Do you know that there are many secret powers (known as siddhis in sanskrit) in you which are kept as a secret even from you?
The biggest problem is we are afraid of the powers, so slowly we keep it as a secret from ourselves. We hide them because we are afraid we may not be able to handle the powers. Powers without the intelligence to handle it can be a curse.
Siddhis are nothing but the ability to defy the laws of physics for those who are experiencing the higher frequency. For people who can’t understand it, they are living in low frequency. The truth is even if you haven’t experienced this higher frequency or possibilities, it exists in you. The important thing is the bio-memory needs to be trained step-by-step to assess and experience these powers, otherwise the powers can confuse you.
According to a living incarnation, Paramahamsa Nithyananda (fondly known as Swamiji), he said that the secret powers hidden in your bio-memory should be part of your life. After all you are a human being with all extraordinary possibilities. Extraordinary powers or experiences are the landmark, qualification and milestone of Hindu Yogic Vedantic tradition. All the great Gurus of the Hindu tradition have expressed extraordinary powers. His stance is that you should have the intelligence to handle the powers and renounce it after achieving it.
The great sage, Patanjali outlined a scientific and systematic technology to assess and experience these powers in the Yoga Sutras called Asthanga Yoga, the 8 limbs of Yoga. They are:
- Yama is the understanding about law and the power that executes the law. They include 5 Yamas – Satya (truth), Ahimsa (non violence), Asteya (non stealing), Brahmacharya (living like god), and Aparigrahah (living with minimal things).
- Niyama is raising the coherence to the cosmic consciousness. There are 5 observances – Saucha (internal and external purification), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (austerity), Swadhyayad (continual learning), Iswara pranidhanani (surrendering and relaxing into the Cosmos).
- Asana is preparing your bio memoty by aligning the body for the cosmic experience.
- Pranayama is aligning and elevating the life energy in your system, through the proper purification processes.
- Pratyahara is withdrawing from the senses from too many objects in outer world.
- Dharana is centering on the great truths with inner awareness and power of mind.
- Dhyana is merging with the pure awareness
- Samadhi means becoming consciousness and allowing this experience to be settled in your bio memory.
The first 5 limbs are intended to purify the body, prana (life force) and senses. To do that, an ordinary workers mentality is enough because your conscious part is not required in the participation. You don’t even need to enter into the leader consciousness or the responsible consciousness. An unaware life is enough. However, for the last 3 limbs – Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi which purify the mind, these 3 directly take one to the state of Samadhi which is the real Yoga. For real experience of Yoga, not just your time and awareness are required but for Prathyahara to become Dharana, a new entity in you needs to be awakened. Your individual consciousness needs to be awakened, which is called Pratyagatma Chaitanya Jagrata. Fulfilling the identity which you assume and renouncing the identities you are not able to fulfill is the truth – Sathya which is responsible for you to move from Pratyahara to Dharana. To transcend pratyahara to dharana, a complete alteration of lifestyle is required. That’s why all over the world, what is practiced as Yoga is only up to Prathyahara. But to be in Dharana, you need to change your whole body-mind, you need to go through a lifestyle change, your mind needs to be evolved, your core needs to be transformed. Fundamentally, life is for the people who are conscious and authentic to the place they hold for themselves and are willing to take the responsibility to create that reality. Hence, the last 3 limbs – Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi, are the soul of Yoga.
According to Patanjali Yoga Sutra, Sutra 110-112, Chapter 3,Verse 4, 5 & 6, Swamiji explained that Samyama is the technology through which the extraordinary experiences and power; which are in your super consciousness, are expressed through your body to the world. Your super consciousness is all knowing, all pervading, but preparing your body and mind to radiate some of those great powers and expressing those powers, that technology is Samyama. Samyama is the technical name for the inseparable processes of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi taken collectively.
All the extraordinary powers and experiences are a part of Hindu Vedic tradition which is the applied science used to inspire people towards pure science. Swamiji said that Samyama is the essence of the Hindu tradition, the core of Vedic tradition.
Here’s the deepest truth of body and mind. Your body and mind is like clay, every day you can make it as you want. All you need to do is reclaim the superiority over your body and mind. Consciously own the body and create it the way as you want. Samyama is the science through which concentration, contemplation, meditator and meditated become one. Through the attainment of Samyama comes the light of knowledge, the yogi gains knowledge and powers.
Next important thing is Samyama has to be practiced in progression, it has to be applied in progression. Samyama is like taking out something which you already have in your treasure box ( your bio memory) and taking it out in progression. Your body and mind need to take it from your superconsciousness by raising your body and mind progressively. This can happen only if it is done through the guidance of an incarnation or living enlightened master who can properly balance and guide you the Samyama through body and mind. Then you can rejoice, cherish and enjoy these powers without any side-effect.
I am delighted to announce that I just started a new program last Wednesday evening called Samyama Day at Yogam Center where I volunteer. We started the first Samyama on ‘Mind over Matter’ using the Earth element where we moved a durva grass, a representation of the earth element, through our sheer control of the mind. Some of the participants were amazed by their mental power and thrilled to explore this new dimension in them.
While many Western religions constantly remind us of the original sin, the Vedic Tradition always aims to remind us of our original all-knowing, always blissful state which is within us. Even a master is used to remind you of your original state, that is why in this system, even God is a stepping stone for enlightenment. God is a concept used for you to experience godliness. The ultimate possibility for every human being in the spiritual field is open only in Vedic tradition because everything is a technique for you to experience the highest possibility.
In essence, a person who knows only the pure science and the theories, but never learns the applied science, will always be a beggar in consciousness. Your ability to play with extraordinary powers and experiences shows that you are practising the authentic Yoga. Have the extraordinary powers, play with it like an innocent child and then renounce it after achieving it. The exploration of the applied science of Yoga will add so much juice and excitement to your spiritual life that it will eventually lead you to the pure science of Yoga. Namaste 😀