The Great Tantra Challenge
Tue, 2008-04-08 04:00
#1
Agent 204
The Great Tantra Challenge
Tue, 2008-04-08 04:00
#2
Agent 204
Sorry if anyone's posted [url=http://www.rationalistinternational.net/article/2008/20080310/en_1.html]... [/url]before, but it's a great story about a guy who challenged a "black magician" to kill him on live TV:
quote:
on 3 March 2008, in a popular TV show, Sanal Edamaruku, the president of Rationalist International, challenged India’s most “powerful” tantrik (black magician) to demonstrate his powers on him. That was the beginning of an unprecedented experiment. After all his chanting of mantra (magic words) and ceremonies of tantra failed, the tantrik decided to kill Sanal Edamaruku with the “ultimate destruction ceremony” on live TV. Sanal Edamaruku agreed and sat in the altar of the black magic ritual. India TV observed skyrocketing viewership rates.Everything started, when Uma Bharati (former chief minister of the state of Madhya Pradesh) accused her political opponents in a public statement of using tantrik powers to inflict damage upon her. In fact, within a few days, the unlucky lady had lost her favorite uncle, hit the door of her car against her head and found her legs covered with wounds and blisters.
India TV, one of India’s major Hindi channels with national outreach, invited Sanal Edamaruku for a discussion on “Tantrik power versus Science”. Pandit Surinder Sharma, who claims to be the tantrik of top politicians and is well known from his TV shows, represented the other side. During the discussion, the tantrik showed a small human shape of wheat flour dough, laid a thread around it like a noose and tightened it. He claimed that he was able to kill any person he wanted within three minutes by using black magic. Sanal challenged him to try and kill him.
The tantrik tried. He chanted his mantras (magic words): “Om lingalingalinalinga, kilikili….” But his efforts did not show any impact on Sanal – not after three minutes, and not after five. The time was extended and extended again. The original discussion program should have ended here, but the “breaking news” of the ongoing great tantra challenge was overrunning all program schedules.
For some reason I'm reminded of that George Carlin routine where he says "If there is a God, may He strike this audience dead". Then a few seconds later he says, "OK, I'll raise the stakes a bit. If there is a God, may he strike [i]me[/i] dead".
Tue, 2008-04-08 07:23
#3
Sounds like an Indian version of James Randi.
Though in this case, I'm not sure that was totally wise. For all he knew, the 'magician' might rig some contraption to blow poison gas in his face at the point where he is doing his little ceremony.
Just because magic doesn't exist, it doesn't mean a 'magician' can't hurt you.
Fri, 2008-04-11 03:41
#4
Agent 204
Well, I think the "magician" would have been caught pretty quickly in that situation. In any case, he seems to have genuinely believed that it would work (otherwise he presumably wouldn't have agreed to appear on TV). So, not that big a risk really.
Fri, 2008-04-11 04:29
#5
The question is whether Edamarku [i]knew[/i] Sharma was self-deluded, as opposed to a fraud.
If I was going up there to be 'killed', I'd be thinking hard about whether Sharma really thinks he can do this (and thus is going to make a fool of himself), or he knows it is all total bunk, in which case... what is going to happen on that stage, exactly?