Beyond the Realm of Reason

Once Swami Vivekananda while he was moving in the Himalayan regions, became the guest of a certain person in a village. He woke up one night and found that the villagers were taking part in a big procession with a man who was said to have been possessed by a ghost. A large number of people with gongs, cymbals, drums and bells followed the man who was being carried in a cot. At one stage, the Swamiji saw a red-hot axe being applied to the hair of the man who was alleged to have been possessed. Strange to say, not a single hair was singed, and the Swamiji who was a staunch adherent of ratiocination thought that there must be some trick done by the man who was using the red-hot axe. He himself therefore went near this man and touched the axe with his fingers. At once he felt a burning sensation, and exclaimed “There are many supernatural things which our philosophy and reason cannot explain.”