Siddhis Or Supernatural Powers And Self Realisation: What Is The Difference?

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Apart from the animadyashta siddhis over which gods alone have the mastery, there can be other types of smaller siddhis, which look impressive enough for a gullible person to mistake as products of self-realization. Clairvoyance and Clairaudience are the minor siddhis which one encounters on his way to God realization. They actually present themselves to distract the Seeker out of the path of progress he is travelling in. Hanuman had the ashta siddhis at his beck and call as he was Lord Shiva Incarnate. Hanuman assumed massive size to burn Lanka, and also to fight Kumbha Karna.

Vishnu In his Vaamana avatar assumed a size that enabled him to take three steps to cover all the three worlds. In another instance, Hanuman had assumed a tiny form in his search for Sita in lanka. He also made his tail very heavy that even Bhima could not lift it. Goal of meditation is not acquiring superpowers. It is self-realisation which is the goal. Focus your attention on realising yourself. According to Swami Vishnudevananda, "Serve, love, give, purify, meditate, realize. Be good, do good, be kind, be compassionate. This gives an insight into what is required in order to be a self-realised soul.

Impact of Siddhis

They say that with arrival of death on the scene, all our skills, talents, and even siddhis are taken away to the point of no retrieval. We lose our achievements, our wealth, our relationships with every episode of death that occurs in the birth death cycle. Siddhis are no different. They get detached from us once we die and do not pass on to another janma. The man with siddhis depends on them so much that he turns into a slave for them. Hence yogis say that siddhis are the inescapable nuisance that show up in the spiritual path that come to distract the seeker and if accepted by the Sadhaka, lead to his complete ruin.

Who is eligible for attaining siddhis?

What is the eligibility to attain siddhis then? You can gain them at a certain stage when you exhibit a certain purity and after some level of sadhana as per Swami Sivananda. If the sadhaka has conquered his ego, then it will not allow the siddhis to do harm to him or anyone, and there is no likelihood of them getting misused at the seeker's hands for selfish purposes etc. At no point, should the seeker think that attaining self-realization is just a few steps away since the siddhis are already attained by the seeker. This would be a foolish idea.

These siddhis present great hindrances to the achievement of liberation as per saints. Acquiring siddhis which are not attained by ordinary human beings itself causes the seeker to develop a huge ego. Spiritual path is all about absolving one's ego and what is the point if the ego sprouts up to such a level that you will end up being worse than what you were when you started your sadhana.

Until you reach the point of self-realization these powers should be treated as taboo subjects. Once the self is realized the siddhis are not likely to be harmful in any way. Only those saints who are self-liberated, must have access to siddhis as they will be egoless and do not misuse their siddhis for selfish ends.

Saints who have realised themselves all possess siddhis of various kinds. But people with siddhis need not be saints or even spiritually inclined. Siddhis are demoniacal in the hands of an egoistic seeker who has not realized himself. They are actually divine in nature, and are fit to be in the hands of the realized.

How Dangerous Are The Siddhis In The Hands Of The Ignorant?

According to Swami Sivananda, siddhis are more dangerous than the worldly pursuits for a seeker and he should never chase them at any point. Siddhis are useless parts of maya and they stop the seeker from experiencing true devotion. Even if one gets them, he must pray to God for guidance and not work further on the siddhis. We could also use the siddhis to get the power and position that we want but that is unethical to do so. It is not only unethical it also pulls your consciousness away from God. So we must pray to God to remove the siddhis and put us back to the path of true spirituality.

Siddhis are not indicators of your true spiritual progress. Many people use them in a dangerous manner and then one fine day lose all their siddhis for misusing them. If you are truly spiritual, then you feel the divine spirit of compassion within you and you will be a noble human being who can also see God in the hearts of other people as well as in yourself.The ability to know all languages including those of animals.

A list of Minor Siddhis

1. Knowing about past lives of people
2. knowing other's minds.
3. The ability to be invisible.
4. possessing great strength.
5. The knowledge of the fourteen planetary systems.
6. The knowledge of the arrangements of stars.
7. The knowledge of the movement of stars.
8. The knowledge of bodily anatomy.
9. The ability to remain still without movements.
10. The ability to see siddhas.
11. The ability to walk on water, thorns and similar things.
12. The ability to surround oneself with an aura
13. The ability to be omnipotent and omniscient.
14. "The mystical perfections may be obtained either by birth, by elixir, by the chanting of mantras, by austerities, of by attainment of samadhi." as per Patanjali.

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