There is a common phenomenon in all man-made religions: they all believe in ghosts.
Indian Rationalist MN Roy
I am sure many readers are familiar with this famous line and have also sung it, ‘Bhoot-pishaach nikat nahin aavei, Mahavir jab naam sunavei’, in Tulsidas’ ‘Hanuman Chalisa’. Lord Hanuman’s name is pronounced to ward off evil spirits and this temple in Dausa (near Jaipur), Rajasthan, is dedicated to Balaji (another name of Lord Hanuman) for this very purpose: getting rid of apparitions and evil spirits.
The question is: Do spirits (good/bad) really exist? Again it is a matter of faith, and faith implies a complete absence of rationality. Here, it is in the appropriateness of things to quote the Sri Lankan rationalist Abraham Kovoor, who fought relentlessly against these superstitions and especially. all irrational phenomena based on faith. No occultist or devotee could accept his challenges to prove if spirits exist, if black magic really does harm or has a placebo effect, do god men and women possess certain extraordinary powers or are they just fooling gullible people? All these questions were never adequately answered by anyone and remain unanswered.
That even in this age so many people still believe that bhoot-pret exist is a sad comment on the extremely slow evolution of collective human intelligence. Even so-called ‘cultured’ people believe that ghosts and spirits exist and can harm us! Many houses are abandoned, believing that there is some evil spirit residing there!
Here, the author’s intention is not to criticize any deity or the belief system of the majority. If people have been cured of ghosts and spirits, that’s fine. What more could you want? But the question remains, were they (‘possessed’ people) actually affected/possessed by spirits in the first place?
What is a ghost: a mere product of an irrational mind that believes before it is asked to believe. What we call a ghost is actually “a terrifying projection of our own brain that plays tricks on us and confuses us,” observed Sigmund Freud in his essay “Living with a Hallucination.”
His student Carl Gustav Jung seconded his teacher’s observation, adding that seeing and possessing ghosts is a neurological phenomenon and such things simply don’t exist.
Exorcism or hidden jadu-tona/ojha/mantras, which have no meaning, are ‘psychological diversions and distractions’ according to evolutionary biologist Dr Richard Dawkins of England.
Humanity has not yet collectively evolved. So these esoteric phenomena immediately attract us. At the same time, there’s a psychological thrill to ‘believing’ ghosts because that gives us a different kind of kick. This convincingly explains why most of us love to listen to ghost stories and watch haunted movies.
With all due respect to Mehndipur Balaji, one may take the view that to worship him as ‘a destroyer of evil forces’ is to underestimate his divinity because there are no ghosts or evil force/power/element. So anyone who still believes in ghosts or is curious to know about Lord Hanuman can visit the Balaji temple. Mehandipur Balaji’s hours are 6 am to 9 pm, every day of the week.
