Intellectuals give ridiculous challenges to the omniscient and omnipotent saints. For example, many rationalists wonder why the saints will not ‘perform a miracle and win the lottery.’ What the rationalists fail to understand is that miracles are not like movies, which anyone can watch. To witness a miracle, one needs to have devotion and spiritual emotion. Saints will not perform a miracle to appease someone’s curiosity or to prove that they are, indeed, saints. This is akin to a chaste woman who will not strip even if offered millions of dollars. Saints perform miracles only as per God’s wish, as their entire life is led by complete surrender to His will. That is the reason why Jesus let Himself be crucified even when He had power over death and could prevent His crucifixion.

    Rationalists are also driven by the ‘blind’ faith that only those phenomena that the intellect can comprehend or can be proven scientifically, exist. They do not realize that the intellect can comprehend only phenomena within the sphere of the five senses, mind, and intellect and not those beyond. They use ‘actual’ measure whereas spiritual seekers use the ‘word’ measure. To convince a rationalist that microorganisms exist in milk, one will have to use a microscope to actually show the microorganisms living in a drop of milk on a slide. For spiritual seekers, the word of Holy texts and saints is enough to build conviction in spiritual phenomena. Just as it is impossible to measure height in weight units (kilograms, pounds, etc.), it is impossible to measure through the intellect such things that are borne out of experience. The units of measurement for spiritual phenomena are very different from those used for scientific phenomena.

    The founder of the Sanatan organization, His Holiness (H.H.) Dr. Jayant Athavale, is no less a rationalist than the ‘so-called’ rationalists. His research on hypnotherapy, which is also based on rational evidence, has won Him plaudits the world over. In Spirituality, too, He makes use of rational thought wherever necessary. However, when the journey beyond the intellect starts, sheer insistence on using the intellect proves to be ill-founded. Instead of demanding gross proof of spiritual phenomena, it would be better if the rationalists practiced Spirituality for a few years. Some people study the teachings of saints, but very few follow what the saints have taught. That is, very few practice Spirituality. Only through regular spiritual practice can one perceive spiritual phenomena, which are essentially beyond the intellect.