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16
THE ART OF POSITIVE THINKING
in various forms of existence. It is surprising that despite extraordinary advances in modern scientific research, the technique of developing an embryo in the test-tube has not been entirely successful. However, in Yoniprabhrit we come across the possibility of creating all kinds of living beings. There occurs a mention of this or that individual having created a thousand he-buffaloes, horses, etc. A particular instance is that of a king-disciple who knelt before his guru. "Master!" said the king, "The enemy has assaulted our town. I am not in a position to halt the adversary. You alone may do something to save us." The guru's heart was filled with pity at the plight of his devoted disciple. He made use of the knowledge gained from his study of Yoniprabhrit, and threw a bit of powder into the pond from where thousands of horsemen instantly emerged. It was an unending stream. The aggressors were quite baffled by the spectacle of a huge cavalry advancing to annihilate them and they took to their heels.
On another occasion the acharya was reading to his pupils from Yoniprabhrit. The subject was, "The Technique of Fish Production". A fisherman happened to be passing that way. His attention was arrested and he stopped to listen carefully to the whole account of the technique. The very next day he experimented with it. Soon his pond swarmed with fish.
The modern word for this technique would be genetic engineering; it is an ancient technique.
The point to be emphasized is that we should never shut the door on any probability. The cultivation of faith means openness to various possibilities. Wherever there is this openness, there is right thinking. There is then no prejudice. Prejudice exists only where there is no openmindedness.
Wrong thinking has its breeding ground in impulsiveness. A king was walking bare-footed. A thorn-prick caused him much pain. He called his minister and told him, "See, what pain a thorn-prick gives! Many of my subjects walk barc-footed. They are subject to this suffering. Why don't you cover the whole arca of my kingdom with leather so that no one ever suffers a thorn-prick?" This order was the outcome of an impulse. In his irrational enthusiasm it did not occur to the king that if the whole carth was covered with leather where would the wheat grow and what would people and animals
eat?
There is the tale of King Midas of Greece who prayed to God that whatever he touched might be turned into gold. His prayer was granted. Whatever he touched turnedinto gold. All food and drink, the moment he laid his hand on these, turned into gold, leaving him hungry and thirsty. His daughter came running to him and the king embraced her: instantly she too turned into gold. Thereupon the
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