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In the beginning, Parama Puruśa was one. Eko’haḿ bahusyam – “I am one and I will be many.” In the course of the centrifugal movement of the Cosmic Cycle, we find the emergence of five fundamental factors; and in pratisaiṋcara(1) we find the creation of innumerable living entities with their respective bodies, minds, lives, consciousnesses, etc. Thus arose the kaleidoscopic creation with Parama Puruśa as the Supreme Progenitor.
This vast universe is the manifestation of Paramátmá. The unit body, mind, etc., depend on His sweet will. The sun, the moon, the human kingdom, in fact, the entire natural world is dependent on Him for its very existence and unfoldment. The final ownership of everything, manifest or unmanifest, lies with Him. He can put any object into any position He likes. For example, He can change an adult into a tender child, a male into a female, or a man into an animal. Nothing is difficult for Him.
Demonstration
[Bábá gave a practical demonstration on this point at the Lucknow airport in front of numerous sádhakas (spiritual aspirants). He pointed to a sádhaka and said that he (the sádhaka) might be converted into a child, an animal, or a female. In the presence of all, He transformed him within minutes first into a child, then into a female, and lastly into a goat. Parama Puruśa can effect such changes by touch or gestures or even by mental processes. With the help of a little stick, Bábá touched the body of a sádhaka and removed the vrttis (propensities) of hatred, shame, and fear, and the sádhaka felt himself to be a small child. He was so simple, like a child, that he could even go out naked and move about throughout the town of Lucknow. Then he was changed into a female. His physical gestures were much akin to those of ladies. Next he was converted into a goat, which stood on all fours. He began to rub his head against Bábá’s body. He totally lost human sense, even his capacity for human hearing. He was unable to follow the language Bábá was using to make others understand.]
Human beings who do not practise sádhaná are no better than these goats.
[Later on Bábá patted him on the back and said, “Be a man as before,” and slowly the sádhaka got back human sense and behaviour.]
Footnotes
(1) In the Cosmic Cycle, the step-by-step introversion and subtilization of consciousness from the state of solid matter to Nucleus Consciousness. –Eds.