--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > he Hindu Philosophy states, Sidhis are by-products that come > > > > on its own. > > > > > > > > It also states, they are distractions that should be avoided > > > > at all costs. > > > > > > That's the same old tired misinterpretation of Patañjali! > > > Everyone should believe by now, that the demonstrative > > > pronoun "te" in "te samaadhaav upasargaa..." apparently > > > refers MAINLY to the siddhis mentioned in the previous suutra. > > > Why would Patañjali present e.g. tha flying suutra > > > (aakaasha-gamanam) > > > *after* that "disclaimer", if it applied to all the siddhis? > > > > if you tell your child not to put the hand in fire, > > shouldn't you tell/show the child what fire is? > > Exactly. It's possible that the Yoga Sutras are a > discussion of a number of real phenomena, *without* > any instructions as to how they are performed. His > warnings about the "obsessability" of the siddhis > are pointed and IMO accurate -- just look at the > rush to consider them "misinterpretations" by those > who have become obsessed.
By the way, before someone rushes in to accuse me of "bashing TMers," the "those who have become obsessed" above refers to Maharishi, not Card. I am not the Sanskrit scholar that Card is, but I find it difficult to believe that the Yoga Sutras contain actual instructions for how to perform the siddhis. Such techniques were and are taught orally or via direct transmission, as part of an initiation that has been *earned*. And as Bharitu would probably confirm, the "earning" part isn't easy, and doesn't involve coming up with the asking price. But I don't know. All I know is that the energy field surrounding someone who is really able to perform certain siddhis is *completely* different than the energy field that surrounds a TMer prac- ticing the corresponding TM siddhis. I personally believe that the latter are a made-up set of techniques that have nothing to do with what Patanjali was describing, but if others choose to believe that they're "authentic Patanjali" and derive some benefit from practicing them, cool.
