  |
|
|
There are many cases of bilocation in the history of humankind. However, the phenomenon has never been satisfactorily explained because it is cannot be accounted for unless we set aside the usual, traditional parametres of scientific research. Above all, we need to consider that the human being does not consist only of a physical body - the one visible in the earthly world. It would in fact be impossible to explain many peculiar phenomena if we did not reach beyond the realm of our five earthly senses. Today the cases of bilocation best known especially to the Italian people are undoubtedly those of Padre Pio. There is the legendary story of an army officer who suddenly finds himself face to face with Padre Pio in the hotel room where he is preparing his own suicide by hanging. The unhappy officer is persuaded from his desperate gesture by the Capucine monk. He does not know Padre Pio, he has never seen him before in his life. He understands, however, that what has happened is a most unusual thing. No one could possibly have entered the room so silently; he had turned the key in the lock - but still he sees this monk who is talking to him, telling him not to give in to his despair. The officer understands that he must have had a vision and he accepts this vision as a divine message, refraining from killing himself. When he visits San Giovanni Rotondo on a later occasion in order to meet Padre Pio personally and thank him after having recognized the monk from a photo in a newspaper, the Capucine at once recognizes him, greeting him with the words: "It was a close call that night, eh?!" Useless to say that this man is profoundly impressed by his experience and he has probably asked himself: "Was it a miracle?" Miracles can be defined in several ways - in this context we find it more appropriate to say that a miracle is an unusual event that cannot be explained from our usual reasonings and human calculations. Within the category of miracles we may find sudden healings and other mysterious but positive events. However it is still possible to find an explanation, also when dealing with those experiences we call miracles. So, it is also possible to better understand the phenomenon of bilocation - which means, literally translated, "being in two places at one time". Basing ourselves on the book "Toward the Light", we can try to explain bilocation far more completely than any attempt hitherto accomplished by parapsychological tradition. According to "Toward the Light", the human being consists of three bodies: the physical, the astral and the spiritual body (see also the article on The Mystery of the Human Brain). Of these three bodies, only the latter, the spirit, is capable of dividing itself from the physical human and "go travelling" outside the body (thus, the concept of "astral journeys" has no meaning - the part of the human being that travels is the spirit). In any event, bilocation can be accomplished only by very evolved spirits - unless God has a particular reason for momentarily releasing even the human spirit from the physical body while asleep in order to carry the personality elsewhere. More complete details can be found in Toward the Light. The human being's astral body is also defined the astral counterpart, because it has a similar aspect to that of the physical person. It entirely wraps up the human being like a coat shaped according to the person's physical figure and characteristics. The astral body can only be separated from the physical body at its death. When this occurs, the astral body is liberated and can sometimes be observed by particularly sensitive persons. In such cases that the astral body can easily be mistaken for the ghost or the spirit of the newly deceased. Instead, the vital element of the individual - the only part of us that is immortal - is the spirit. And it is indeed the spirit that can sometimes undertake an act of bilocation, even if this is possible only for highly evolved spirits - as was the case of Padre Pio. In some cases, he would feel a strong call - perhaps from a suffering individual's guiding spirit - and he would then follow this call with his spirit. This might happen during sleep, but not only. Also during the day a case has been known when Padre Pio was reportedly observed by a woman elsewhere, while in "reality" he was serving mass in church at that very moment. How is this possible? If we consider the mentioned three bodies, we can work out an explanation. The physical body of Padre Pio, in function of its nature indissolubly connected to the astral body while the human being is alive on Earth, continued doing its usual work in the physical location of San Giovanni Rotondo. Now we know that, as it is the case of so many other jobs, to serve mass soon becomes a work dictated by habit, and so it is not an act that requires 100% mental concentration. In fact, the religious rite is most certainly deeply impressed in the person who masters it: he has learned it by heart. So, the full spiritual attention is not required when officiating this rite - it has become pure routine for the religious person - it is a little like driving a car, or writing a text on a computer keyboard, ironing clothing items or going about other everyday chores that we have undertaken uncountable times, while our mind is occupied with other thoughts. So, in this moment of "mechanical" activity of the physical body as guided by the astral counterpart, Padre Pio's spirit could agilely free itself and follow a call for help from a person living even a long distance from where the Capucine was present at that moment. Distance is of no importance to the spirit, as the spirit does not belong to the physical dimension - it belongs to the fourth dimension. Today it is natural to ask ourselves: what would happen if we really created a human clone? Would then also the spirit be cloned? Here we must say a most definitive no: this is not possible! However, probably only the actual creation of two or more individuals based on the very same original cells would make the researchers think differently, though it is auspicable that they never arrive at producing identical human individuals. Such persons created from the same cells would in fact soon become very different from each other - exactly because they would be different spirits. No two spirits are alike. And as it is the spirit that shapes the human physical body, it would soon adapt the human body to its characteristics - just as such clones would also have absolutely independent thoughts and make different choices in life. But let us hope that the cloning of human beings will never become a reality. It is not ethically correct to experiment in this way, even though such experiments cannot be considered an attempt to imitate God's creation as some fear. It would indeed be presumptious to believe that we can imitate that which is truly created by God: the human spirit. October 13, 2002 |