The Right Way to Acquire Psychic Powers (Yoga Siddhis)
Lately I have been getting many requests with regard to psychic powers, their acquisition, value, purpose etc. Although I can’t cover all these aspects in one article, this post will kick off the series in which I will delve into these topics.
In Yoga terminology psychic powers are called Siddhis and they are addressed in detail in many books on Yoga and Tantra. A good resource for the study of these Yogic Powers is of course the Yoga Sutras (threads) of Sage Patanjali, where in Book 3 (Vibhuti Pada) Patanjali details the psychic powers and the methodology for their attainment. Swami Satchidananda has written a very nice book with commentaries on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and I want to provide his view on Yogic Powers as they are quite in line with my views as well.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Integral Yoga Publications
Translation & Commentary By Sri Swami Satchidananda
Pages: 199-200
Patanjali Yoga Sutra 51 says that “By non-attachment to even Psychic Powers, the seeds of bondage are destroyed and independence gained.” Here are Swami Satchidananda’s commentaries on this sutra and Yogic Siddhis in general.
“This means that all these siddhis are beautiful, but they will bind us, because siddhis are the outcome of the mind. The mind wants something. It wants to achieve this or that. What for? To be proud of itself. It develops ego. It makes your “I” and “mine” bigger. Selfish desires are still there. If you are after siddhis like astral traveling, clairvoyance and clairaudience, I ask you why. You may say, “Oh, I thought I could help people.” I say that this is just an excuse. You want to show you can do something. You want to be proud of it.
Are the siddhis bad then? If so, why are they there? I say they are not bad. They are beautiful; they are good. When? Whey they come to you. When you run after them they are bad. That’s all the difference. Let the siddhis come and beg, “Hey, can’t I do something for you?” Then they are beautiful. If you don’t run after them and your don’t crave them, they are not yours. They want to have you as theirs. They want to be with you and serve you. Then they are okay. That’s why, even in the Bible, you come across these powers. Everything will come to you. When? When you seek the Kingdom. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven; everything else will be added unto you.” You don’t need to run after them one by one. When you become the boss, you get everything. You don’t need to run after small jobs.”
The above is the perfect place to start when studying the topic of Psychic Powers. This understanding will ensure that you are not being distracted by the acquisition of Yogic Siddhis and that you are aiming only for the Highest; only the Truth. Along the way let these powers come as they wish. When they come to you in this fashion, you will not misuse them for self aggrandization because your target is still God, which means you are passionate about egolessness.
Given the above I will provide techniques for obtaining psychic powers in future articles in these series. Hopefully having understood the reasoning above you will undertake their pursuit impersonally or for scientific study. Often, yogic siddhis are byproducts of prolonged practice of certain powerful meditations and kriyas (sets) and there are already several such meditations detailed on this website. Of these, the two that are highly reputed for bestowing such powers are Sodarshan Chakra Kriya – 3 Most Powerful Yoga Pranayamas & Kriyas and Ajana Chakra Meditation Technique (3rd Eye). I wonder if that is the reason why these are among the most popular articles on this website :-P.
quit the crap and just tell us the actual techniques to practice it. Why not tell the military do not go after weapons and guns let the enemy bring you your guns then it is beautiful. Get real man. What you go after is what you achieve….This dogma will not work on us anymore. So watch out we are going to empower ourself with it……
Kingdom of heaven? That is sound weird, sorry if i said something wrong – but how do i fing it if the only soul can go there? Or it is achieved by meditation? I`m simply do not understand, if human able to gain such powers through the spiritual development, how i can spiritually develop? Meditation? Yoga training? And how i`ll know about my development? These chakras – how i can open them? And can i open them at all? I simply do now want to spend a time, spend it and after all that learn that all that was for nothing, i`m newbie to all this and very want to learn this.
Best,
Andrew
hey sue, i read about your experience. what type of meditation did/do u perform, how? etc. email me on bhavnababy2@hotmail.co.uk
P.S. i have seen several miracles and siddhis in practice. Many things which i doubt any of you would ever even see in your lifetime. Never trust anyone about your siddhis, even my guru was a robber. Be careful. Also, never give you date of birth and time of birth to anyone or don’t be shocked if one day you find your siddhis diminish or becoming inexistant. And don’t flaunt it to anyone.
You are all giving childish suggestions. Every human being has a special power which demands to be developed. Thats the basic one which can be obtained through meditation mainly through kundalini awakening. There are risks associated with it. Male or female who have 100% awakened their kundalini no longer have sexual needs. They reach upper consciousness, i.e estatic. If you are married, well, good luck with your love life, lol.
In addition to that, there are advanced siddhis that can be acquired through mantra meditation and through devotion. Each human being has some devtas and devis who most favour them. Doing a siddhi based on Yantra Mantra and asana will help bestow the blessing and acquire their blessing. For example siddhi of Kuber can allow people to see hidden treasures under the land. Additional siddhis of Shiva allows for a devotee to retrieve the treasure from the land without actually digging more than 60 cm deep. You should properly decide what you actually want.
Hi Sue,
You have listed many of the Yoga Siddhis as per Patanjali’s famous Yoga Sutras, and they certainly are psychic powers.
It is not unusual to actually have these powers emerge suddenly in early stages of practice, as often the pathways open up during that time and the powers are unleashed. They often do diminish though after that, and the practice becomes a deeper journey towards spiritual growth and the Truth.
If you are feeling from deep within that you are letting yourself down, I would say it is time to return to your meditation, in whatever capacity life allows you to at this point. It will grow on it’s own so don’t worry about doing it perfectly, but I would suggest that you do restart it. I understand the challenge of bills and kids, but by growing spiritually, you are doing them in fact the greatest service.
Thank you for sharing with us and keep us posted on your journey.
All Good Wishes,
Anmol
Hi there, I have to say I don’t know much about yoga siddhis, so I apologise for my ignorance. A few months ago I scanned the web trying to find out what my past experiences were (ie;from 10 years ago) and why I had them, and from other websites I finally found matches to what happened to me.I think it is siddhis,Due to migraines I taught myself to meditate (I was also interested in spiritual growth but unaware of all the possibilities).From just a few months of meditation, I experienced an out of body experience (a short jaunt around the room as it frightened me): possibly levitation (?) while wide awake and meditating I suddenly took off through the wall at a great speed, like in a carnival ride but at just above ground level:another time I saw animal faces and an aboriginal face stretch out of the wallpaper behind my then boyfriend as I discovered his infidelity: green luminous auras in the slipstream behind ice skaters:a ball of fiery red hiss from my chest and go through my blankets (anger at the x I think, but I thought it was the electric blanket on fire): a preminition of the route taken by a deadly spider I hadn’t yet seen,10 seconds before it happened (allowing me to move out of the way): spiritual questions being answered by the strangest messengers. I have to say my experiences were amazing but totally undeserved. I hadn’t earned them and haven’t had the time to meditate since with kids about. Can you tell me why this happened to me, for what purpose, and am I letting myself down in this life by not continuing the meditation. I would like to eventually, when the bills are paid and life gets quieter. thanks, Sue.
Sat Nam Sotantar,
It is a very rare phenomena for sure. Also, these powers come and go. I have met a few yogis who have had some for some time, but no one who has mastered them yet :-D.
Cheers,
Anmol
Sat Nam Anmol and all the other yogis and yoginis out there!
I find the siddhis very interesting. May be one day I wake up and I will have some of them? Who knows?
Does anybody of you know somebody who acquired any siddhis. I mean there are thousands of people meditating on a regular base. Or is it a very rare phenomena?
Curious Sotantar
Many ways to describe this adventure, I am glad to have your different perspective and input on Mastery of Meditation.
the Yoga terminology is very helpful, i just discovered “Psychic” Healing, early this summer in a Hatha based, Yoga Text book. I am a Metaphysical, Psychic, we use different terminology.
Krishan,
Well said. With regard to siddhis here is some food for thought. Some schools assert that the onset of psychic powers imply that Kundalini is stuck in a particular chakra and the flow is actually imbalanced. Thus Yogic Powers indicate where more work is needed, as opposed to the yogi thinking they have acheived something special. Just another view to add to the conundrum :-D.
Blessings,
Anmol
I’ve always found the siddhis to be a bit of a conundrum. They necessarily mark a certain level of spiritual attainment, therefore are sought after. Yet danger lies within becoming attached to the siddhis, for the attachment can stop true liberation.
It’s an interesting situation.
I think it is important to view them as a gift from God, and as with all gifts from God the proper thing to do with them is to use them in acts of service to the Lord. Laying the fruits of one’s labors at the feet of the Lord.
Andrea,
Perfectly said! Thank you for your insights.
Best,
Anmol
Great article – so true. Psychic ability is a by-product of spiritual development, but should never be the desired end result of spiritual practice. It is easy to get hung up on “look what I can do” … of course, these abilities are obtainable by everyone. Like everything else, psychic ability can be a useful tool, or become our master.
Blessings,
Andrea
http://www.EmpoweredSoul.com
Tattwabodhananda,
Was actually referring to his lesser known twin :-D. Thanks for pointing that out.
You mean Patanjali, right? :)