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OCCULT POWERS
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person who avoids worldly thoughts. As our monks have not worldly ideas so far as their service is concerned, as there are no ideas or thoughts with them as to making money and using their powers for mercenary purposes, but only in the one direction of spiritual advancement, they do not forget to observe moral rules because they would naturally live in accordance with them. If person do not understand what spirituality is, the very acts which they perform on the lower planes would act on the other planes also and would keep them for a long time on the lower, that is the emotional and physical planes. That is one reason why in this country the so-called mediums have never been able to rise higher than the emotional plane ; there is no individuality with them and therefore even the physical forces will influence them ; but the monks in India are so strong that no power can influence them; therefore the mental and moral acts would strengthen them on the spiritual plane. Their life is spent only for altruistic purposes, and they do not spend a single moment on their own body, because when the mind itself is on the higher plane and the soul is thinking only for the good of others, then the necessity for taking care of the body does not exist. That is where the Christian science would agree with this doctrine. The fundamental idea in both is that the body should be used only for spiritual advancement, but if it is used simply for physical advancement then the nature of the soul is not fulfilled. What I have said with regard to the monks may not be fully observed by the lay people,
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