siddhis- obstacles to enlightenment ( A REPOST )

adi_shakthi16

 

shri Ramakrishna has stated that a man cannot realise God if he

possesses even one of the eight occult powers. He quoted Lord

Krishna teaching Arjuna "Friend, if you want to realise Me, you

will

not succeed if you have even one of the eight occult powers. This

is

the truth. Occult power is sure to beget pride and pride makes one

forget God."

 

He continued, "An egoistic person cannot realise God. Do you know

what egotism is like? It is like a high mound where rain-water

cannot

collect; the water runs off. Water collects in low land. There

seeds

sprout and grow into trees. Then the trees bear fruit.

 

'The deliberate pursuit of psychic powers is not favoured by sages

and advanced sincere seekers. They discourage such practices

deeming them an obstacle to realising oneness of being'

 

"People of small intellect seek occult powers. Power to cure

disease,

win a law suit, walk on water and such things. But the genuine

devotees do not want anything except His lotus feet. . . . People

with

a little occult power gain such things as name and fame. Many of

them want to follow the profession of Guru, gain people's

recognition,

and make disciples and devotees."

 

"People cure diseases through occult powers. All this is miracle

working. Only those whose spiritual experience is extremely shallow

call on God for the healing of diseases.It is very hard for those

who

want occult power to have pure love for God."

**************************************************

even shri ramana maharishi says...

 

"In Halasya Mahima there is a chapter on the eightfold siddhis.

There

Lord Siva says that his bhakta never wastes a thought on them.

Again, Lord Siva says that He never grants boons. The desires of

devotees are fulfilled according to their prarabdha only. When

Ishwara Himself says so, what of others? In order to display

siddhis

there must be others to recognise them. That means there is no

jnana

(enlightened awareness) in the one who displays them. Therefore

siddhis (occult powers) are not worthy of any thought. Jnana (self

realisation) alone is to be aimed at and gained.

 

Atman (the Self) alone is to be realised. Its realisation holds

all else in

its compass. Sakti, Ganapati, Siddhis etc., are included in it.

Those

who speak of these have not realised the Atman."

 

 

shri ramana says- "Who is the jnani? If he is the body you see,

then

his siddhis will be shown to other bodies. But if he is pure

awareness

, from where will he get the siddhis and to whom will he show them?

 

"Both the jnani and the bhakta (devotee) do not desire or work for

siddhis; the former because he sees himself the All, and the latter

because he sees his Ishta Devata ‹ his favourite deity ‹ the All ;

even

his own action is done by this deity; he has no will of his own at

all to

impel action on his own initiative. Yet siddhis follow them both

like

their shadows. What greater siddhi is there than that of the Sage.,

who by merely sitting on his couch, attracts thousands of people

from

the four corners of the earth, hundreds of whom change their old

modes of life and some even attain Godhood?

"The highest siddhi is realisation of the Self, Atma Sakshatkara;

for

here, once you realise the truth you cease to be drawn to the path

of

ignorance."

 

 

Hari om tat sat

 

 

philomina7

 

But Shri Ramkrishna Dev also gave Diksha and He had many

Chelas.

 

I learnt that if the Sadhana is done in a right way and the Chela

takes

lessons and practice his lessons perfectly only then the siddhis

come

one by one with the perfection in his sadhana. But the Chela is

supposed not to use it.

 

But if the Sadhana is not on the right path the siddhis never

achieved.

 

There are many Holymen and Gurus like His Holyness Mahesh Yogi,

Dalai Lama. Pope, Sankaracharya etc etc so all of them are wrong?

 

philomina7

 

adi_shakthi16

 

dear philomena, you have answere your own question, dear one!

 

yes, the guru gives diksha and the chela or disciple may acquire

siddhis due to mantra sadhna and perfection of sadhna ? but does

the

chela use these siddhis to 'punish' his enemies ? doe he use these

siddhis to make 'money' saying i can 'cure' diseases or ' i will

give you

a gem' to attract the 'opposite sex' etc? or like swami

vivekananda he

uses his powers of realization to help the poor and the

downtrodden!

 

nowadays, people in india are using vaastu shastra, jyotish

shastra,

feng shui etc to rob people of their money !

 

the purpose of sadhna is to go beyond seing 'visions' and acquring

'siddhis' - the purpose of sadhna is to see the 'divinity' within

and the

'divinity' in others!

 

Adi shankara's disciples were trained to spread the message of

divinity just like sri ramakrishna's disciples.

 

Sdhna is on the right path only when the sadhak realizes the self

not

when he learns to walk on water or swallow fire!

 

 

also, philomena- please answer this question for me?

 

1) did sri ramakrishna charge his disciples an enormous amountb of

money for courses in yoga and meditation like the members of

mahesh yogi's tm movement?

 

2) do adi shankara's disciples distribute 'janan' and 'bhakti' in a

'capsule' form?

 

3) what are the messages of enlightened souls?

"know thyself" ot "tat twam asi" - AND NOT teaching people how to

'levitate' !

 

4) also, sri ramakrishna, sri ramana could have used their siddhis

to

cure their own cancer but they did not and why? because, both knew

that they are beyond this body and they had to work out their

'prabdha' karma in tis lifetime itself.

 

there is only one reason for human birth -that is to 'realize the

divinity

within' and to realize that this human body is given only to serve

others- PAROPAKARAM IDAM SHARIRAM! not to exploit other

fellow beings and make money and use the Tantra shastra for such

material gains!

 

love and peace!

 

 

devi_bhakta

 

Thanks Adi and Philomena for your discussions on this important

topic.

 

For my two cents, siddhis are not so much an obstacle to spiritual

advancement as a by-product of it.

 

The Tantric approach to Self-realization is a process of "becoming"

(or experientially realizing one's Oneness with) God/dess. Is it

not

natural that the more a person realizes that they are one with the

Universe -- in other words, the more their consciousness expands

beyond the limitations of their apparent physical being -- the more

their mental and physical abilities will expand too?

 

Siddhis are simply physical and psychic functions that

seem "magical"

to those observers on a lower plane of understanding -- much as the

images flashing on a TV set might seem magical to a primitive

people

unfamiliar with electricity and wave theory and their practical

applications. Once you teach them the ideas being building a TV

set,

the "magic" drops away -- you've given them a deeper understanding

of the true nature of the physical world and its workings, and --

with

that understanding -- TV is no big deal.

 

But is TV the ultimate meaning of electricity and cosmic waves? Of

course not. You can go infinitely deeper into those topics; you

can do

wonderfully more worthwhile things by harnessing their power -- but

TV's an attractive distraction. Many a kid has flunked a physics

exam by ignoring their studies to watch TV, play a video game,

wander around the cyberspace ... in other words, they sacrificed an

understanding of their world in order to indulge in a by-product

of that

understanding.

 

And that's the danger of Siddhis -- getting distracted from your

journey to Truth by the appeal of what are essentially parlour

tricks.

 

 

It is said that worship of the Ten Mahavidyas ("Wisdom Goddesses")

of Tantra is a very dangerous sadhana indeed -- if one is seeking

the

powerful siddhis these goddesses offer. A mispronounced mantra, a

botched ritual -- can lead to insanity or death. But approaching

these

goddesses as Mother -- with unconditional love and selfless

devotion

-- is perfectly safe. That's because you're not trying to spar with

them; to wheedle and coerce the granting of special powers. You're

simple saying, "Mother, You are Everything; I feel like I'm

nothing --

please take me in, guide me, protect me, and show me Who I am."

And guess what? She'll do just that -- the siddhis, which, again,

are

simply by-products of realizing one's divinity -- will come too,

automatically. But you won't be a bit impressed by them. You won't

even care.

 

The Tantric who seeks siddhis is much more clever, much cagier,

much more adept in the subtleties of Tantric ritual than the mere

devotee. But for what? It is as if they're skillfully bargaining

with a

car salesman for an incredible number of extra bells and whistles -

-

sunroof, CD player, top-shelf speakers; the works -- but

forgetting to

ask for the vehicle itself. What's the point?

 

Aum Maatangyai Namahe

 

adi_shakthi16

 

bingo! db!

 

*****Siddhis are simply physical and psychic functions that seem

"magical" to those observers on a lower plane of

understanding******

 

100%true.....

 

 

*****And that's the danger of Siddhis -- getting distracted from

your

journey to Truth by the appeal of what are essentially parlour

tricks.

****

 

100%true again!

 

 

******It is said that worship of the Ten Mahavidyas ("Wisdom

Goddesses") of Tantra is a very dangerous sadhana indeed -- if one

is

seeking the powerful siddhis these goddesses offer. A mispronounced

mantra, a botched ritual -- can lead to insanity or death. But

approaching these goddesses as Mother -- with unconditional love

and selfless devotion -- is perfectly safe. That's because you're

not

trying to spar with them; to wheedle and coerce the granting of

special powers. You're simple saying, "Mother, You are Everything;

I

feel like I'm nothing -- please take me in, guide me, protect me,

and

show me Who I am." And guess what? She'll do just that -- the

siddhis, which, again, are simply by-products of realizing one's

divinity

-- will come too, automatically.*******

 

again, you aqre stating it as it is! LOVE THE DIVINE MOTHER

FOR LOVE'S SAKE without expectations of reward!

 

******The Tantric who seeks siddhis is much more clever, much

cagier, much more adept in the subtleties of Tantric ritual than

the

mere devotee.*******

 

EXACTLY!!!

 

 

do we learn Tantra to expand our consciousness or to improve our

sexual performance?

 

do we pray to bagalamukhi to defeat our opponebnts in court?

 

DO WE PRAY TO UGRA TARA TO DEFEAT OUR ENEMIES

AND MAKE OUR PARTNER LOVE US MORE?

 

FINALLY, can tantra teach us to respect all forms and

manifestations of the divine mother without being unduly worried

about iconography ?

 

 

hey, db--- i worship the true devi bhakta in you!

 

love and more love

 

 

yeshe_o

>>It is said that worship of the Ten Mahavidyas ("Wisdom

Goddesses") of Tantra is a very dangerous sadhana indeed -- if one

is

seeking the powerful siddhis these goddesses offer. A mispronounced

mantra, a botched ritual -- can lead to insanity or death. But

approaching these goddesses as Mother -- with unconditional love

and selfless devotion -- is perfectly safe. That's because you're

not

trying to spar with them; to wheedle and coerce the granting of

special powers. You're simple saying, "Mother, You are Everything;

I

feel like I'm nothing -- please take me in, guide me, protect me,

and

show me Who I am." And guess what? She'll do just that -- the

siddhis, which, again, are simply by-products of realizing one's

divinity

-- will come too, automatically. But you won't be a bit impressed

by

them. You won't even care.<<

 

What a blessing ... all is impermanet; but the path, the dear ones

who

help us and the end result our liberation and enlightenment. Ayra

Tara is always present with me and my children and my family as are

all the Buddhas. Yes we pursue the path in devotion, and compassion

towards one another, and all else is automatic.

Thank you for this

-with palms together

Yeshe

 

 

 

baba108

The Holy Mother, is she not consciousness itself and all it's

manifestations - Maa's Leela - Jai Maa

 

Love baba

 

 

amritam2000

Respected Baba108

 

I fully agree with you that everything is the Leela of Maa, the

Shakti.

 

And I fully agree with philomina7 also that Indians Insulted. But

Indians have much tolerance as may be it is also the Leela of Ma.

As

I feel everything is predestined.

 

I am not a sadhaka but just an ordinary person and I read whatever

I

find to read.

 

I have seen many persons trying to awaken Kundalini Power with the

help of yoga, hatha yoga even i have come across persons who had

adverse effects while trying to play with the Kundalini Power but

every body called themselves Sadhaka.

 

But have you ever come across any person any Yogi any Sadhaka

who has achieved any of the Siddhis ?