Do You Mistake the Imaginary for the Real?

Any ability to command nature is called a siddhi in Sanskrit. The word means “power,” and it refers to powers that have been perfected in consciousness.

Healing the sick is a siddhi, and like the supernatural feats that yogis are supposed to be able to perform – flying through the air, turning invisible, reading the past and future – the key to mastery is a shift in awareness. A person suddenly knows how to do something impossible, as simply and easily as I know how to life my arm.

A shift in awareness does not require force. A person who has achieved the level of consciousness where siddhis are natural can breathe change into things as softly as you or I wish and dream, using no more energy than it takes to stir a thought.

If I see a tree in my dreams, I can jump over it or make it turn blue or fly over it into the sky. What gives me such powers is the dream state. If I had no other state of awareness to compare it to, the dream state would constitute the only reality I know and accept as valid.

On waking up, I find that I cannot jump over a tree anymore, but why not? According to the rishis, what holds me back is not the tree but the arrival of waking-state consciousness. It has propelled me into a world that obeys different laws of nature.

As long as you are in your dream, the tree seems to be outside you, just as it is in a waking state. In truth, what you take to be the only ‘real’ tree should be called a waking-state tree. If you cannot jump over it, perhaps you need to wake up from waking. Then you would discover that this tree, too, was in your head.

This is how reality appears from a higher state of consciousness. The siddhis are an essential part of reaching such a state, a stepping-stone.

Adapted from Unconditional Life: Discovering the Power to Fulfill Your Dreams, by Deepak Chopra (A Bantam Book, 1991).

Read more: Deepak Chopra's Tips, Spirit, dreams, siddhis

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Janine K.

3:25PM PDT on May 1, 2012

Don't worry about it Jane, it's in your imagination. :)

send a green star

Jane B.

12:51PM PDT on May 1, 2012

Sry for multiple posts. Computer gliche.

12:50PM PDT on May 1, 2012

"Do You Mistake the Imaginary for the Real?"

I don't but several billion sheeple believe in imaginary GOD, THE LORD, THE ALMIGHTY, JA,
JESUS, SANTA CLAUS, THE RULER OF THE UNIVERSE, THE GREAT SPIRIT, VOO DOO SPIRITS, SPIRITUALISTS, CHARLATANS, THE CREATOR, EVANGELISTS, HEALERS, HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS, THE TOOTH FAIRY, ALLAH, THE GREAT SPIRIT, AND VARIOUS OTHER INVISIBLE MYTHICAL DEVIL SPIRITS. And the Catholic Church and lots of other scammers have gotten FILTHY RICH off these ignorant poor people. No "mistake" about it people are idiots and they "believe" other crazy peoples' DREAMS.

4:18PM PST on Jan 5, 2012

janine k.

2:25AM PDT on Sep 11, 2011

This is an issue. Especially where families are concerned. It seems there is a lack of respect for women and children in families and the role of Mother doesn't seem to be enough. People want the Mother to be the Father too and that seems a little ridiculous. What animals have is better. They also do not have the mental illness and addiction problems men do. Reality is subjective again, to how you deal with it. :)

2:01PM PDT on Jun 20, 2011

You can see Maya (illusion) and not mistake it for real BUT how you deal with it is another thing.

Kerry S.

8:20AM PDT on Jun 20, 2011

cool

Yvette T.

6:16PM PDT on May 27, 2011

I often use the example of dream consciousness and waking consciousness to demonstrate tat there are several layers of "realities"...these 2 states which most people have experiences and retain memories of hint at the fact that when we are focused on one level, we are immersed in it and it seems "real". This also happens when we watch a film, a theatre piece, etc.
Yes, there are many rooms within the mansion of the inner eye...meditation via the "Vibration" that permeates all is the key.
Logos, Word, Om, Aum, Amen, Living Water, Sound Current, Wakanda and more descriptive terms in many languages and generations all convey this vibrational