Supernormal Powers

What this chapter covers: This chapter explains the supernormal powers (iddhividha) — the first of five types of direct knowledge that arise from deep concentration. It describes the ten kinds of supernormal power, the training needed to develop them, the process of mental resolution, and the specific powers a meditator can wield. Stories from the tradition illustrate each power in action.

Why Supernormal Powers Matter

The development of concentration does not end with deep absorption (jhana). Once a meditator has reached the fourth level of deep absorption, the practice can yield something more: direct knowledge. This direct knowledge, in turn, makes the later development of wisdom much easier.

The Buddha described five types of mundane direct knowledge:

1. Supernormal powers — the subject of this chapter
2. The divine ear
3. The ability to read minds
4. Knowledge of past lives
5. Knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings

Preparing the Mind: Fourteen Kinds of Mastery

Before a meditator can begin exercising supernormal powers, the mind must be trained in fourteen specific ways. This requires achieving the eight levels of absorption across each of the first eight meditation totality devices (kasina), ending with the white device. Then the meditator must master the mind in all of these ways:

Mastery over the devices:

• Moving through the devices in forward order
• Moving through the devices in reverse order
• Moving through them in both forward and reverse order

Mastery over the levels of absorption:

• Moving through the absorption levels in forward order
• Moving through them in reverse order
• Moving through them in both forward and reverse order

Skipping:

• Skipping alternate absorption levels without skipping devices
• Skipping alternate devices without skipping absorption levels
• Skipping both at once

Transposition:

• Moving through all absorption levels on a single device (transposition of factors)
• Attaining the same absorption level across all devices (transposition of object)
• Changing both the absorption level and the device simultaneously

Defining:

• Defining the factors of each absorption level
• Defining the object of each device

How Rare Is This?

This path is extraordinarily difficult. The initial preparation is hard — only one in a hundred or a thousand can do it. Arousing the meditation sign is hard — only one in a hundred or a thousand succeeds. Extending the sign and reaching absorption is hard — only one in a hundred or a thousand manages it. Training the mind in the fourteen ways is hard. Performing the actual transformation is hard. Achieving rapid response is hard. And helping others after acquiring that speed is harder still. At each stage, only one in a hundred or a thousand succeeds.

Background Note: The Elder Rakkhita demonstrated this rapid response eight years after his ordination. Thirty thousand monks with supernormal powers had gathered to attend the illness of the Elder Maha-Rohana-Gutta. Seeing Rakkhita’s feat, one elder told the assembly: “Friends, if Rakkhita had not been here, we would have been put to shame. We should keep our abilities perfected, just as soldiers keep their weapons clean and ready.” All thirty thousand monks heeded this advice and developed rapid response.

Only in the case of Buddhas, Solitary Buddhas (Paccekabuddha), and chief disciples — those with vast practice behind them from previous lives — do supernormal powers arise automatically with the attainment of full awakening (Arahantship), without this step-by-step training.

The Goldsmith Simile

Just as a goldsmith smelts gold to make it soft and workable before shaping an ornament, and just as a potter kneads clay until it is smooth before forming a vessel, a beginner must prepare the mind through these fourteen kinds of mastery. The mind must become malleable, workable, and responsive.

Someone who already has the required foundation from practice in previous lives needs only to achieve mastery in the fourth absorption across the devices.

The Eight Qualities of a Mind Ready for Direct Knowledge

The Buddha described the mind ready for supernormal powers as having eight qualities:

1. Concentrated — unified through fourth-level absorption
2. Purified — cleansed by the equanimity unique to this level
3. Bright — limpid and clear because it is purified
4. Unblemished — free from greed and other stains
5. Rid of defilement — clean because the blemishes are gone
6. Malleable — well-developed and responsive to direction
7. Workable — fit to be shaped, like well-smelted gold
8. Steady and unshakeable — reinforced by faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and understanding

When consciousness is reinforced by faith, it cannot be shaken by doubt. When reinforced by energy, laziness cannot disturb it. When reinforced by mindfulness, negligence has no hold. When reinforced by concentration, agitation cannot reach it. When reinforced by understanding, ignorance cannot cloud it. When illuminated, the darkness of defilement cannot touch it. A mind strengthened by these six qualities has reached unshakeability (anenja). It is ready to be directed toward direct knowledge.

The Ten Kinds of Supernormal Power

The tradition lists ten kinds of supernormal power (iddhi):

1. Power by Resolution

A meditator who is normally one person focuses the mind on being many — a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand. After doing the preparatory work, entering and emerging from the basic absorption, the meditator resolves: “Let me be many.” At the very moment of that resolving consciousness, the multiplication happens.

2. Power as Transformation

The meditator abandons the normal appearance and takes on a different form — a boy, a serpent, a winged being, a deity, the sea, a mountain, a lion, a tiger, an elephant, a horse, a military array, or anything else desired.

3. Power as the Mind-Made Body

The meditator creates a second body — complete with visible form, possessing all limbs and faculties — drawn out of the physical body like pulling a reed from its sheath, a sword from its scabbard, or a snake from its slough.

4. Power by the Influence of Knowledge

A remarkable protection that comes from the power of wisdom destined to arise. Three stories illustrate this:

• The Elder Bakkula fell into a river as an infant through his nurse’s carelessness. A fish swallowed him. That fish was later caught and sold. When the buyer cut it open, she found the child alive and unharmed in its stomach. His survival was due to the influence of the Arahant-path knowledge he was destined to attain in that very life.

• The Elder Sankicca’s mother died while he was still in her womb. At the cremation her body was pierced with stakes and placed on a pyre. One stake wounded the infant near his eye. He cried out, and they rescued him from the flames. He grew up, went forth, and attained full awakening with all the higher abilities.

• The boy Bhutapala’s father left him beside a cart outside the city gates at night while chasing escaped oxen. The gates closed. The child survived the entire night alone in a place full of wild animals and spirits.

5. Power by the Influence of Concentration

Protection that comes from the force of deep concentration. Five stories illustrate this:

• The Elder Sariputta was sitting outdoors on a moonlit night with his head freshly shaved. A wicked spirit struck him on the head with a blow that sounded like a thunderclap. But the elder was deep in absorption at the time and suffered no harm at all.

• The Elder Sanjiva entered the attainment of cessation. Cowherds found him, thought he was dead, and piled grass, sticks, and cowdung on him and set it all on fire. Not even a corner of his robe was burned.

• The Elder Khanu-Kondanna was sitting absorbed in a forest at night. Five hundred robbers came by with stolen goods. Thinking he was a tree stump, they piled all their bundles on top of him. When he emerged from absorption at the predetermined time, they saw him move and cried out in terror. He calmed them: “Do not be afraid, lay followers. I am a monk.” They were so moved that they went forth into the monastic life and eventually attained full awakening.

• The laywoman Uttara was the daughter of a rich man. A jealous woman named Sirima poured a basin of boiling oil over her head. But Uttara had entered absorption based on loving-kindness at that moment. The oil rolled off her like water off a lotus leaf.

• The laywoman Samavati was King Udena’s chief queen. A scheming brahman planted a poisonous snake in her lute and told the king she was trying to kill him. Furious, the king took his bow and aimed a poisoned arrow. Samavati and her attendants pervaded the king with loving-kindness. He stood trembling, unable to shoot or put the arrow down. She said, “What is it, sire, are you tired?” — “Yes, I am tired.” — “Then put down the bow.” The arrow fell at his feet. She told him: “Sire, one should not hate one who has no hate.”

6. Noble Ones’ Power

This is the ability to see the unattractive in what is attractive, and the attractive in what is unattractive, or to dwell in equanimity toward both. It belongs only to Noble Ones who have achieved mastery of the mind.

A fully awakened monk can pervade a disagreeable object with loving-kindness and dwell perceiving it as non-repulsive. Or he can contemplate an agreeable object as impermanent and dwell perceiving it as repulsive. Or he can remain in perfect equanimity toward both, mindful and fully aware.

7. Power Born of Past Actions

Some beings can do remarkable things simply as the result of their past actions (kamma). All birds fly through the air without any meditation. All deities can do the same. Some human beings at the beginning of a cosmic cycle have this power. Even some beings in lower realms possess it.

8. Power of the Meritorious

When great merit ripens, it can produce extraordinary results:

• The householder Jotika: A crystal palace and sixty-four wishing trees burst up from the earth for him.
• The householder Jatilaka: A golden rock eighty cubits high appeared for him.
• The householder Ghosita: He survived seven separate attempts on his life.
• The householder Mendaka: Rams made of the seven kinds of gems appeared to him in a field.

The “five very meritorious” were the rich man Mendaka, his wife Candapadumasiri, his son Dhananjaya, his daughter-in-law Sumana-devi, and his slave Punna. When Mendaka washed his head and looked at the sky, twelve thousand five hundred measures of red rice rained down. When his wife took a single measure of cooked rice, it never ran out no matter how many she fed — even the entire population of the continent. When his son took a purse of a thousand coins, the coins never ran out no matter how much he gave away. When his daughter-in-law took a pint of grain, it never diminished no matter how much she shared. When his slave ploughed with a single blade, fourteen furrows appeared — seven on each side.

9. Power Through the Sciences

Masters of certain sciences can pronounce spells and travel through the air or project illusions such as elephants, horses, or military formations in the sky.

10. Power Through Right Effort

Any success that comes through proper effort applied to the right task — whether it is abandoning greed through renunciation, or any worldly craft, trade, medicine, scholarship, or even farming — counts as this kind of power. It is the success that comes when effort meets the right method.

The Three Powers Used in Practice

Of these ten, only three are directly relevant to the meditative development described in this chapter:

1. Power by resolution — the main topic
2. Power as transformation
3. Power as the mind-made body

The Five Requirements for Resolution

To exercise supernormal power by resolution, a meditator must accomplish five things:

1. The four planes — the four levels of absorption, which serve as the foundation
2. The four bases (roads to power) — concentration supported by zeal, energy, natural purity of mind, and inquiry, each combined with the will to strive
3. The eight steps — zeal paired with concentration, energy paired with concentration, consciousness paired with concentration, and inquiry paired with concentration (eight factors in all)
4. The sixteen roots — sixteen qualities of unshakeable consciousness, including being undejected, unelated, unattracted, unrepelled, independent, untrammelled, liberated, unassociated with defilement, rid of barriers, unified, and reinforced by faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, understanding, and illumination
5. Resolution with knowledge — the actual act of resolving

How Resolution Works

After accomplishing these five requirements, the meditator enters the absorption that serves as the basis for direct knowledge and then emerges from it. If, for example, the meditator wants to become a hundred, the preliminary work goes like this: “Let me become a hundred, let me become a hundred.” Then the meditator enters the basic absorption again, emerges, and resolves. The multiplication happens simultaneously with the resolving consciousness. If it does not succeed the first time, the meditator may do the preliminary work and resolve a second time.

The basic absorption has the meditation sign as its object. The preliminary-work consciousness has the intended result — a hundred, a thousand — as its object. The resolving consciousness also takes this result as its object. It arises only once, as fine-material-sphere consciousness belonging to the fourth absorption.

The Story of Cula-Panthaka

There were two brothers called “Roadling” (Panthaka) because they were born on a road. The elder brother, Maha-Panthaka, went forth into the monastic life and attained full awakening with all the higher abilities. He then brought his younger brother Cula-Panthaka into the Order and set him this verse to learn:

As a scented kokanada lotus Opens in the morning with its perfume, See the One with Radiant Limbs who glitters Like the sun’s orb blazing in the heavens.

Four months passed, but Cula-Panthaka could not memorize it. His brother said, “You are useless in this teaching,” and expelled him from the monastery.

At that time Maha-Panthaka was in charge of allocating meal invitations. Jivaka came and invited the Buddha with five hundred monks to a meal. Maha-Panthaka accepted for everyone except Cula-Panthaka. The young monk stood weeping at the gate.

The Buddha saw him with the divine eye and went to him. “Why are you weeping?” Cula-Panthaka explained. The Buddha said, “No one in my teaching is called useless for being unable to do a recitation. Do not grieve, monk.” He took him by the arm, led him into the monastery, and created a piece of cloth by supernormal power. “Now, monk, keep rubbing this and repeat: ‘Removal of dirt, removal of dirt.’”

As Cula-Panthaka rubbed the cloth, it turned black. He realized: “The cloth was clean. There is nothing wrong with it. It is this self that is wrong.” He turned his attention to the five groups of existence and, through deepening insight, approached the threshold of awakening.

Then the Buddha spoke these verses:

Now greed it is, not dust, that we call “dirt,” And “dirt” is just a term in use for greed; This greed the wise reject, and they abide Keeping the Law of him that has no greed.

Now, hate it is, not dust, that we call “dirt,” …

Delusion too, it is not dust, that we call “dirt,” And “dirt” is just a term used for delusion; Delusion the wise reject, and they abide Keeping the Dhamma of him without delusion.

When the verses were finished, Cula-Panthaka had mastered the nine levels beyond the world, the four kinds of analytical knowledge, and the six types of direct knowledge.

The next day, the Buddha went to Jivaka’s house with the community of monks. When the gruel was being served, he covered his bowl. Jivaka asked, “What is it, venerable sir?” — “There is a monk at the monastery.” He sent a man to fetch him.

After the Buddha had left the monastery:

Now, having multiplied himself Up to a thousand, Panthaka Sat in the pleasant mango wood Until the time should be announced.

The messenger arrived and found the entire monastery glowing with yellow robes. He returned and said, “Venerable sir, the monastery is crowded with monks. I do not know which one the lord is.” The Buddha said, “Go and catch hold of the robe of the first one you see and say, ‘The Master calls you.’” The man did so, and at once all the created forms vanished. Cula-Panthaka dismissed him, finished his morning routine, and arrived first at the meal, sitting down on the seat prepared.

How Multiple Forms Work

The created forms look exactly like the creator because they were created without specific differences. Whatever the creator does — standing, sitting, speaking, or staying silent — the forms do the same.

But if the creator wants variety — some forms young, some middle-aged, some old; some long-haired, some shaved, some grey; some in lightly dyed robes, some in dark ones; some teaching, some sewing robes, some washing — the creator must emerge from the basic absorption, do the preliminary work specifying each variation, re-enter and emerge, and resolve. The forms become as desired at the moment of the resolving consciousness.

Returning to a single form works the same way in reverse. The meditator resolves, “Let me be one.” Alternatively, the forms simply vanish when the predetermined time elapses.

Appearing and Vanishing

Appearing means making the hidden visible — turning darkness into light, revealing what is concealed, or bringing into sight what is beyond the visual range.

Vanishing means making the visible hidden — turning light into darkness, concealing what is exposed, or removing something from the visual field.

The Descent of the Gods

After the Buddha performed the Twin Miracle and liberated eighty-four thousand beings, he wondered where past Buddhas had gone after performing this same miracle. He saw that they had gone to the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. He placed one foot on Mount Yugandhara and the other on the summit of Mount Sineru, and took up residence there for the three-month Rains Retreat.

He taught the Abhidhamma to the deities of ten thousand world-systems. At mealtimes, he created an image of himself to continue teaching while he went to collect alms among the Uttarakurus. Each day, the Elder Sariputta came to him, and the Buddha gave him the method of what had been taught. In this way, the full Abhidhamma was expounded over three months. Eighty million deities penetrated the teaching.

An assembly twelve leagues wide had gathered, saying, “We will not leave until we see the Buddha.” The Elder Anuruddha extended light with the divine eye and found where the Buddha was staying.

The Elder Maha Moggallana went to pay homage. In the midst of the assembly, he dived into the earth, cleaved through Mount Sineru, and emerged at the Buddha’s feet. He reported that the people wished to see the Buddha. The Buddha replied: “Tell those who wish to see me to come tomorrow to the city of Sankassa. Tomorrow being the full-moon observance day, I shall descend there.”

The Ruler of the Gods commanded his architect Vissakamma to build three flights of stairs — one of gold, one of silver, and one of crystal. On the following day, the Buddha stood on the summit of Sineru and surveyed the world in every direction. Many thousands of world-systems were visible as clearly as a single plain. He saw down to the deepest hell and up to the highest heaven.

That day was called the Day of the Revelation of Worlds. Human beings saw deities and deities saw human beings — face to face, without anyone having to look up or down.

The Buddha descended by the middle flight of crystal stairs. The gods of the sense-sphere heavens descended on the golden stairs to his left. The deities of the Pure Abodes and the Great Brahma descended on the silver stairs to his right. The Ruler of the Gods held the bowl and robe. The Great Brahma held a white parasol three leagues wide. On that day, every living being who saw the Buddha yearned for awakening.

Background Note: In Sri Lanka, the Elder Dhammadinna once performed a similar miracle while teaching. Sitting on the shrine terrace, he turned his fan downward and an opening appeared all the way to the deepest hell. Then he turned it upward and an opening appeared to the Brahma-world. Having aroused fear of suffering and longing for higher happiness, he taught the Dhamma. Some listeners became stream-enterers, some once-returners, some non-returners, and some became fully awakened.

Vanishing: Making the Visible Invisible

The Buddha used this power when the young man Yasa was sitting beside him and his father came looking for him — the father simply could not see his son. He also used it when he travelled two thousand leagues to meet King Maha Kappina: the queen Anoja, sitting nearby with a thousand attendants, could not see the king or his ministers. The Buddha asked her, “Which is better for you — to seek the king or to seek yourself?” She answered, “Myself, venerable sir.” He taught her the Dhamma, and she and her thousand attendants attained stream-entry, while the ministers attained non-return and the king attained full awakening.

The Elder Mahinda did the same on the day he arrived in Sri Lanka — he made it so the king could not see the other monks who had come with him.

In the miracle of making something visible, both the power and the one who wields it are displayed. In the miracle of making something invisible, only the power is shown, not the person behind it.

Passing Through Solid Matter

A meditator who wants to pass through walls, fences, or mountains enters the space totality device absorption and emerges from it. Then, after doing the preliminary work on the wall or mountain, the meditator resolves: “Let there be space.” It becomes space. It becomes hollow for going up or down, or cleft for passing through. The meditator goes through unhindered.

If another obstacle appears along the way — created by a different person with supernormal power — the meditator must resolve again or go above or below it. But nothing created by natural forces can obstruct the original resolve.

Diving In and Out of the Earth

A meditator who wants to dive through solid ground enters the water totality device absorption and emerges. Then the meditator resolves: “Let the earth in this area be water.” It becomes water. The meditator dives in and out freely.

Not only diving, but bathing, drinking, mouth-washing, and cleaning objects are all possible. The substance can become water, ghee, oil, honey, or whatever is wished. But it becomes liquid only for the meditator — other people walk, drive, and farm on it as usual. If the meditator wishes, it can become liquid for others too. When the determined time elapses, it reverts to earth.

Walking on Water

The reverse also works. A meditator enters the earth totality device absorption, emerges, and resolves: “Let the water in this area be earth.” It becomes solid. The meditator walks on it as on dry ground, or sits, stands, and lies down on it. Gems, gold, rock, or trees can be created on it. It is solid only for the meditator unless otherwise willed. When the time elapses, it becomes water again.

Travelling Through the Sky

A meditator who wants to fly creates a solid path in space using the earth device. The meditator can walk on it, or create air with the air device and float like a tuft of cotton in the wind. Any posture is possible — sitting cross-legged, lying down, or walking on a path the width of a footpath.

A sky-traveller should also possess the divine eye. Mountains, trees, or hostile beings might appear along the route. On seeing them, the meditator resolves: “Let there be space.” The meditator should also use the divine eye to find a secluded landing spot, rather than descending in a public place.

Touching the Moon and Sun

This power requires no special device — only the basic absorption. The meditator resolves: “Let the moon and sun be within hand’s reach.” They come within reach. Sitting or lying down, the meditator touches and strokes them.

If preferred, the meditator can go to them physically. Or the meditator can bring them close by the power of resolve — they arrive like palmyra fruits loosened from their stalks. The meditator can also enlarge an unclung-to hand supported by the physical hand.

Even when hundreds of thousands of monks do this simultaneously, the moon and sun continue their normal course and radiance — just as the moon appears in a thousand saucers of water without being disturbed.

Wielding Bodily Power as Far as the Brahma-World

A meditator who wants to reach the Brahma-world can resolve upon distance and nearness. What is far becomes near. What is near becomes far. What is many becomes few. What is few becomes many.

Going with a visible body: The meditator converts the mind to match the body’s pace. Arriving at a perception of ease and lightness, the body becomes as light as a tuft of cotton. It travels visibly through space.

Going with an invisible body: The meditator converts the body to match the mind’s speed. The body moves with the swiftness of thought.

On arrival, the meditator can create a mind-made visible form before the Brahma. Whatever the meditator does — walking, standing, sitting, teaching, or conversing — the creation does the same.

Stories of Making Far Near

• The Buddha, after the Twin Miracle, made Mount Yugandhara and Mount Sineru near and stepped from the earth’s surface to the summit in two strides.
• The Elder Maha Moggallana shortened a twelve-league crowd and a thirty-league road to the city of Sankassa and arrived in an instant.
• The Elder Cula Samudda in Sri Lanka, during a famine, needed to feed seven hundred monks. Seeing no possibility on the island, he saw that alms could be found at Pataliputta (modern Patna in India). He shortened the earth and walked there with the monks. They asked, “What city is this?” — “Pataliputta, friends.” — “But that is far away!” — “Friends, experienced elders make what is far near.” — “Where is the ocean?” — “Did you not cross a blue stream on the way?” — “Yes, but the ocean is vast!” — “Friends, experienced elders also make what is vast small.”

Stories of Making Much Little and Little Much

• The Elder Maha Kassapa made much into little. On a festival day at Rajagaha, five hundred girls with moon cakes saw the Buddha but offered nothing. On the way back, they saw Kassapa and each offered a cake. He made them all fit into a single bowlful and brought it to the Buddha.

• The Elder Maha Moggallana made little into much in the story of the rich man Illisa.

• The Buddha did the same for a poor man named Kakavaliiya. After the Elder Maha Kassapa spent seven days in absorption, he stood at the door of this poor man to show favour to the poor. The man’s wife poured her husband’s unsalted sour gruel into Kassapa’s bowl. Kassapa placed it in the Buddha’s hand. The Buddha resolved to make it enough for the entire community. What had filled one bowl became enough for all. And within seven days, Kakavaliiya became a wealthy man.

Whatever the one with supernormal power wishes — making the sweet tasteless, or the tasteless sweet — it succeeds. The Elder Maha Anula saw many monks eating plain rice by the Ganga River in Sri Lanka. He resolved: “Let the river water become cream of ghee.” The novices fetched it and gave it to the community. All of them ate their meal with sweet cream of ghee.

Power as Transformation

A meditator who wants to change form emerges from the fourth absorption and focuses on the desired appearance — a boy, a serpent, a winged being, a demon, the Ruler of the Gods, a deity, a Brahma, the sea, a mountain, a lion, a tiger, a leopard, an elephant, a horse, a chariot, a soldier, or a military array.

After doing the preliminary work, the meditator attains again, emerges, and resolves: “Let me be a boy of such a type.” At the moment of the resolving consciousness, the transformation takes place. This is how Devadatta once transformed himself.

For external creations — an elephant, a horse, and so on — the resolve is not “Let me be an elephant” but “Let there be an elephant.”

The Mind-Made Body

A meditator who wants to create a mind-made body emerges from the basic absorption and first resolves: “Let this body be hollow.” It becomes hollow. Then the meditator focuses on another body inside it and resolves: “Let there be another body inside.” Then the meditator draws it out — like pulling a reed from its sheath, a sword from its scabbard, or a snake from its slough.

The mind-made body looks like the original. It has visible form and all its limbs, but no actual sensitivity in its sense organs.

What a disciple creates mirrors the disciple’s actions. But what the Buddha creates can also act independently, according to the Buddha’s wish.

This is the twelfth chapter, “The Description of the Supernormal Powers,” in the section on the Development of Concentration in the Path of Purification, composed for the purpose of gladdening good people.