The disciples use their occult power

There was once a very great spiritual Master who was living in America. Since he had just recently come to America, he had only nine disciples. Because he had so few disciples, he was able to give each of them a post in his spiritual Centre. There was one president, three executive vice presidents, two regular vice-presidents, a treasurer, a secretary and an assistant secretary. Once a week they would hold committee meetings and discuss plans to spread the Master’s Light and bring him more disciples.

Sometimes these meetings became real shouting matches, especially between one of the executive vice-presidents and one of the regular vice-presidents. Both these vice-presidents were middle-aged ladies who had studied astrology and occultism for many years, long before they had met the Master. From time to time they used to brag to one another about their occult experiences. Even though neither one ever had any occult experiences, each believed that the other did have some occult power, and they were bitterly jealous of one another. They never saw eye to eye about anything. Each felt it was her job to take the Master under her wing and help make him famous. And each thought that the other one was doing irreparable harm to the Master’s mission.

All the time they would take complaints to the Master against one another. The Master was very disgusted and many times he thought about taking both the ladies off the committee. But they had been with him almost right from the beginning and he didn’t have the heart to take away their posts.

The committee meetings were always held in the house of this vice-president. One night around eleven o’clock, after a particularly fierce argument with the vice-president, the executive vice-president jumped up from the committee meeting and ran out of the house. She went right to the Master, who lived just a few blocks away.

Now, since the Master was very poor, he lived in a small apartment up four flights of stairs. The stairs were very steep, and by the time the lady had reached the final flight she was out of breath. But she was so angry at the vice-president that she didn’t even pause to rest. The other woman’s face stood vivid in her imagination and even as she went up the steps she was still arguing with her in her mind. She was so preoccupied that she misjudged one of the steps and she slipped and fell.

Then she let out a scream that must have awakened everybody in the whole apartment building. The Master opened his door to see what was going on and he found his executive vice-president lying on the steps yelling. He helped her up and saw that she wasn’t badly hurt. All she had was a small scratch on her leg. But she carried on as though she had broken every limb in her body.

“Master, Master, see what your beloved vice-president has done to me!” she said. “With her occult power she appeared right before my eyes and tripped me.”

Now, the Master knew that his other lady did not have any occult power, but what could he do?

“I saw her clearly right in front of me,” the woman said. “Master, you have to throw her out of your Centre. She’s trying to ruin your mission. She’s trying to kill me. Here I am your executive vice-president and she’s only a vice-president, but she opposes me at every step. You have to get rid of her.”

The Master invited her into his apartment and gave her a little juice, but the woman kept carrying on about the vice-president. Finally, around one o’clock in the morning, she left.

Now, the next day, early in the afternoon, the vice-president called up the Master. She was sobbing and crying.

“What happened?” the Master asked.

“Oh, Master, you wouldn’t believe it. Your dearest executive vice-president tried to kill me!”

“Kill you! How? Where?”

“Master, she has such an undivine vibration, you wouldn’t believe it. After she left my place last night, her consciousness was all over the house. It was so bad that I could barely go to sleep. So this morning I went to the flower shop to buy some plants and flowers to purify everything.

“As I walked to the flower shop, even then I felt her undivine presence all around me. I knew she was using her occult power to attack me in the inner world.”

“Attack you? What happened?” the Master asked.

“Well, I was defending myself in the inner world when all of a sudden I saw her face right inside the flower pot I was carrying. As clear as day her face appeared right in the pot, and she gave me a nasty look. I was so furious, Master, that I kicked the pot and broke my right toe. So you see what she’s done to me. She used her occult power to break my toe. Master, you have to throw her out of your Centre.”

She went on and on like this for a half hour, and then finally hung up.

The Master said to himself: “Occult power, occult power, alas. My life in New York is wonderful. My life in America is more wonderful. My life in the world is most wonderful.”