The
term Siddha is related to the word siddhi, which signifies
the experience of Siva. Siddhisvara (Lord of the Siddhis)
is one of the names of Siva. Siddhis indicate that the practitioner
of Yoga has attained a stage of inner development that allows
him to reach the ultimate goal, namely, liberation. It is
wrong to think that the Siddhas are magicians or uncouth
ascetics credited with supernatural powers. Nor are they
atheists or agnostics, as is commonly believed. They believe
in God, but not a God of this or that religion. For most
of them there is a God, Siva, without any limitation or
attributes. Siva is grammatically and philosophically an
impersonal conception. The real name for Siva is "It"
(or atu), "Thatness," or "Suchness."
A genuine Siddha is beyond atheism and faith (theism) alike.
A Siddha is also said to be one who has attained siddhi,
a special psychic and supernatural power, which is said
to be eightfold in the science of Yoga:
1.
Anima: the ability to become as minute as an atom
2. Mahima: the ability to expand infinitely
3. Laghima: levitation or ability to float through
the air
4. Garima:the ability to reach everywhere
5. Prakamya: freedom of will, or the ability to overcome
natural obstacles
6. Isitva: the ability to create or control
7. Vasitva: domination over the entire creation
8. Kamavasayitva: the gift of wish-fulfillment, or
the ability to attain everything desired or to attain the
stage of desirelessness
Nine
main Siddhis
Parkaya Pravesh: Parkaya Pravesh means
entering one’s soul in the body of some other person.
Through this knowledge even a dead body can be brought to
life.
Haadi Vidya: This Vidya or knowledge has
been mentioned in several ancient texts. On acquiring this
Vidya a person neither feels hungry nor thirsty and he can
remain without eating food or drinking water for several
days at a stretch.
Kaadi Vidya: Just as one does not feel
hungry or thirsty in Haadi Vidya similarly in Kaadi Vidya
a person is not affected by change of seasons i.e. by summer,
winter, rain etc. After accomplishing this Vidya a person
shall not feel cold even if he sits in the snow laden mountains
and shall not feel hot even if he sits in the fire.
Vayu Gaman Siddhi: Through this Siddhi
a person can become capable of flying in the skies and traveling
from one place to another in just a few seconds.
Madalasa Vidya: On accomplishing this Vidya,
a person becomes capable of increasing or decreasing the
size of his body according to his wish. Lord Hanuman had
miniaturised his body through this Vidya while entering
the city of Lanka.
Kanakdhara Siddhi: One can acquire immense
and unlimited wealth through this Siddhi.
Prakya Sadhana: Through this Sadhana a
Yogi can direct his disciple to take birth from the womb
of a woman, who is childless or cannot bear children.
Surya Vigyan: This Solar science is one
of the most significant sciences of ancient India. This
science has been known only to the Indian Yogis and using
it, one substance can be transformed into another through
the medium of sun rays.
Mrit Sanjavani Vidya: This Vidya was created
by Adi Shankaracharya. Through it even a dead person can
be brought back to life.
According
to the Tamil Lexicon siddhi means "realization,"
"success," "attainment," "final
liberation." A siddhi is an accomplishment on the psychic
plane. Siddhi may also mean mysticism in Tamil. In the Tevaram
siddhi means "success" in attaining God. The real
meaning of the word siddhi best expressed by word such as
"attainment," or "accomplishment" connected
with the super physical words. In Zen buddhism we come across
the term satori, which may be translated as "enlightenment."
which is very near to the Hindu concept of siddhi amounts
to an actual surpassing of human condition and may be likened
to an "ontological mutation." In the words of
Mircea Eliade, by attaining siddhi, "one is trying
to break down the structures of the profane sensibility"
to make way for extra sensory perception as well as an unbelievable
control over the body. A siddhi, in short, is an effort
directed to the "death of profane man" and a state
of consciousness cosmic in structure.
Traditionally
siddhis are eight in number, known as asta siddhi. Asta
siddhi is of three orders, two siddhis of knowledge (garima
and prakamya), three siddhis of power (isitva, vasitva,
and kamavasayitva), and three siddhis of the body (anima,
mahima, and laghima). The Hindu thpught generally recognizes
eight siddhis, though occasionally eighteen and twenty -
four siddhis are also acknowledged. In the Uddhava Gita
twenty-three siddhis are enumerated. The Tirumantiram speaks
to sixty-four siddhis. In Patahjal's Yoga Sutra, sixty-eight
siddhis are classified. In Jnanavettiyam-1500 and in agastiyar
Jnanakaviyam-1000 mention is made of sixty-four siddhis.
Verse 337 of bogar Karpam-300 speaks of eighty-four siddhis.
Saint Ramalinga Swamigal also says that there are sixty-four
siddhis. In the Yogatattva Upanisad we find certain details
about siddhis. In Tamil literature a list of the siddhis
is to be found in Parajoti's Tiruvilaiyadar Puranam, in
Tayumanavar's Tejomayanandam, and in Siddharganam, in Pambatticcittar's
songs, in Saint Ramalingam's Tiruvarutpa, and in Tirumular's
Tirumantiram. It is said that one who has attainted siddhi
"can hear the grass as it grows." Pambatticcittar
and Tayumanavar have sung about the unlimited capabilities
of the Siddhas. Siddhis emerge due to several causes.
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It
unfortunate that siddhis have always been considered more
a hindrance to spiritual development than as yogic attainments.
Saint Ramalingam, who has discussed the siddhis in detail,
refers to the attainment of siddhis as pichu or childish
play (pillai vilaiyattu). According to Pathnjali, siddhis
are perfections in the waking state (vyutthana) but represent
obstacles in the state of samadhi, and allows them no importance
for the attainment of deliverance. Patanjali drew attention
not only to the danger of exhibiting siddhis, but to the
dangers that they present to the possessor; for the yogin
is in danger of yielding to the temptation of magic, of
being content to enjoy the siddhis instead of sticking to
his spiritual talk of obtaining final liberation. Pattinattar
calls siddhi as bitter sugarcane (kasakkum karumbu) to indicate
its dual nature.
The desire for attracting popular notice through a display
of siddhis show immaturity. As Pambatticcittar says, "those
who have attained self-realization will not exhibit it and
those who have not attained self-realization are those who
exhibit it." But to the true Siddha, who is a genuine
kundalini-yogin, these siddhis are of immense value, for
they indicate that he is in the process of deconditioning
himself from the laws of nature and from karmic determinism
forever and breaking down the structures of the profane
sensibility. Siddhis expresses the quality of mystic experience
attained by the Siddha. The real siddhi consists in inner
conversion, an inner world of oneness, an entering into
the stream of liberation. What is prohibited is not the
attainment of the siddhis but their exhibition to others.
