In the Sutras of Patanjali, which are still in print, the great teacher was not primarily trying to interest people in developing their psychic abilities. He was actually writing a guide on how to become a realized person — how to experience God. He would say that knowing God is part of knowing yourself. The mystic had observed that, once people learn to quiet their minds, they begin to have all sorts of interesting experiences, such as seeing into the distance, experiencing the future, diagnosing illness, healing the sick, and much more. But his goal was to help his students achieve transcendence, rather than to display these siddhis, or powers. I see these abilities, and the mental interconnectedness that they imply, as part of the perennial philosophy, and I believe they should be seen as matters of experience rather than items of belief. They provide an opportunity to step outside the accepted contemporary paradigm (or religion) of scientific materialism, in which we are viewed as just being some kind of remarkable sentient meat. Patanjali also gave step-by-step instructions for what might be called omniscience, as well as the quiet mind. He taught that if one wants to see the moon reflected in a pool of water, one must wait until every ripple is stilled. So it is with mind. Russell Targ
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 06:15:10 +0000
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