Shivoham!
We keep receiving many SOS messages from many Tantra amateurs. There was heavy influx of requests for guidance in Yakshini Sadhana after the post on that subject from me. Honestly speaking, considerable number of mails from the DYI type practitioners who were pathetically struggling for even their day to day survival after engaging in the unholy task of taming the Yakshinis was an unpleasant surprise that forced me to think the obvious ‘WHY PEOPLE ENGAGE IN SUCH THINGS THAT THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND?’.
I also got few comments full of ‘education’ and ‘hallucinating experiences’ claiming to be already enjoy the company and love of some gorgeous, voluptuous Yakshinis. I know those were people who, probably had read about Yakshinis in different books and freely sharing ‘their’ perspective trying to claim their share of fame and pride. As a rule I have given instruction to the ‘Blog Management Team’ to not publish/allow any comments without my approval therefore all these remarks came to me for my perusal. Upon which, I simply instructed the team to ‘mail’ those ‘educators’ asking them to provide their background of real, hands on experience in the field, their Guru Lineage and current master etc. so that we know ‘where they are coming from’. And no surprise… not a single mail received a reply! It was kind of a litmus test which proved that most of online resources and ‘Gyan-factories’ on the subject of ‘Tantra Sadhana’ are being run by ‘copy-edit-paste’ or ‘read-re-write’ type people having NIL experience of this esoteric and ritualistic process.
|| Siddhis – Boon or curse? ||
It is no surprise to see uninitiated people entrapped in cyclones of many ill-tempered shaktis and negative energies just because they are not able to control their urge to know the unknown and gain powers (siddhis) but I feel really sad when even initiated people ‘Fall’ and destroy themselves. I am sure their teachers and Masters would have given them proper brief of the subject but alas!… Few days back I was presented with a message from my Team. This message was left for us on our Facebook Page. I thought of picking a thread of Tattva Shakti Vigyaan Sadhana from this message and educate all my beloved disciples. Before I discuss the subject of Siddhis see the message for yourself (The names have been withheld to keep the identity secret) –
Dear Sir /Madam, I would like to get advice on the below matter concerning Telepathy. This is regarding my uncle Raxxsh Nxxr. He was practicing Sri Vidya tantra for decades and with that he used to practice telepathy. With practice he use to test and read other people’s mind and also sometimes he use to make them irritate. But it was just a kind of childish behavior for which he is guilty. But he had very good capacity to do such things, One day doesn’t know and how it happened, his thought started broadcasting. This was something unusual for him also. All his secrets started revealing outside. In his own native place it was difficult to live. It was the age he should earn for his secured life. But all turned around for him. All the neighbors started getting irritated of him. All wanted him to die or him to go away anywhere. But this is what I call destiny. He got job in gulf country, but he was not able to work because of thought broadcasting. It was a problem for his colleague. He had to leave the earning and the place .Which was very difficult and put him a big problem. Many people experienced it, His entire relative thinks it is illusion, but I don’t think it is illusion. Because I have read about this kind of mind powers. As this person condition is very dull, he don’t need financial help now, he need to get his problem solved and get rid of it He know only Malayalam, he can tell more clearly , if you give help him or if you don’t want to do it then please give me any contact person who solves his problem and give him remaining better life I appreciate in advance your kind gesture to guide me on the same.
Can you please help to get him out of this? – V. M.
Siddhis : Real of Fig of Hyper-Imagination?
Siddhis or Psychic Powers should be simply understood as cultivation/enhancement /perfection of human capacities sometimes to unimaginable levels. Those who are students of Yoga and have read Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra they would know, in Vibhuti Pada there are many psychic abilities and siddhis that are gifted/achieved upon perfection of mind-control i.e. upon attaining Samadhi.
In our Tantric texts, like in Shiva Sutra Siddhis have been hinted (without giving complete account of it) through the mention of words like ‘Bhuta-Prathakatva’, ‘Bhuta-Sandhaana’, ‘Vismay’, ‘Visha-Samghatta’ etc. that is attained in ‘Bhairava’ state. Some of these siddhis are said to be within 24 Tattwas and some are achieved after penetrating the coverings of maya ‘the Kanchukas’.
In fact there are innumerable number of Siddhis. Someone who attains siddhi is called ‘Siddha’ and each one of us is Siddha in our own right because another meaning of word ‘Siddhi’ is perfection. We can debate on this word ‘perfection’ saying.. nothing can ever be perfect so.. what is perfection? However there’s another word which we can use here… that is called Kushalata ‘Excellence’. So even a daily wager, a mason, a surgeon, actor, truck-driver.. everyone… is siddha (has perfection) in many things.. Why? Because they do many things ‘excellently’ and achieve perfection in action (Yogah Karmashu Kaushalam : The BhagwadGita) within their capacity.
Today’s ‘Excellent’ is tomorrow’s ‘shoddy job’. As we evolve.. We look back at our own past works and wonder.. “Was THIS the BEST of me? Can’t believe!”. So siddhi is a dynamic preposition and can not be defined in a static framework of human capacities. Things which one could only dream about 100 years ago are within the reach of common masses (albeit through use of external technologies). There are many people born with extra-ordinary capacities and talents and for that they are referred to as superhumans. Scientists would probably link all these ‘beyond normal’ capacities to either the genetic material DNA or capacity of something intangible by senses (mind or thought). Therefore we may still debate on whether all the siddhis or powers (psychic or otherwise) which find mention in ancient texts are for real or not but there’s no denying in fact that if a human being trains his mind he can definitely display miraculous powers. Just to add every age (time period) has its own charter of Siddhis – so not all kind of siddhis can generally be attained by everyone in a particular age.
Still there are and would be some powers every human would want to possess because having those gives a sense of being ‘different from herd’, ‘more capable than others’ and therefore being worthy of ‘respect and admiration’ and these are listed below –
Ashta-Siddhis : The Eight Great Psychic powers
- Animaa : One becomes able to be smaller than the smallest. Such a person can assume the body size even lesser than the subatomic particle therefore capable of penetrating every ‘matter’ in this cosmos
- Mahimaa : One can become as large and big as the universe
- Laghimaa and Garima : Ability to attain any frequency in the entire spectrum thereby ability to alter one’s weight and to be able to travel with the speeds greater than light
- Praapti : Ability to manifest any object from void (what we call appearance of things out of thin air)
- Praakaamya : The Bhairava/Bhairavi/Yogi/Yogini equipped with such psychic power can fulfill any desire he/she has
- Ishitva : Seemingly such a Yogi appears to defy or withhold the set laws of nature such as walking on water or fire, breathing fire etc.
- Vashitva : Such a Siddha/Yogini can control other being’s (humans and animals included) actions if he/she desires so
- Kaama-vasayitava : It a sense it is culmination of all the siddhis one can have such a Yogi can do ANYTHING! Virtually nothing is impossible for such a Yogi. This is THE highest of all Siddhis any Siddha can acquire. In tantra it is referred to as Vishwa-sanghatta.
It is documented and believed that only a select few Tantra/Yoga practitioners with high spiritual calibre can attain such Siddhis but this is also to be noted that such Yogis seldom reveal their capacities and it is extremely rare to see them use these.
Not all yogis & Tantric practitioners (even the realized ones) stay in the Major Siddhi zone (being nearer to the primal source of creation) as they are pushed towards kaivalya state or Shiva-Shakti consciousness (as that is the actual goal of all the arduous sadhana/ practice) abruptly. Albeit most of the practitioners, during their sadhana do experience few other siddhis or psychic powers occasionally or even persistently. For example
- A Yogi/Tantra sadhaka may not be bothered by thirst, hunger and may overcome any other physical appetites/needs
- Sadhaka can perceive and hear far sounds and even conversations among people
- Whatever one says comes true – it is called Vaak Siddhi
- Such a Yogi/Tantric has capacity to produce any fragrance (good and bad both)
- A Sadhaka is capable of seeing distant events and this sometimes happens even involuntarily
- In deepest state of trance/meditation/Shiva-Shakti Saamyujya a Sadhaka’s body lifts above the ground – Called Levitation
- An accomplished Tantric/Yogi can travel to any location merely by thinking of that location. This is in fact piercing of Niyati Kanchuka in Tantra’s terminology.
- Such a Tantric/Yogi can acquire the shape of any being he/she wants. Just as we read in many great epics such as Ramayana we have story of Rakshasas taking shape of Animals or different looking person
- Entering into someone else’s body at your will – It is also known as Parakaya Pravesh.
- Yogi can choose when he wants to leave this mortal body – Ichchaa Mrityu is another name for it
- Having access to other lokas and witness the activities of beings in those realms
- Such is the power of Sadhaka that if he desires for any event to happen.. it will happen
- A sadhaka many times gets baffled to see other’s thoughts in his mind. This may happen as will or even involuntarily
- Sadhaka is endowed with the power to nullify the effects of poison in his own body or even others
- If a Tantric practitioner stumbles upon this power or siddhi he/she becomes invincible (mostly this is displayed in the debates or Shastrarthas)
Early Mistakes in the company of Masters : Blessings in Disguise
Lot many people tend to adopt spiritual practices only to gain some sort of exceptional capacities or psychic powers.. referred to as siddhis in yogic/tantric/religious texts. In fact it is quite natural and human to seek power, position, capacity and knowledge.. psychic powers are definitely included in the list of one’s to-achieve list. As a beginner what else one can seek? Many times people think what is the harm in freely using a power gained through Tantric rituals and Tattva Shakti Vigyaan sadhana. Our Gurus have told us hundreds of stories where siddhis became not only hurdles and roadblocks in spiritual progress but totally destroyed the sadhakas.
I must confess to have used the ‘power of teleportation and telepathy’ very early in life (but only once in 1985) because very soon (within 7 days of influencing someone) a horrible life-threatening situation struck me. I had no option than to narrate the whole story to my Guru, my father Pandit Shri Murli Dhar Mishr ji and I can tell you it was real embarrassment to tell him what I had done. To cut the long story short what followed was Guru’s refusal to share more on the subject. He made me to wait for long 2 years to ensure I was mature enough to receive further teachings! A similar teleportation experience baffled Shakti Devpriya ji during her stay in Banasthali, Rajasthan in late 90s while trying to do something miraculous with the use of Prateek Vigyaan. She partially lost her ability to distinguish between the dream and reality for almost a month, upon knowing which Gurudev had to first heal her to normalcy and then took a promise for not using Prachya Prateek Vigyaan methods for trying to change or break the rules of visible reality. Thankfully we learnt our lessons early and stuck to our grounds thereafter…
Now as a teacher of the subject, we too come across many such people (mostly seeking help in saving them from drowning due to willful engagement in siddhis or psychic powers). It is also a fact that if one’s Guru is in body one should approach him/her. In the absence of Guru one should look forward to solution within the Gurumandala as first choice and if that’s not possible then only you should seek help from others. Unfortunately not all cases can be brought to normalcy.
To make a mistake is human.. repeating is Foolish!
Taking up Sadhanas and practices only for developing siddhis or psychic powers is a common beginner’s mistake. Such an approach is rooted in one’s ignorance about the actual chemistry of spiritual practices. Everyone can be called a beginner at some point therefore to accept the fact that we can be ignorant should not be difficult. And to do away with the darkness of ignorance you need a guide, a Guru, a teacher.
Every spiritual practice has associated dangers. You may ask “What kind of danger?” but your asking itself is rooted in your ignorance. Only answer possible to this question would be ‘You are not aware of the larger chunk of reality and there are so many unknown forces and processes of universal energies which are not perceptible to human sense organs and lot many most advanced-fuzzy-logics beyond comprehension for even most powerful computers we can ever develop. Frankly speaking the dangers are enormous and sometimes ever-irreversible – Imagine a giant planet or star being swallowed by a ‘black hole’.. It’s gone, there’s no explanation to why that happens. Ask any scientist and he will tell you that nothing can be done about it once the event has started happening. All tantric and Yogic literature is full of warnings against chasing siddhis. They are not advised for a sadhaka for their ability to “suck us in and destroy us completely”.
A true Guru shall always tell you in the first place that the sadhana/practice is NOT aimed at any positive effect in material world and if at all anything positive happens it is just the grace of mother Universe upon us to only ease our way of self-exploration by reducing the external roadblocks and enhancing attention in seekers. Secondly if any of the disciple is found to be in the attainment of some psychic powers the Guru shall discourage his/her disciples from misadventure of all kinds. More or less if one examines carefully he will surely find that –
- Cultivation of Siddhis is pure wastage of time.
- Digression from your goal of self-realization
- It only promotes your ego and exacerbates your lower tendencies
- Temptations are high and ultimately if you have not purified in your intellect and prakriti you shall start deriving sadistic pleasure very soon
- Ultimate issue with siddhis and their show is that it sucks your potential out leaving you an ordinary man (scared of death and entangled in the cobweb of passions) at the end. A golden opportunity that is gifted with the blessings of Guru and grace of Divine gets lost.
Can I ever get Psychic Powers?
You can definitely get Psychic Powers but there’s a lot of difference in getting Psychic Powers and wanting psychic powers. If you are in right place the Guru shall tell you what to do and what not to do in your spiritual practices. You just need to continue doing your practices as advised and slowly dormant powers start unfolding. Actually most of the people who run after siddhis are trapped by negative forces as they are in hurry and hungry for powers. Such people are taken over by negative forces very easily because they are not purified in their intentions and energies.
One must understand that there are multiple ways of exhibiting miracles and magic. Depending on which way you gain these powers your fate especially ‘Life After’ is decided. Among many there are ways which can be referred to as ‘The Higher ways’..
Well.. I wish to discuss it all here for the clarity and guidance of DYI ‘Power Seekers’ and all Tattva Shakti Vigyaan practitioners but it is in the light of Gurumandala’s wisdom, Sacred Tantric Texts and of course personal experiences I wish to warn all Tattva Shakti Vigyaan practitioners to stay neutral to all sorts of miracles manifested around them and attribute those events ONLY to the grace of Gurumandala and divine Mother rather than their own. We owe all our psychic powers to them. And in such a case if we commit a mistake they play saviour. But if you don’t pay heed to these words of Masters then you are doomed.
That shall come in my next session..
Till then enjoy your Sadhana and stay blessed.
– Acharya Agyaatadarshan Anand Nath
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