Knowledge of the modes of supernormal power (iddhividhañā3a)

The Pāli word iddhi, which we translate as “supernormal power”, comes from the Sanskrit root rddh, which means to prosper or to succeed. Iddhi thus means, literally, prosperity, success, or accomplishment, but the main sense suggested by the word is an ability to perform feats which go against the normal course of natural events. For this reason the iddhis have sometimes been interpreted as supernatural or miraculous powers.

However, from the Buddhist standpoint these powers do not derive from any divine or supernatural source but from a psychic potency based upon a superior understanding of the inner dynamics of nature. Thus they operate completely within the framework of the

1. PP., pp. 421-22. Vism., p. 324.

2. PP., p. 414. “Iddhividhāya cittaJ abhinīharati abhinnāmeti.” DN. 1:77-78.

law of cause and effect and the “miracles” for which they are responsible remain entirely natural.

The kinds of supernormal power exercised by a meditator are described in the texts in the following stock passage;

When his concentrated mind is thus purified… and attained to imperturb-ability, he directs, he inclines his mind to the kinds of supernormal power. He wields the various kinds of supernormal power. Having been one, he becomes many; having been many, he becomes one. He appears and vanishes. He goes unhindered through walls, through enclosures, through mountains, as though in open space. He dives in and out of the earth as though in water. He goes on unbroken water as though on earth. Seated cross-legged he travels in space like a winged bird. With his hand he touches and strokes the moon and sun so mighty and powerful. He wields bodily mastery even as far as the Brahmā world.¹

In this passage eight supernormal powers are expounded. We will examine them briefly one by one.

[1] The first supernormal power is becoming many after having been one or becoming one after having been many (eko pi hutvā bahudhā hoti, bahudhā pi hutvā eko hoti).

This means the ability to create many appearances or forms of oneself and then to dissolve those many forms and return to the condition of having a single body. To exercise this power the meditator should enter the fourth jhāna as a basis for direct knowledge and emerge from it. Then he must resolve on the number of forms of himself he wishes to create. He again attains the fourth jhāna, emerges, and resolves.

Simultaneously with the resolving consciousness he becomes the number of forms he decided upon – a hundred, a thousand, etc., as he wishes, (presumably in most cases the ability to create an increasing number of forms must be gradually acquired). Unless a specific determination is made otherwise, the many created forms will appear just like the original and perform the same actions he performs. But if the yogin makes a prior resolution, he can display his many forms with different appearances and cause them to perform different actions. To become one again he should repeat the original procedure, resolving to become one. But if he originally resolved to appear as many for a limited time, the many forms will disappear automatically when the time lapses.²

[2] The second power is causing appearance and disappearance (āvībhāvatirobhāva.).

“Causing appearance” means making a dark area appear light, making what is hidden become visible, or making oneself or others become visible even when at a distance.

“Causing disappearance” means making a bright area appear dark, making what is manifest become invisible, or making oneself or others become invisible even when within range of sight. The procedure is the same as in the case of the previous power except that the resolution is changed.

1. PP., pp. 409, 420. Vism., pp. 315, 323. DN. 1:77.

2. PP., pp. 420-27. Vism., pp. 323-28.

[3] To exercise the power of going through walls, enclosures, and mountains as though through space (tiro-ku>>a. tiro-pākāra. tiro-pabbata.) the yogin should attain the fourth jhāna in the space kasi5a. Then he does the preliminary work by adverting to the wall, enclosure or mountain, etc. and resolving upon it as space. As a result of his resolution it becomes space and he passes through it unhindered.

[4] In order to acquire the ability to dive in and out of the ground as if it were water (pa(haviyā pi ummujja nimmujja. karoti seyyathā pi udake) the yogin must have obtained the water kasi5a attainment. He enters into the fourth jhāna on the water kasi5a and emerges. Then he adverts to a portion of ground and resolves upon it thus

“Let there be water.” The earth becomes water and he can dive in it, bathe in it, drink it, etc. If he resolves only this much the earth becomes water for him alone, but if he makes a determination it can become water for others as well.

[5] The yogin who wishes to walk on water without sinking as though it were earth (udake pi abhijjamāno gacchati seyyathā pi pa(ha-viya.) should be skilled in the earth kasi5a. He enters the fourth jhāna on the earth kasi5a, emerges, and resolves “Let the water become earth.” He repeats the procedure, and with the resolution the water in the determined area becomes earth. Then he can walk on it without falling in.

[6] To travel through space like a bird (ākāse pi palla/kena kamati seyyathā pi pakkhī saku5o), the yogin obtains the earth kasi5a and emerges. He determines upon space as being earth, thinking “Let there be earth.” For him space becomes solid like the earth, and he can walk, stand, sit, or lie down there just as men normally can do on the ground.

[7] The next power, touching and stroking the sun and moon with one’s hand (ime pi candima-suriyā eva. mahiddhike eva. mahānubhāve pā5inā parimasati parimajjati), does not require a special kasiLa, but is accomplished simply through the fourth jhāna that is made a basis for direct knowledge. The Pa:isambhidāmagga describes this power thus:

Here he who has controlled his mind and has attained psychic powers, contemplates on the sun and moon… resolves through super knowledge: ‘Let them come to the side of my hand’ and they appear. Seated or lying down he handles, feels, touches, the sun and moon with his hand.¹

The meditator, according to the Visuddhimagga, can either go to the sun and moon and touch them, or make them come into hand’s reach by a mental resolution, doing so by enlarging his hand.² But though he does all this, for others the sun and moon remain the same, their radiance and movement being unaffected.

[8] The last of the powers is exercising bodily mastery as far as the Brahma-world (yāva Brahma-lokā pi kāyena vā sa.vatteti). Having attained the basic jhāna, the meditator who wants to go to the Brahma-world can resolve upon it as near and it becomes as he

1. BMTP., p. 436. “Idha so iddhimā ceto vasippatto… candimasuriye āvajjati āvajjitvā ñāLena adhi::hāti

‘hatthapāse hotūti’. So nisinnako vā nipannako vā candimasuriye pāLinā āmasati parāmasati parimajjati.”

Pts., p. 387.

2. PP., p. 435. Vism., p. 335.

wishes. He can make the near become distant, the many become few, and the few become many. The Pa:isambhidāmagga describes some of the masteries the yogin can exercise thus:

If he, who is possessed of psychic power, and has controlled his will wishes to go to the Brahma-world, he resolves that the distant be near, and it becomes near; he resolves that the near be distant, and it becomes distant; he resolves that the many be few, and they become few; he resolves that the few be many, and they become many. With the divine-sight he sees the Brahma’s form; with the divine-hearing element he hears the Brahma’s voice; with the knowledge of others’ minds he knows the Brahma’s mind. If he wishes to go to the Brahma-world in this visible body, he applies his jhāna-mind to the physical body, he resolves concerning the mind as the body; having applied the mind to the body, he enters into the thought of ease and lightness, and in his visible body he goes to the Brahma-world. If he… wishes to go to the Brahma-world in an invisible body, he applies his body to the mind, he resolves the body as the mind… he enters into the thought of ease and lightness and in an invisible body goes to the Brahma-world. In the presence of Brahma he creates a mind-formed body… He walks to and fro, the created body walks also to and fro. If he stands… sits… lies down, the created body also… lies down. If he emits vapour… flames… speaks… whatever he does, so does the created body.¹

According to the Visuddhimagga, “applying the jhāna-mind to the physical body” and

“resolving upon the mind as the body” means making the mind accord with the material body. When the yogin enters into the “thought of ease and lightness” his physical body becomes as light as a tuft of cotton, and he can go to the Brahma-world with a visible body as light as a tuft of cotton wafted by the wind. On the other hand “applying the body to the mind” and “resolving the body as the mind” mean taking the body and mounting it on the mind, so as to make its mode of going swift like that of the mind. All these practices form the preliminary exercise for reaching the Brahma-world, but do not yet constitute the “wielding of bodily mastery as far as the Brahma-world.” The wielding of bodily power begins, in the above passage, with the creation of a mind-formed body in the presence of Brahma, continuing through the feats that follow this down to “whatever he does, so does the created body.”²

Iddhi and Pā9ihāriya

The possession of iddhi is regarded as a desirable quality in a bhikkhu which contributes to the completeness of his spiritual perfection.³ However, exhibiting supernormal powers to gain adherents, win offerings, or obtain popularity has been prohibited by the Buddha. In the Vinaya the display of supernormal feats or psychic powers is classified as

1. BMTP., pp. 437-38. Pts. pp. 387-88.

2. PP., pp. 441-43. Vism., pp. 331-32.

3. AN. 3:280-81.

an offense of wrong doing (āpatti-dukka(a).¹ Nevertheless, while the Buddha rebuked PiLYola Bhāradvāja for exhibiting his powers to obtain a sandalwood bowl, he expressed approval of Moggallāna’s exercise of iddhis.² The reason for this difference is that the former made an indiscreet public exhibition of his power while the latter used his powers judiciously. The Buddha approved of the exhibition of psychic power only when it helps eliminate the defilements in peoples’ minds and makes them free from obsessions.

Sometimes the word iddhi appears in combination with another word pā(ihāriya, which means literally “prevention” or “warding off” but assumes the sense of “wonder” or

“marvel”; the compound iddhipā(ihāriya thus signifies the “wonder of supernormal powers.” The term appears in the suttas in a triad of pā(ihāriyas comprising the following items: [1] the wonder of supernormal powers (iddhipā(ihāriya); [2] the wonder of manifestation or thought-reading (ādesanapā(ihāriya); and [3] the wonder of education (anusāsanīpā(ihāriya).³ The first is explained simply by the stock passage on the supernormal powers. The wonder of manifestation involves telling people what their mental states are on the basis of thought-reading, interpretation, or messages received from other beings, human or non-human.⁴ The wonder of education is the ability to guide others in their spiritual development, telling them: “You should think these thoughts, you should not think those thoughts; you should attend in this way, not in that way; you should abandon this; you should enter and abide thus.”⁵ Those who impart this education know exactly what to urge their pupils to avoid and what to urge them to develop.

Of the three types of pā(ihāriya, the Buddha disapproved of the use of the first two as means of converting people to his teaching. He said that there are certain magical sciences (vijjā) which can enable a person to perform supernormal feats or practice thought reading and thus these wonders cannot be taken as indicators of real spiritual accomplishment.⁶ The wonder to which he gave unqualified approval was the wonder of education, which alone leads to liberation from suffering.

The Pa:isambhidāmagga, elaborating this idea, states that the wonderful methods which promote renunciation, non-hatred, mental luminosity, composure of mind, determination of righteousness, wisdom, bliss, the attainment of the jhānas, etc., up to the path of arahatship are called the true iddhi as they bring real accomplishment and success. The methods that destroy sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse, doubt, ignorance, clinging, the hindrances and defilements are called the real pā(ihāriya for the reason that they prevent one from falling back into sa.sāra.⁷ Thus for early

1. Vinp. 2:112.

2. SN. 4:269.

3. DN. 1:212-15. Pts., pp. 401-404.

4. Pts., p. 402.

5. DN. 1:214-15.

6. Ibid. 1:2l3-14.

7. Pts., pp. 401-404.

Buddhism the practice of the noble path rather than performance of miracles constitutes the truly wonderful accomplishment.