Introduction To Psychic Powers: Siddhis Explained

In this talk, I explore the idea of psychic powers and how they are described within meditative contemplative traditions. I break down siddhis / iddhis, while also looking at how these concepts compare to the newer metaphysical powers of the “four clairs.”
I then discuss how deep concentration and meditation states such as the jhanas (in Buddhism) and samyama (in Yoga) are traditionally connected to developing these abilities. Finally, I talk about the potential dangers of becoming attached to psychic powers and why traditions like yoga and Buddhism emphasize using concentration for insight, liberation, and helping others rather than ego.

Transcript

Hey, This is Ish, And in today's talk, I'll be going over the psychic powers. Now, This is an interesting topic because as a meditation nerd, As I continue to practice meditation and read about various meditation masters and their teachings, One thing they noted was that you can develop certain psychic powers as a result of increasing your concentration in your meditation practice. And I'll talk about that in a bit. Now, I want to talk to you first about what some of these psychic powers are that you can learn to use. Develop and cultivate through your meditation practice. And then I'll go over how to develop them. And then lastly, I'll go over some precautions or warnings that come with it too. So let's go over the psychic powers. You can think of these psychic powers as a byproduct of your meditation practice, Something that comes from an increased state of concentration and unity in the mind. And these powers can seem extraordinary. To others. These powers are known as Siddhis, Which is a word in Sanskrit, Or Iddhis in Pali. And in the Yoga Sutra, For example, Yogic Sage Patanjali. He dedicates an entire chapter known as a Vibhuti Pada, A third chapter, Where he talks about some of the powers that a yogi can develop. That comes from their Samyana practice. And what Samyana is referring to. Are the last three limbs of yoga. So yoga is comprised of eight different limbs or practices that lead to union or samadhi. And the last three limbs of these eight limbs are dharana, Dhyan, And samadhi. So concentration absorption, And then union. Now some of the Siddhis or Iddhis that can develop As a result of samyāna, According to yogic sage Patanjali, Are the knowledge of past and future, The knowledge of previous births, Clairvoyance, And clairaudience, And mastery over the elements, To name a few. And if we look into another text, The Bhagavata Purana, There are eight siddhis known as the Ashta Siddhis that a yogi can develop as well. And these siddhis are anima, Which is becoming small, Mahima, Which is becoming vast. Lāgima, Which is becoming light like a feather. Garima, Which is becoming very heavy. Prapti, Which is obtaining anything, So kind of like manifestation. Prakhyamya, Which is fulfilling any desires. Ishitva, Which is lordship or control over the world. And Vashitva, Which is control over nature. And then if we look into Buddhism, We have reference to the abhijñas, Which are higher knowledges that a practitioner can develop. And these knowledges are divine ear. The Divine Eye. Mind reading. Recollection of past lives, And certain psychic powers such as walking on water, Flying, And passing through walls. And if you are somewhat familiar with Buddhism, You may know that at the time of his enlightenment, The Buddha himself accessed some of these psychic powers, Such as seeing the karma of all beings and watching them be born and also pass away, And also see his own past lives as well. Now, These psychic powers aren't just exclusive to. . . Buddhist and yogic practices, Even modern-day New Age circles. Talk about some of the psychic powers that can arise. And what are very popular nowadays are the four clairs which are clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Clairsentience, And claircognizance. So it's very fascinating to learn about What can be accessible? As you begin to practice meditation more and get into these very deep concentration states, Which I'll talk about shortly. But even non-meditators can achieve some semblance of these powers. You may have heard of certain people getting sudden flashes of insight where they just find answers out of nowhere, Or their body tells them to go a certain way and they avoid a disaster. These are just glimpses of what can be achieved when the mind becomes more expanded and It kind of defies a lot of conventional reality because none of these things really make sense practically, But they can be experienced by experienced meditators the more you practice. Now, How do you develop these psychic powers? So as I mentioned before, You need a lot of concentration to develop these. And you'll hear a lot of differences depending on what tradition you look at. And even amongst one tradition itself, You'll see a lot of disparities. So some will say you need a certain amount of time every day to practice this in certain depth, Maybe a shallow amount. Some will say you need to get into these really deep states. So there isn't a common consensus. What Yogic Sage Patanjali and the Buddha agree upon is that yes, You definitely need a lot of concentration. And in the Buddhist terminology, You will need to get into the jhanas, Which are meditation absorption states, To access this. So the more concentrated your mind is, The easier it becomes to access and develop and cultivate these psychic powers. The Buddha himself got into the fourth jhana before seeing the karma of all beings in the world and also recollecting his past lives, Something I've talked about earlier. And in the yogic system, Yogic Sage Patanjali recommends a strong practice in samyana, Which again are dharana, Dhyan, And samadhi, Concentration, Absorption and union. So the more you can get your mind to this collected one-pointed state, And the more deeper it is, The easier it is to access some of these powers that arise. So this will typically take a lot of practice. And when you look in the other side of things, More like the new age side of practices, You may notice slightly less emphasis on the depth involved. So it just depends on what you look at. So clearly the yogic and Buddhist schools have a higher standards. And I think the really high standards of the Vishuddhi Magga, Which you need to get into, They define the jhanas as getting and seeing a nimitta which is a very bright light in your practice which takes a lot of time and many experienced jhana meditators barely even get to that so it definitely varies but What I will say is that… Typically on retreats, You'll be able to access the jhanas or meditation absorption states, But you would need to do a couple hours of meditation every day. I know when I did a few meditation retreats on the jhanas with Lee Brasington, He taught more of the lighter jhanas, Which are not as the, Didn't have the highest standards of what counts as a jhana, But even then, I was still meditating about six to eight hours a day during this retreat, And I noticed I was able to get into some of these psychic power territories. So obviously, The more you do it, The longer you do it, You'll be able to experience even stronger versions of this. However, If you are new and listening to this, Don't be discouraged because what the New Age circles and that kind of teaching also emphasizes that you don't need to do maybe as much, But sometimes you do have a predisposition towards certain powers and don't need to focus as much. Maybe it just comes to you. And yes, You can also notice some spillover effect in your daily life if you do much less hours of meditation every day. So let's just say you can do six to eight hours, You have a job, You have responsibilities. Then maybe you can do three hours a day and you can still get into these psychic territories. And I think also if you are. . . Very new to meditation you can only do like say 30 minutes a day okay that's okay but this is still something to aspire to and any kind of meditation really impacts all the aspects of your life so don't treat it as something to achieve or something to strive towards because again actually one of the things that stop you from meditation absorption states is actually the desire to achieve them. So it is a paradox. The more you want it, The less it actually happens. And I'll actually talk to you about some of the precautions of trying to grasp towards the psychic powers and some of the warnings that actually come with it too. Now, How do you develop certain psychic powers? Well, The first thing you want to do, Like I mentioned, Is get your concentration really strong. So the stronger your concentration, The easier your mind becomes where you can direct it towards a certain direction. Sharp focus and where are you placing it? So the question comes, What are you interested in? What would you like to develop and why? And another factor to also consider is what is your natural strengths. What is your predispositions? Some people naturally will be able to get into these very high concentration states very easily. For others, Actually not so much. And you can have the most advanced meditators and sometimes they won't even get any psychic powers in their lifetime. And that's totally okay and acceptable too. So everyone is different and that also factors into this account of whether you can access some of these psychic powers and how much you'll be able to access it and what are your strengths. Maybe you'll have certain powers but not others. So these are all the variables that kind of go into it. So now let's move on to some of the precautions. First thing you want to realize is that the siddhis or iddhis or psychic powers aren't the main goal of your meditation practice. And this is something that both Yogic Sage Patanjali and the Buddha had warned about, Is that you can definitely get distracted by the siddhis, Because the ultimate goal of any kind of meditation practice is liberation, Freeing the mind. Getting rid of suffering. Binding union. So you can get caught in a good place this is maybe an intermediate meditator problem is that At first, When you don't have a meditation practice, You are experiencing a lot of the world through your senses and reacting to the world. And then as a result of meditation and focusing the mind, You start to realize, Okay, My experience of the world isn't just through the senses alone, But actually something much deeper. And you can play around with some of these very amazing concentration states and blissful states. Experience some of these psychic powers and you're like, Wow, The world just seems very magical. And this is actually really cool. I don't want to discourage that. But the trap here is that you can get caught in this. You can also develop an ego as a result of concentration. If you don't have the insight practices that go along with it. And also morality. That's also very huge. You want to have an ethical component to your practice. Because if you just have pure concentration alone but no ethics, That can obviously be not ideal. So let's say you're able to. . . As a result of having a very sharp and clear mind, You're able to read body language much sharper and you're able to read the thoughts of others. Well, Maybe you can lead the other person astray and be a harmful influence in their life. And that obviously isn't good. So you want to use the powers that arise due to concentration to actually help others and have this basis of morality. And have some wholesome qualities and intentions behind your practice. And if you do then develop the. . . Psychic powers, It comes from a good place and it only yields positive fruits rather than some negative fruits that come with it. So that's one thing I just want to put out there. And then going back to some of the precautions and how to approach. Working with these Hadiths. It really depends on the lineage and. . . Practice you study under because certain traditions will have their own viewpoints on it. So I've trained a lot in Zen, For example, And in Zen, They're very much like, Hey, Don't focus on Siddhis. Your mind will get very concentrated. There are some very cool things will happen. But hey, Just notice it and forget about it. Don't focus on it. And then there are other schools of thought, Obviously like yoga, Which will focus on cultivating it. And certain Schools of Buddhism such as Vajrayana Buddhism is actually all about embracing the siddhis. A lot of mistakes in the New Age movement actually focus just on the Siddhis too. So it really depends on where you look. I like to be very open-minded about these things and give whoever's learning all the information that they have. So just know that if you choose to develop the cities that come from a good place, And don't let it also be a distraction. But there are also some very great benefits of learning these cities and that is you learn to base your viewpoint in the world. Through your meditation practice and something. Apart from the senses, Which is what a lot of people do. And as your mind becomes more and more sharp, You can actually use these. See these to help others but just remember it's just a byproduct of your concentration so ideally what you want to do is that when your mind becomes very sharp and clear and malleable and bright you then direct it towards certain insight practices and focus on letting go rather than accumulating or trying to use it for egoic gains. So that is what I will leave you with. So let me know in the comments what you think of the Siddhis, Ayurvedis, Psychic powers, What your experiences have been. Have you been able to develop them and what has your experience been like? Let me know in the comments. Thank you.