form wrote:This regularly appears in the nikaya. Has anyone seen any in real life?
There are 8 siddhis (iddhi in Pali)
8 Siddhis (Supernatural powers) are:
Aṇimā: Ability to reduce one's size
Mahima: Ability to increase one's size
Garima: Ability to increase one's weight infinitely
Laghima: Ability to become lighter than the lightest
Prāpti: Ability to Obtain anything
Prākāmya: Ability to acquire anything desired
Iṣiṭva: Lordship over creation
Vaśitva: Having control over things
Some Buddhist meditators must attain them since some Hindu meditators claim they do. But it is strictly not for public viewing. I doubt they can become the Ant-Man or Incredible Hulk though.
Most stories are about astral projection and remote viewing of some type.
Only and only if you are close to the guru .. one day by accident you may see his power or he may show something to you (from many miles away or the past or the future) .. what your wife is doing in Fresno while you are with your guru in Himachal Pradesh.
I try not to believe in supernatural powers but there are so many recorded accounts .. I am little confused.
On the other hand very possible they are extremely adept at hypnotism and can make a person believe they saw the guru doing something supernatural like levitating (easier to hypnotise a person to believe you are levitating than levitating).
One scene I remember very well was from BBC (or Discovery) a couple of years back. A Britisher was making a documentary about Rishikesh the so called "yoga capital if the world" (a town in upper reaches of Ganges which is home to many gurukuls ..
ashrams is the less grand word ..) .. he was filming a famous guru and the guru invited him into a room .. a while later he came out and all he could say was "I can see, I can see."
probably the guru sent him into a jhana by touching his chakras?
Yet to understand what it means (if anything) but shot in broad daylight by a foreign crew in 720p .. cannot entirely dismiss it either.
"The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”― Albert Camus