A man in Lebanon had a program on satellite TV in which he reads the future. Recently he made a pilgrimage to Mecca where Sharia law considers predicting the future to be witchcraft for which the penalty is death. The man was recognized by the Saudi religious police, arrested, tried and has just been sentenced to death.
How come he couldn’t see that this was going to happen?
11 comments:
A comment more worthy of the Daily Show than Dhamma Musings.
aqjb you should look at the date.
Metta
Andrew
Dear Venerable Sir,
Please accept my humble apologies for my above comments, it is most remiss of me and my implication is not in any way to offend.
Sorry for practicing wrong speech.
With Best wishes and Metta,
Andrew
I read in a mahayana text about super natural power. It said there are two (or three?) things that the people who possess that power can't change.
1. They can't escape from their karma.
2. They can't free from death.
and my question is what is the use of the super natural power?
Han
Dear Wilfried,
Let’s face it, certain supernatural powers could be very useful. To be able to levitate could save you thousands on air fares. I could think of many advantages of being able to become invisible or read other people’s minds. The problem is that years of the most careful research has produced very meager and inconclusive evidence of any supernormal powers. I can’t however, see any advantage of being able to see the future, even if it were possible. If I foresaw that I was going to be sentenced to death, and if I foresaw it, it WOULD be the future and there would be nothing I could do to change it. If I could change it (and that’s what most prophets offer to do) then it would not be the future.
Dear Andy,
I’m most happy to accept your humble apology, but try as I might I cant see anything offensive in your comment. Indeed I don’t understand what you’re referring to in your comment. Crazy old world isn’t it!
I took it that Andy was supposing you were posting that musing as an April Fools joke, it being April onth and all. Unfortunately for the fortune teller, t'aint a joke.
Dear Venerable Sir,
Ken and Visakha have the answer, with my comment I was implying that you made an April Fool's Joke, which I don't think you would do.
Apologies once again.
Metta
Andy
Supernatural powers? Whether or not the ones mentioned in the Visuddhimagga can exist, some of the contributors to "Knee Deep in Grace: The Extraordinary Life and Teaching of Dipa Ma" appear to believe that this lay meditation teacher in the tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw did attain some of them. Even for skeptics, the book (edited by Any Schmidt and a new edition available from Windhorse, I believe) is a rewarding read.
Dear James,
‘My teacher’ always has supernatural powers. Ask any disciple, they’ll tell you. Myself, I do not doubt the reality of at least some extraordinary abilities. But I do think that most claims to and belief in miraculous powers are due to naivety, excessive devotion, delusion, interpreting the ordinary extraordinarily, wanting to make oneself or one’s teacher ‘special’ and in some cases lying. When it comes to attributing supernormal powers to one’s teacher the phenomena is a bit like romantic love. ‘Her teeth are like stars’ he says of his beloved. You and I look at her teeth and they seem no different from anyone else’s teeth. But to him they are special, amazing, unlike everyone else’s.
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