Trainers say they teach meditation to help you achieve harmony and clarity. You can master stress and conflict. You can reach the peak of health. We met trainer Ali Arapalagupta at the Free Library of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “The correct training in reaching enhanced mental states,” Ali said, “can make you clairvoyant or give you the ability to project your mind elsewhere where you may receive guidance from higher disembodied minds and may process sensory information. You can “see” whatever’s there; you can “smell” whatever’s there. You can also “taste” whatever’s there even though nothing actually enters your mouth. Using this method a doctor can make a remote diagnosis,” claimed Ali. We pointed out, also, that a robber could see the combination of any safe being opened, a spy could obtain state secrets, and a police force couldn’t surprise a criminal to apprehend him unawares. Advance knowledge of stock trades could make any trainee wealthy. Employed by a repressive state, trainees could discover political thought or intended violence so it could easily be suppressed. We pointed out that many people criticize teachers of these methods, saying they can’t pretend to teach a religious practice. The results of a religion must be personal and depend solely on faith. These methods, they claim, are invasive and manipulative of others. Ali told us, however, “Whoever those critics are, if I could have only seventy hours with them, I could change their minds.”
Unknown religions