Mental Purity Required

Formerly, some people used to perform yakśińii sádhaná according to the prescribed Tantric rituals.

I do not know if people still do the same thing today. In the past there were no caste or communal barriers as far as these Tantric practices were concerned, nor are there any today.

The system of performing sádhaná on various deities is not exactly the same as this, but somewhat similar.

Deities like shadowy figures also become visible through this practice.

Although this sádhaná is different to some extent from the sádhaná of yakśińii siddhi, the psychology in both is the same.

All the systems of Kálii siddhi, Durgá siddhi, d́ákinii siddhi, yakśińii siddhi, etc., are different in practice, yet they are similar theoretically.

Mental Purity Required

In case one wants to achieve the siddhi of various deities, one should acquire more mental purity than in the case of yakśińii siddhi, dákinii siddhi, yoginii siddhi, etc., because this subject concerns the psychic stratum.

It is of elevated nature, but it has no relation whatsoever to the realm of genuine spirituality.

Once when I visited Allahabad, a gentleman told me that he had attained Kálii siddhi.

I said to him, “Well, can you try to tell me something about your experiences? For instance, what do you see, what do you understand, etc.?”

He said, “I perform sádhaná according to such and such system. One day after sádhaná I saw a shadowy image of Kálii on the wall.

Since then, whenever my mind gets concentrated, that image of Kálii produces some kind of vibration in my mind which enables me to understand what it wants to convey to me.

Last night that image conveyed to me that you were coming to Allahabad today from Bihar and that you would stay here for a few days.”

I asked him, “Can you see the red mark on Kálii’s feet, her ankle bells, her iron bangles, the garland of skulls around her neck, the garland of fingers, etc.?”

He replied, “No, I do not see anything like that. All those things are mixed up in the shadow. The shadow itself is the combination of all those things.”

Then I asked him about yakśińii siddhi, and I also asked if he knew the difference between yakśińii siddhi and Kálii siddhi.

In the case of sádhaná for yakśińii siddhi, there is less devotional intensity due to lack of deep ideation.

But during Kálii sádhaná there is a fair degree of devotion. At the same time, the psychic state is somewhat peaceful.

Usually, people do not utilize Kálii shakti for destructive purposes. But there may be some Avidyá Tantrics who use their acquired power for malevolent deeds.

This type of siddhi of various deities is a kind of psychic achievement of a higher order. Yet this has nothing to do with the spiritual world.

Uttamo Brahmasadbhávo madhyamá dhyánadhárańá;
Japastutih syádhadhamá múrtipújádhamádhamá.

[Ideation on Brahma is the best, dhyána and dhárańá are second best, repetitious incantation and eulogistic prayer are the worst, and idol worship is the worst of the worst.]

You may have heard that some people attain bhúta siddhi or preta siddhi (the ability to communicate with ghosts).

This ability is greatly inferior to yakśińii siddhi.

In olden days, some people would follow the practice of bhúta siddhi, usually to extend their influence or to do harm to others, and would perform many misdeeds.

Today no one follows this practice; if some people do, they are very few.

Instances of people being possessed by ghosts, gods and goddesses, d́ákiniis, yoginiis, etc., are somewhat similar to this from the psychological perspective.

You may have noticed that sometimes people look for those who are “possessed” by Manasá [snake goddess], Satii-Má [Mother Satii], etc., when they feel an immense desire to find answers to their questions.

Others visit special places or localities to attain the exact answers to their problems.

Although these things are similar psychologically, they are somewhat different in practice.

To treat various diseases by performing a special type of dhárańá [deep concentration] on various gods and goddesses, is nothing but the play of the conscious, subconscious and unconscious levels of the mind.(5)

If, due to the grace of Parama Puruśa, someone gets the chance to see a khamúrtti and asks that entity for success on the path of self-abnegation, then one may get such inspiration from that siddha devayoni (positive microvitum).

One can attain:

• savisheśa or savikalpa samadhi, or
  • This is the state of partial absorption of mind, merging one’s individual existence and spiritual flow into the Macrocosmic stance of Parama Puruśa
• nirvisheśa or nirvikalpa samádhi
  • This is the state of complete absorption of mind by merging in the supreme stance of Parama Puruśa

This is the summit of spiritual attainment.

In the final stages of one’s spiritual journey, the entitative existence of the sádhaka is merged into Parama Puruśa.

6 September 1987, Calcutta

Footnotes

(1) The contents of this chapter consists of elaboration on the words khamúrtti and khamúrttimán. The author’s discourse on that day entailed linguistic discussion of a number of Sanskrit terms; the discussion of each term became an entry in the author’s linguistic encyclopedia Shabda Cayaniká (“Collection of Words”). –Eds.

(2) Microvita are entities which come within the realms both of physicality and of psychic expression. They are smaller and subtler than physical atoms and sub-atomic particles, and in the psychic realm they may be subtler than ectoplasm (citta, or mind-stuff). –Eds.

(3) In those days hypnotism or sammohana vidyá was considered a part of Avidyá Tantra. The six “actions” considered part of Avidyá Tantra are márańa, vashiikarańa, uccát́ana, sammohana, shántikarma and stambhana.

(4) A yakśińii is not the same as a yakśa, which is one of the seven devayonis. –Eds.

(5) Etymology of khamúrttimán omitted here. –Eds.