meditation and psychic power

angulimala

hi,long time no see
my friend told me that regular meditation could rise psychic power,i want to know your opinion about this.thank you

federica

What kind of psychic power are you talking about?

Has your friend done this? Has he or she meditated and found an increase in thir psychic power?
I shouldn't think so.
Just Meditate and don't take any notice of any suggested results or "increases in Power".... That's not the point, really, is it? :wavey:

bushinoki

I have to agree with Fede on this. Psychic power is not the ultimate goal. It could be a result of constant meditation, but it isn't something to worry about.

Trust me, if psychic power were so easy, I'd be meditating every minute I'm not working, eating, or sleeping. It'd make my job so much easier.

_BeautifulSpringtime

meditation, in it's many forms, can be seen in a myriad of ways and approached correspondingly.

i think that if the approach contains thoughts of either loss or gain the one meditating will most likely assess their meditation on these terms and be, as a result, happy with or dishearted by their practise. the outcome being a pleasurable addiction to, or desire to stop, meditating. in these terms 'we' (as in the fixed self-image we call 'me') are practising within the realm of desire (craving) which, as all 4 noble truth students can understand, leads to further suffering. thus the idea of attaining psychic power via meditation is probably quite counterproductive to a student of Shyakyamuni butsu.

my understanding is this: zazen, or meditation, simply is, as all things are. however the practise of zazen is conductive to helping us remember this.

as dogen zenji wrote:

'every inch sat is an inch sat as the buddha'

i hope this is helpful in some way.

gassho

dave

Jason

angulimala,

In the suttas, it is said that cultivating deep states of meditative absorption, i.e., jhanas, can potentially lead to the development of psychic powers such as the ability to observe the passing away and reappearance of beings, clairaudience, levitation, mind reading, recollection of past lives, et cetera. In the time of the Buddha, certain disciples were said to able to master many of these, e.g., Maha Moggallana, while certain disciples were said to have abused them, e.g., Devadatta. In addition, there were many more that could not even master one for various reasons.

Nevertheless, the development of psychic powers is not a prerequisite to awakening, and in some cases, their development can have certain drawbacks. In fact, the only reliable power or miracle is said to be the miracle of instruction in the proper training of the mind (DN 11). In my opinion, which is mostly based upon what I have heard from sources that I trust, it is possible to develop at least some of these powers—one of the most common being mind reading. Even so, I have not seen any of these abilities actually demonstrated, so I am a little skeptical as well.

Jason

Simonthepilgrim

There is a wonderful story about Gampopa leaving Milarepa. Here were two 'giants' of the Buddhist story, both of whom are said to have had 'psychic powers':

When the time had come for Gampopa to part from his teacher Milarepa, Milarepa placed the soles of his feet on the top of Gampopa's head, symbolizing that their work together was done. As Gampopa was about to depart, however, Milarepa added: "There is one particularly profound teaching I have yet to impart to anyone, but it is too precious to give away just like that, so you may go." After this, the two embraced and Gampopa went on his way.

Gampopa had barely passed out of earshot when he heard Milarepa calling out to him. Hurrying back, he knelt once more before his teacher, whereupon Milarepa turned his back on him and, lifting up his robe, exposed his bare buttocks, entirely covered with calluses from years of meditating on a rock.

"This is my final teaching to you, my beloved heart-son," said Milarepa. "Now just do it."

It seems to me that one teaching from the story is that the true secret is not being able to fly or to heat your body or to be in two places at once but rather it is the secret of constancy, of a real commitment to a 'sitting practice'. This is the greatest psychic power, the power to go beyond what Pascal called le seul malheur de l'homme, our inability to sit still and alone in a room.

This virtue is described in a Christian poem by John Bunyan:

Who would true valour see,
Let him come hither;
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather.
There's no discouragement
Shall make him once relent,
His first avow'd intent
To be a pilgrim.

Who so beset him round With dismal stories,
Do but themselves confound.
His strength the more is;
No lion can him fright,
He'll with a giant fight;
But he will have a right
To be a pilgrim.

Hobgoblin nor foul fiend
Can daunt his spirit;
He knows he at the end
Shall life inherit.
Then fancies fly away,
He'll fear not what men say;
He'll labour night and day
To be a pilgrim.

A Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan

That, BTW, is where I took my nickname from. And, as a lollipop, here is my favourite passage from Part 2 of the same book:

Then, said he (Mr Valiant-for-Truth), I am going to my Father's; and though with great difficulty I am got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me, that I have fought His battles, who now will be my Rewarder. When the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the river-side, into which as he went, he said, 'Death, where is thy sting?' And as he went down deeper, he said, 'Grave, where is thy victory?' So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.

angulimala

thank you all for your input/opinions,
i agree that we shouldnt make this psychic power as our ultimate goal.
my friend told me these psychic powers are bonus from our constant meditation.he told me that in thailand there are 2 groups of monks,one group is those who consider showing off psychic ability is against the vinaya,the other group think it is our own decision whether to use this gift/bonus or not.so the 2nd group is more open in practising psychic ability,for example healing people,fortune telling,etc.He(my friend) told me the tiger monks of thailand are part of this group.
in my own rambling opinion it would be a waste of time and energy to meditate if our goal is psychic power.i prefer buying a set of new computer to communicate with you all rather than years of meditation training to gain telepathic power.and if psychic power is so great,how could the dutch colonised my country indonesia for 350 years?fyi indonesia is one psychic super power country in asia,or even the world.

Brigid

Hiya, Angulimala!! Looooong time no see! Lovely to hear from you again. What an interesting post about the Thai monks.

in my own rambling opinion it would be a waste of time and energy to meditate if our goal is psychic power.i prefer buying a set of new computer to communicate with you all rather than years of meditation training to gain telepathic power

I agree with you completely!

eve9d9

Ive gained one special power from meditation....the power to fall asleep while sitting up...Im not the best meditator yet, I need someone walking around the room whacking me in the back with that stick zen teachers use.....

Palzang

Well, I think you have to remember the advice that there's no such thing as a "bad" or "good" meditation session. If you fall asleep, you fall asleep. If you don't, you don't. All the same taste. The stick they use in zen does help wake you up and also feels quite good when you're sitting there dozing off. Looks cruel, but it's actually very helpful. Not as helpful as a good kick in the arse when you're being stupid, but still helpful!

Palzang

federica

Oh Palzang, my arse is calloused from all your kicks!

Good callouses though!

Palzang

Really, folks, I never laid a foot on her... :hair:

Palzang

Knitwitch

I have