The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-11-02
ARE BURIED alive.
Hindu Ascetics Revived After
Three Months Under Ground.
Returned Missionary Tells Of Remark.
able Performance Of Religious
Fanatics in India.

Rev. DR.. J. G. r. Ewing, missionary
to India, who recently returned to the
United States after 3S years In the
country of the rajahs and mahatmas,
was discussing the miraculous things
reported of the Hindu ascetics and
admitted that he has been obliged to
tell OF some things which he has seen,
but does not understand. Doctor
Ewing said:
1T is certainly true that the Hindu
magicians perform some tricks which
our best sleight.of-hand performers
are unable to approach. l have seeo
some things without being able to ac-
count for them, but l am, neverthe.
less, certain that they are all trickA
One Of the best of these was an exhibit
tion with cards. The performer
placed a deck of cards upright In
glass. Then, taking another deck, he
exposed card and calling "come,
come" several times in his native Ian.
guage, the identical card which he was
exhibiting rose out of the deck in the
glass and stood where it could be seen
by large audience right on top Of the
deck, the performer at the same time
exhibiting the card which he had Sc.
!ected. I believe that this was due to
clever manipulation, though suppose
some persons would ascribe it to tel.
epathy.
II have seen the trick Of making a
plant grow from a seed before the
eyes, and this, too, believe, is the re.
suit of manipulation. A curtain is
placed around the vessel and then re.
moved, and the plant shown expanding
and growing.
"Srmewhat more difficult to be skep.
tical about, however, are the perform.
ances Of the Hindu ascetics, and some
Of these are possibly the results Of
religious fanaticism. l know Of the
case Of man who lay IA years on a
bed Of spikes. That is, he was said
to have lain there IA years. Eventual,
ly, of course, he died of his sufferings,
l saw the man myself, and there was
no reason to doubt the tales Of the
length of time of his torture.
II know also that the stories of men
going into cataleptic state and being
buried are true. The tongue is pulled
out as far as it can be pulled and
then turned back into the victims
throat and he becomes unconscious, all
animation being apparently suspended.
He is buried, and after remaining in
the ground for a period as long as
three months in some cases, he Is dug
up and resuscitated.
"The theory upon which these tor
lures are endured is that our separate
existence is mistaken notion and
that only by asceticism is it possible
to overcome the mistake and realize
unity with all things. The teaching
which has been evolved by the Hindu
ascetlcs is very beautiful and very at
tractlve for a certain type Of mind,
but it is after all nothing but form
of atheism. The Christian religion is
spreading rapidly in India, especially
among the lower classes and we have
great difficulty in taking care of the
converts. Among the higher classes II
Is spreading, too, although formal as
sent to It Is slow on account of the
severity Of the caste ostraclsm which
follows conversion. The English gov
ernment has the country we'll in hand
and 1t would seem that the country H.
destin, 4 for a very rapid development
both in Christianity and democracy.