Sec.3.2/Part 2. Miracles/

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhagavatas,

Presented below is Section 3.2/Part 2 Miracles from my book "Myths, Miracles

and Mysticism"

Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

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Though several Siddhis have been identified, the most important ones are eight

in number called

Ashta Maha Siddhis. They are

i. Anima (Becoming Small) : Reducing one's size to the point of an atom (anu).

This is said to be achieved by meditating on the Lord as pervading the

Tanmatras -Sabda, Sparsa, Rupa,Rasa, and Gandha.

ii. Mahima (Becoming Big) : Expanding one's size to unimaginably giant

proportions. This is said to be achieved by meditating on the Lord as mahat

tatva or Cosmic mind.

iii Laghima (Weightlessness or Levitation ) : Making oneself light in weight

so as to float or fly about in air without any support like a feather in the

wind. While this phenomenon is known in other religions like Islam,

Christianity and Buddhism, it is in Hinduism that it has been traced to

'Aakaasa', the ethereal Universal force which adepts are able to control.

This weightlessness is said to be achieved by meditating on the Lord as

inherent in atoms.

iv. Garima (Heaviness) : Making oneself incredibly weighty so that nobody can

move the Sadaka.

v. Praapti (Pervading) : Also known as Vyaapti` penetrating through barriers

and obstacles. This is said to be achieved by meditating on the Lord in his

aspect of Satvika ahankara.

vi. Praakaamyam (Materializing or Apport ) : To bring unseen objects within

the view of all.Objects include Vibhuti ( holy ash), coins, jewelry, pebbles,

icons of lingams and other religious idols made of stone or metal, rings,

strings of beads, flowers, books, edibles, sandalwood paste and even live

birds like doves and pigeons. It is true that quite a few practitioners have

been proved to be frauds and exposed. But, not all are frauds and quite a few

of them are as a result of ' Siddhis' attained by Yoga practices. This is

achieved by meditating on the Lord as the Sutradhari or controller.

vii Eesitvam (Lordship) : Having control over others. This is achieved by

meditating on the Lord as the Lord of Trigunas.

viii. Vasitvam (Subjugation) : Attracting others. This is achieved by

meditating on Lord as primal Lord "Adhi purusha".

 

Besides these, there are several other Siddhis like :

 

i. Being able to hear even distant sounds.( also known as Clairaudience).

This refers to the ability to hear sounds not audible to normal hearing. It is

believed that this is experienced when the Kundalini reaches the 5th Chakra

located at the Oto-laryngological site

ii. Being able to see things far away. (also known as Clairvoyance or Remote

Viewing). this refers to the ability to perceive objects, events, or people

not recognizable through normal senses. It can be in the form of seeing

distant visions and images which are, in fact, out of sight. Instances of

crystal gazing by which the location of missing persons or objects are seen by

adepts is an example.

iii.. Being able to perceive smells, taste, touch, emotions, and physical

sensations that collectively impact on the practitioners an overall psychic

impression. Also known as Clairsentience, or ESP it refers to the capacity of

intuition. By a flash of hunch, a person comes to know of coming events

without being able to explain how and why he acquires the knowledge. This can

operate on physical, mental, emotional or even spiritual levels.

iv. Being able to know a future happening through extraordinary means like

trance and divination. This is also known as Precognition and is akin to the

above with the difference that it is induced not by hunch or intuition but by

some extraordinary event. Precognition can forebode the happening of a

specified event, but Premonition is a general feeling which even lay folk

experience when they ' sense' some unknown, unpleasant event likely to happen

in the near future. The latter is always accompanied by anxiety, restlessness,

and an intense feeling of warning too subtle to be noticed in a conscious

state. This does not fall under the "Siddhi' category.

v. As Precognition is the ability to see into the future, there is also the

ability to see or sense into the past, even the remote past. To the person

with this ability, suddenly the present surroundings vanish and scenes out of

the past appear as vividly. Several murders and suicides have been traced and

solved by this flashback phenomenon, which is also called Retrocognition.

Instances have been reported wherein people have envisioned buildings,

bridges, parks etc. that had long fallen into disuse and demolished.

Archeologists have used persons with this ability to reconstruct ancient

civilizations. Psychists have solved unsolved mysteries of crime with the help

of persons with such abilities.

vi. Being able to foretell the future, tracing missing objects and persons.

This art of Divination has been used by almost all civilizations from the

ancient times to this day. This is an attempt to communicate with the divine

or supernatural force with a view to know the will of God. One method is to

cast a handful of stones, shells, or dice and depending upon the count,

predict whether the outcome would be favorable or not. Another practice is

called " Prasnam' in which the high priest would ask for an indication like

the color of the flower falling from the garland adorning the idol of the

deity as is done in the temples in Kerala, India. Yet another is the practice

of placing one's palms down at the entrance end of a niche with eyes closed.

The palms would slowly slide down to a predetermined spot at the other end of

the niche without the volition of the subject. If this happens, the outcome

will be favorable. Otherwise, the palms would not move at all for any length

of time.

vii. Another method of divination is to consult deities or supernatural beings

through a human medium. From time immemorial, several civilizations have

resorted to this (e.g.) Delphic Oracle. The ability itself goes by the name

"Oracle'. A sheaf of palm leaves will be divided in a random manner by means

of a thread divider or bookmark ( as they do while playing cards). The

writings on the leaf where the thread falls will be read. If the context

relates to something pleasant or auspicious, it points to a favorable

outcome; if it relates to an unpleasant episode or saying, the opposite result

is indicated. This is also akin to the fortune cookies served in some Chinese

restaurants. If you need a modern example, you can refer to the practice of

tossing a coin in cricket matches to determine which side should start

batting. But, all these are without invoking divine counsel whereas oracle is

based on divine intervention and the ability is attained through 'Siddhis'.

viii. Another divinely inspired ability is 'Prophecy'. Prophecy can be made

affecting individuals or group of individuals or whole races, or countries or

even the entire world by qualified adepts. Almost all cultures have relied on

prophecies from Egyptians, Greeks, Hebrews, Islam and Mormon. Unlike that

prophet of doom , Nostradamus, who prophesied the end of the world by the turn

of the 20th century, the Siddhi prophets base their prophecies on divine

sanction.

ix. Being able to obtain information about people, places and events with

reference to objects associated with them. Also called Psychometry, this power

enables tracing the whereabouts of missing persons by examining intimate

apparels worn by them. This is somewhat like the power of police dogs that can

smell and track criminal fugitives. Persons with this ability can read the

contents of letters contained in opaque and sealed envelopes .

x. Being able to speak in a foreign language which one had not learned at all.

This power is also sometimes called Cryptoscopy and Xenoglossy. We have

reports of illiterate persons being suddenly able to compose and sing songs

in chaste literary form and it is believed that this is the result of "

Siddhi' acquired in a previous life manifesting in the current life. (e.g.)

Kaalidasa, Tirunavukkarasar and the like. Adepts communicating with animals,

birds and reptiles through languages they could understand have also been

reported.

 

Other abilities achieved through 'Siddhis' are :-

xi. Achieving incredible speeds.

xii. Taking the forms of other persons / beings.

xiii. Entering the bodies of other persons / beings.

xiv Indulging in erotic pleasures with nymphs.

xv Dying at the point of time desired (as in the case of Bhishma).

xvi. Achieving whatever is desired.

xvii Exercising unfettered authority over those coming into contact.

xviii Knowing about the past, present and the future of those coming into

contact.

xix. Bearing extreme heat or cold easily.

xx. Reading the minds of others.

xxi. Preventing the effects of poison, water, fire and even Sun.

xxii.Obtaining protection from weapons (Bhagavatam ch XI - 15).

 

These Siddhis are inevitable but are in fact distractions to which a Mumukshu

(One desirous of Moksha) should not succumb. These are like hurdles in the way

to Moksha. Some fall for them, half way in their journey. Satisfied with

these, they go about demonstrating their feats like magicians forgetting their

ultimate aim.

 

Whereas magic is based on trickery like sleight of hand, mesmerism, hypnotism

etc., these `Siddhis' represent real powers like Clairvoyance, Clairaudience,

Telepathy, Mind reading, Levitation, Materialization, Out- of - Body-

Experiences, Superhuman strength, and even knowing the exact moment of one's

death etc. that can be wielded. Even these fade away after a period of time.

And the practitioner will be a non-starter all the time having lost both these

powers and the ultimate goal of `Moksha'.

 

These Siddhis have nothing to do with enlightenment; they help in merely

showing off and the pride generated by such stupid feats is clearly inimical

to spiritual progress.

 

 

Non- Siddhi Miracles

Besides the Siddhi miracles that are inspired by 'Siddhis' acquired through

yogas, there are Non Siddhi miracles revealed for the benefit of humanity by

the supernatural force, we call God. Theseare actually not miracles but are

mysteries and will be discussed elsewhwere.

 

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