Two months later
he died. Thus I came to understand my guru's veiled prophecy about
the improbability of the man's initiation."
Lahiri Mahasaya had a very famous friend, Swami Trailanga, who was
reputed to be over three hundred years old. The two yogis often
sat together in meditation. Trailanga's fame is so widespread that
few Hindus would deny the possibility of truth in any story of his
astounding miracles. If Christ returned to earth and walked the
streets of New York, displaying his divine powers, it would cause
the same excitement that was created by Trailanga decades ago as
he passed through the crowded lanes of Benares.
On many occasions the swami was seen to drink, with no ill effect,
the most deadly poisons. Thousands of people, including a few who
are still living, have seen Trailanga floating on the Ganges. For
days together he would sit on top of the water, or remain hidden
for very long periods under the waves. A common sight at the Benares
bathing GHATS was the swami's motionless body on the blistering
stone slabs, wholly exposed to the merciless Indian sun. By these
feats Trailanga sought to teach men that a yogi's life does not
depend upon oxygen or ordinary conditions and precautions. Whether
he were above water or under it, and whether or not his body lay
exposed to the fierce solar rays, the master proved that he lived
by divine consciousness: death could not touch him.
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