You are worse than a ghost

The minister did not struggle or try to force his way out of the King’s grip. He simply started repeating, “Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama!”

The King cried, “What is this? By repeating ‘Rama, Rama, Rama,’ do you think that you will be able to release yourself and escape? I am holding you very tightly. ‘Rama’ will never release you. You fool! Exercise your power to come out of my grip!”

The minister said, “You know that when one is haunted by a ghost, repeating Rama’s name makes the ghost leave the body. It seems that you are worse than a ghost.”

The King said, “No, no, no! I don’t want to be worse than a ghost!” And he immediately released the minister, who laughed and laughed.

Spiritual comments

What do we learn from this story? We learn to see the power that comes from chanting “Rama”. Some time ago a disciple in our Jamaica, West Indies Centre, a very close disciple, was in his office when three men came in to rob him. Two had guns and one had a big knife. And what did he say when this happened? “Supreme, Supreme, Supreme”. The robbers mocked at him, saying, “Supreme, Supreme, Supreme! What do you mean by ‘Supreme'?” But he just kept repeating, “Supreme, Supreme, Supreme”. Then what did they do? They opened a drawer, took twenty dollars and went away. They didn’t hurt him at all.

If he had not uttered “Supreme”, what would have happened? When men come at you with guns and knives, they are prepared to kill you. If he had used his own power to try to protect himself, they would have just shot him or stabbed him. I was actually there in Jamaica when this incident occurred. And I tell you, he was clearly seeing my face when he was repeating “Supreme,” so his whole consciousness was filled with my Light.

The power of the name of the Supreme was superior to his own physical power. Similarly, in the story the minister was chanting “Rama”, which is the name of a great Avatar, an incarnation of the Supreme, and this enabled him to free himself.

If somebody has caught you and you try to escape by using your own power, you may find that his power is greater. But the power of the Supreme is infinitely greater than any human power. So always try to use the superior power when you are attacked. The superior power is prayer, invocation. Invoke the Supreme, who is the Supreme Power. Then the other person will see that you are doing something which is almost amusing to him, like uttering “Rama, Rama, Rama”. He will think, “What can the Supreme do?” But you will actually alarm him; you will disarm him by doing this kind of thing. According to your attacker, what you are doing is foolishness. He has come at you with physical power, with a gun or a knife, so he thinks that you will also use physical strength, and he is prepared for that. But instead, you are using a power which he feels does not exist. You are saying the name of the Supreme with utmost sincerity and devotion, and it is entering into the deepest Source which is all-powerful. Your enemy will be disarmed by your innocence and go away.

If you know how to approach the Highest, the Highest has such power that you will be saved. Always use the high power, the power that comes from invoking the Supreme. Then surely you will be released. If you use the same weapons that the hostile forces use, you will lose, because they have experience on their side.