Theos-Talk Archives (March 1998 Message tl00120)

JRC wrote:

> >     Virtually all the literature considers siddhi's to be "spiritual dead
> > ends". They may be useful, but they do not lead to spiritual growth, at
> > least not directly (check out Blavatsky's cautionary tale, "An Enchanted
> > Life", located in NIGHTMARE TALES, and also somewhere in the COLLECTED
> > WRITINGS, for an example).
>
> While this is indeed true, the thing that's always given me a good giggle
> is that the people who *wrote* all that literature, or at least those who
> everyone quotes when warning against "siddhi's", are almost to the person
> people who have put time and energy into the successful development of the
> abilities they tell everyone else not to touch. -JRC

      Have they? Or have they put time and energy into other pursuits, for
which the development of siddhi's was a side effect? They claim, at least, the
latter, and don't enjoin people from doing that. Also note that if siddhi's do
come prematurely, then some effort should be expended to control them properly
and prevent their misuse.

    Bart Lidofsky