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Tyagi Jayadev
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The Danger of Siddhis (Yogic Powers)
Niraj Sharma
India
Question
Did Paramhansa oganandaji make any !omment on o!!ult powers siddhis et!"# If so what
were those !omments# In his Autobiography it is mentioned in one !hapter that he himself had
some o!!ult power ie the power to see immediate future" If am not mistaken in his !hildhood
days he knew that he would get a boil on his hand the ne$t day"
Answer
Dear Niraj,
%his is an important topi!" Siddhis &yogi! powers' e$ist" %hey are part of the
spiritual path, but !an be!ome a major instrument of maya &illusion',
resulting in the downfall of yogis who desire them"
%raditionally there are eight main yogi! siddhis" ou !an get details in Sri
ukteswar(s )%he *oly S!ien!e")
es, ogananda had siddhis" +lose dis!iples witnessed them at times"
Peggy Deit, witnessed him le-itate. Swami /riyananda writes how ogananda knew his e-ery
thought, and e-erything he had done at a distan!e. %ulsi 0ose saw him resurre!t a dead
person. he healed many seriously si!k persons. 0rother 0hakananda witnessed how the 1aster
materiali,ed !arrot jui!e, filling many glasses mira!ulously from an almost empty pit!her. and
so on"
es, he knew the future, and !ould also see the distant past2 persons( pre-ious in!arnations"
*is siddhis were also re-ealed at his death2 ogananda(s body remained in a state of !omplete
in!orruption for three weeks after his passing &des!ribed e-en in %I13 maga,ine', up to the
moment his body was laid in the !rypt"
%his e-ent is do!umented by a notari,ed letter of the mortuary" It was a true phenomenon"
Nobody knows if today his body is still in!orrupt"
And yes, there is the story in Autobiography of a Yogi in whi!h ogananda used the power of
the spoken word to get a boil on his forearm the ne$t day" Patanjali speaks about that yogi!
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power in his famous Yoga Sutras"
*owe-er ogananda did not ad-o!ate displaying su!h powers in publi!" *e said2
1any !ome e$pe!ting mira!les, but those who ha-e reali,ed 4od ne-er show their
powers, unless 4od dire!ts them to" People don(t see that in that !omplete humility lies
the greatest mira!le7 If I were to perform mira!les in publi!, I !ould attra!t !rowds of
followers" 0ut that isn(t the way 4od wants it"
58rom Conversations with Yogananda
In his Autobiography of a Yogi he des!ribes a saint who materiali,ed perfumes and other
things" ogananda(s !omment2
Performan!es of mira!les su!h as shown by the )Perfume Saint) are spe!ta!ular but
spiritually useless" *a-ing little purpose beyond entertainment, they are digressions
from a serious sear!h for 4od"
Another point2 "Spiritual advanement is not measured by one!s outward powers, but only by
the depth of his bliss in meditation""
ogananda, in other words, makes it !lear that performan!es of spe!ta!ular mira!les are not
ne!essarily a sign of spiritual ad-an!ement" If you are interested, you may read this !hapter in
Autobiography of a Yogi, whi!h is spe!ifi!ally dedi!ated to this point"
ogananda taught not to !on!entrate on siddhis" )The spiritual path is not a irus""
3-en if su!h powers should !ome to you, he taught, don(t use them, e$!ept you hear the -oi!e
of 4od telling you to do so"
In di-ine friendship,
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8ear of 0eing :natta!hed to 4od
;ritings by %ea!hers from <ther Paths

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