SIDDHIS AND YOGIC POWERS

SIDDHIS, POWERS AND
MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES

www.indiadivine.org - It has become quite popular nowadays to speak about mystical experiences and "siddhis". Most yoga and meditation groups speak of them, along with other esoteric blabber such as the raising of kundalini, opening of chakras, and other things which no one has actually experienced. On one side we have new age gurus speaking of siddhis very cheaply as though they are as common as sand on a beach, and on the other hand we have "rationalists" who discount siddhis all together as mere fantasy. Siddhis are a reality, and the science behind them has been passed down from time immemorial by the rishis and preserved in the Vedic texts. 
In actuality nothing is mystic. Everything functions according to natural laws. The rishis (sages), by virtue of their expanded consciousness, understood the functioning of matter on the subtle levels of sound and mind, (however) they did not give much importance to material powers and perfections.

The  rishis were not interested in acquiring wealth, power, fame, etc. Their aim was much higher. How else can we explain the countless yogis, jnanis, tapasvis, siddhas, and rishis who dwell in the sacred realm of the Himalayas. High in the mountains, surrounded by a forest covered in snow. The rishis are there even today meditating on the banks of the Ganges. What keeps them there, living in apparent poverty? Are they fools, are they mad? No, on the contrary, the world is mad and we are all fools. For we are chasing after the broken glass of sense enjoyment, while they are offering us the diamonds of spiritual bliss. 
The rishis (sages) are calling to us. We must heed their call. Whether we are in the city or in the forest, it makes no difference. Internally we must all become rishis and sadhus - transcendentalists of the concrete jungle. "Be situated in your place and attain the goal of life," this is the message of the rishis and the Upanishads - sthane sthitah shruti gatam tanu-van-manobhih.

The Indian learned sages, or Rishis, performed austerities, contemplated, and meditated, seeking solutions for the eternal problems of mankind. "True transcendentalists have no interest in mundane material life," points Prabhu Jahnava Nitai Das, author of the article. "The aim of those following spiritual discipline is to become free from the desire to lord over material nature. Those seeking mystic perfections are motivated by their desire to control matter, subtle and gross." Srila Prabhupada has explained in Bg 6.20-23 that even those yogis who are attracted by the siddhis are not perfectly situated.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

There is much rejectable element in the books on enjoyment-hunting, karma, jnaana, yoga or devotion mixed with these. ... If you read other books than the Bhagavatam you come under the influence of the processes of karma and jnaana, pleasure and pain, birth and death. You may get dharma (punya), artha (wealth) and kaama (fulfillment of desire). One, desirous of emancipation (moksha), may renounce the worldly life, but one such does not serve God. It is only the devotees that do it. God is not served even by the practice of astaanga-yoga which gives you siddhis or vidbhutis like animaa (power to be infinitesimal), laghimaa (power to be as light as hydrogen), etc. not to speak of the salvationist who may want to get rid of the weal and woe of the worldly life and to be the recipient of enjoyment in the negative form.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thākura Prabhupāda :
The Pathway to Highest Blessedness
http://www.bvml.org/SBSST/tpthb.html
http://www.harekrsna.com/philosophy/bmgs/acaryas/bhaktisiddhanta/writings/pathway1.htm

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/

MOTHER FORCED HER DAUGHTER TO GET PREGNANT

GIRL, 14, FORCED TO BECOME PREGNANT

WITH DONOR SPERM BOUGHT BY MOTHER

www.guardian.co.uk - A mother forced her 14-year-old adopted daughter to inseminate herself with donor sperm to provide a baby for her after she was prevented from adopting any more children. The daughter, a virgin, is believed to have miscarried at 14, but went on to have a baby at 16 after regularly inseminating herself with sperm bought over the internet by her "domineering" mother because she was too scared to refuse.
Details of the shocking case have emerged in a previously secret court judgment, which can be reported today for the first time and which raises serious questions over loopholes in international adoptions and the regulation of the global traffic in gametes. The adoptive mother, who cannot be identified for fear of identifying her daughter and grandchild, is now serving a five-year prison sentence after admitting child cruelty.

In a high court judgment deciding welfare provisions, family division judge Mr Justice Jackson described "an abiding sense of disbelief that a parent could behave in such a wicked and selfish way towards a vulnerable child". The mother had already adopted three children as babies from abroad, twice when she was married and once as a single parent after her divorce. She had chosen not to give birth herself because of a health condition and had undergone an elective sterilisation. But she was distraught when an attempt to adopt a fourth baby was thwarted when she was denied approval. 
"The AI [artificial insemination] programme was planned when A [the daughter] was 13, began when she was 14 and ended when she became pregnant with D [her child]" aged 16, the judge said. "The mother resorted to the AI programme because she was determined to have a fourth child, and because there was no other way of achieving this," explained the judge.

In the UK, a woman desperate for another child forced her 14-year-old daughter to get pregnant. The woman, an American divorcee living in Britain with three adopted children, hatched the plan after she was prevented from adopting a fourth. The daughter "became pregnant at the mother's request, using donor sperm bought by the mother, with the purpose of providing a fourth child for the mother to bring up as her own," the judgment states.  The Judge has sentenced this woman to five years in prison due to her 'wicked and selfish' motives of using an adopted daughter to provide the family a fourth child. In general, we can't stop growing in our hearts desires, greed and many wrong illusory ideas; however, when all we want is to love Krishna, all our desires will be fulfilled.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Man’s nature is formed from the beginningless standing desire, and that nature of a jiva, being nourished by some unknown accumulated desire, unconsciously gets an association suitable to itself. The old desire endeavours to unite with the new beginning of acts as revealed in the world; the unknown desire, however, when favourable to it, gives fulfillment of the desire in the mundane world. Oftentimes, however, does the old desire offer obstruction to the revealed desire. This mutual impact generates unpleasantness in the world of differences. ... Every desire, if not consumed, seeks gratification. ... The man is then engaged in his worldly activities. He begins work, being prompted by the feeling of egotism as the enjoyers of this mundane world.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thākura Prabhupāda : 

"The Pathway to Highest Blessedness"
http://www.bvml.org/SBSST/tpthb.html

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/