Irrefutable evidence to the existence of paranormal phenomena

[Sahir Shibley]

I think all the doubting Thomases who question the existence of the paranormal are talking through their hat. I have witnessed a supernatural phenomenon. There is a holy man who lives in Puttaparthi in Karnataka state. No one knows where he came from. One morning the residents of Puttaparthi found him sitting under a neem tree. He has been credited with performing many miracles. From his appearance he does not seem to be an Indian and it is presumed he came from a foreign country. Though his official name is Maharishi Thamassananda Yogi some of the locals refer to him as Firangi Baba due to his caucasian appearance. I have personally witnessed many of the miracles performed by this holy man. The most remarkable thing about the holy man is he seems to emit some kind of light. This appears as a sort of halo around his head. I took a picture of the baba to test if the halo appears on photographic film. I was amazed to see that the halo seems to have gained in intensity in the photograph . As evidence I present to you the picture of Maha-Rishi Thamassananda Yogi of Puttaparthi. Please note the halo around his head. http://www.geocities.com/sahirshah/misc/holyMan.html
PS. I have moved this post from the thread started by Thinku Mama to a new thread because I believe this particular instance of the paranormal merits special attention.

[This message has been edited by Sahir Shibley (edited August 23, 2001).]

[David Weitzman]

I have to admit, that picture leaves me with more questions than answers, however I will not discount the possibility that it is doctored.

[Andy Ceponis]

Thats real!!! OMG!!!

[Randall Twede]

that is so obviously fake. im not saying miracles never happen but many of the so called holy men in india have been proven to be fakes and their "miracles" unveiled as mere tricks. it is not just india either.

[Greg Harris]

I believe, I believe!!!

[Peter Lyons]

Hey! That's Thomas Paul! Maybe we should address him SAINT Thomas Paul?

[Jim Yingst]

Shh, Peter. We're testing to see how many people pay any attention to the www.javaranch.com/contact.jsp page...

[Sahir Shibley]

I strongly object to the comments made by Peter Lyons. By implying that our spiritual leader and founder of the Thamassic religion is someone known to him he is trivialising our religion . His comments are an attack on our relgious beliefs. I request a moderator to expunge these offensive remarks made about our religion.

[This message has been edited by Sahir Shibley (edited August 23, 2001).]

[Mapraputa Is]

Of course, this something is not Thomas Paul. I compared books on the shelf (behind halo) and they are different from ones Tom reviewed for our bunkhouse.
Interesting, however, that when I hear about paranormal phenomena, I also always think about Tom. He is the only paranormal phenomenon I believe in.

[Jim Yingst]

Well, I see two main possibilities. Either (1) Thomas Paul is an avatar of Maharishi Thamassananda Yogi (heretofore referenced as "MTY" in this post), or (2) Thomas Paul is an imposter, attempting to steal the fame and glory of MTY. The latter theory is supported by the inferior quality of the Thomas Paul portrait, in which the loss of color and additional field of view in the right side of the picture indicates the shoddy nature of the forgery. Thomas should be ashamed of himself for this base attempt to ride on the coattails of the esteemed MTY.

[Peter Lyons]

I strongly object to the comments made by Peter Lyons. By implying that our spiritual leader and founder of the Thamassic religion is someone known to him he is trivialising our religion. His comments are an attack on our relgious beliefs. I request a moderator to expunge these offensive remarks made about our religion.
Um... what I meant to say was that guy looks sorta like Thomas Paul, but it's obviously NOT Thomas Paul, 'cause Thomas doesn't have a halo. And the nose is different, and Thomas is missing a bunch of teeth, and like Mapraputa pointed out, those books aren't Thomas'. Yeah... that's what I meant to say.
I oughta know better than to post in a forum on religion!

[Andy Ceponis]

Everyone bow down.
.
.
.
Open your mouths
.
.
.
Swallow the valium.

[Mapraputa Is]

Originally posted by Mapraputa Is:
Interesting, however, that when I hear about paranormal phenomena, I also always think about Tom. He is the only paranormal phenomenon I believe in.

Map, what is so paranormal about Tom?

[Anonymous]

Map, are you talking to yourself?

[Mapraputa Is]

Originally posted by Mapraputa Is:
Map, what is so paranormal about Tom?

Well, for one thing, he is a paranormal phenomenon, but he doesn't believe in paranormal phenomena! Such a paradox constitutes an induced PP, or epi-paranormal phenomenon.

[Mapraputa Is]

Hm. You base your proof that Tom is a paranormal phenomenon on the assumption that he is a paranormal phenomenon! Map, hate to say it... But you logic is somewhat flawed.

[John Bateman]

Jesus.. and I thought I took the red pill!!!
(Matrix reference for those not in the know!)

[Mapraputa Is]

Originally posted by Mapraputa Is:
Hm. You base your proof that Tom is a paranormal phenomenon on the assumption that he is a paranormal phenomenon!

So what? All religious systems and even the Science itself are based on assumptions. Even Mathematics has some axioms it cannot prove. Real question is what axioms or credo to choose. I think, the assumption that Thomas is a paranormal phenomenon, even though he doesn't believe in them (and exactly because he doesn't believe in them!), is a good candidate to become a corner stone of Thamassic religion. It reflects the divine nature of Tom's spirit. Think: does God believe in Himself? Wouldn't it be absurdly to think so? Of course not, God is an Atheist. The same story with Tom.
By the way, there is an evident proof of divine nature of the founder of Thamassic religion. When I looked at His picture for the first time, it was black-and-white. But yesterday night it became color!

[Andy Ceponis]

Lay off the drugs will ya.

[John Bateman]

Hey
What about me.. I may not be the PARANORMAL phenomenon you all need to guide you, but I could be one hell of a PARANOID phenomenon if you'll just give me a chance.

(Oh man, I bet no-one will answe this cause they don't like me...)

^
|--- SEE!!!


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[Mapraputa Is]

Ok, Map, probably there are some unavoidable contradictions in the foundation of any intellectual or spiritual system, but there should be something besides them, no? You contradict yourself all the time! First you said that the paranormal phenomenon on the picture is not Tom, then that Tom is a paranormal phenomenon, then you ranted about "the divine nature of Tom's spirit" and that he is a corner stone of Thamassic religion which implies that Tom is Maharishi Thamassananda Yogi ("MTY" in Jim's notation). What is your point at last? Or you, like those postmodern authors, cannot decide whether to subject your subject to mockery and desecration, or to throw yourself down in deep awe and deference? Are you trying to accomplish both at the same time?

[Mapraputa Is]

Point? Which point? What is "point"? Something, that doesn't have dimension? Then you cannot even see it! Why ask about my point if you cannot see it anyway? Or is it "my point of view" - static and desperately limited, doomed to one-sided perception? If this is what you want, then I have many of them. But next time, please, take a pain to formulate your question more precise. Like Jim did it, for example.

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:
Well, I see two main possibilities. Either (1) Thomas Paul is an avatar of Maharishi Thamassananda Yogi (heretofore referenced as "MTY" in this post), or (2) Thomas Paul is an imposter, attempting to steal the fame and glory of MTY

Neither possibility, how you put it, looks feasible to me. Of course, Thomas Paul how we know him is not an impostor. Embodiment, incarnation - maybe. But not an impostor.
I think on Sahir's picture we see yet another persona; somebody impersonating Thomas Paul, who, in turn, impersonates MTY. Of course, real Thomas Paul would never do that, but the impostor does. We deal with double impersonating here.
It's worth noting that this fact in no way prevents Thomas Paul from being MTY. Thus, your two hypotheses are not contradictory, but rather complimentary. The confusion arises from using the same term "Thomas Paul" to denote two different persons. In the first case you talk about real Thomas, and in the last about an impostor, attempting to steal the fame and glory of Thomas by maliciously painting the equality sign between "Tom being MTY" and "Tom impersonating MTY".

[Sahir Shibley]

Map,
Are you trying to provoke Thomas into posting a reply. He will not, or rather he did and then deleted it at my request. Initially the joke was on Thomas and then as an interesting byproduct on those who did not recognise the picture as Thomas'.
Now I am not so sure who will have the last laugh. Maybe Thomas
Cheers
Sahir

[Sahir Shibley]

Map,
We are all imposters impersonating ourself.

[Andy Ceponis]

Have you ever heard the saying "The first time it was amusing, but now its just really fucking annoying"?

[Sahir Shibley]

Originally posted by Mapraputa Is:
What is your point at last? Or you, like those postmodern authors, cannot decide whether to subject your subject to mockery and desecration, or to throw yourself down in deep awe and deference? Are you trying to accomplish both at the same time?

Isn't worship and mockery the same thing ?

[Mapraputa Is]

Sahir, I am very conserned that somebody may not like my answer. And this will give them a valid reason to insult me or whoever else they do not like. For some weird reasons I do not like being insulted, so...

[Manku Thimma]

>I am very conserned that somebody may not like my answer
Why do you care anyway? That was a brilliant piece of soliloquy!
>Thamassananda
Sahir, you sure sneaked past the language cops with that

[Sahir Shibley]

Originally posted by Manku Thimma:
>
Thamassananda
Sahir, you sure sneaked past the language cops with that

Oh, not really. That thamass is not the same thammass as in
"thamassoma jyothir gamaya" [translation - out of darkness came light], this thamass is from the name itself. Thomas is a common first name in Kerala, [statistics- 50% of the male population is called Thomas the other 50% are called Joseph and George ] and using the Malayalam way of pronouncing the name it ends up sounding like Thamass.