From: Yogani
Date: Sat Jan 10, 2004 4:31pm

Q: Are the famed siddhis real?… in your experience, of course!If they are, could these practices lead to experiences of them?I know that many teachers warn that they are merely a distraction and a trap for the ego, but for me it would be evidence of human ability beyond what we have been taught.

A: Are you from Missouri, the “show me” state? Only kidding.

It is a good question.

If you believe the New Testament, and numerous other accounts, powers are real. But I will not be flying through the sky or walking through walls any time soon for you. Nor will I be feeding the 5,000, or raising the dead. There is no claim of guru status here, so I don’t have to do any of those things. I’m just an ordinary bloke like
anybody.

It is important to note that we ordinary folks can cultivate constant miraculous experience in our lives. There is a relationship between this and siddhis in terms of practice.

As you may know, in Patanjali’s “Yoga Sutras,” a procedure known as “samyama” is identified as being the source of siddhis. Samyama is systematically initiating particular intentions within pure bliss consciousness. But samyama isn’t done for siddhis. It is done for the purification it produces in the nervous system on the way to siddhis. Samyama is a spiritual practice that can be integrated with all the other spiritual practices we are discussing. The primary effects of samyama are moving pure bliss consciousness and expanding ecstasy within and beyond the body. Samyama is an expansion of everything else we are doing in advanced yoga practices. It was mentioned in the very first lesson, in the list of things to be covered, that we will be “cultivating silent inner awareness outward in powerful ways.” This is samyama.

We will get into samyama in a few months. It will be for the further expansion of pure bliss consciousness and divine ecstasy, not for manifesting siddhis, though moving in that direction naturally. By the time siddhis come, will we care? Life will be permanent ecstatic bliss long before. Now that is a real miracle.

I understand your question and why you ask it. Will you settle for pure bliss consciousness and endless ecstasy? That we can have in abundance if we are willing to put in the effort. These lessons are about that. You can get on the road to siddhis if you want to by taking up advanced yoga practices. But you will probably not be very attached to them by the time you get them. The ego will long since be merged with the infinite.

The guru is in you.