The secret of the idea of a blessing to be found in holy places lies in the principle that the holy place is no longer a place, but it has become a living being. The prophets, having proclaimed for ages the name of God and the law of the divine Being in the Holy Land, make it still living and it has attraction for the whole world.

It is said that for ages roses have sprung up on Sadi's grave and that his grave has never been without them. It is credible, for in 'The Rose Garden,' he has written from the thought of beauty, and that beauty of his thought, once voiced, is still continuing, though the mortal body of Sadi has perished. If this maintained roses in the place of his burial for centuries, it is not astonishing.

People often wonder why the Hindus, with their great philosophical minds, with their deep insight into mysticism, should believe in such a thing as a sacred river. Besides being symbolical, there is another meaning to it. The great Mahatmas live in the heights of the Himalayas where the Ganges and the Yamuna streams rise and then take different directions till they unite again and become one. This is really a phenomenon, deep in its symbolism as well as in its actual nature. It is symbolical that the rivers begin as one and then turn into duality, that after the two streams have been separated for miles, they are attracted to each other. Then they meet in a place at Allahabad, called Sangam, which is a place of pilgrimage. This gives us in its interpretation the idea of the whole manifestation, which is one in the beginning, then manifests as dual and unites in the end.

Besides this, the thoughts of the great Mahatmas flow with the water and come into the world combined with this living stream of the Ganges. This brings the vibrations of the great ones and speaks as a voice of power, of awakening, blessing, purity and unity to those who hear it. Nevertheless, those unconscious of the blessing have also been blessed by bathing in the sacred river, for it was not only water, but also a thought besides, a most vital thought, a thought of power with life in it. Those who have perceived this have perceived its secret.

In many poems in the Sanskrit language, one reads how, in the waves of the Ganges and the Yamuna, the seers heard the voice of the evolved souls and felt the atmosphere of those advanced beings as a breath current coming through the water.

There is a tank in Mecca called Zamzam, from which the prophets of all ages have drunk. They did not only drink water, they received from it what had been put into it, and then they charged it with what they had to give to it. Even now, pilgrims go there and receive that water as a blessing.

I once had an amusing experience during my travels in India. I happened to arrive at the place of the tomb of a most powerful person. I learned that often when this person visited this tomb, he came down with a fever. This amused me. I asked, 'What is the reason for this?' I was told, 'This great personality was hot tempered. Although most spiritual, he could not tolerate anyone. He would keep everyone at a bamboo's distance. So now, anyone going near this tomb gets a fever.' I thought, 'I must bow from a distance and leave!'

I also happened to see a place where a great healer, Miran Datar, used to sit. Throughout his life he healed thousands of patients, and many he healed instantly. In that same place, his grave was made, and till this day people are attracted to his tomb. Those who touch this place are healed instantly.

There is a story in the East of five brothers who were traveling and arrived at a place where they found that each one had lost his merit, for each was gifted in something. They were confused and disappointed, and they were wondering about the reason for such an experience. The wise one amongst them found, in the end, through the power of concentration, that it was the effect of the place. The place had lost its life, it was a dead place, and everyone who came there felt as if he had no life in him. The inner life had gone. We see this in land which after having been used for many thousands of years has lost the strength, the vitality of the earth. If outwardly the land can lose it, then inwardly the vitality, the breath of the land, can also be lost.

Often one feels most inspired in one place, and in another, most depressed. In one place they feel confused, in another place, dull. One finds nothing of interest, nothing to attract. One might think it is the effect of the weather, but there are places outwardly most beautiful in nature with a wonderful climate, yet one does not feel inspired there.

If an artist is born in a dead country, then his talent cannot be developed there. There is no nourishment, his artistic impulse will become paralyzed. Even a plant cannot live on itself, it must have air, sun and water. Yet a prophet can inspire a dead land just by passing through it.

 Jalaluddin Rumi said centuries ago that before everyone fire, water, earth and air are objects; before God they are living beings that work at His command. The meaning of what Rumi said is that all objects, all places, are as gramophone records. What is put into them, they speak. Either one's soul hears it, or one's mind, according to one's development.

It seems that people are now beginning to believe in what they call 'psychometry.' What is it? It is learning the language that objects speak. Apart from the color or form an object has, there is something in it that speaks to one. Either this belongs to that object, or it belongs to the one who has used it, but it is in that object. Sometimes one may bring an object into the house and the moment one has brought it in, the other objects begin to break. As long as that object is there, then there is always a kind of loss. It can bring disharmony to the house, or an object can bring illness, or it can bring bad luck.

Those who knew the psychological effects that come from objects therefore always avoided getting old objects, however beautiful and precious. They always bought a new object for their use. Of course, one cannot do this with jewels. They have to be old; but most often one finds that jewels have more effect upon a person, on his character, life, affairs and environment, than anything else. One may obtain a pearl that could bring good luck of every kind, from the moment the jewel was bought, or it may produce a contrary effect. Very often a person does not think of it, yet the effect is just the same, it is continual. Besides this, what one wears has an effect upon one's health, on one's condition of mind, on one's feeling. If it is a jewel, it may have the voice of thousands of years. As old a jewel as it is, it has so much tradition behind it, and it explains it. Intuitive persons who are sensitive and feeling can easily perceive the vibrations of old stones, and it seems as if they speak to them.

Also, with all one gives to another in the form of food, sweets, drinks, fruits or flowers, one gives one's thought, one's feeling, and it has an effect. Among the Sufis in the East, there is a custom of giving to someone either a piece of cloth, a flower, a fruit, or some grains of corn. There is a meaning behind it – it is not what is given in that object, but what is given with it.

How little we know when we say, 'I believe in what I see.' If one can see how influence works, how thought and feeling speak, how objects partake of them and give them to one another, how thought and feeling, life and influence, are conveyed by the medium of an object – it is most wonderful.

Question: Can any object be charged with good vibrations when, in itself, it is a bad omen?

Answer: There are certain bitter things which can be made sweet; but at the same time, the bitterness is there. There are eatables in which people put different things in order to take away a certain smell, but the smell is still there.

Question: Can the bad influences attached to places and beings be gotten rid of and turned to good?

Answer: Certainly, since at the depth of all things and beings there is goodness.

Question: Is it in the power of a human being to change the influence of an object?

Answer: The answer to this is given in the first four lines of the Gayan:

'When a glimpse of Our image is caught in man,
When heaven and earth are sought in man,
Then what is there in the world that is not in man?
If one only explores him, there is a lot in man.'
 

checked 25-Oct-2005