Development of Psychic Powers in Yoga

The "eight limbs" of yoga, the classical path, is described in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, a fundamental document compiled from earlier oral traditions either in the third century B.C. or in the A.D. 400s according to various scholars (Eliade 1962/1975). It contains the following steps for achieving spiritual liberation: (1) yama, the restraint of bad habits; (2) niyama, the cultivation of good habits in one's daily life; (3) asana, the adoption of steady and comfortable postures with specific physiological effects; (4) pranayama, special breathing exercises; (5) pratyahara, withdrawing the mind from objects of sensory perception, as in meditation; (6) dharana, concentration on selected objects; (7) dhyana, steady contemplation in which the sense of separateness of the self from the object of concentration disappears; and (8) samadhi, the absolute, ecstatic experience of mystical unity with all of creation.

The last three steps of the eight-limbed yoga, known collectively as samyama, can only be learned under the direction of a guru and are associated with psychic abilities. Eliade quotes the ninth century yogin, Vacaspatimisra, who states: "Whatever the yogin desires to know, he should perform samyama with respect to that object" (Eliade 1954/1971). For example, by exercising samyama on a "notion" (pratyaya) the yogi comes to know the mental states of other men.



During the process of attaining samadhi, which may take many years, different centers of psychic perception in the body, called chakras, are thought to be awakened through the activating force of kundalini, which is often symbolized as a snake rising slowly from the lower spine to the top of the head. When all of the chakras are activated, then samadhi is thought to be attained.

Embodied in the conceptualization of the chakras is a very complex cosmological scheme. With each chakra is associated one of the deities of the Hindu pantheon with attendant symbolism, a Sanskrit syllable or mantra, a color, an animal, a geometric symbol, and a lotus flower with varied numbers of petals. Each chakra represents a level of mental functioning. The yogis believed that various psychic powers or sidhis became manifest through concentration on particular chakras. In the classical yoga system of Patanjali, there are seven chakras. Other systems of yoga list the chakras differently. Each chakra is associated with a part of the human body and the attendant emotional and glandular activity, e.g. the heart, solar plexus, genitals. Some modem writers tend to equate the chakras with the various endocrine glands. While this was clearly not the intention of the ancient yoga texts, the correspondence in location and function between the chakras and the endocrine glands is rather remarkable and suggests that the concept of the chakras evolved through introspection of the mind-body relationship.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali enumerate a number of sidhis or supernatural powers that have been observed by yogis in their practice. These sidhis include knowledge of the past and future; understanding the sounds of animals; recalling the experiences of one's previous incarnations; knowing the thoughts of another mind; making oneself invisible; an intuitive understanding of psychological, spiritual and physical phenomena; physical strength comparable to that of an elephant; the ability to live without eating or drinking; extrasensory perception of sound, touch, sight, taste and smell; entering consciously into the body of another person; levitation of the body in space; the ability to heal physical and spiritual wounds or disease; the ability to become as minute as an atom or to expand oneself into a space and become as large as any entity; the power of fulfilling all wishes and desires; the power to change destiny; the ability to overcome attachment to idiosyncrasies, prejudices, anger, and narrow-mindedness toward others.

Staal (1975) notes that the various powers, called either sidhi or vibhuti, are said, in the Yoga Sutras, to accompany a high State of concentration known as samprajnata samadhi. However, this is not considered the highest state of yogic attainment, Which is called asamprajnata samadhi. The 37th verse of the third book of the Yoga Sutras contains the following verse, translated by Woods (1914/1972), which has been interpreted by many practitioners as an injunction against the use of psychic powers by yogis: "In concentration these [supernal activities] are obstacles; in the emergent state they are perfection (sidhi)." Staal notes that oftentimes scholars of yoga or leaders of various contemporary mystical cults and movements take a puritanical attitude against the development of psychic abilities. He states that "religious and moral prejudices, Indian as well as Western, have obscured the fact that these powers are an integral part of Yoga."

In a letter to this author, Staal points out that it is incorrect to assume that psi powers are accepted without further discussion in Indian culture in general. Staal states, "Such powers have been discussed by various authors, some accepting and some rejecting them, with respect to the relevance or validity. Some philosophers in discussing problems of perception incorporate them, others ignore them."

The Yoga Sutras recognize that yoga is only one of several methods for the development of sidhis. The first sutra in book IV specifies, "Perfections proceed from birth or from drugs or from spells or from self-castigation or from concentration" (Woods 1914/1972).

One of the most important postures, or asanas, for attaining sidhis is appropriately named sidhasana. This is a cross-legged sitting position in which one of the heels is pressed into the sex organs, rather like what is commonly known as the "full lotus' posture. The eyes are pointed upward toward the "third eye' point between the eyebrows. The posture appears to be intended to stimulate several specific chakras and to have a greater effect on purifying the "72,000 nadis" or channels of subtle energy in the body. The 40th sloka in the first section of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika states, "The yogi who meditates on the atman and eats moderately achieves the yoga sidhis after he has practiced sidhasana for 12 years" (Reiker 1974). Atman is the sanskrit term referring to the ultimate essence of a person (and is also equated with the ultimate essence of the entire universe, or brahman, in some philosophical systems, but not the yoga system).
Another technique specified in the text is that of bramacharya, or celibacy. The 57th sloka in the first section states, "‘The brahmacharin who, observing moderate diet, renouncing the fruits of his actions, practices yoga will become a sidha in the span of one year." The phrase "renouncing the fruits of his actions" appears to be a reference to the Hindu philosophy of nonattachment as embodied in the Bhagavat Gita. The text goes on to list a variety of foods not considered salutary, including mustard, alcohol, fish, meat, and garlic.

Additionally the text assures us in slokas 64-66 of the first section that anybody can become a sidha regardless of age or physical condition. However, this can only be accomplished through tireless practice and not through reading of text books, wearing yoga garments, or engaging in conversations about yoga. Furthermore the text specifies, in the 11th sloka of the first section, the need to keep one's practice secret, without indiscriminately revealing one's attainments. The ninth sloka of the third section states that the sidhis should be kept secret like a box full of diamonds or that it "like an illicit relation with a married woman of noble birth, should not be mentioned to anyone."

Tantra is a form of yoga in which sacred practices for the attainment of enlightenment involve the ritualized violation of cultural taboos: eating meat, drinking wine, and engaging in sexual intercourse. Among the spiritual traditions, tantric yoga, both Hindu and Tibetan, may be unique in the stress which is said to be placed on psychic powers. Goleman (1977) states, "Tantric yoga alone among traditional meditational systems sees the yogi's attainment of sidhis, or supernormal psychic powers, as marking the end of his path. Says one Tantric scripture, or all sadhana [spiritual discipline] ceases when it has born its fruit in sidhi.' Certain Tantric practices are devised to produce certain sidhis such as mind-reading.. One reason sidhis may signify liberation for some is the high states that the possession of powers betokens. But meditation is central to all Tantric practices; the raising of kundalini, the means; samadhi, the goal." This view is contradicted by Prasad (1974) who maintains that "the final aim of Tantra and of Yoga is to attain salvation." Prasad notes the strong emphasis that psi powers play in the tantric Sakt religion. He adds that the practice of tantra is said not only to lead to acquiring paranormal powers but enables a sidha to transfer his powers to others.

The tradition of yoga is particularly suited to contemporary academic study, both in a relatively traditional Hindu setting and in the industrialized Western nations. A number of worldwide organizations that promote various schools of yoga maintain ties between India, and the United States, Western Europe and Australia. These organizations include the Integral Yoga Institute, the Happy Healthy Holy Organization, the Siddha Yoga Foundation, the Divine Light Society, Self-Realization Fellowship, Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga, Kirpal Ruhani Mission, Ananda Marga Yoga Society, Bhagwan Rajneesh Yoga Centers, Shri Chinmoy Yoga Centers, Sai Baba Centers, Sri Aurobindo Society, and the Sivananda Yoga Society.

Eliade, M. Patanjali and yoga. New York: Schocken Books, 1975. (Originally published, 1962.)

Eliade, M. Yoga, immortality and freedom. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1971. (Originally published, 1954.)

Goleman, D. The varieties of meditative experience. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1977.

Mishra, R.M. Yoga Sutras. New York: Doubleday, 1973.Reiker, H. [The yoga of light: Hatha Yoga Pradipika], E. Becherer, trans. Los Angeles: Dawn Horse Press, 1974.

Staal, F. Exploring mysticism. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975.

Woods, J.H. The yoga-system of Patanjali. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1972. (Originally published, 1914.)