Super natural powers(Siddhis)

[Ankit Gupta]

In Hindu and Buddhist literature, it is said that supernatural powers(siddhis) sometimes develop naturally as a result of spiritual practice, like quieting the mind, and concentration. These powers are the hidden potentiality of the mind and are unlocked as the mind goes past the superficial layers and increases in depth. I wonder if anybody here has developed any such powers. The power of thought reading is said to be quite common. These powers could be dangerous for the seeker as they make it very difficult to let go of the ego and experience the spirit. Of course from a scientific perspective, one would scoff at these notions as ridiculous, but then from the scientific perspective, the notion of enlightenment is itself ridiculous.

[Wild Fox Zen]

I had some fleeting experience with a few of them. Lightness of body, fleetness of movement, auric vision, astral projection (never actually pulled that one off, but got close numerous times), absolute focus/concentration, etc.

I know this won't mean anything to anyone here, but they're a side-effect of chi buzzing at higher frequencies. spiritual practice causes this mostly through quieting the mind and breath control. If you breath deeply and hold a natural posture, with your spine straight, and your body unencumbered, with a clear mind for about 10 minutes to a half-hour every day, you'll almost certainly begin to experience it. Astral travel mostly has to do with consciously entering dream-time while your body is asleep, again, an effect of meditation, as the body essentially relaxes into sleep, without taking your mind into unconsciousness.

[David Quinn]

The Buddha quite rightly warned spiritual people against pursuing those sorts of powers because they easily enflame the ego and distract the mind from more important matters. They have about as much significance as body-building, or developing strong athletic skills, or being freakishly good at maths, as far as becoming enlightened is concerned.

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[sky]

as a child i had numerous experiences of astral projection thru lucid dreaming

but of course i did not know what they were they were just something natural that happened in the quietness of night and the quietness of my mind i would never have spoken to anyone about them it would never have occurred to me nor did i think of them as secrets

other siddhis i may have had momentary experience of or borderline like knowing the mind of another hearing their thoughts as if they were spoken

the only way i know this is because when i responded or alluded to what i thought they had actually said they were surprised or disturbed that i should know these things not that it was ever any deep secret issue

anyway my experiences except the astral projection maybe were all on the very shallow end of siddhis but yes i can see how they would become a distraction a kind of 'disneyland' of the mind

i remember i would really look forward to my dream experiences

but of course i was not on any conscious spiritual path at the time

i don't think i would have had these experiences if i had grown up in the usa

i think that the deep peacefulness of living on a tiny asian island in the midst of the pacific was causal

but i think that these powers in much greater manifestation than mine are though 'supernatural' really 'natural' just as infrared and ultraviolet light is natural though all we see is the visible light spectrum

[Wild Fox Zen]

It takes serious energetic potency and spiritual flexibility to do these things with any consistency. But most of these abilities aren't really under conscious control (profoundly high-end adepts excepted... maybe) -- you can *will* them to some extent, but it's not like thinking or pushing buttons, where you can directly manipulate things however and whenever you want.

The people who really want siddha are generally ego-driven control freaks who really have very little hope of getting them. The siddha are natural, only by aligning yourself with nature can you cultivate them, and nature does not act or do, it manifests in spontaneity; the siddha are the same way. This translates to: muting the inner monologue, correcting your posture to optimize blood and chi flow, and breathing every breath like it's your last. It's a simple procedure but it can change you in profound ways.

[millipodium]

WonderTwin Powers Activate!


http://www.mysteryisland.net/wondertwins.jpg

edited: I changed this to a link you must click to view the image, to comply with board regulations.

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

I used to (also when I was a little kid, and when I was a teenager and there were a few of us that practiced with that stuff), but at this point I'm just pretty good at thinking "maybe I ought to get the phone" - just intending to put it in my pocket, just before it rings, or heading to the computer right about the time I recieve an e-mail I was waiting for, or calling or checking in somewhere for the first time in a long while at just the right moment - stuff that can easily be chalked up to coincidence.

I don't think there's anything supernatural about that stuff, though. I think it's just that some of us got ourselves in some kind of trouble with it, or people like milli teased us, or narrow-minded society taught us not to use certain talents that a lot of people have (Salem comes to mind... now that will put a damper on certain activities) and society "forgot" that we can do this stuff (if there's anything to morphic fields, which many say there isn't, they could work in reverse, too). Any skill not used does not develop, and may erode.

It's often easy to misjudge whether we knew that was what someone would say as a natural evolution of a logical pattern of thought, memories that were forgotten from conciousness but our subcondious remembered, pattern recognition, and true psychic ability. It's even easier to misjusdge when we are judged harshly by society for anything.

Remember though that society often judges geniuses harshly just for being different, or thinking differently from how most people think. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't use our intelligence, it just means that if we use a word that others don't understand or express a concept in front of others who can not follow our thoughts, we get labled like there is something wrong with us for being different.

So is being a genius supernatural, or do most people just not use their intelligence?

[millipodium]

people like milli

?

What am I like?

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

Thank you for asking.

When you wrote "WonderTwin Powers Activate!" - that was an example of teasing, which is why I wrote

people like milli teased us

I did not specify whether your teasing was good-natured teasing or mean-spirited teasing because there was insufficient evidence to conclude your motive for your post. I merely noted it for what it was - teasing.

I do not mean to accuse you of anything. I just used that as an available example. I can see where this might look like an accusation because I did not clarify what I meant by "got ourselves in trouble with it" and juxtapositioned the reference involving you between that unclear statement and one that was obviously not so favorable regarding society. I apologize if I offended you.