The number of ancient teachings about human ability to acquire supernatural power using a variety of techniques is truly amazing. In the literature on Buddhism and yoga, some of these techniques are called siddhis, which means "perfection" in Sanskrit. Siddhis include meditation, static dancing, drumming, prayer, austerity, psychedelic experiences, and more.
The very fact of the presence of supernatural abilities is widely known and generally recognized in Buddhism, since Buddha demanded from his disciples the ability to achieve such abilities, but at the same time not be distracted by them.
Donald Lopez, Jr., professor of Tibetan Buddhism at the University of Michigan, describes the unique abilities attributed to Buddha:
It is believed that in a state of enlightenment, the Buddha possessed various kinds of supernatural abilities, for example, he remembered each of the lives he had lived before, as well as the lives of other living beings, read other people's thoughts, could split, forming his own doubles, rose into the air, simultaneously spewing water and fire from your body. And although he entered nirvana at the age of eighty-one, he could live on earth "forever or until the end of time" if asked to.
There is a lot of historical evidence that tells of people with "extraordinary human abilities", if we resort to the definition of the Research Institute of Noetic Sciences. Since we are talking about Buddhist monks in this article, here is another example of traditional knowledge from Swami Rama's book "Life among Himalayan yogis":
“Never before have I seen a person who could sit without blinking for eight or ten hours, but this monk really had an extraordinary gift. During meditation, he rose above the ground to a height of about eighty centimeters. Subsequently, we measured this with a tape measure. As I stated, I do not consider levitation to be a spiritual practice, and I would like to emphasize this once again. This is a high-level pranayama practice. Anyone who knows about the relationship between mass and body weight in physics, understands that levitation is quite real, although this requires a long and focused training.
He also had the ability to transform matter, for example, he turned a piece of stone rock into a sugar cube. The next morning I witnessed several such transformations. He asked me to touch the sand, and the grains of sand turned into almonds and cashews. I had already heard about such a science and even knew its basic principles, but still it was difficult for me to believe in such stories. Although I have never explored this area of knowledge, I am very familiar with the fundamental laws of science."
In the literature, as in the descriptions of traditional knowledge and culture, there are many such stories, and each reader must independently decide how much they inspire him with confidence. Obviously, adherents of various ancient teachings will be less inclined to attribute these stories to fiction and fables. Since science is now able to shed light on some of the truths of ancient mystical experience, the assumption that at one time everyone knew about supernatural abilities looks less fantastic.
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A number of studies in the field of parapsychology have led today to statistically significant results, especially when considering the conclusions reached by quantum physics. That is why the founder of quantum physics, the German theoretical physicist Max Planck, stated that he "considers consciousness as something fundamental" and treats "matter as a derivative of our consciousness." He also wrote that "everything that we talk about, everything that we consider existing in reality, is conditioned by consciousness." The Dalai Lama supported this point of view: “Although Buddhist philosophy and quantum mechanics have certain differences, their views on the world as a whole coincide so much that I think they could well shake hands. These striking examples allow us to see the results of human thinking. Regardless of the feeling of admiration,which is generated in us by outstanding thinkers, we must not forget that just like us, they were representatives of the human race."
Physics professor Richard Conn Henry of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University goes further in his explanation:
“The fundamental conclusions of the new physics show that reality is created by an observer, and as observers we ourselves are involved in its creation. Physicists were forced to admit that the universe is a "mental" construction. The British theoretical physicist and innovator Sir James Jeans wrote: “The stream of knowledge is moving towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like grandiose thinking than colossal mechanism. The mind no longer looks like a named guest, accidentally intruding into the field of matter, on the contrary, we should proclaim him its creator and ruler. " We have yet to get used to the indisputable conclusion that the universe has not a material, but a spiritual-mental nature."
Harvard University Researchers Visiting Tibetan Monks
In the 1980s, Herbert Benson, a professor of medicine at Harvard University, and a team of researchers studied the amazing abilities of monks living in the Himalayas while visiting remote monasteries in Tibet. It is still unknown how the monks managed to radiate heat and raise the temperature of the fingers and toes by as much as 17 degrees using the tummo yoga technique.
Researchers were also interested in the practice of meditation in the Indian state of Sikkim in the Himalayas, where monks, who had reached a high level of perfection, were able to lower the body's metabolism by 64 percent.
In 1985, a team of researchers from Harvard University captured the exceptional ability of Tibetan monks on video: using their own body temperature, the monks were able to dry cold, wet sheets. Likewise, monks practicing the tummo technique are able to do without warm woolen clothing during the cold winter nights in the Himalayas at an altitude of more than four and a half thousand meters.