Supernormal Abilities Documented through Western History: The Jansenists in 18th-Century FranceAuthor: A London Practitioner
[PureInsight.org] There have been many spiritual groups in the course of history. Reading the Falun Dafa websites and newspapers, we hear of countless miraculous healings from serious illnesses taking place in Dafa. Historical events on earth such as those described below are all an allegory for Dafa and each of us as a disciple and each event is a microcosm for us to understand True Self, Dafa and the Great Law at large. Within the historical events are the inner meanings of Dafa and nuances of our very being, we, after all, have played all the parts in this theatre of the world stage, as our beloved Teacher tells us.
Everything can be imaginatively connected to Dafa today. Dafa is a culmination of everything everywhere on earth and is the basis on which these events in the past took place in the first place also! Between the lines of every sentence, deed uttered and written in history is a metaphor for Dafa, Zhen Shan Ren. Not only this, various supernormal things have transpired in the course of Dafa cultivation and the community as a whole knows this. Just like the countless miracles within Dafa, miracles were seen in the Jansenist sect. In The Holographic Universe (HarpersCollins,1991), Michael Talbot writes:
"..One of the most remarkable displays of miraculous events ever recorded, took place in Paris in the first half of the eighteenth century. The events centered around a puritanical sect of Dutch-influenced Catholics known as the Jansenists, and were precipitated by the death of a saintly and revered Jansenist deacon named Francois de Paris. Although few living today have even heard of the Jansenist miracles, they were one of the most talked about events in Europe for the better part of a century.
To understand fully the Jansenist miracles, it is necessary to know a little about the historical events that preceded Francois de Paris's death. Jansenism was founded in the early seventeenth century, and from the start it was at odds with both the Roman Catholic Church and the French Monarchy. Many of the beliefs diverged sharply from standard church doctrine but it was a popular movement and quickly gained followers among the French populace. Most damning of all, it was viewed by both the papacy and King Lois XV, a devout Catholic, as Protestantism only masquerading as Catholicism. As a result, both the church and the king were constantly maneuvering to undermine the movement's power.
One obstacle to these maneuverings, and one of the factors that contributed to the movement's popularity, was that Jansenist leaders seemed especially skilled at performing miraculous healings. Nonetheless, the church and the monarchy persevered, causing fierce debates to rage throughout France. It was on May 1st, 1727, at the height of this power struggle, that Francois de Paris died and was interred in the parish cemetery of Saint-Medard, Paris." (pp.128-129)
My personal understanding is that the Jansenists resemble Falun Dafa in the above paragraph in that Falun Dafa is also "popular" and "quickly gained followers" among the populace. Falun Dafa has also been viewed incorrectly by the government of the country where it originated and faced the threat of being undermined as a "movement," though Dafa is here to stay. Falun Dafa has been misunderstood as being a religion and has been especially misunderstood by Buddhists who say Teacher has taken things from here and there and from the Taoist school and other places, when, in fact, deep down, it is actually most comprehensively ordered. The CCPs constant denigration of Dafa has helped to popularize it as Teacher has made clear to us. So one can see the parallels. The book continues:
"Because of the abbe's saintly reputation, worshippers began to gather at his tomb and, from the beginning, a host of miraculous healings were reported. The ailments thus cured included cancerous tumors, paralysis, deafness, arthritis, rheumatism, ulcerous sores, persistent fevers, prolonged hemorrhaging, and blindness. But this was not all. The mourners also started to experience strange involuntary spasms or convulsions and to undergo the most amazing contortions of their limbs. These seizures quickly proved contagious, spreading like a brush fire until the streets were packed with men, women, and children, all twisting and writhing as if caught up in a surreal enchantment." (p.129)
The list of miraculous healings are the same kind of illnesses we have read about on the PureInsight website, including cancerous tumors, paralysis, and the like.
"'It was while they were in this fitful and trancelike state that the "convulsionaires," as they come to be called, displayed the most phenomenal of their talents. One was the ability to endure without harm an almost unimaginable variety of physical tortures. These included severe beatings, blows from both heavy and sharp objects, and strangulation – all with no signs of injury or even the slightest trace of wounds or bruises. (p.129)
This has a haunting resonance with the current persecution of practitioners in China and how practitioners consciously endure an "unimaginable variety of physical tortures." Indeed, the CCP has used some of the worst torture methods taken from and a culmination of all of history's worst moments, to persecute Goodness, our fellow Dafa disciples. Teacher mentions how those with great inborn quality are sometimes given a dose of True Insanity in which they suffer hardships that one could not suffer with a conscious mind. The above paragraph is like the instance of the old woman who could jump over the high wall and unchain herself, this is very much like the Jansens here who temporarily lose their conscious mind and go into trancelike states to work their miracles.
"'What makes these miraculous events so unique is that they were witnessed by thousands of observers. The frenzied gatherings around Abbe Paris's tomb were by no means short-lived. The cemetery and the streets surrounding it were crowded day and night for years, and even two decades later, after miracles were still being reported (to give some idea of the enormity of the phenomena, in 1733, it was noted in the public records that over 3,000 volunteers needed simply to assist the convulsionaires and make sure, for example, that the female participants did not become immodestly exposed during their seizures.) As a result, the supernormal abilities of the convulsionaires became an international cause celebre, and thousands flocked to see them, including individuals from all social strata and officials from every educational, religious, and governmental institution imaginable; numerous accounts, both official and unofficial, of the miracles witnessed are recorded in the documents of the time."
"Invulnerability was not the only talent the Jansenists displayed during their seizures. Some became clairvoyant and were able to "discern hidden things." Others could read even when their eyes were closed and tightly bandaged, and instances of levitation were reported. One of the levitators, an Abbe named Bescherand from Montpellier, was so "forcibly lifted into the air" during his convulsions that even the witnesses tried to hold him down they could not succeed in keeping him from raising up off the ground." (pp.129-131)
Here we can see many of these western cultivators reached the state of "levitation in broad daylight" when the heavenly circuit has been opened up and the level has been raised, as with many Dafa practitioners today.
Voltaire quipped, "God was forbidden, by order of the King, to work any miracles there." (p.131)
This sounds really funny in its irony. It resembles how Falun Dafa is banned, at the moment, in China.
David Hume wrote, 'There surely never was so great a number of miracles ascribed to one person as those which were lately said to have been wrought in France upon the tomb of Abbe Paris. Many of the miracles were immediately proved upon on the spot, before judges of unquestioned credit and distinction, in a learned age, and in the most eminent theatre that is now in the world." ( p.131)
Funnily enough, David Hume has been recognized as one of the fathers of Empiricism in the world of philosophy. Some people hold that Empiricism is based on the notion of "seeing is believing" in Western thought and is part of the materialistic dogma that humankind must battle today. Actually, it holds that one should be open to everything that can be shown to have reality, including "miracles" that, by their very nature, are unexplained. It was a movement in philosophy to oppose authoritarian dogma, which, sadly, is all-too-lacking in these times. Teacher is leaving behind the greatest miracle recorded in history for all posterity now.
http://www.pureinsight.org/node/4438 