In his treatise ‘Yoga Sutra’, in the chapter Vibhuti Pāda, Sage Patanjali has enumerated in detail various Siddhis a spiritual practitioner can attain if he is able to cross certain vital thresholds of his Sadhana (spiritual practice).
Siddhis are commonly referred to as ‘special powers’; this is only a partial understanding of the term. Siddhi in pure Yogic sense means intuitive knowledge. When a Sadhak (spiritual seeker) has evolved in his Sadhana, he may be blessed with a Siddhi. Each Siddhi bestows on the practitioner a special ability to perform actions that defy the known laws of our physical world. Siddhis – like the ability to shrink or enlarge one’s body, hear far away sounds, procure objects out of thin air, walk on water, transform oneself into any form – therefore sound like feats one reads in fantasy tales. These powers should not, however, only be understood in the conventional sense of the word. A Siddhi does not mean the ability to have power or advantage over others or manipulate or control others’ lives in anyway (such as is the case with black magic).
As the Sadhak practices mantra chanting and meditation his consciousness begins to grow and he becomes more and more aware of his true Self. The Sadhak’s evolution leads to a revelation of latent abilities. It is not that these powers suddenly appear in the disciple by accident, rather they were always present but one only becomes aware of their presence as consciousness grows. As the Sadhak becomes manifestly aware that he is not restricted by time and space (and thus earthly limitations), new possibilities and abilities come to the fore. Sri Aurobindo’s consort, popularly known as The Mother, has gone so far as to say that modern inventions such as airplanes, telephones, cars etc. are a result of the repression of man’s innate powers. If man were able to realize these seemingly “super-human” abilities, there would no more be any need for these mechanisms.
The realization of Siddhis should not, however, be the goal of the Sadhak. They are not the destination but only signposts along the way. When they attain Siddhis, some seekers are filled with pride and erroneously begin to believe that they are masters or owners of a particular power and begin to flaunt it. Such a delusion only leads to the practitioner’s downfall as he becomes prey to his ego’s dualistic constructions, and takes him away from his true destination – Moksha. This does not mean that Siddhis are evil and should be rejected as soon as they manifest themselves. Rather, they should be regarded as a natural progression of the Sadhana and seen as acts of divine grace. To avoid being ensnared by the lure of Siddhis, says Guru Siyag, the practitioner should treat them with detached respect. Moreover, the Sadhak should use Siddhis as tools to transcend the ego and its attachments.
In elaborating on this, Guru Siyag refers to a Siddhi known as Pratibha Gyana (clairvoyance): the ability to see and hear the unlimited past and future: “By attaining Pratibha Gyana the practitioner, during meditation or in a state of Samadhi, is able to see and hear events of the unlimited past and future. He can see and hear through the third eye. Only when the third eye, also known as the tenth door, opens will Yoga and meditation take place. Nothing can happen without it. Even science accepts that when a sound is released, it is never destroyed. It exists in the universe; you only need the right kind of instrument to latch on to its vibration. Yoga philosophy says that if there is the word and its sound, then the speaker who has produced the sound must exist too. Yoga says that it is possible to see and hear this speaker talk. Just as scenes from a cricket match are replayed on TV, in the same way scenes from the past are replayed to the practitioner during meditation. But done is done. What has happened, for example in the ‘Mahabharata’ (mythological epic), cannot be undone. But the practitioner can know for sure what will happen in the future.
“Once you attain Pratibha Gyana you may foresee the deaths of many of your acquaintances and they will die in exactly the same manner as you saw in your vision. If one dies in the way you saw it, you may pass it off as mere coincidence but when many of them die in the manner revealed in your meditative vision, then a thought will cross your mind, “I’m not immortal, I will die too.” Then you will see how you will die and the approximate age when death will come. The one who is born has to die. Whether at the age of 20, 30, 50 or 100. You all know that death is inevitable; there is no way to escape it, then why fear death? Māyā (illusion of duality) has made death so frightening that no one wants to accept its reality. But death does not spare anyone. When you see your own death you will be afraid. Until now you have seen only others’ death and you don’t care much about that! But when you see your own death, all your actions, both good and bad, will flash before your eyes. You can hide things from the world but you can never hide the truth from yourself. And then you will sincerely pray to God, “Oh God, I know you are kind, I have heard you are very kind. I have made many mistakes, I was a fool. Please forgive me this one time; I will not repeat this mistake again.”
“With all his concentration, the practitioner prays to God. Then his gaze is turned inward and he realizes that the whole universe is within him and if the universe is within him, the creator of the universe is within him too. He will realize the divine within him. And realizing the divine means freedom from the cycle of life and death. Meditation and chanting will break the spell that Māyā has cast over you and the mystery of death will be revealed to you. And when this happens, you will begin to see death as a boon given by God to free you from the cycle of life and death. Then you will await death and accept it without any fear.”
In essence, Guru Siyag says that Pratibh Gyana can be used to realize the Self. Instead of being an obstacle in the path of realization, this Siddhi becomes a stepping stone to the Sadhak’s goal.
