Talks Excerpt 479. Swamiji says: Rishis are beyond physical laws.
From Mother Radha’s recordings of Swamiji.
Devotee: Can Rishis materialise themselves?
Swamiji: Yes, Rishis can materialise themselves. That is what people do not understand about Hanumanji. They ask, ‘How can Hanumanji fly without wings?’ They do not understand that these Rishis are the possessors of the eight yogic powers. Didn’t Sri Ramakrishna say to Swami Vivekananda, ‘Above all, the yogic powers [siddhis] are given to you,’?
The Rishis are beyond physical laws. You cannot put laws on them. Narada never died. Did you know that? The Rishis can materialise human forms for themselves to pray to God. The scriptures say that Rishis materialise when the time becomes favourable. Who makes it favourable?
Devotee: Through the evolutionary processes . . .
Swamiji: No. Here you are thinking that the evolutionary process will start from water and develop from there. There will be souls that evolve like that but there are other souls too. Rishis do not travel only on Earth, they also travel in different dimensions and different spheres: bhur bhuvah svah. Why can they not enjoy themselves there? Why must they materialise themselves and come here? Who makes it conducive? God Himself.
Devotee: Will God make them manifest at a time when it is not conducive?
Swamiji: Yes, it depends on God’s purpose. What do you mean by conducive? Conducive only to mankind? It is said in the Vedas that God projected Lord Brahma and Lord Brahma projected the Rishis and told them to go and multiply. But the first Rishis refused. Then Lord Brahma made another set of people – Manu and others – and they projected mankind. This shows that God manifested the Rishis before He manifested mankind.
In the Vedas God also says, ‘I am One, may I become many.’ What is your concept of ‘may I become many’? Devotee: Multiply. Swamiji: Multiply what into what? Devotee: Into other beings.
Swamiji: Not only other beings. This is where we make a mistake. Become many means become many things – trees, plants and many other things – not only man, not only beings.
It is said that in the earth and in the rocks, God is fast asleep, in plants and animals He is dreaming and in man He is awake.
The free-to-read or download, 396-page Flipbook version of Swamiji’s biography is available by clicking HERE. If you’d prefer the PDF version, please click HERE.
These recordings or the excerpts from them, were made from the early 1970s onward, by Mother Radha, a close devotee of Swamiji’s and edited for uploading here by our gurubhai and her son, Brother Tim. Please be mindful that what Swamiji was saying may have been specific to an individual or a group of people with him, at the time.