Hooks, daggers, even iron bars, pierced through the skin and flesh of the people walking under the hot sun, towards the temple high up in the dark caves; they walk with pride, without a single sign of fear, as if they do not feel the hooks on their backs, nor the daggers inside their jaws; as if they do not feel pain.
Every year in Malaysia we can see Hindus flocking to Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur, during Thaipusam festival. Thaipusam is the day when the Hindus come to thank their gods for granting them their wish. One of the unique scenery on this day, is certainly the extreme actions some Hindus took to show their gratitude to their gods. Some push through a dagger in their jaws, or cheeks, some pierce through the skins of their backs with sharp metallic hooks. They each take different ways to show their faith, but what is similar is that none of them show a sign of pain.
For the Hindus, it is believed that with proper rituals done prior to the special day, and with a deep faith in their gods, they will not feel any pain when taking such seemingly painful actions. According to them, they do not feel any pain when they pierce through their flesh with metals because they are protected by gods.
Bizarre as it sounds, there is also another case as a similar example - the followers of Sufi teachings. During their rituals, they chant and chant, sometimes even dance. As their chants get louder and louder, their devotions to their teachings get more and more intense, they claim that they can push through daggers, swallow swords without feeling any pain. And also that they can heal very fast, without an ugly wound left behind, within minutes, after pulling out the daggers or swords.
Similarly, the Sufi followers claimed that they are blessed and protected by their God when they perform such rituals, hence the magical powers of no pain, and fast healing.
While experiments found that the phenomenon of no pain, and fast healing, is TRUE, and that the bio-light of a person is enhanced when performing such ritual, which lead certain scientists to conclude that "the only simple explanation is God"; some scientists argue that it's not God, it's just OURSELVES.
Experiments back then have shown that human's consciousness has very powerful influence over their physical bodies. The famous example would be that experiment, in which a person was hypnotized, and being told he would be touched with a hot coal. The experiment subject then actually had his hand burnt, even though in the reality he was being touched with an ice block during the experiment.
Therefore some scientists argue that the "magical power" of no pain and fast healing when highly-religious people perform such rituals, is actually the power that they obtain, simply because of "faith". There is no external forces, but only internal influences where their strong believe in immunity to pain because of God, make their physical bodies immune from feeling any pain. It is what we call, mind over matter.
For years debates have been on this subject - is the power of feeling no pain, the gifts of God, or is it natural capability of human beings that is yet to be understood?
And thus here I ask the question : Do you believe in any external forces outside our mind (e.g. God, spirits, etc) ? Or do you think that there is no external forces, but it's only our mind over our bodies, and matters; it has always been just us, and our powerful consciousness ?
I personally think that such magical powers derived from both forces - external, as well as internal. Yes, I totally agree that the power of human's mind is so vast, so....unlimited, and also, undefined. I believe that, with a strong faith in something we are doing, we can achieve anything beyond our known limitations.
However, I also believe that there are external forces, unnecessarily be God. I believe the universe is filled with energies, active, inactive, flowing, stagnant, occupied, or free-flowing. When we believe strongly in something, our consciousness actually is "stirred" to such intensity, where it "attracts" the external energies outside our bodies, resulting in a resonance that may enhance what our physical bodies can do.
For me, the answer lies in a collaboration between the two - the intensity of our consciousness, and the resonance with external energies outside our bodies.
But still, we will never know the true answer until the true potentials of human beings is being explored, and mapped out; until we can say definitely what is really the limitations for human beings, or what is not.
As human being that possess the ability to think of why to everything, we are the most mysterious of all beings in this world. It's even more mysterious, when mysterious beings like us, are actually looking inward now, looking for an answer to what we can actually do, and what we really are.
After all, life is a mystery on its own.
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