INNER AWARENESS
Inner Awareness : 22 fingers of 11 men lift heavy stone
By Jaime Licauco
Columnist
Inquirer

A DAY before we went to the fabulous Ellora and Ajanta Caves in
Aurangabad City, some five hours by car from Pune, India, our host, Ajay
Mehta, told us about a heavy stone at the back of a Muslim mosque not
far from Pune that can be lifted by 11 men, each using only two fingers.
"I was about to ask you that!" I exclaimed. I read about this mysterious
stone in a book on extraterrestrials a long time ago. That story was
confirmed to me by a foreigner who saw the phenomenon himself.

"Since it's along the way to the Ellora Caves, I think you should not
miss passing by to see it," he told us. He instructed our driver to take
us to the mosque first before proceeding to Aurangabad.
Near disappointment
The next day, excitement almost turned to complete disappointment when
we saw the stone. Why?

What I heard about that mysterious stone was this:
1. It is a boulder about six feet long and four feet wide and weighs
several tons.
2. If 11 men (no women allowed) place their right hand on top of it
while chanting a certain mantra, the big stone will rise several feet
from the ground.
3. If anyone removes his hand or stops chanting, the stone falls flat to
the ground.
I told this story many times in my class on ESP to illustrate the
tremendous powers of the mind.
Some years ago, I met an Austrian spiritual seeker and adventurer named
Alfonso, who had been all over India and confirmed the story was true.
When I asked what they were chanting as the stone was being lifted, he
said it sounded like "Ka ka ka ka ka!" I didn't realize he merely
invented the sound.
I had completely forgotten what I wrote in my 1978 book "Understanding
the Psychic Powers of Man," which was nearer the truth but still not
entirely correct.

This is what I wrote then: "In this relatively unknown village called
Shivapur, there stands in front of a mosque dedicated to the Sufi Saint
Quamar Ali Dervish a big granite boulder weighing 55 kg. If 11 people
simultaneously touch the boulder with their index fingers chanting
'Quamar Ali Dervish' in loud, ringing tones, the boulder floats into the
air for a second and drops with a heavy thud.
"If there are more, or less than, 11 individuals touching the boulder,
nothing happens. Or if the words 'Quamar Ali Dervish' are not shouted
distinctly at a certain pitch, it will not move. The demonstration takes
place six times a day everyday."

I got that information from the book "We Are Not the First" by Andrew
Tomas.

Different reality
That's not exactly what my wife and I discovered in that Muslim mosque.
Instead of a big boulder, what we saw was just an ordinary-looking
oval-shaped stone about one and a half feet long, maybe a foot wide and
half a foot in depth.
In broken English, accompanied by hand gestures, I told the men standing
idly by what we were looking for and they pointed to that stone. Soon
afterward, several men approached and placed the stone, which was quite
heavy, on top of some smaller pebbles so that its bottom could be
reached.

Then 11 men positioned themselves, placing their two fingers under the
stone. As they shouted "Quamar Ali Darvesh" (not Dervish), they lifted
the stone way above their heads. Then they scampered out of the way as
the stone fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
I tried to lift the stone with both hands and arms. I couldn't move it.
One of the men whispered in my ear, "101 kilos." He was referring to the
weight of the stone. That's about 220 pounds, I said to myself.
I asked if I could participate in lifting the stone. They all eagerly
said yes. They showed me how to position my two legs. The right foot
should be forward and the left foot behind. My index and middle fingers
were the only ones that should touch the stone. They told me to shout
"Quamar Ali Darvesh" while lifting the stone at the same time.

The first attempt was not so impressive. So we did it again. I told my
wife to take pictures but the action happened so fast and so many men
were lifting the stone that she couldn't get a good shot.
After that, I let the other men do it while I took pictures. This time,
they lifted the heavy stone so high I was able to take a good shot of it
flying way above their heads. It was an impressive sight!

I tried to ask somebody about the history of the stone. Where did it
come from? Who discovered the ritual? Who taught them the chant? Why
only men were allowed to lift, etc. But no one spoke good English and we
left the place after giving a donation to those who
helped demonstrate the ritual.

Impressive
Here again is an example of reality being different from stories told by
others. Although the stone was not as big and as heavy as I was made to
believe, it was nevertheless an impressive demonstration because it was
not possible to lift a 220-lb object with only two fingers of each of 11
men.
I wanted to have four, instead of 11, men try to lift the stone, each
using only two fingers, but I couldn't get anybody to understand me. So
I abandoned the idea.

I thought of that alternative ritual because I taught students to lift a
heavy person (weighing almost 200 lb)—four persons using only two
fingers each. My gut feel is that stone in India can be lifted that way.
I wish someday to have a chance to prove it.

Note: Contact Julie Ang at 0917-7061175 for Soulmates, Karma and
Reincarnation seminar I will conduct Oct. 22 in Cagayan de Oro City, and
Bong Amante at 0917-3252845 for the Inner Mind Development Seminar Oct.
28-29 in Cebu City.