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Siddhi

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Siddhi is a Hindu term for spiritual power (or psychic ability), which is also used in Tantric Buddhism. These spiritual powers supposedly vary from relatively simple forms of clairvoyance to being able to levitate, be present at various places at once, become as small as an atom, materialize objects, having access to memories from past lives and more. The term became known in the West through the work of H.P. Blavatsky. The plural is Siddhis.

Siddhi also means liberation, or attaining salvation. Used to describe the demise of saints and ascetics, it is a state where the consciousness mingles with the Supreme Being and the bodily remains are cast off.

Vajrayana texts speak of eight types of siddhi only, but one can find a much more detailed classification in the Hindu Tantras, where 84 are recognized. Among these, several phenomena can be found which correspond to those charted by contemporary para-psychology, for example psychokinesis, telekinesis and the astral 'double'.

anima: decreasing one's size at will;
antardhana: making oneself invisible;
kamarupitva: assuming forms at will;
kamavasaita: power to control one's passion;
khecara: the power to fly;
kramana: the power to enter another person's body (i.e. possession);
laghiman: the power to cancel out gravity (i.e. levitation);
mahima: increasing one's size at will;
mohana: rendering a person unconscious;
manojavitva: achieving high speed;
padalepa: to move about anywhere, unnoticed;
prapti: the power of obtaining everything;
prakamya: irresistible willpower;
stambhana: causing temporary paralysis in someone;
vasitva: control over others;
vikaranadharmitva: infinite mental powers.

The third chapter of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali describes the following minor siddhis:

The ability to know all languages including those of animals;
Knowledge of one's past lives;
Knowledge of the nature of other peoples minds;
The ability to make one's body invisible;
The ability to make the sounds of one's body unhearable;
The ability to make everyone happy and joyful;
The ability to possess great strength;
The ability to locate hidden things;
The knowledge of the fourteen planetary systems;
The knowledge of the arrangements of stars;
The knowledge of the movement of stars;
The knowledge of bodily anatomy;
The ability to remain motionless;
The ability to perceive the celestial beings known as siddhas;
The understanding of consciousness;
The knowledge of the soul;
The ability to walk on water, thorns and similar objects;
The ability to surround oneself with a blaze of light;
The ability to be omnipotent and omniscient.

How these powers are attained is summarized in Chapter IV, verse 1:

"The power of Siddhis can come because of previous Karma and genetics (janma), from herbs (Aushadhis), the use of Mantras, the kindling of the psychic fire (tapas), and/or from Samadhi."

The term siddhi is also at the root of the title for the 84 Greatly Accomplished Ones (Skt., Mahasiddhas), each of whom had achieved one of more of these 'perfections'.

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