A SAINTLY POWER OR A GRAB FOR EGOTISTIC EXHIBITIONISM?

            In my last blog, I discussed Ralph Lewis article, “Is Levitation Possible?” 
            As Lewis’ article says, levitation has been practiced by rather fundamentalist Christians like Saint Dominic, St. Thomas of Aquinas, and Saint Ignatius of Loyola, mainstays of the Christian Church, but it has also been claimed by people like D. D. Home, the famous English medium and recounted by scientists like Sir William Crookes and psychologist, William James.
            So what is all this wonderful stuff got to do with spirituality, the quest for Cosmic Consciousness? Well, I believe that such a quest does get into what one might call 5^th dimensional areas, places where consciousness intersects quantum levels of experience that basically can defy what would normally be considered reality on this plane. As one moves into the area of quantum physics, we see things that seem to indicate that the very consciousness or perception of an experiment can alter its nature and that the same object can influence another at a distance without any kind of causal significance.
            Consciousness in this ordinary plane of existence may not typically produce strange phenomena, although in some instances it seems to; but as one gets more deeply into the quest, then this kind of phenomena seems more prevalent. Does levitation involve the same technology as the purported anti-gravity technology of UFOs? Is it connected, as I have wondered, with quantum physics, perhaps with fields of energy that science is still not clear about.

            In my last blog, I shared two examples, hosted by YouTube of levitation, one by an African shaman and one by a Buddhist monk. In both cases, the practitioners were a kind of holy man, although the idea of a shaman is often connected to the ability to heal and to manifest “magical powers” and a Buddhist with the ability to enter into deep meditation, communion with God or, perhaps, as AMORC speaks of it- with Cosmic Consciousness. I cannot speak for any man’s intention, but the concept of a shaman, in my mind, does not rule out a true quest for Cosmic Consciousness. In many religions, the siddhis (a Sanskrit term meaning special or psychic powers) are looked out as an outgrowth of saintliness or communion with God and not something to be focused on.  In fact, sometimes people are warned not to focus on it.
            Here is an example of the Nelya Mikhailova performing telekinesis in which she may be utilizing a power connected to levitation. Regardless of this connection, this is an example of a very secular exhibition of a power that was fostered by the Soviets quite some time ago in their quest for utilizing these types of powers for affecting human beings for military purposes. Quite the opposite of the kind of spiritual epiphenomena or side effects that these powers have in the pursuit of Cosmic Communion.

            In my experience of AMORC’s teachings, there is a much stronger focus on the siddhis than on the pursuit of higher consciousness for the sake of achieving union with Cosmic Consciousness.  To me this is quite dangerous- especially since this focus is grounded in mind control, a form of hypnosis used by AMORC than create hallucinogenic phenomena and can suggest the member into a false sense of comfort with the divine authority of the Rosicrucian Order. Authority is a powerful foundation for classic hypnosis and joined with the power to create hallucinations in subjects- there is much to be said to doubt even the reality of psychic manifestations by practitioners who are working under this kind of influence. The human ego (not the soul) is delighted by the acquisition of power but is the mirror opposite of the soul whose capacity to perceive the ocean of consciousness that surrounds us all is firmly rooted in the relative death of the ego, which will block its ability to truly see Higher Reality.