#Siddhis

[imaginal-ai]

"Spiritual Adept" (0001)

(The Mystery School Series)

[rrcraft-and-lore]

Random art/history/spirituality/pop culture thread.

Finished a rewatch recently of A:TLA and Korra as well.

Avatar itself is a South Asian concept that in Sanskrit means Descent, as in descended from - signifying the incarnation/material appearance of a powerful deity or spirit.

Aang and Korra are literally that - the new incarnations of a long tradition of the Avatar being reborn to save/aid/guide a world.

The concept under the name, Avatar, didn't exist in Vedic literature, though, but post-Vedic (again by name, reincarnation and the meaning/point/mythic use did exist, as did a doctrine about the idea of avatars, but again, not the term used as such in some of the original texts).

Instead, terms like "from/of divine descent" - 19th century rising Western interest in Hinduism at the time led to Avatar being yoinked as a loanword to English. But what else?

Well, specifically in the rewatch, something I thought was rather sweet: The mention of Guru Laghima.

This happens in Korra where one of the villains (I shouldn't say no spoilers so far long after the show's ended but...polite?) when a big villain reveals their interest in the writings of this Guru and...it leads to this villain being able to fly.

Well, let's look into Laghima.

Now, there was no Guru Laghima in real life, obviously. But the last name here? It's really a word -- a concept.

Oooooo. A reference.

So, what is Laghima?

In a nutshell. "Lightness." It is "The Absence of Weight."

It is one of the 8 major Siddhis - the spiritual or supernatural abilities achieved by those who've reached the heights of spiritual mastery/divine arts, ascetism/ascetic arts.

If one mastered Laghima one in theory could attain a level of lightness so light in fact, you are truly weightless and can fly.

Don't recommend trying this. But, it was just something I wanted to nerd out about, share, and the nicety of seeing in a major IP.

It is still weird there's like only one Indian guy in the shows though and he's the "guru" monk in the mountains who shows up for one short tight moment to teach Aang about chakras (which btw...he did a damn good job on that though, real talk).

There's a huge thing with art here where a whole host of South Asian stuff is yoinked/altered/coopted more. And there's like...no south asians behind/with it?

To end on a wholesome positive cooperative and comparative note?

If this feels familiar and you're a martial arts film buff, or read wuxia, well, it's because it might strike similar to the use of "lightness" with Qinggong for martial artists to gain the lightness to leap like they in wuxia flicks. Run on water or up on walls. I might do a detailed thread on the 8 major Siddhis though when my brain is better.

[aerofvther]

CYBERsEQUENCE

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M0TH3RB0ARD Y2K

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CYBERspace GIRL

[sspacegodd]

Bhaanu grabs a quick float before siddhi class.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The great Tantric master (mahasiddha) Virupa, who is said to have lived in the seventh century, became a wandering yogi after being an abbot of India’s greatest Buddhist monastery.

This painting shows him seated with a raised hand forming a gesture of subjugation. Virupa’s gesture—a raised hand with a finger pointing up to the sun—refers to an episode when he was on an epic drinking spree and agreed with the tavern proprietor to settle the bill at sunset. He then used his great meditative powers to stop the sun in its course until after several days without night the local ruler, fearful of a possible drought, paid his tab. This story emphasizes the magical abilities Virupa gained from tantric practices, which he transmitted to his students.

+ Mahasiddha Virupa; Gongkar Chode Monastery, U Province, Central Tibet; ca. 1659-1671; pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Art; C2004.14.1 (HAR 65340)

[Rubin Museum of Art]

* * * *

“We must have these four sorts of ideas. We must have friendship for all; we must be merciful towards those that are in misery; when people are happy we ought to be happy, and to the wicked we must be indifferent.” ― Patañjali, Patanjali Yoga Sutras

+

“Everything that we are, is the result of habit. That gives us consolation, because if it is only habit, we can make and unmake it at any time. The samshara is left by these vibrations passing out of our mind, each one of them leaving its result. Our character is the sum-total of these marks, and as per as some particular wave prevails one takes that tone. If good prevail one becomes good, if wickedness takes over, one becomes wicked, if joyfulness, one becomes happy. The only remedy for bad habits is counter habits.” ― Patañjali, Patanjali Yoga Sutras

[nwonow]

You Can Get Superpowers!

One of my favorite shows back in the day was "Stan Lee's Superhuman".

Not because of its super-typical television production values, making over-use of quick jump-cuts and never-ending anticipation building previews of the ever forthcoming segment (the one you're actually interested in seeing) while they force-feed you filler and introductory content.

Not at all.

I loved the show in spite of these things, because I'm a nerd, and I always wanted to have Superpowers. And this show proved that normal humans could be born with, or develop, superpowers!

I grew up with comic books, and my favorite story-line as an early teen was Marvel Comics' "Infinity Gauntlet" saga.

You can't imagine how I reacted when I saw the first post-credit scene in the MCU that featured Thanos! I squeeled like a prepusescent girl (who smokes half a pack a day) and my pants instantly became shorter. I had my hat strategically covering my newly pitched tent as I exited the theater.

I couldn't believe I was about to see another one of my childhood joys brought to life on the big screen!

A popular question dudes in a bar seem to ask each other when they're a little drunk, is "if you could have any super-power, what would it be?"

A popular binary choice is 'flight' or 'invisibility'? I always chose invisibility. Not because flying didn't sound completely awesome, but because it was a bit showy for my taste. Draws too much attention.

I'd much rather be a fly on the wall, gain hidden knowledge, become adept in understanding the human condition by observing those that assume they are unobserved.

Knowledge is power.

And although the cheers and jeers of flying through the sky with a captive audience and the resulting fame is certainly a KIND of power, I always failed to see its use as anything other than extremely limited; specifically to showing off.

Now with invisibility, you would be a master of SECRET KNOWLEDGE. And this power, once obtained, is only limited by the users' imagination.

Secret knowledge is OCCULT KNOWLEDGE, and it results in occult power.

Now when one begins to study the occult there is an instant confrontation from most teachers to the effect of 'if what you want is power, then you are unworthy of it,' or 'then you'll never be able to attain it.'

This, to my young mind, was such an anachronistic thought. Who the hell takes up a discipline without some kind of reward as a goal?

Every "guru" is promising us decades of hard work with probable failure at the end, and even if successful, essentially no reward. Their attitude seems to be 'the hard work and discipline is its own reward'.

Ok, well the results of that kind of training can only be useful because you would be able to transfer your new found focus and discipline to other areas of life that can actually produce rewards, no? And if that's the case, you should start off learning disciplines with an activity or vocation that actually has rewards waiting at the end if you succeed, right?

Doesn't that make sense?

For example, I busted my ass to teach myself to paint. I wanted to be able to paint in a photorealistic manner, so I studied and practiced every day for decades until I was satisfied with the result.

And now I can do something that very few people can do, and there's my reward!

It's super simple how this internal reward system in the human mind works, no mystery what-so-ever. You have it, and so do I… as do THEY…

So these gurus were unable to throw me off. If you can do the things you claim you can do, then you MUST have started off as wanting to do these things.

Or were you born so much differently that me, oh thou Holy One!?

I sensed some ego-effacing misdirection beneath their 'holier than thou' veneer and sneer. And for some reason it was so important to me to achieve superpowers that I was willing to risk the incredible amount of time and energy necessary to test methods and see if results could be attained. After all, who has ever studied the occult without some kind of personal power as a goal?

But was it possible that having personal power or outre' abilities as a goal would hinder my progress with the occult? Or was I right that these self-proclaimed adepts were just trying to throw me off the track? Turns out I was right… mostly. I'll explain.

Let's talk about the Siddhis. In Indian religions, Siddhis (Sanskrit: सिद्धि siddhi; fulfillment, accomplishment) are material, paranormal, supernatural, or otherwise magical powers, abilities, and attainments that are the products of yogic advancement through sādhanās such as meditation and yoga. In other words, Superpowers.

I've seen a lot of writing on the Siddhis, and most of it is historical or speculative. I don't see a whole lot of folks talking in a straight-forward and accessible manner about their personal experience with these abilities.

Why not?

Is it the underlying shame that they experience from the fact that they enjoy having these abilities? Have they taken an oath of silence? Or are they worried most people will think they're insane?

That last one is the only one that makes sense to me.

But to hell with it, who's "sane" anyway? When I meet him/her I'll exclaim, "OH! You're the one! So nice to finally meet you!"

At this point you may ask why it's important to me that people talk about these things at all.

Other than the fact that it's fun and rewarding, my answer is simple: It's because, in order to learn something you first have to believe that it is POSSIBLE for you to learn.

If you do not believe in the possibility, then you are faced with a very dangerous and specific type of belief. It's named 'disbelief'. And if you believe something is impossible, then you will never learn to do it whether it actually IS impossible or not.

So it doesn't matter if you want to fly or become invisible.

Turns out you can do both.

And it doesn't even matter that you want to do it. As a matter of fact, joy and pleasure are far better motivators than most 'spiritual types' would like us to believe.

If the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, then I would argue that the fear of sin is sin itself.

Life is a feedback system. If you're screwing something up you'll figure it out pretty quickly.

In fact the only way in which I can perceive my want of power as ever having become an impediment to achieving my desired result is when I get so excited that "something's happening" that it snaps me out of the frame of mind I need to be in.

So what? Keep at it and eventually you'll learn to relax. And there's a method for that too.

Here's a list of the popular Siddhis: Invisibility, levitation, materialization, the ability to control the elements, telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience, and the ability to know past, present, and future. Being free from hunger, thirst, and other bodily needs, taking on any desired form, and entering the bodies of others.

And I'm only going to discuss these things as they relate to my own experience.

My goal is to inspire anyone interested in exploring these abilities to go for it, go hard, and to believe in the possibility that it's achievable, that way you may very well succeed.

I'll describe my favorites, and perhaps go into further detail in future posts with regard to each superpower.

Invisibility

Invisibility is probably the easiest, and it's my favorite, so we'll start there. In my experience there are two ways to do this.

#1

The first is a trick of awareness, and that is convincing the mind of others that you are not.

This requires a connection to their energy which is done through DETACHED concentration and intent. You need to "feel their vibes" and command that feeling that it will not witness you.

(And here is where putting in effort while "really not caring' if it works, or being DETACHED, is essential... thankyou Gurus!)

There is NO reality except that which is percieved. "If a tree falls in the forest… bla bla bla."

It also requires the inner acknowledgment from experience that your body simply isn't. It's at best a perceptual vehicle, or at least something like a diving suit that you're "wearing" in order to interact with this "reality".

The easiest way to self-convince of this fact is to experience astral projection, which we'll get into next.

Once you're fully aware that "you are not your body", you'll find that control of your body becomes effortless and it can do things that you never thought possible.

Ever been standing next to someone that dropped a mug full of coffee and you not only caught the mug but all the coffee landed perfectly in the mug? That's the sort of thing we're talking about here.

I was standing outside a crowded movie theater in Philadelphia one cloudy afternoon in the early winter. I had just watched a movie with a couple of friends and they were using the restroom so I was waiting outside the exit, middle of the sidewalk.

I gave my new found method a go, just having fun with my newly acquired ability to sense energy and control my body while I killed some time.

A few minutes later my friends came out, spotted me immediately, and walked over.

As they approached I allowed myself to move once again so we could walk home. As soon as I moved two people walking very close to me practically jumped out of their skin and swung their heads around to see me!

The man almost fell over with the effort. The woman clutched her heart and shouted, "Jesus Christ! I didn't know you were there! I mean, I thought you were a statue or something!"

So why could my friends see me immediately?

Simple: They were looking for me, and I wanted them to see me. Our intention synched us up.

Now, I often wonder if the woman actually saw me and misperceived me as a statue, or if her mind was filling in an excuse after the fact that she did not see me and couldn't justify it. It's like looking at the floor and then quickly up to the second hand of a clock; it seems to lag for far more than a second before it moves.

This is because the brain skips seeing the necessary blur with the motion as you look up. There's no useful data there, but it needs to fill in the missing time with something, so it superimposes the first image you perceive over the lagged time of the deleted data, borrowing from future perception rather than past perception.

Try it, right now, it's pretty eye-opening. Not a positivist? That's fine… your brain is ALWAYS looking forward!

"You don't see with your eyes, you perceive with your mind."

As for the man, I have no idea what his impression might have been, he just huffed and rushed away from us.

#2

And then of course the second method for invisibility is astral projection, popularly known as the Out of Body Experience (a misnomer in my experience).

Imagine popping out of your body like a ghost and being able to go visit any person or place that you like, but you're completely invisible! I have to admit it's pretty amazing.

However I also have to admit that it's far easier for me to experience "other realities" once in this condition than it is for me to witness "this reality" invisibly.

I've heard from other's experience that the opposite is often true for them.

But for me, what I more often latch onto is popularly called "Lucid Dreaming" and the experience of witnessing "this reality" from the out of body condition is popularly called "Etheric Projection". So let's go with that, because as similar as these states are, they produce very different results from the perspective of our shared reality perception.

One is entirely subjective, while the other is a shared experience that can later be confirmed.

"Hey Sally, are you drinking Vodka on your couch right now in your pink sweats watching Stranger Things?" "WTF! How did you know that!?" You can see why this would be fun!

One evening I achieved the Astral Projection experience and decided I wanted to visit my roommate in the other room.

I was blind (common). I slowed myself, disassociated from the excitement and meditated. I could feel myself get heavier, as if I was pooling my energy into my center and around my "self", which had felt spread thin over time/space and highly excitable. I concentrated my awareness inward and slowed myself down.

I "opened my eyes" and was in my home. I walked over to the other room and observed details about my roommate. Once observed, I quickly jumped back to body, jumped out of bed and rushed over to see how accurate I was.

Nearly 100%.

Small details were different. I had failed to perceive a mug he was drinking out of, and an empty plate of food he had finished. But he was otherwise just as I had perceived. Facebooking, hunched over his computer, with his glasses dangling from his neck strap!

Entering Other People's Bodies.

Let's get into one more that's very interesting to me, and that I've had personal experience of. Entering Other People's Bodies.

I was working a sales job, and my employment was being threatened by another salesperson, who happened to be the mother of the manager. She had a lot more experience so she was producing better numbers, and since it was her daughter that she was helping, she was happy to work for free. She was comfortable and retired, and was happy to help out.

I relay this background simply to communicate my frame of mind, as this is the only time I've achieved this, so far.

So I popped out of my body one day and wanted to observe this mother.

I focused my intent. I was blind, and I stayed still and just kind of felt around for her. I sensed something that "smelled" like her from a specific direction. I turned to it, and in the gray space of my blindness I saw a light over a small dark space.

As I floated to the darkness it became a silhouette and I recognized my target. I can't think of why it crossed my mind, but I decided I wanted to "see through her eyes".

I floated into the back of her head and my blindness receded.

Suddenly I was looking through the eyes of a body that was not under my control. I no longer had control of my perception or my movements. I was looking at shelves of clothes and then racks. I could feel limbs not under my control.

It felt like I was in my body, but I was possessed, which is ironic, because I was the spirit doing the possessing.

There were signs offering discounts. I saw that it was Walmart. The only strange thing was that everything was black and white. Very little color. Just little hints of yellow and blue.

The next day at work the mother came in and I eventually overheard her talking to her daughter about her visit to Wallmart the previous day, and some of the great clothing sales they currently had!

Go figure.

So it seems like a lot of these abilities revolve around astral projection. But not all; not by any measure. However, in my experience, gaining that skill seeemd to be the "Keys to the Kingdom" of ever expanding awareness and ability.

So how do we get there?

I'll go into more detail with this, but here's where to start:

Keep a 'Dream Journal'. Practice a martial art, Tia Chi seems most appropriate. Do meditation, in the mindfulness method, or practice ritual magic for 20 minutes per night, at least 3 nights a week.

Mindfulness meditation and ritual magic are, in my experience, interchangeable.

Try to experience other people's energy throughout your waking day. A good meathod is to try and "suck in" energy for yourself… like a vampire. It makes you aware of other fields so that you can sense other living beings. And it's a fun meathod to use in order to learn.

Can you actually vampirise energy? Yes. But more on that later.

For now, just use that as a teaching method to gain connection.

Practice the mindfulness method of "deidentification".

In other words, 'anything you can experience, you therefor are not, because someone needs to be there experiencing it'.

I can experience the coffee (I obviously love coffee) therefor I can not be the coffee. I must be something else experiencing the coffee. What is that thing I am? IDK.

That's it for now, tell me what you think. I love comments. Thanks so much for reading, and I'll see you out there! ~The Hatman

[radheshyamsahu]

[turiyatitta]

To Reach Beyond the Luminous

A Contemplation on Enlightenment and Distractions Along the PathIn our intrinsic pursuit of enlightenment, myriad entities, experiences, and spiritual phenomena often unveil themselves, presenting a paradoxical tapestry where understanding and distraction intertwine. When such entities or guides emerge along our path, they necessitate neither fixation nor rejection. For if they come, let them…

[imaginal-ai]

"Spiritual Adept" (0002)

(More of The Mystery School Series)

0001

[rrcraft-and-lore]

I recently mentioned the 8 Siddhis from South Asian spirituality and in the epics and Vedic to Hindu practices and in Buddhism as well.

What are they?

Narratively, most popularly to many, they are powers associated with Lord Hanuman.

But others can possess them as well and have, and in the ascetic arts, it's said you too can pursue and possess these abilities. So, what are they?

1: Aṇimā: the ability to reduce one's body to the size of an atom. NOTE: Your strength is not diminished here. So...think Ant Man potential.

You're a damn hyper mobile bullet at that point if you think about it. That's POWERFUL.

Now, note. This is not a GIGANTISM ability. ONLY SHRINKING. Narratively, Lord Hanuman uses this ability to shrink and hide from demons while searching Lanka for Mata Sita (mother Sita)

2: Mahimā: the ability to expand one's body to an infinitely large size. INFINITELY. Once, Lord Hanuman used this ability to become large enough (and his strength grew with him) to be able to carry a whole fucking mountain.

With this Siddhi, one can grow large enough to become celestial sized Vamana, also known as "Three step," the "milk-dwarf", and the "binder," is the 5th avatar of the God Lord Vishnu (the Preserver), in his dwarf avatar existence he uses Mahimā to grow large enough to take three steps in which he covers ALL of existence, and on the third step striding toward his enemy, the demon (really an Asura) king Mahabali, and shove him into the underworld.

3: Laghimā: the ability to become weightless or lighter than air. This is the example I talked about yesterday in where even Avatar: The Legend of Korra, in where they tied the Siddhi to a fictional Guru in the story for a really cool moment. And, yes, just like in the show, in the South Asian epics and myths, characters used this ability to become light enough to fly (even some demons who learned this Siddhi).

4: Garimā: the ability to become heavy or dense.

Note: You cannot alter your weight HOWEVER YOU WANT. You can increase it (not mass - weight) to the point of becoming literally immovable by anyone else.

5: Prāpti: the ability to realize whatever one desires. I wish, right? Well...okay, kinda that's what it is. It's the ability to create/grant anything. Just like that. Or achieve it. Gods, demons, and more do this throughout the epics. Some gods will snap up a boon right there. I've managed a tablet at best through wishy wishy magic powers.

...look, I have work to do, and practice, okay? In essence, it's the ability to get your desires.

6: Prākāmya: This one's complicated. This Siddhi allows one to adapt amazingly to circumstances around them. One can travel - adapt to distance, teleport, increase the length of their live -- longevity, live under water, or on top of freezing mountains.

7: Īśitva: the ability to control all material elements or natural forces. You can make it rain, storm, earthquake, or...something subtler, move the ground around you as you wish.

It's pretty godly.

8: Vaśitva: the ability to influence minds. This applies to creatures as well - not just humanoid, demon, gods and other beings of that nature. You can tame wild beasts, calm the angered, and more.

[sspacegodd]

It's nothing new. People have been weaseling their way into blissful states like samadhi for years (see Ramakrishna).

But then there's also the true stuff.

[mahayanapilgrim]

The Secret of a Full Life

The secret of a full life is to live and relate to others as if they might not be there tomorrow, as if you might not be there tomorrow. It eliminates the vice of procrastination, the sin of postponement, failed communications, failed communions. This thought has made me more and more attentive to all encounters. meetings, introductions, which might contain the seed of depth that might be carelessly overlooked. This feeling has become a rarity, and rarer every day now that we have reached a hastier and more superficial rhythm, now that we believe we are in touch with a greater amount of people, more people, more countries. This is the illusion which might cheat us of being in touch deeply with the one breathing next to us.

The dangerous time when mechanical voices, radios, telephones, take the place of human intimacies, and the concept of being in touch with millions brings a greater and greater poverty in intimacy and human vision.

~ Anais Nin

The Diary of Anaïs Nin

[tsalala]

This was the last time in June 2020 that I saw all three together. I haven’t been going to the park regularly since then and I don’t really have regular pictures of them to tell the story after that. But they live separately and their mother has another litter of two cubs.

Arrowhead and her twin daughters Ranthambore National Park, India Photographed by Aditya Singh

[watrwords]

Okay but what about this

Lucius follows Ravi home, because he has nothing left, because what did they want? For him to take on the mantel? Live in the home his mother did with the man that killed arishat? Lucius was not little lucius nor was he Hanno, he was a mix of both now and the only constant in this Lucius/Hanno’s life was Ravi

So he follows Ravi, who takes it in stride, guides him with firm but gentle hands, introduces Lucius to his daughter and wife, both who like Ravi take things in stride

Lil Siddhi, wants to hear all kinds of stories, and wants him to twirl her around and did he really bite a monkey?

And Ceinwen understands exactly what has Lucius besotted because she too loves Ravi with all of her heart, so she finds commonality, her and lucius sharing looks that is just like how is he real and perfect? And idk if they fall in love too, maybe probably with time, they fall into a love, a rhythm, different from what they feel for ravi and different to what lucius felt for arishat but no less real and no less important and its okay

[lacervidae]

Been a hot minute since I've drawn the long girl

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