Page 33 - All India Magazine Jul-2025

Ambition has been the undoing of many Yogis. That can-
ker can hide long. Many people start on the Path without any
sense of it. But when they get powers, their ambition rises up,
all the more violently because it had not been thrown out in
the beginning.
A story is told of a Yogi who had attained wonderful pow-
ers. He was invited by his disciples to a great dinner. It was
served on a big low table. The disciples asked their Master
to show his power in some way. He knew he should not, but
the seed of ambition was there in him and he thought, "Af-
ter all, it is a very innocent thing and it may prove to them
that such things are possible and teach them the greatness of
God." So he said, "Take away the table, but only the table, let
the table-cloth remain as it is with all the dishes upon it." The
disciples cried out, "Oh, that cannot be done, everything will
fall down." But he insisted and they removed the table from
under the cloth. Lo, the miracle! The cloth and all that was
upon it remained there just as though the table was under-
neath. The disciples wondered. But all on a sudden the Master
jumped up and rushed out screaming and crying, "Nevermore
shall I have a disciple, nevermore! Woe is me! I have betrayed
my God." His heart was on fire; he had used the divine powers
for selfish ends.
It is always wrong to display powers. This does not mean
that there is no use for them. But they have to be used in the
same way as they came. They come by union with the Divine.
They must be used by the will of the Divine and not for dis-
play. If you come across someone who is blind and you have
the power to make him see — if it is the Divine Will that the
man shall see, you have only to say, "Let him see" and he will
see. But if you wish to make him see simply because you want
to cure him, then you use the power to satisfy your personal

All India Magazine, July 2025 33