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What is perplexing sometimes, is the fact that Uri himself says, "I must emphasize that there is a slight possibility that some of my energies do have some kind of extra terrestrial connection". So, he is not very sure where his powers come from. He goes on to say "If my imagination should lead me astray (as it has done once or twice) I know that my internal alarm system will sound-as it did that morning after my visit to the London Casino.
When I discovered that I could do things that other people thought unusual, I accepted my natural gifts without question and made use of them without worrying at all how I was able to make the hands of watches move, or how I could tell what other people were thinking." He says, "There were times when I was curious how these things were done, but when I began to work with scientists, I found that I had build a protective barrier around myself-but when wanting to know how my powers worked and just using them, the barrier was put up to keep the explanations out-and every time someone drilled a little hole in it and pushed through some scientific theory or other, I felt threatened. I was afraid that the whole would explode like a dam bursting, and that I would be flooded with information that would destroy me.
I was glad to demonstrate my powers for scientists for a time, because I was asked to do so by people I admired and respected. However, I did not want and STILL DO NOT WANT TO KNOW what any of them discovered. I don't want to clutter up my mind with theories or conclusions. People often ask me what I think of Edgar Cacey or some other famous psychic of the past, and I tell them I know nothing about them because I have never read a book about psychic research or Para psychology in my life..."
Herein lies the pity, because what Uri needs is exactly the opposite of what he's saying. What he really needs is to read a little bit more about his "condition". If he knew more about people who, like him, are psychic-but whose paranormal powers, unlike his are not limited, he might be able to complete the process that has started within him, which at this moment seems to be trapped and unable to move beyond his solar plexus. This impasse is obvious because his energies, though stupendous and far more developed that they are in the majority of people, are limited. According to his own statements, he finds it difficult to bend more than a certain amount of metal at one go. After the bending of the second or third spoon, the energy wanes, and he has to stop until he is "recharged".
Yogis develop their powers of levitation and healing through meditation techniques and breath control, yogic exercises that direct the flow of energy to the correct organs in the body, enabling some yogis to be buried for months on end and emerge alive at the end of it. Millions of people wend their way to Madras to spend time with Satya Sai Baba and witness him materializing sacred ash out of thin air, as well as money, jewellery and medicine, distributing it all among the rows of seated pilgrims, each according to his need. What, one wonders, would all the baffled scientific Uri Geller observers make of him! The books would flow in an endless stream, the electrodes would pop with his static electricity, the news headlines would scream slanderous slogans and history would repeat itself while Sai Baba would be oblivious to it all and continue to materialize medicine, money and necessary objects out of thin air, calmly walking up and down the rows of devotees distributing it all without appearing on stage, television and charging the earth for each appearance.
Luckily, the whole Indian continent knows of him, reveres him and accepts him as a man endowed with spiritual powers. They don't slander him or call him a charlatan or submit him to laboratory testing. He is a God-realized man whose Kundalini has risen and completed the whole spinal journey and is united to his Sahasrar in the brain I.e. he achieved enlightenment-like the Buddha did and others after him. It shows in his dignity, his courtesy, his generosity. He does not fly around the globe in planes and helicopters straining every nerve and muscle in an effort to increase his bank account daily. He does not contact news papers and try to keep his celebrity alive by constant public appearances. He chooses to stay near his people in his ashram, teaching, helping and healing them.
The result of all this is that the whole world comes to him to listen, to learn and to be healed. He does not fly into a raging temper when someone errs-nor does he bad mouth people behind their backs or encourage others to do so. He has no enemies. His ashram is open at all times-thousands of people live there for months at a time. They fall at his feet as he passes because they love and respect him. He needs no padlocked gates or bodyguards or short circuit TV cameras or secret security en and guard dogs to protect him or his belongings. People don't seek to rob him-they shower him with gifts and money which he gives away or uses to improve facilities for the swarms of pilgrims that come from all over the world to find peace and happiness and cleanse their souls in silence and harmony. He treats everyone with respect. He does not treat the rich and powerful with respect and then insult others because he thinks that they could not be useful to him. He receives everyone with love and deference and never says "I'm too busy".
All this sort of thing can only come about in a fully fledged spirit. This is how it is possible to recognize a completed self integration, where ego has been obliterated and only the fire of Divinity is active. A half-finished enlightenment is useless both to the adept and to all who come into contact with him or her. One is reminded of the words of Christ when He said "By their Fruits-Ye Shall Know Them". Without fully realizing it, Uri Geller is a Siddha Yogi ("Siddha" being the Sanskrit word for Perfection. Siddha Yoga is so called because it covers and contains within itself the whole gamut of the eight branches of yogic philosophy and practice, both physical and mental) but his Sissha hood is not yet completed: which is why his "Siddhis" or supernatural powers are limited. When his spiritual evolution is complete he will have direct access to his inner source of power like Sai Baba and other Siddhis such as Muktanda Swami, Ananda Mayl Ma and others, and be completely clairvoyant and be able to appear in several places at the same time, materialize objects out of thin air and dematerialise them and move them by telekinesis.
Uri Geller has manifested the power to do some of these things but to a limited extent only: firstly because he is unaware of his inner state, secondly because he is unable to contact his power house to reactivate his dwindling energy at will and last but not least-is using the tremendous gift that he has for reasons other than what they are there for.
Yogic scriptures are full of warnings to yoga practitioners not to use their powers when they are finally acquired for financial gain, showmanship or the acquisition of fame and self glorification. These are instructions which every yogi is made aware of right at the start-from the moment he or she decides to embark on the road to enlightenment and mystic union with their indwelling God. So, if they are serious about their objective, they keep constant look out for supernatural power manifestations and clamp down on the temptation to show them off or use them for personal gain. Of course, countless adepts have succumbed and fallen by the wayside. Many of them can be seen in Indian Bazaars and city streets performing astounding feats like the climbing rope trick ot burying their heads in the sand by the wayside, while passers by stand and stare and show their appreciation by tossing money into the nearby begging bowl.
But Uri differs from the usual yogi in that yogis begin from scratch and study the scriptures either on their own or wisely find a guru to guide them through the pitfalls on their chosen journey. They are willing to dedicate years of their life to achieve their spiritual goal. In some biographies, we read that they had to persevere for decades before they achieved any results., and decades more until they reached full enlightenment. They went in fully aware of their reasons for their choice of spiritual path and were willing to submit to the required discipline and study while Uri was plunged in at the deep end, so to speak and found himself the recipient of amazing powers without knowing how they came about or what he was supposed to do with them. Had he been born in India, his parents would have consulted a reliable Guru and he would have gone on from there to achieve Lord knows what wondrous heights.
Instead of which he grew up in an atmosphere, which created opportunities for ignorant people's jealousy, suspicion, disbelief and derision. In the face of all that, he understandably developed a capacity for self-protection, self-preservation and a strong desire to prove himself, to struggle against the curse of poverty in which he lived. It comes as no surprise then to know that he strove and still does, to make sure that his mother, his wife and his children were never going to be poor. So with the aid of his faithful friend Shippi (whose sister Hanna Uri eventually married) his show biz career was eventually launched with all the struggle and mental stress and strain that that entailed and the rest as they say-is history. Had he decided to study more about the workings of the inner fire that is alive and roaring within him ever since the ball of light entered into him at the tender age of four, and chosen a few simple yogic practises and chosen a few spiritual precepts as a way of life, he would find that his powers would increase with age rather than diminish and instead of finding the need to discharge his surplus energy by excessive exercise on his static bicycle, long walks, jogging and incessant activity and travel and only feeling comfortable when in perpetual motion, he would learn new means of channelling his energy inwards and upwards towards the Sahasrar and become an enlightened, truly super human being.
To talk of a spiritual way of life and outlook that finds mystic ecstasy in union with God is not to advocate that he practise his religion more assiduously than he actually does. He is actually quite religious, though perhaps some Orthodox Rabbi would be only too happy to point out the many gaps in Uri's practise of Judaism. But Uri considers himself to be a good practising Jew. He believes in God and prays often and ardently. He wouldn't dream of neglecting to kiss the mezuzah (a tube containing the Biblical verse "Hear O Israel-the Lord our God is one God) fixed to the right hand entrance door to every Jewish home, every time he goes in and out of his house, and minus a few little deviations common to all humanity, he (to all intents and purposes) obeys the ten commandments and tries to be a decent, law abiding citizen at all times.
Obviously-there are millions of people on this planet who say that they love God and feel very religious and try to obey the rules and instructions of their own religion. We all know about wars and genocide and persecution that take place in the name of religion right now and in the recent past, as well as throughout history, where an amazing amount of people are willing to kill and be killed in defence of their religion. But it is also astounding how many people have to have pointed out to them that to practice a religion, however arduously or sincerely or to the point of fanaticism does not classify them as spiritual people-that to be spiritual brings one into an intimate, personal and loving relationship with God. Religion certainly serves to point us in the right direction and without its civilizing influence and guide-lines man would really be "a wolf unto man": but it can only take us yup to a certain point of progress. After that thee has to come a leap of faith into further stages and approach. One can be willing to die for one's religion but still miss out on a satisfying relationship with God.
A book has been recently published entitled "True Confessions" published by Element Books. It is a dialogue by correspondence between Uri Geller and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach with a preface by Deepak Chopra-the celebrated author of "How to know God" and "Quantum Health". He is also a Teacher of Transcendental meditation and an Indian well versed in the Vedas. He also runs the Chopra Centre for Well Being in La Jolla, California.
In his preface to "True Confessions", after praising Uri Geller's gifts, concludes one paragraph by describing Uri as "Tormented, disorientated and vulnerable, still looking for the profound reason for his existence". He goes on to say "I hope that the time has come for Uri to use his extraordinary gifts in the domain of quantum healing. I believe that in concentrating on the internal transformation of the body, he will help us to perceive faculties which we probably all possess".
This is unmistakeably a gentle nudge directing Uri to using his powers in a less materialistic and theatrical way. As for perceiving Uri as "tormented-disorientated and vulnerable" he is echoing the views of most people who come into close contact with him and have dealings with him on a regular basis.
If he chose to adopt and then correspond with an Indian Saddhu or Western teacher of meditation he would cease to be tormented because he would be offered satisfactory explanations as to where his powers come from, why he has been given them, how to use them-when and where to use them and, most importantly, when not to display or use them (all of which Rabbi Boteach, judging by his letters, has been unable to give because he himself has never delved into these matters). He would no longer be disorientated because it would be revealed to him exactly where he came from, why he is here and where he is going. He would no longer be vulnerable because if and when he applies the new knowledge he acquires, he will feel empowered, protected and guided every step of the way. He will no longer find it necessary to say, when asked where his powers come from, that he is "at a loss when it comes to accounting for his psychokinetic talent" (the Geller Papers-page 4). If he takes it upon himself to study Kundalini yoga or Tantric yoga, a whole new vision of life would open up to him and he would no longer be at a loss when it comes to accounting for his powers.
On page twenty-five of "confessions" he says "the reaction I fear most from people is cold indifference-a cold shrugging of the shoulders." A fully realized man wouldn't give the slightest importance to any reactions-he would allow the supernatural power to manifest itself at will regardless of consequence or public reaction. He would view the whole cosmos while he lived in a higher state of consciousness. Uri seems trapped in the midway consciousness of the physical aspect of the world. It seems amazing that someone who claims to have come into contact with a celestial being of light should be content to go through life focussing on the physical world and what it has to offer and declaring to all and sundry "all I know is my body-I don't know anything about my soul or if I even have one-what is the point of all this soul business?" (page 88 "Uri" by Andrija Puharich, (Anchor Press)).
On page 96 he describes his encounter with the light when he was three or four years old in these words: "The light was too close to me, then it came down lower. I knew it was not the sun. The colour was too brilliant. There was a sharp pain in my forehead then I lost consciousness completely. Deep down I knew something important had happened". After such a momentous event one wonders how it is possible to declare "all I know is my body-what is the point of all this soul business"! If Uri can just bring himself to read up on Kundalini yoga-everything will become clear. What he tends to think of and describe as some kind of UFO was blinding light of Kundalini rising. The pain he felt in his forehead was the opening of the third eye. St. Paul experienced it on the way to Damascus. Moses experienced it in the burning bush that didn't burn and Gopi Krishna in modern times experienced it in the form of fire burning in his body, all of which he describes in his book "Kundalini"-Pak Subuh of Indonesia and head of Subud, encountered a ball of fire on his way home-which went right into him and stayed there. He describes the event and its consequences in his autobiography.
Countless individuals and saints have reported having such experiences without fully understanding what was happening to the, It invariably involves light and fire.
Uri occasionally refers to some "outside power" taking over and working within him and voices saying things and instructing him. But then so did Moses. But Moses dedicated the rest of his life to the service of God and to guiding the children of Israel through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. He himself was never allowed entry, because he smote the rock to obtain flowing water instead of talking to it like God had commanded him to. In other words, though some individuals are especially chosen to guide and teach the masses and lead them to the supreme heavenly bliss that lies deep within themselves-if the do not carry out the essential purpose of their calling, they themselves are barred from ever attaining blissful mystic union with their indwelling Divinity.
For the awakened Kundalini Fire to be able to travel up the spinal cord in order to reach the brain and enter into blissful consciousness to abide there forever, every ounce of energy is needed. All external activities make energy flow outwards and deplete the amount of energy needed for the mystic union to become possible. Cycling, walking dogs, constant appearances and writing murder thrillers and football involvement and fighting for one's rights in law courts all make for a very interesting life but expend that necessary vital energy externally, robbing oneself of the fuel needed for spiritual completion. Even the best intentioned priest or rabbi or any other religious leader might come face to face with a very disappointing surprise to find that they were barred entry into heaven, especially the loud, talkative, wise-cracking boisterous sexually minded , publicity seeking, materially interested individuals who pose as religious leaders. Of them Christ said "Woe unto you-you have the key to the kingdom of Heaven within you, but you do not enter therein yourselves and prevent others also from entering" and then "The blind shall lead the blind and they shall both fall into the ditch". He that hath eyes to see let him see and he that hath ears to hear-let him hear. They have eyes but they see not: they have ears but they hear not!"
In Psalm 46. V.10 God says "Be still, and know that I am God". In Isaiah chapter 30 V. 7. It says "Their strength is to sit still-(V.8) Now go...note it in a book that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever." and then again in V.15 "For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy one of Israel "in returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength-and ye would not". And yet again in Isaiah Chapter 33 V. 15 with regard to constant loading our brains with modern day "news". "He that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil-he shall well on high". V.17. "His eyes shall see the King in His beauty".
So we see that both the Old and New Testaments advocate stillness, rest, peace and quiet if one is to be allowed union with God and entry into the higher states of consciousness-so do Hindu and Buddhist teachings.
People who have completed their journey to enlightenment have indicated that when this happens, the lucky individual lives in a constant state of sublimity. Everything he looks at is bathed in divine light.
One of the most famous paragraphs in Gopi Krishna's book "Kundalini" describes, or rather attempts to describe the effects of enlightenment on one's life in the following words-"I live in a splendiferous Eden. The most beautiful palace on earth with mirrors and crystals and gems-everywhere reflecting the milky lustre of hundreds of fluorescent lights will be a poor simile to portray this paradise in which I live and breathe. It is a fairyland beyond the conception of the most imaginative mind. My experience understood in its true colours as the other dimensions of consciousness-presented to me a NEW VISION OF HUMAN DESTINY, which is a multi faced, multi dimensional and multitudinous universe. Humanity on the whole, at this stage in its evolution lives and dies on but one of the innumerable planes of consciousness that exist. Our sensory equipment is only for this one particular plane of existence. Creation does not consist of what we call "spirit" and "matter" alone. The universe we perceive is but one out of myriads running parallel to each other-sometimes occupying the same space-formed of diverse material components-each imperceptible to the other".
Furthermore he states that this function of the Kundalini is at the root of all paranormal phenomena. This energy ("Chi" or "Ki" in Chenese, "Prana" in Sanskrit) that works through the brain and the nervous system, is responsible for all the seemingly miraculous powers that physics possess. Here Gopi Krishna, as with all other enlightened beings is in accord with Uri Geller because everybody has these powers embedded in them from birth. It is a gift to the human race, but it has to be developed to full fruition in each individual. Right now though, only a handful of people exist in whom it has manifested itself-and the activation of the cerebro spinal system will lead human beings into a higher dimension of consciousness.
In every individual the process of arousal can be very, very gradual and so slow as to be completely imperceptible in an adept who practises the Yogic disciplines of mantra repetition meditation, or Hatha Yoga exercises or Asanas as they are known in Sanskrit. Quite often, the lack of immediate results can cause acute discouragement and many are the ones who give up in despair, thus contributing to the scrriptural adage "Many are called, but few are chosen".
On the other hand the transformation might be sudden. The Kundalini could rise without warning. When this happens, the lucky individual undergoes a transformation in thought and behaviour. He or she might feel an urge to deep meditation or prayer and solitude, and becomes extremely conscious of the necessity for a strictly moral code of living. They willingly begin to accelerate the abatement of latent passions and ambitions and try to diminish ego enhancing activities and pursuits-doing away with the pride and negative thoughts and emotions. Of course, the fact that the Kundalini is awake and rising within them denotes a great advancement in this direction already, so that any remnant of ego-love is almost automatically dealt with from within. Many describe an inner sense of peace and detachment and find it easier to be tolerant and loving towards their fellow human beings.
Anyone who has been around Uri for a while becomes aware of his colossally abundant energy and the need to release some of it in perpetual motion. It is impossible for him to sit still for longer than fifteen minutes at a time. He has to use his exercise bike, or walk the dogs or run round the garden to get rid of his surplus pent up energy. He also feels the need to watch endless television to keep in touch with all that's going on all over the world. This serves also as grist to the mill for his constant stream of psychic "thrillers". All energy-which if channelled to push Kundalini upwards-would have speeded up the completion of the process of enlightenment within him and increased his supernatural powers and benefited humanity in the long run. Somewhere along the line, Uri has to get his priorities right.
It is quite obvious that he leads a life inclined towards the good-but because he is given these special gifts that he possesses, he has the opportunity to achieve stupendous heights of bliss, both for himself and for all who come into contact with him, as well as for the world at large, for generations to come.
His writing could be put to greater use-he has access to the media world wide-he could share a sublime vision with everyone and help the whole human race move on to a higher state of consciousness and consequently bring about global peace which seems so elusive at this stage of human evolution. What we need now is someone with experience that lies beyond that of the ordinary man in the street, who could point the way to higher possibilities of evolutionary experience-not more thrillers, whether psychic or otherwise.
Looking at Uri, being with him and seeing him in action inevitably brings about a feeling of disappointment-a yearning for what might have been, of what still could be, if only he would set about working on his personal enlightenment through his colossal media access and his writing.
If only he could use his fame to accelerate mankind's progress towards peace and faith and hope and the desire to grow in truth-he has made enough money to last him and his family for generations to come to live in affluence-he does not need to keep incessantly active in order to achieve more fame-more fortune. Time is running out-if only he could realise the urgency of his mission-and decide that the time has come for him to accomplish that which only he can accomplish before his time is up and he has to be held accountable for frittering his God-given powers on the accumulation of wealth and fame and the admiration of the rich and famous and the fickle adulation of the masses.
If only he felt as much passion and spent as much time on real issues as he does on football.
If only-WHAT A WASTE! - if only.....
These are the thoughts and feelings he evokes in people who meet him personally and people who have never met him but know of him through the media or his books. Yes...if only......
Maybe it's not too late-maybe something will shift-maybe the force that decided to lie dormant within him midway will decide to re-awaken and accomplish what was begun-maybe someone higher up than a mediocre rabbi would point him to super consciousness-maybe realization will come upon him from his inner voices-(which he doesn't mention any more!). Maybe...let us hold our breath and pray.