B. PREMANAND
-
Science versus Miracles: Demonstrating Psychic Powers with Playing Cards – Part III
B Premanand The psychic claims to have powers to hypnotize every one. He calls six persons from the audience. On the left side he asks five people to stand facing the audience and on the right side the sixth person. He hypnotizes the five volunteers and shows a pack of cards and asks each one…
-
Science versus Miracles: Demonstrating Psychic Powers with Playing Cards – Part II
B Premanand The psychic is blindfolded. The volunteer is asked to select a card from the card pack given to him and place it on the table with the back of the card up. The blind folded psychic moves his index finger over the card and identifies it correctly. Experiment: 109 Effect: Telling the card…
-
Science versus Miracles: Demonstrating Psychic Powers with Playing Cards
B Premanand The psychic gives a pack of cards to a volunteer for shuffling, and after shuffling he takes it back. After spreading the cards in his hands, he asks the volunteer to pick a card, remember what card it is, and then put it back in the pack. He is then asked to shuffle…
-
Science versus Miracles: Curing the Lame, Blind, Deaf and Dumb
B Premanand Pentecostals and some other Christian groups conduct meeting every year claiming to cure the blind, deaf, dumb and lame and also other incurable diseases. They get forms filled up by the people about their ailments and collect money in the guise of donations. The patients donate generously hoping for a cure by divine…
-
Science Versus Miracles: Predicting the Words in a Newspaper Column Where It is Cut.
B Premanand A Christian priest in the United States claimed he had psychic powers to know the past and future of an individual. He could also control the mind of any person. To prove his powers he would cut a newspaper column from a news paper. Then he would throw a paper ball among the…
-
Science versus Miracles: Uri Geller – The Psychic
B Premanand Parapsychologists believed that Uri Geller was the ultimate proof of the existence of psychic powers. Much research and many books came out, explaining the investigations conducted on Uri Geller as evidence that he really did his feats using psychic powers. Uri Geller became an international hero and he was invited to every country…
-
Science versus Miracles: Spirit Phenomena
B Premanand At a séance, four or more people sit around a table in darkness, with palms down on the table. The little fingers of their hands touched that of the people on both sides. All the volunteers concentrate on a dead spirit which is to raise or move it to prove its presence. Suddenly…
-
Science versus Miracles: Cooking Rice in Cold Water
B Premanand The tantrik claims that through his mental power he can cook rice in cold water. He fills rice in a vessel, pours water, places the lid over it and chants incantations. When he removes the lid, the rice is cooked and apparently steaming hot. Experiment: 95 Effect: Cooking rice in cold water. Props:…
-
“Begone Godmen” – An Interview with Premanand
Shinie Antony The down town North railway station yawns with studied boredom. The pearls-and-pumps travelers delicately dodge the poor-and-perspiring passengers. All are scurrying by; catching, leaving, or meeting trains that chug in and out of the Station with routine indifference. But when a certain man walks – no, strides into the platform, all eyes follow…
-
Science versus Miracles: Miraculous Appearance of Answers on Paper When It Is Dipped In Water
B Premanand The tantrik asks his customer to write his personal problems on a piece of paper without showing it to anyone and keep it safe in his pocket. He takes another piece of blank paper and immerses it in water and chants mantras for a few minutes. Then when the paper is taken out…
-
Science versus Miracles: Predicting Question through Your Ears!
B Premanand It is believed that Kama Pishachini Devi can sense everything through her ears – seeing, tasting, smelling, hearing and touching. She also sees through everything – even the minds of people. The oracle gets possessed by Kama Pishachini Devi and the devotees write their personal problems on pieces of paper distributed by the…
-
Science versus Miracles: Ghostly Fires at Night
B Premanand While walking through fields at night, suddenly one sees fire of 6 to 12 feet high which is considered to be poltergeist phenomena. Experiment: 92 Effect: Ghostly fires at night. Props: Kerosene, a cloth swab on a stick, matches. Method: Learn to blowout water in minute spray from mouth. Then fill the mouth…
-
Science Versus Miracles: Smoke From One’s Fingers
B Premanand To prove that when they concentrate heat comes from their body, persons with the so-called ‘psychic powers’ rub their thumb and index finger and smoke comes from them. Experiment: 90 Effect: Smoke from one’s fingers. Props: Yellow phosphorous and carbon disulphide solution (1:6) Method: Apply a drop of the above solution and rub the finger with…
-
Science versus Miracles: Lighting Candles by Prayers
B Premanand On Madras television, Rev. Dinakaran, a CST evangelist, lighted candles with his prayers. Experiment: 88 Effect: Lighting candles by prayers Image: Courtesy: Wikipedia Props: Solution of yellow or white phosphorus in carbon disulphide (1:1), and a new big candle. Method: Dip the candle wick in the phosphorous solution and keep it on the candle stand.…
-
Poltergeist Phenomena – How Hutments Catch Fire Suddenly?
B Premanand In many villages hutments catch fire and get gutted suddenly which is claimed to be the handiwork of poltergeist or ghosts. Experiment: 85 (Note: This image of a huton fire has nothing to do with poltergeist phenomenon) Effect: Poltergeist phenomena. Hutments catch fire suddenly. Props: Wet cow dung, yellow phosphorus. Method: In Indian villages…
-
Science versus Miracles: Burning a Ghost
B Premanand Experiment: 83 Snapshots from the BBC Documentary Guru Busters Effect: Burning a ghost 95% possession syndrome is found among girls, married women and old women, and only 5% among males. This possession syndrome is the effect of problems at home where the do not get enough attention and love from the family. And…
-
Science versus Miracles: Joining Two Jute Threads without Leaving a Knot
B Premanand Experiment: 81 Effect: Joining two jute threads without leaving a knot. A tantrik promises to bring a squabbling husband and wife together when they are on the verge of divorce. Most Indian wives, being economically dependent on their husbands, rush to a tantrik or godman to save their marriage. To prove that he…
-
Science versus Miracles: Ringing a bell without its rod
B Premanand A godman in Madras, Pandrimalai Swami (now dead), was caught with 76lakhs of rupees unaccounted money in 1976. He was a clerk in the Registrar’s office and resigned when he found that it is more paying to be an astrologer and a tantrik. No one goes to them unless he has a problem.…
-
Science versus Miracles: Making words appear miraculously on paper dipped in milk
B Premanand In 1984 at the international Occult Conference held at Delhi and chaired by the then Supreme Court Justice VR. Krishna Iyer, one Balti Baba asked some person from the audience to write down a question each and keep the paper in their pocket. Balti Baba then immersed similar pieces of paper in a…
-
Science versus Miracles: Breaking coconuts on the head
B Premanand In the 1980’s a godman from Jaffna in Sri Lank came to Kerala, broke 101 coconuts on his head, and distributed the coconut water as prasad to devotees. He claimed that he lived only on coconut water Mathrubhumi Weekly published a cover page article with pictures of this godman and challenged our committee to…
-
Science versus Miracles: Fire by Mental Power
B Premanand In 1980 a number of yajnas were conducted on behalf of our Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, for her long life. But the yajnas could not save her. She was assassinated in 1984. A yajna was performed at Delhi by one Sadachari Sai Baba, a youth with black beard and long hair. Millions of…
-
Science versus Miracles: Ash from Coins
B Premanand While on a vijnan yatra in Maharashtrn in 1981, Vilas Baba, a godman from Phelton, challenged us that if we proved that his miracle ia false he would pay us Rupees five lakhs. His challenge was published by many vernacular dailies in Maharashtra. We agreed to investigate his clim and fixed a day…
-
Miracles of Godmen, Psychics and Tantriks
B Premanand Once while in Bombay, a youth approached me to help him. His mother, a widow, was not able to get her daughter married without dowry and was approaching many godmen to bless her. At that time, a particular godman was visiting their home to conduct -prayers. The youth needed my help to expose…
-
Satya Sai Baba Miracle: Producing Shiva Linga from the Mouth
B Premanand On the night of Shivarathri, while the devotees are engaged in singing bhajans, Satya Sai Baba goes into labour. He squirms with pain, his right hand pressing on his stomach, heart and neck. While wiping the tears sweat and saliva with a towel, he suddenly “gives birth” to an oval gold or stone…