Observations on Psi and their sources according to Patanjali

  C.T.KENGHE

According to Yoga viewpoint, every mind has got the capacity for supernormal powers (siddhis). Psi is the general term based on a letter from Greek alphabet used by modern parapsychology to denote the different kinds of paranormal psychic phenomena in general. \modfern parapsychology has not been able so far to find out the exact nature of Psi. According to the findings of Yoga, however, Psi are generic in nature and through certain techniques, they can be cultivated by every human being.

There is no limit theiretically to the extent of these powers which can make one omniscient and omnipotent. However, in actual practice, they are certainly limitedto the extent of their purity of mind achieved by the practicant. The powers remain latent or unmanifest due to  impurities of mind which come in because of the forces of activity (rajas) and inertia (tamas) involved in the primordial nature (prakrti).

In individual minds, these impurities appear in the form of the five tensions reponsible for the formation of the unconscious. It is due to these impurities that the light of the Self, whose nature is pure consciousness, cannot reach the depths of the mind in which potentialities for Psi also remain dormant. The different aspects of the main discipline of Yoga are directed towards reducing and finally eliminating these impurities. As these impurities are gradually reduced and eliminated, the light of consciousness starts piercing through the upper layers and illumining the depths of personality. To the extent of illumination, the powers start manifesting and ultimately, when the impurities are finally eliminated, the whole of the mental personality comes under the light of consciosness crosses beyond the level of the personal unconscious; and when finally it illumines the whole of the collective unconscious as well, mind gets the capacity to know and control anything and everythiong in the universe.

Of course, this is only a theoretical possibility. One is required to pass through several stages before achieving this final goal. For this purpose, practice in one life may not suffice. It is only after a continuos practice carried through several lives that one can reach the final stage. Patanjali speaks of seven earlier marginal stages of Psi, although he has nor clearly indicated them. These stages cover most of the suopernormal phenomena investigated by modern parapsychology and include many more unknown to parapsychology, so far.

Here, let us consider the sources of these supernormal powers. Of course, as we have already seen, the powers are inherent in the very nature of mind, and so the unconscious can well be said to be the general source of all supernormal powers. However, the problem is how to actualise these potentialities by tackling the unconscious. Yoga has tried to evolve a regular discipline of eight aspects for this purpose and its final aspect viz., samadhi can be said to be the main technique of actualising the Psi. However, Patanjali has recognized some other means also for this purpose. These are birth, herbs, incantations and penance.

First of all, there are people with inborn capacity for Psi. This capacity can vary in degrees and may be temporary or permanent. As per the findings of modern parapsychologists, about 20% of human beings have got some natural inborn capacity for Psi, although it is only in the few that it can be observed in a very obvious form. These people also cannot account for the knowledge and power that they are in possession of and hence, it is usually considered to be a chance occurence. According to Yoga, however, they can be accounted for on the basis of practice in previous lives. Usually, these powers remain wuth a person temporarily for a certain period of time and then disappear. Modern psychologists cannot account for this disappearance as well. According to Yoga – theory, however, it can be explained on the basis of misuse. If the powers are not properly directed toward higher stages, they not only disappear but may cause a complete downfall of the person concerned.

Patanjali has also recognised the use of certain drugs for producing Psi or paranormal experiences. He has not named these drugs, evidently because he does not attach much importance to paranormal experiences induced by drugs. In recent times, however, a good deal of research is being done on the so-called psuchodelic drugs and we come across divergent views as regards the efficacy and utility of such drugs. L.S.D. is supposed to be the most prominent amongst such drugs. Whereas the use of this and similar other drugs has been prohibited by law in most of the countries, there are still a number of protagonists- some serious scientists amongst them- who maintain that these drugs can help in widening consciousness.

According to Thelma Moss, “A few scientists in the West – most usually through a psychodelic drug experience – have been given a glimpse of another, finer Reality. It is as if, after a great many centuries in which the Esatern world has been exploring this magnificent domain, the Western philosophers and scientists have stumbled on to the Way 

By mesns of their chemical experiments in the laboratory. And they are now face to face with the problem that has besieged the eastern philosophers and mystics for many hundreds of years: Stanley Krippner and Richard Davidson have described the religious implications of para normal events occuring during chemically induced psychodelic experience as follows:

“If psychodelic chemicals can induce or enhance a paranormal experience, it follows that paranormal events can occur in varying degrees – in other states of conciousness as well. What Clark wrote about chemically induced religious experience probably holds equally true for chemically induced telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition.” Ir seems hardly to9 be doubted that these subatances ar least release  mystical experience, though it is nor clear that we can say that they produce it?...

“Chemically induced paranormal occurences involve a profound alteration of conscioness – na alteration not unlike the states many people with spiritual insight experience...E S P type experiences which occur in altered conscious states, often include the subjective impression of making contact with something beyond the self... ... for na individual or a culture to de-emphasize both is tantamount to repressing important elements of their being, to ignore vital sources of strength, and to bypass critical areas of the human potential. By the same token, these poorly-understood phenomena should be examined anmd studied by the student of religion and by the religious counsellor. Not do to so will relegate a type of human behavior to obscurity which instead, should be brought into awareness and given its chance to assist mankind’s creative development”.

Although the experimentation on psychodelic drugs is still in a primitive stage and researchers have not arrived at any definite conclusion as regards the utility of these drugs fot the benefit of mankind, there should be no objection to accepting these drugs as na aid for inducing paranormal experiences. As has already been described above, the psychodelic drugs induce paranormal experiences by bringing in a change in the state of consciousness which can be compared with the sate of samadhi.

Evidently these drugs temporarily quieten the functioning od the conscious mind and thereby induce the potentialities of the mind by activating the unconscious. However, as the tensions forming the unconscious remain unaffected, this temporarily release of paranormal experience cannot lead the practicant much farther towards the final goal.

Such drugs were (and are) used by tantric practicants of heroic mode. They were found useful in conquering psuchological obsessions and therby helpíng the efficacy of the tantric techniques. However, the use of such drugs without initiation into tantic practices was considered to be extremely harmful to physycal and mental health. Modern researchers also are very much worried about the after-effects of these drugs; for these drugs are porhibited by law mainly for this purpose. After going through the psychodelic experience, a person usually becomes na addict to the drugs and finds himself in terrible depression in absence of the same. It is, perhaps, for this purpose that Patanjali has ascribed no role to such drugs in his regular discipline, although he has recognised them as a means of releasing the Psi. For Patanjali, the paranormal experiences have no value in themselves, if they fail to lead the practicant further towards the final goal of Yoga.

The next means moted by Patanjali for manifesting paranormal powers is recitation of incantations. The incantations or mantras help in releasing paranormal powers by establishiong contact wuth higher spirits or deities. This has been noted by Patanjali in connection with self-study (svadhyaya) in which he includes repetition of incantations as well.

These mantras consist of the wirds or sounds which may be meaningful or meaningless. When they have some meaning, the words may be from another language. These incantations appear to work in a mysterious way. Most of the people who employ the incantations for different purposes do not themselves  know these incantations work. In recent times, some scientists have tried to investigate yhis phenomenon. Shivananda describes it as follows: “Sounds are vovrations. Theygive ruise to definite forms. Each sound produces a form in the invisible world, and combinations of sounds create complicated shapes. The textt books of science descrobe certain experiments which show that notes produced by certain unstruments trace out on a bed of sand definite geometrical figures. It is thus demonstrated that rhythmical vibrations give rise to regular geometrical figures.

The Hindu books on Music tell us that the various melodic forms, ragas and raginis have each a particular image, which these books graphically describe. For instance, the Megha raga is said to be a majestic figure seated on an elephant. The Vasanta raga is described as a beatiful youth decked with folwers. All this means that a particular raga or ragini, when accurately sung, produces serial etheric vibrations which create the particular image, said to characterise it.

This view has recently received crroborations from the experiments carried on by Mrs. Watts Hughes, the gifted author of “Voice Figure”. She delivered na illustrated lecture before a select audience in Lord Leighton’s studio to demonstrate the beautiful sceintific descovery on which she has alighted, as the result of many years’ patient labour. Mrs. Hughes sings into a simple instrument called na “Eidophone” which consists of a tube, a receiver and a flexible membrane and she finds that each note assumes a definite and constant shape, as revealed through a sensitive and mobile medium. At the outset of her lecture, she palced tiny seeds upon the flexible ,e,brane and the air vibtrations set up by the notes she sounded danced them into definite geometrical patterns. Afteward she used dusts of various kinds, Lycopodium dust being found particularly suitable. A reporter, describing the shape of the notes, speaks of them as remarkable revelations of geometry, perspective and shading: “Stars, spirals, snakes and imaginations rioting in a wealth of captivating methodical design”.

Once when Mrs. Hughes was singing a note, a daisy appeared and disappeared and “I tried” she said, “to sing it back for weeks before; at last I succeeded”. Now she knows that precise inflection of the particular note that brings forth a daisy, and it is made constant and definite by a strange method of co-oxing na alteration of crescendo and diminuendo. After the audience had gazed enraptured a series of daisies, some with succeeding rows of petals, delicately viewed, they were chown other notes, and these were daisies of great beauty. “How wonderful, how lovely:”were the audible exclamations that arose from the late Lord Leighton’s studio; one exquisite form succeeded another exquisite form on the screen; the flowers were followed by sea-monsters, serpentine forms of swelling rotundity, full of light and shade and details feeding in miles of perspective. After these notes ther cameforms of other trees, trees with fruits falling, trees with a foreground of rocks, trees with sea behind. “Why” exclaimed the people in the audience, “they are just like Japanese landscapes”.

Then in France, Madam Findlay’s singing of hymn to Virgin Mary “O Eve Marrium” brought out the form of Mary with child Jesus on her lap and again the singing of a hymn to Bhairava by a Bengali student of Varanasi studying in France, gave rise to the formation of the figure of Bhairava with his vehicle, the dog.

Thus, repeated singing of the Lord builds up gradually the form of the devata or the special manifestation of the deity whom you seek for worship, and this acts as a focus to concentrate the benign influence of the Divine Being, which radiating from the centre, penetrates the worshipper”.

Some psychologists have offered another theory to explain the mysterious working of the mantras. According to them, the words in the mantras are not much important and they ate to be considered just like totems. They arouse the subconscious or super-conscious through a suggestion. It is actually the faith that wirks wonders. Incantation or Mantra is just a token to arouse the power of faith. The employers of incantations usually stick to a particular sequence of words, letters or sounds only because of the high esteem in which they hold the original founder of the mantra and subsequent line of teachers. Patanjali, as we have already shown, seems to prefer the earlier explanation. However, whichever explamation we accepr, it remains a fact that the tensions or impurities of mind cannot br tackled and removed just by employing the incantations for getting paranormal powers. It is hence that, although Patanjali has given some scope to svadhyaya or repetition of the mantras in the main discipline of Yoga, he does not recommend employing them for getting paranormal powers.

Tapas or austerity is another means of releasing Psi, according to Patanjali. In tapas, one subnits oneself to rigorous mortification of body and mind and thereby increases the power of resistance. It also naturally helps the process of concentration. Many-a-time, through different processes of austerity, one tries to please some deity or higher spirit, by establishiong some contact with it.

In Indian mythology, we come across a number of stories of persons ´practising penance or tapas for getting some boons from deities whom they worship. It is also maintained that even the kingdom of heaven can be won by accumulating righteousness through tapas. It is hence that a number of myths speak of Indra, the lord of gods, being worried at the rigorous practice of penance, and put forth a number of temptations to dissuade the practicant from the practice undertaken by him. Thus, tapas works in two different ways. Firstly, it increases the power of resistance, and secondly, it establishes contact with some higher spirits. It can become a means of releasing the different types of paranormal powers mainly through the second process, although one certainly increases the physical and mental power by the first process as well. It is the first process that helps purification of mind, and it has been given due scope by Patanjali in the main discipline of Yoga. However, to undertake penance for acquiring some paranormal power through the second process does not seem to be much desirable, according to Patanjali.

Besides these four means mentioned by Patanjali, some other means have also been pointed out by commentators. Thus, certain jewels or precious stones etc. Are also supposed to help release the Psi. Crystal-reading is a well known phenomenon which is recognised by modern para-psychologists as well. Several astrologers employ peculiar crystals ot precious stones for telling the future. They claim that they can see future events in the crystals, just like a movie show. Like austerity, precious stones have been so often referred to in Indian mythology as harbingers of peculiar paranormal powers. The working of these stones is much more mysterious and difficult to explain. The dofferent kinds of paranormal powers cannot properly be expl\ined just by regarding them as totems. In the present state of our knowledge, it is better to accept our inability to explain the functioning of these queer objectas. Besides these stones, conch-shells, etc. Are also supposed to be the sources of releasing some peculiar paranorma powers. Any way, all thse means do not lead the practicant much farther toward the goal, and hence they are not recommended by Patanjali.

It should be remembered that mere possession of paranormals powers cannot add to our welfare in any way. On the contrary, it is likely to create more problems and troubles. To take an example, extra-sensory perception, if unaccompanied by the attitude of dispassion, will add immensely to our unrest. When we are usually so much disturbed by the normal sensory perception, what is the use of extra-sensory perception? Similarly, precognition will add to our worries immensely. It is hence that Patanjali has called such paranormal powers “obstacles in the experience of tranquillity”. How far they can help in solving social problems is also a moot point. Patanjali has, therefore, not recommended these means of releasing Psi. Even in the case of contemplation or samadhi, and the means recommended by him, he has reminded the practicants time and again that the acquisition of the higher faculty of knoeledge should be directed properly for rising to the higher stages of contemplation. Otherwise, they may lead to a downfall. There should be no attachment to the paranormal powers also and one should never take pride of them. They are ti be considered as the landmarks in the path leading towards the final goal. This has to be rememberd by the practicants of the eightfold discipline as well.

Yoga Awareness, July, 1978.