ESP in Buddhism

Tennisons and Lustig (1962) point our several Buddhist texts that discuss the role of psi in classical Buddhism. The Samannaphala-Sutta of the Digha Nikaya, part of the original Pali canon, a document attributed to the original teachings of the Buddha, describes psi as part of the adventure of joining a Buddhist Order. Then the Yogacharya-Bhumi-Shastra of the great guru Arya Asanga also contains a systematic catalogue of miracles that can be performed by a Bodhisattva-one who has attained the goal of Buddhist training. They further describe a specific technique in the Buddhist scriptures for engendering psi through hypnotic-like trances induced by gazing at a circle, a few inches in diameter, placed about three feet from the meditation seat.

Eliade (1954/1971) notes that in the early Buddhist scriptures, the Pali canon, the term for miraculous powers is iddhi, similar to the Sanskrit term sidhi. Eliade also adds that the enumeration of the powers in the Buddhist scriptures and the techniques whereby these powers are attained does not differ substantially from those available in the non-Buddhist yoga. "These lists of sidhis ( = iddhis) are for the most part stereotyped, and they occur in all the ascetic and mystical literature of India." The Buddha also apparently recognized that one could claim psi powers through various magical practices without undergoing any of the inner transformation essential to Buddhism.

One of the major documents of Buddhism is the Vissuddhimagga, or the "path to purification," written in the fifth century by Buddhaghosa as a summary of the encyclopediac Abhidhamma -- attributed to the disciples' rendition of more than forty years of Gautama Buddha's discourses. According to Goleman (1975), the Vissuddhimagga enumerates a number of supernormal powers which, in addition to the more commonly observed psi phenomena, "overleap the bounds of even the most advanced physical sciences." These include walking on water and flying through the air. Furthermore, Goleman claims that the Vissudhimagga describes in technical detail how these feats, which are regarded as unimportant in Buddhism, are accomplished: "The required degree of mind-mastery for their use is formidable. One must first have full proficiency in fourteen methods of mind control.... The Vissuddhimagga estimates that of those who try, only one person in 100,000 or one million will achieve the prerequisite level of mastery. It further marks as a blemish wanting it to be known that one can practice these things (little wonder that Western parapsychological researchers have yet to encounter a subject capable of the supernormal feats of mind -- such as telekinesis and supernormal hearing -- described)."

These powers raised similar problems for both the Buddhists and the yogis as Eliade points out: "On the one hand, the ‘powers' are inevitably acquired in the course of initiation, and, for that very reason, constitute valuable indications of the Monk's progress; on the other hand, they are doubly dangerous, since they tempt the monk with a vain ‘magical mastery of the World' and, in addition, are likely to cause confusion in the minds of unbelievers.... The possession of the iddhis is not equivalent to deliverance; but these ‘miraculous powers' prove that the monk is in the process of deconditioning himself, that be has suspended the laws of nature, in whose cogs he was being crushed, condemned to suffer karmic determinism forever. Consequently, the possession of iddhis is not harmful in itself, but the monk must be careful not to succumb to temptation and, above all, must avoid exhibiting such powers before noninitiates."

Eliade quotes the Buddhist Kevaddha-sutta, in which an unbeliever might respond to a display of Buddhist telepathy: "Sir! there is a charm called the Jewel Charm. It is by the efficacy thereof that he performs all this."

Buddhism in Tibet is imbued with shamanistic practices because it was grafted onto the local Bon religion, and as a result, seems to have placed greater emphasis on psi training. EvansWentz (1958) describes a number of exercises in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition which are said to develop psi abilities. These exercises, which are of a tantric nature, employ simultaneous visualizations, postures, breathings, contemplations, and physical exercises. Evans-Wentz presents teachings from the Kargyupta school that resulted from the reform movement initiated by Marpa and Milarepa in the 12th century. One exercise is described as follows: "In the Art of Directing Thought, one is to imagine, when the expiration is going out, that innumerable five-colored rays are issuing from each of the hair-pores of the body and radiating over the whole world and filling it with their five-colored radiances, and that when the inspiration is coming in they are re-entering the body through the hair-pores and filling the body."

Evans-Wentz (1958) also describes practices in which the Tibetan monks and lamas believed themselves to be in telepathic communication with deities and gurus who existed on the higher celestial planes and were not incarnate. Another Tibetan teaching included the production of visualizations that take on apparent objective substance and can be, for example, touched. Another teaching was the process of pho-wa or trongjug, whereby the initiate transferred his consciousness to another human body. These teachings are shrouded in mystery, and the texts are not explicit on the training procedures, which can be imparted only by a guru.

A wide variety of psychic and miraculous phenomena in Tibet are reported by the explorer and scholar, Madame Alexandra David-Neel (1932/1971). Among the most interesting of the claims she documents in detail is the ability of certain adepts to create forms of animals and men through intense visualization and concentration. These forms, or tulpas, are then reportedly capable of maintaining an autonomous existence within the consensus reality of the population. According to David-Neel, the adepts of Tibet attribute these powers to the intensity of the concentration they have developed.

Lama Govinda (1960) emphasizes that the purpose of psychic powers in the Tibetan mystical tradition "not only encourages us to proceed on the chosen way, but transforms us while proceeding until we ourselves have become the aim of our striving."

Blofeld (1970) maintains that the advanced degrees at Lhasa's universities, which often took twenty years or longer to attain (as in the case of the Geshe, or doctor of divinity), were devoted principally to methods of mind control resulting in ESP abilities.

Blofeld, J. The tantric mysticism of Tibet. New York: Causeway Books, 1974.

David-Neel, A. Magic and mystery in Tibet. New York: Dover, 1971. (Originally published, 1932.)

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

Evans-Wentz, W.Y. Tibetan yoga and secret doctrines (second ed.). London: Oxford University Press, 1958.

Goleman, D. The Buddha on meditation and states of consciousness. In C.T. Tart (Ed.), Transpersonal Psychologies. New York: Harper & Row, 1975.

Govinda, A. Foundations of Tibetan mysticism. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1960.

Tennisons, K.A.M., and Lustig, F.V. Paranormal phenomena in classical Buddhist tradition. International Journal of Parapsychology, 1962, 4, 88-102.