The Different types of Siddhis

Siddhis are known as supernatural powers. They are accomplishments for those who can go beyond the five normal senses through spiritual practice. Some portray them as obstacles that hinder spiritual growth while others interpret them as spiritual benefits from the result of continuous practice. 

 

For the average person, who is studying yoga or the shastras without gaining the fruit of the knowledge, they may desire the power of siddhis for selfish reasons. They may not directly desire it selfishly but because they have not experienced these higher states of consciousness before, siddhis will be perceived as an attraction. They might subconsciously yearn for them since it sparks their curiosity.  The more they learn, they will realize these powers are also part of Maya and no different than anything else that is experienced in samsara.  This is why ultimately siddhis need to be transcended for the advanced seeker who yearns for liberation.   

 

However, siddhis are a normal occurrence for one in samadhi as a result of having a purified mind from lifetimes of spiritual progress. In the beginning, when first being exposed to siddhis, one's ego may still be strong and will acknowledge their powers and will feel as if they are special for attaining them (since it’s very rare in this physical world to achieve). This can create a spiritual ego which ends up being a major hindrance for going further on the spiritual path. But depending on the seeker, if one is truly humble and sincere, they will remain indifferent to these powers and realize that it is just a normal occurrence when the mind is purified. The true seeker doesn’t display their powers to the public nor boasts or brags about them, but will use them selflessly to carry out their purpose and to also leverage them to propel them towards liberation. The mistake is when people use these powers selfishly to gain fame or recognition which only strengthens the ego along with desires and pushes them down the evolutionary ladder and will be downfall in the sadhaka's spiritual progress.  

 

The main purpose behind human birth is self realization and siddhis can be the means for gaining that end. Siddhis are not something that is taboo among true yogis. It is a normal tool that is used especially when one gets used to having this knowledge. It becomes a normal and daily part of life when the yogi becomes accustomed to their own innate powers. It will no longer seem like it is something special if they continuously go into samadhi, thereby weakening the ego more and no longer feel superior or different from others in any way. Persistent samadhi causes ego to be weakened dramatically, and so there is less of a status one holds as they begin to accept oneness which is further away from the attraction of desires, status, fame, etc.

 

There are many different types of siddhis that can be experienced when one goes into samadhi. I will list below the ones I have experienced and will not speak of any that I have not experienced. Therefore, this list can be more exhaustive depending on whether you have access to other siddhis.

 

Keep in mind, the samadhi i am mentioning is considered yogic samadhi, and not non-dual samadhi (where there is only Brahman left). This yogic samadhi comes when one takes attention beyond the normal senses and ventures in the deepest parts of the mind.  It only turns into non-dual samadhi when you expose Turiya, where there is no longer an ego that has siddhis.

​

Some of the most common siddhis are as follows:

 

1.  ⁠Controlling hunger and thirst or over any other physical obstacles such as pain

2.  Burning Karma by exposing awareness in the upper chakras

3.  Accessing hidden knowledge from distant realities and objects (through different chakras)

4.  Shifting timelines by accessing the subtle body to vibrate through different realities

5.  ⁠Communicating with other dimensional beings through the different chakra portals

6.  Gaining knowledge from other perspectives by living through their own mind

7.  Accessing past life memories and witnessing future events through dreams  

 

These are some of the many examples of siddhis that can be exposed when in samadhi or in other state of consciousness when one is deeply self-absorbed with their attention completely fixed elsewhere. However, the most important and glorious siddhi of all is understanding liberation and what needs to be done in order to produce it. Mahasamadhi or the willful intention to discard the physical body on your own terms in the highest siddhi. 

 

When you are almost at the breaking point of exposing the self (turiya), you tap into extreme intuition where answers come to you directly/instantly through extremely vivid insights of how liberation can be produced. There is even knowledge about how liberation is gradually formed, what it feels like (closest approximation to be grasped by the mind) and what the experience is like when you get lost in your own self-knowledge (i.e. turiyatita). This forms the very unique experience that exposes you to what lays beyond and if it’s something that you’re willing to expose forever if you truly want to give everything up for good. 

 

At first, it may seem like something you might not want because you'd rather continue experiencing the dream of maya.  This means there will be the deep rooted fear of giving up your ego permanently.  However, the more you expose this inner knowledge that resides on the horizon of liberation, the more this fear subsides as you begin to accept the pure serenity of freedom. This eventually kills the deep-rooted vasanas by permanently removing them so you can eventually break the bond from maya.  

 

So while many describe siddhis as something dangerous or something that can be used for your own selfish power, the true nature of siddhis is to help one progress towards liberation. It is common for all qualified spiritual seekers to experience them and use them to advance forward to experience the self-luminous nature of the self. If you don't experience siddhis, it means your attention is not inward and still attending outward.  Only when attention is pulled extremely inward and results in samadhi (a varying degree of self-absorption), do siddhis come into fruition.  These powers are a natural occurrence before liberation is produced.  This means, ultimately siddhis are not dangerous.  There is nothing dangerous about anything since Ishvara's world is already perfect. There is just bad stigma around siddhis because some use it for selfish reasons which pushes the sadhaka down the evolutionary ladder.

 

Siddhis are a great tool for spiritual growth and for taking it all the way. But once you reach a certain point, you will need to let go of it all as you transcend all siddhis and all phenomena that we can only associate with Maya. When one is liberated, siddhis along with any experience will be known as just a dream that never really happened.  It was an imagination that awareness entertained temporarily that now disappears like the puddle on the ground that was dried up by the sun. There was only ever Brahman and nothing was ever apart from you. This is the conscious fact we must all work to strive for, and siddhis will do its part to ensure we reveal what was always there. 

 

​