What is the meaning of Siddhis or 'special powers'?

[Nikolai1]

Hi all,

 

Even though special powers are recognised by all the major religions, so many of the world's most popular modern teachers show no sign of them whatsoever (eg Eckhart Tolle, Dalai Lama).  Here are some common viewpoints:

 

1) Awakening is about gaining peace of mind.  This peace will be even deeper when we drop our silly expectation that anything magical is going to happen.

 

2) Siddhis happen, but they are spiritually harmful and should not be discussed.  Some teachers give the impression that they possess special powers but choose not to discuss it.

 

3) Siddhis may or not happen, but either way they are irrelevant.

 

Speaking personally, I can understand how siddhis might be spiritually harmful but at the same time I consider they emergence as being a very clear sign of realisation.  

 

What do we all think? Have any of you experienced them for yourself, or have you seen extraordinary things demonstrated by others?

Edited August 8, 2015 by Nikolai1

[Michael Sternbach]

Siddhis are natural abilities that typically awaken at certain stages of one's development, fostered by general meditation practice and, in many cases, by special training. These stages coincide with the opening of certain energy centers or chakras. Provided a basic talent and readiness (openness), it is not difficult to experience them on an at least rudimentary level.

 

Siddhis can be of great use. My personal experience includes remote viewing (mostly for recognition of mental and physical conditions in individuals), psychic healing, and visualization for purposes of manifesting a desired outcome.

 

Talking about your example of the Dalai Lama, I think he is really doing a good job as the peaceful head of Tibetan Buddhists, but he doesn't give me the impression of a metaphysically highly realized individual. Similar things may hold true for other supposed spiritual masters.

Edited August 8, 2015 by Michael Sternbach

[Nikolai1]

Hi Michael - great to hear from you!

 

Talking about your example of the Dalai Lama, I think he is really doing a good job as the peaceful head of Tibetan Buddhists, but he doesn't give me the impression of a metaphysically highly realized individual. The same may hold true for other supposed spiritual masters. 

I agree entirely about the Dalai Lama actually. I've also noticed that his ability to describe Buddhist philosophy is quite limited, his words sound vague and second-hand, but no doubt there is no book editor that dare correct him!

 

The situation we have is that there are many teachers teaching that the Siddhis are mythical. I suppose if you start talking about them as if they exist there is going to be the expectation that you actually demonstrate them.  Which is perhaps where a lot of the 'no I won't show you because spirituality is not a circus' comes from.

[LAOLONG]

.

Edited August 21, 2015 by cobi

[C T]

This may sound rude but those with profound 'powers' are actually very good at making them appear unnoticeable to most eyes. The Dalai Lama is probably the master of self-effacing, unassuming humility, yet, wherever he goes, people (the audience), even from afar, can feel 'something nice' in his presence. Whats as astounding, if not more, is his ability to transfer that presence even on the www! Maybe we may not be impressed, but there are many who experience profound transformation, albeit a temporary one, simply from watching a video or online talk by HHDL. This is some feat. Of course its not the kind of gregarious show of power like what some would expect, but hey, siddhis are after all meant to be 'concealed/guarded with utmost secrecy'. 

[Nikolai1]

Boruch of Medzhybizh was a grandson of the Baal Shem Tov. he told that when rabbi

baal shem tov wanted to change a king ruling, he changed a horse in his carriage .

Thank you!

 

At the intellectual level, this can be understood as two very different siddhis.

 

1) this was a feat of manifestation. He had a desire for a new king and through a powerful ritual caused him to appear in the world.

 

2) as a feat of foreknowledge, or clairgnosis.  He sensed that the present King's reign was ending, and the change of the horse in the carriage was the omen that convinced him that it would happen.

[Nikolai1]

This may sound rude but those with profound 'powers' are actually very good at making them appear unnoticeable to most eyes. The Dalai Lama is probably the master of self-effacing, unassuming humility, yet, wherever he goes, people (the audience), even from afar, can feel 'something nice' in his presence. Whats as astounding, if not more, is his ability to transfer that presence even on the www! Maybe we may not be impressed, but there are many who experience profound transformation, albeit a temporary one, simply from watching a video or online talk by HHDL. This is some feat. Of course its not the kind of gregarious show of power like what some would expect, but hey, siddhis are after all meant to be 'concealed/guarded with utmost secrecy'. 

Yes, you make an interesting point.  The siddhi that we atrribute to others is always appearing in our own life at the same time.  The master or guru is our own astounding creation that tends to happen when we need a guru to arise.

 

For myself, I always see the Dalai Lama as an amiable and harmless, but essentially empty showman.

[LAOLONG]

.

Edited August 21, 2015 by cobi

[Kubba]

In my case they appeared cause they were somehow needed in the process and then some of them dissapeared and some stayed, but it is not like superpower, you dont turn it on and off in my case, it is more like another sense.

From your perspective it is nothing super, or added.

And in my case it is something raw, happends when it happends I dont evoke it. It is more like sudden insights.

For example- while the 3rd eye oppening-like experiences I could know anything I wanted about the world, the carma, I saw how we are deeply connected with each other, no single movement of anyone is excluded from the web of total "memory".

 

On some levels you can preceive the matter of objects and are able to impat it. Some gets fascinated by it...

Now I kind of have the ability to read people, the degree of theirs clarity (althouhjt my is not yet "full", self-realised butn yet not fully integrated) and I can understand their blockages of energy or theirs fixations (for example on which chakras level sth going on) and sometimes, when there is a space and openness for it - i can heall, withouth even people noticing it, but sometimes they notice too. Most minds are so much in trance that they will interpretate everything as they wish, or sometimes they just say wtf? Or that they feel some electricity in their bodies.

For example, I never did any course of massage, but somehow I know where to touch someone and how to relieve their mussle pains, but I dont do it too often, only when someone asks.

 

Sometimes the insights into someones mind shows, so I can preceive their thoughts (when I focus my attetntion on someone) but it comes as a byproduct - am not evoking it, it just comes but am not interested in it.

 

I also know how to addapt yoga or other movements system for better utilisation of "fluctuations of the mind", and can show it to someone if he or she has some problems like head aches or muscle scelet pains.

 

The healing ability rised from self healling - My ability to contact any teacher in the midst of transsformations was cheap so it somehow showed up spontanously when I had problems. Also the knowledge of food, what is good for what, what to eat etc to heal the body or balance the energy.

some things I addapted from someone with psychic powers that I met. I just spent a few weeks in his presence everyday and I gained the knowledge through which he was healing and teaching me. The heart to heart transmission exists. Thats why just spending time in the presence of the fully realised teacher is beneficial. You might even not be aware of the degree of the impact. Or even deny it.

 

Also, the knowledge of your body is great so seems that you will know when the death comes...

 

They dont talk about it cause is dangerous - people can simpy want to have this stuff and seems that they can actually reach these powers through concentration and it wont be beneficial, can even lead to greater delussion. It is just the wrong way and attachement.

Thats why the teacher is required, he can lead you the safe way and show you how to deattach so you can miss long period of suffering cause of lack full integration

 

Also talking about sidhis can lead to unhealthy fascination in listeners.

I saw one talk of one zen teacher here in Poland - someone asked him a question about sidhis, then the questioner, confessed that he wanted to get some sidhis and he was practicing in order for that, including forceful fasting for long periods- the way he was talking had some quality of madness, being posessed... He was practicing for that purpose for some years - is it healthy and brings harmony for you and people around you? Dont think so

 

 

Someone with clear mind, who knows this stuff will recognise your abilities

Edited August 8, 2015 by Kubba

[de_paradise]

Its a good question Nicolai, and I think we can form responses on our own which is 2015, and not that of for example monastics of hundreds of years ago to his students, or an evangelizing 5th century prophet who wants to make a display of supernatural powers to attract  people to some form of spiritual path. But here we are a part of an extremely egotistical, aggressively skeptic, materialist-oriented, mass of billions of humans connected  by internet.

 

I have witnessed siddhis, mainly from unrealized people who have somehow come into the power, and have far yet to go on the path.  I believe that there is a an intelligence guiding us, therefore the siddhis are meant for those people so that they can eventually be utiliized to make progress. 

 

My own power of sensing qi and stuff has given me tremendous insight on the connection between thoughts of the mind and the hgher levels,  as well as the effect of particular forms of medtiation. Without this particular siddhi, I would probably be too distracted by material life or too thick-headed to come to much wisdom.

 

 Without a person being so fervently on the path, the siddhis seem to serve for naught, and one questions the (God's) wisdom as to why or how they received the siddhi. Many people have siddhis and live regular lives and just expire at the end.  It is just so crucial to have come into some directions of a path that can cut through the confusion of modern consensus lifestyle, and their spiritual path can become stronger. Even we,  a motley collection of practitioners can ask every morning how to use whatever powers of mind and body to make greater insight.

[Aeran]

The attitude towards siddhis (which I would broadly define as preterhuman capabilities which allow an individual to perceive or interact with reality through metaphysical/spiritual mechanisms, as opposed to physical ones) in a lot of the spiritual community reminds me of the attitude towards sex in strict Abrahamic communities. A lot of people who become obsessed with the concept and develop an unhealthy obsession with it, and a lot of people who obviously have some kind of repression complex going on where they talk constantly and desperately about how much they don't want siddhis and how nobody else should want them and how dangerous they are etc etc. "The mystic doth protest too much..."

 

I also think there's a "culture of silence" to an extent, where even in communities like this one where many members have experience with such capabilities to some extent or another, people downplay those experiences and refuse to talk about them. There are all sorts of reasons for this, and whether or not they're justified is debatable, but I think it's a debate worth having and that the whole this culture of downplaying or ignoring these phenomena only serves to misrepresent reality and to further foster unhealthy obsession in people newly introduced to spiritual work.

 

Of course I have to admit to being something of a hypocrite in this regard, as there are plenty of times where I find myself intentionally not writing about certain events or experiences in communities like this one because for whatever reason it's not the done thing. It's certainly something I intend to do some introspection on, and I'd be interested in other people's thoughts on why this attitude exists.

 

Personally I find it all rather frustrating. I think these phenomena should be treated as what they are - a completely natural, everyday part of reality and something that anyone who involves themselves in spiritual or metaphysical matters will encounter at some stage. Not played up as the be all and end all of spiritual practice, but also not written off as mere distractions or something which individuals should be scorned for showing an active interest in investigating. A balance needs to be struck, but it seems wherever you look the balance is flipped too far one way or the other, seesawing from individual to individual and community to community.

 

If somebody wants to focus solely on higher states of consciousness and completely ignore siddhis, that should be their choice. If someone wants to focus all their effort on developing all sorts of cool siddhis at the expense of expanded consciousness, that should be their choice. If someone wants to land somewhere in the middle, that should be their choice. Why is eg. learning to more efficiently effect violence a more suitable past time for a spiritual practitioner than investigating the forces and laws which govern the metaphysical side of reality and cultivating the ability to work with them (either for the purpose of using them to help others, or to gain a greater understanding of reality, or just because that's how the person wants to spend their time)?

 

I think that there is a lot we could learn, as individuals and as a society, if we were willing to systematically investigate these phenomena, instead of shrouding them in stigma and mystery or putting them on a pedestal. I find it kind of sad that there's more effort coming from the secular scientific community to understand things like telepathy or precognition, how they work, why they work, what role they have in the greater scheme of human development, than there is from the spiritual community, and I think the spiritual community should reach out and work with the scientific community in establishing a deeper understanding of reality (an understanding that could be essential to our survival as a species).

 

I'm not saying that masters over the world should all feel obliged to operate as lab rats or put all of their knowledge onto paper for the world to experiment with, but I think now more than ever the world needs people who are willing to step up and say "yes, these things happen, I've experienced them, they're a perfectly normal part of reality because reality is a hell of a lot bigger than you think it is, come take a look, it's amazing," if we are to divert society from the trainwreck that materialism and reductionism have lead it into.

 

As nice as it would be to believe otherwise, a lifetime of indoctrination into strict fundamentalism (either religious or atheistic) isn't going to be undone by philosophy. Most people don't feel the call to explore these matters themselves and wouldn't know where to start if they did, providing tangible evidence that we are more than machines of flesh and bone and that everything in the universe is part of an interconnected, greater whole would go a long way towards combating the violence, greed, short sightedness and self destruction which currently plague humanity.

 

On the flip side, there have been sporadic attempts to make some kind of "science of spirituality" happen since the 19th century, and the fact that it hasn't and that the closest we have, parapsychology, is a fringe field largely ignored by society and the academic mainstream (except as a punchline), might be indicative of the fact that humanity isn't ready yet after all. I don't know, but I think the fact that most people on the spiritual side of things "stay in the closet" (to borrow the metaphor) doesn't help.

 

Anyway, that's my rant for the night

 

But to the topic at hand - I don't know anything about Tolle. The Dalai Lama, though, as I understand, is first and foremost a political figure on the world stage. From what I remember he has done some quiet work involving connecting Tibetan Buddhist monks with scientists interested in studying these phenomena (I think this was mentioned in one of Dean Radin's books? but I'm not certain), but he has an image to maintain. Whatever he is or isn't capable of, I doubt he would proclaim it to the world, because that would be counterproductive to his goals.

Edited August 8, 2015 by Aeran

[LAOLONG]

Siddhis are many time a born ability, some people are born

With the trait of siddhis.

[vonkrankenhaus]

Re:

-----

"What do we all think? Have any of you experienced them for yourself, or have you seen extraordinary things demonstrated by others?"

-----

 

I have much experience with these things, and yes, I have seen interesting things.

 

They are not so much applicable to the fake industrialized society, which has another sort of outcome altogether as its goals.

 

So there will be a "culture clash", and many comics books will come to mind, or ideas about how to "leverage" this into some sort of profit advantage over others, etc.

 

I agree, and am intrigued, by the idea that if people are not seeing these things, they are missing clues about reality.

 

But right now, at the point of thinking about these things, people are only "culturally" prepared to make unnecessary or even false associations or conclusions about the "meaning".

 

I have always avoided this discussion, even though as a youth I did work for some time with my skills at "psychic" functioning, showing future for people, finding lost people/objects, and so forth.

 

I stopped doing that after a while. People actually have strict ideas about what I was doing, that I could not really be contained by. It actually became "boring", like greeting a procession of similarly configured robots.

 

Since that time, I have been content to just be myself and do things in the way I can, and not worrying about who understands what.

 

 

 

-VonKrankenhaus

Edited August 8, 2015 by vonkrankenhaus

[Jetsun]

The Dalai Lama has shown some powers, there is a renowned atheist scientist who had a spiritual experience when meeting the Dalai Lama and it removed a lifetime of anger from his system. I wrote about it in the Buddhist section before

[3bob]

I'd say it's very dicey to consider many types of powers to be a sign of purity and or spiritual realization.  In fact it could be a sign of the opposite for example an ego on steroids.  The simple fact is that various forms of energy can be used by heavenly,  earthly, and demonic minds to either heal or harm in realms of heaven, earth and hell. 

[ChiForce]

Demonstrated by others??  Wrong question.  The question is that what special powers you have inadvertently possessed if you have a higher realization.

 

I consider myself somewhat "advanced."  One of my "super power" is precognition.  They manifest in my dreams.  It can be on ANYTHING as long as I have some interests and connections to it.  I am not going to list some examples but I can tell you that events I saw in my dreams...they came truth in my real life, either on the personal level or about some geopolitical events around the world.  

 

In another incident, I think I have the ability to neutralize toxin using my chi.  Why I said that?  It was last year, I was stung by a close to 2 inches big wasp.  It was in the morning and I was riding my bike and about to meet up with a group.  Planning to do a 100 miles bike ride.  I was only few miles into the ride near my home and got stung by the inner right forearm.  First, it didn't swell at all.  I only felt a tinny sensation of itch.  And I also did a 100 miles that day too.  Over the following few days, the area didn't swell and not even itching.  It took about a week for the area to heal.  Apparently, I got more worst itching sensation from a mosquito bite though.  

 

Commonly, getting stung by a giant wasp would usually result in massive swelling.

 

I have another incidence involving me dodging a SUV which was about to run me over.  I was riding my bike too.  That's purely wu wei wu at work there....   I only have few seconds to react but some how I did a controlled, slow motion power slide to prevent me from crashing head on to the right side of the SUV.  The driver was out to cause a crash because he was waiting for the red light but decided to run through it. 

Edited August 8, 2015 by ChiForce

[Yasjua]

many of the world's most popular modern teachers show no sign of them whatsoever (eg Eckhart Tolle, Dalai Lama).

I think you'd find the contrary true if you were seeing the world as they likely see it. Siddhis are not magic tricks for external show - I think of them more like beautiful offerings that bloom from the realm of the infinite. If you can witness them, they happen. If you can't witness them, who can say? Did a tree just fall in the woods? Whatever siddhis and powers masters have attained are a result of seamless, resistanceless relationship with wholeness, not a direct effect of a special kind of willing. There may be exceptions, but we live in the modern Western world. There are many things you'd consider magical if you visited certain remote tribes, and vice versa - the needs and tendencies of our consciousness have changed from whatever mystical boo-bah the ancients practiced.

 

Awakening is about gaining peace of mind.  This peace will be even deeper when we drop our silly expectation that anything magical is going to happen.

Something magical is always happening.

 

Siddhis happen, but they are spiritually harmful and should not be discussed.  Some teachers give the impression that they possess special powers but choose not to discuss it.

When I was in Iran I was given incontrovertible evidence that there are mind-readers and matter-manipulators on our planet. People in high places... definitely rude, but the idea of "spiritually harmful" comes straight from the mouth of fear. The power is in your hands.

 

3) Siddhis may or not happen, but either way they are irrelevant.

 

What do we all think? Have any of you experienced them for yourself, or have you seen extraordinary things demonstrated by others?

More or less relevant than a tree? You know what I mean? More or less relevant than your eyeballs? Relevance is relative. You're implying there's something relevant to compare things to. Division and comparison is mind.

[doc benway]

Hi all,

 

Even though special powers are recognised by all the major religions, so many of the world's most popular modern teachers show no sign of them whatsoever (eg Eckhart Tolle, Dalai Lama).  Here are some common viewpoints:

 

1) Awakening is about gaining peace of mind.  This peace will be even deeper when we drop our silly expectation that anything magical is going to happen.

 

2) Siddhis happen, but they are spiritually harmful and should not be discussed.  Some teachers give the impression that they possess special powers but choose not to discuss it.

 

3) Siddhis may or not happen, but either way they are irrelevant.

 

Speaking personally, I can understand how siddhis might be spiritually harmful but at the same time I consider they emergence as being a very clear sign of realisation.  

 

What do we all think? Have any of you experienced them for yourself, or have you seen extraordinary things demonstrated by others?

 

I think concerning ourselves with siddhis and special powers is a sign that our grasping mind is very active.

[3bob]

 more important than power is what power is based upon and it's real root, or the Source .

 

also the working of Source/power per or in a triad AKA: omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient

Edited August 8, 2015 by 3bob

[Tibetan_Ice]

Siddhis demonstrate the truth about reality and tell us something about the part of us which is hidden from common view.

 

As was posted before:

 

 

Also, here is a general outline of siddhis:

 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddhi

 

And from "Natural Liberation: Padmasambhava's Teachings on the Six Bardos"

 

Revealing the Nature of Awareness

 

In that way, until genuine quiescence arises in your mind-stream, use numerous techniques to settle your mind in its natural state. As an analogy, if you wish to look at reflections and the planets and stars in a pool of water, you will not see them if the water is disturbed by waves and ripples. But you will clearly see them by looking into a pool in which the water is limpid and unmoving. Likewise, when the mind is jolted around by the wind of objects, like a rider on a bucking bronco, even if you are introduced to awareness, you will not identify it; for once the mind is helplessly manipulated by compulsive ideation, it does not see its own nature.

 

According to the custom of some teaching traditions, you are first introduced to the view, and upon that basis you seek the meditative state. This makes it difficult to identify awareness. In the tradition presented here, you first establish the meditative state, then on that basis you are introduced to the view. This profound point makes it impossible for you not to identify awareness. Therefore, first settle your mind in its natural state, then bring forth genuine quiescence in your mind-stream, and reveal the nature of awareness.

 

Position your body with the seven attributes like before. Steadily fix your gaze in the space in front of you, into the vacuity at the level of the tip of your nose, without any disorderliness or duplicity. This is the benefit of this gaze: in the center of the hearts of all beings there is the hollow crystal kati channel, which is a channel of primordial wisdom. If it points down and is closed off, primordial wisdom is obscured, and delusion grows. Thus, in animals that channel faces downwards and is closed off, so they are foolish and deluded. In humans that channel points horizontally and is slightly open, so human intelligence is bright and our consciousness is clear. In people who have attained siddhis and in bodhisattvas that channel is open and faces upwards, so there arise unimaginable samādhis, primordial wisdom of knowledge, and vast extrasensory perceptions. These occur due to the open quality of that channel of primordial wisdom. Thus, when the eyes are closed, that channel is closed off and points down, so consciousness is dimmed by the delusion of darkness. By steadily fixing the gaze, that channel faces up and opens, which isolates pure awareness from impure awareness. Then clear, thought-free samādhi arises, and numerous pure visions appear. Thus, the gaze is important.

 

In all treatises other than the Tantra of the Sun of the Clear Expanse of the Great Perfection and the Profound Dharma of the Natural Emergence of the Peaceful and Wrathful from Enlightened Awareness, the hollow crystal kati channel is kept secret, and there are no discussions of this special channel of primordial wisdom. This channel is unlike the central channel, the right channel, the left channel, or any of the channels of the five chakras; it is absolutely not the same as any of them. Its shape is like that of a peppercorn that is just about open, there is no blood or lymph inside it, and it is limpid and clear. A special technique for opening this is hidden in the instructions on the natural liberation pertaining to the lower orifice, great bliss, and desire. The lower yānas do not have even the name of this channel.

 

Thus, while steadily maintaining the gaze, place the awareness unwaveringly, steadily, clearly, nakedly, and fixedly, without having anything on which to meditate, in the sphere of space. When stability increases, examine the consciousness that is stable. Then gently release and relax. Again place it steadily, and steadfastly observe the consciousness of that moment. What is the nature of that mind? Let it steadfastly observe itself. Is it something clear and steady, or is it an emptiness that is nothing? Is there something there to recognize? Look again and again, and report your experience to me! Thus engage in observing its nature. Do that for one day.

 

Edited August 8, 2015 by Tibetan_Ice

[3bob]

nope.  the Self is the truth of reality, siddhis spring from the Self and may or may not remain aligned (or demonstrate) that truth per their usage for or away from same... surely anyone with any experience in these matters knows of both the saintly and demonic use of siddhis?

Edited August 8, 2015 by 3bob

[Forwood]

One of the most remarkable experiences I've had involved spontaneously manipulating flames from a bonfire for about a half an hour twenty years ago.  At the time I was not pursuing any formal, or even informal really, practice.  

 

Aeran said:

 

"I also think there's a "culture of silence" to an extent, where even in communities like this one where many members have experience with such capabilities to some extent or another, people downplay those experiences and refuse to talk about them. There are all sorts of reasons for this, and whether or not they're justified is debatable..."

 

For the duration of my bonfire experience one thought ran through my head, loud and clear, insistent and authoritative: "This Is Not That Important".  

 

vonkrankenhaus said:

 

"So there will be a "culture clash", and many comics books will come to mind…”

 

and

 

“I have always avoided this discussion, even though as a youth I did work for some time with my skills at "psychic" functioning, showing future for people, finding lost people/objects, and so forth.  I stopped doing that after a while. People actually have strict ideas about what I was doing, that I could not really be contained by. It actually became "boring", like greeting a procession of similarly configured robots."

 

The bonfire was at a party, and about ten or so people were around me when I started playing with the flames.  I don't think I said a word the whole time, but the others present became quite vocal.  About half the people immediately turned and walked away.  A couple others became angry, and started rooting around in the fire to "disprove" what was happening.  Three people were transfixed, and one of those insisted on calling me "Fire God" every time he saw me after that. 

 

It occurs to me that the most important questions regarding siddhis could be where people are coming from and where they are going when they accidentally, casually or seriously interact with them.

[liminal_luke]

 

I like to think that amazing magical powers are just the natural extensions of everyday abilities and gifts common to many. What makes some people put spiritual growth at the center of their lives while others concern themselves with more mundane matters? It´s the siddhi of spiritual interest, a power shared by almost all of us long-term bums.

[Seth Ananda]

From what I have heard from personal friends of the Dalai Lama, he is quite accomplished on the Siddhi level.

 

But yes, he hides it very well.  You should watch him when he does Chod rituals. The humble posture disappears entirely and he utterly presides over the proceedings. Powerful stuff happens in those. 

One guy I knew was schizophrenic and in the middle of a psychosis when he was taken to see the D.L.  He was told to line up and give a scarf to the D.L. as he walked past. He handed the scarf to him but the D.L. stopped and looked at him. Then D.L. sort of pulled his head in towards a head hug, and did something with his hands which the guy could not see.

What this guy felt was that something got peeled off him, and pulled out of his head. His psychosis was over but he also never had any symptoms of schizophrenia again. 

[C T]

From what I have heard from personal friends of the Dalai Lama, he is quite accomplished on the Siddhi level.

 

But yes, he hides it very well.  You should watch him when he does Chod rituals. The humble posture disappears entirely and he utterly presides over the proceedings. Powerful stuff happens in those. 

 

One guy I knew was schizophrenic and in the middle of a psychosis when he was taken to see the D.L.  He was told to line up and give a scarf to the D.L. as he walked past. He handed the scarf to him but the D.L. stopped and looked at him. Then D.L. sort of pulled his head in towards a head hug, and did something with his hands which the guy could not see.

 

What this guy felt was that something got peeled off him, and pulled out of his head. His psychosis was over but he also never had any symptoms of schizophrenia again. 

O no, its meant to be 'secret', Seth