it when noticed. But when Kala sees a crow on that particular day, things click into position in her mind and trigger the mechanism in the mind to remind her of the significance of seeing the crow. The whole phenomenon is coming from her own mind. This time, instead of noticing the crow, her mind showed her mother in a dream. If a person is psychic by nature these things happen all the more.
All supernatural phenomena are in our minds. Aren’t they?
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