Buddhist Magic: Reality or Dream?

What if a Buddhist spontaneously developed a siddhi such as levatation but had to become a Hindu fakir due to the Buddha stating that such parlour tricks are not Buddhist at all?

Would you consider the Buddha true to his word that anyone develop a magical power should ignore it, lest he act like a fakir, profit from his magic, and thus be drawn into the egoistical world of magic?

I would say, "Levitation isn't to hard to fake. So is mind-reading and clairvoyance. The hardest trick, however, is to turn invisible, visit all of Samsara, the Buddhist heavens, and even a million Pure Lands.

If I said I visit those realms in my dream, then who dare call me 'liar'?

As a Buddhist, it would be foolish to claim to have such powers. To dream of them with attachment, and to desire to break the rules by seeking fame and fortune — these are the temptations that a Buddhist hope she shall never face.

The best I can do as a result of twenty years of meditation is analyze sutras and read body language with difficulty. One cannot even call these two skills siddhis, let alone magic.

As well, I am able to write blog articles with enough proficiency to get a plus.

That's a talent derived from writing since I was twelve years of age, but perhaps it hasn't matured.

So, is Buddhist siddhi merely magic tricks? I cannot say for sure but if a Buddhist striving to be a Bodhisattva showed such signs, then he wouldn't tell anyone and keep on meditating. Why? Because samadhi, satori and Nirvana itself are only worth attaining.

Mind Has No Separate and Permanent Existence

Within context of dependent arising and the oneness of the spiritually awakened, the individual mind does not have a separate and permanence existence. Rather, the mind is shared between all living beings. This is the essence of emptiness.

As for the question of the differences between one person and another, they can be explained by the "shattered gem" hypothesis i.e. True Mind, being the Alaya Consciousness, has the ability to deposit in each living being a sliver of itself (Buddha Nature).

Why then are people ignorant of the mind as being one?

Spiritual ignorance leads one to think of the mind as being their own, separate from others. Thus, one of the purposes of meditation is to transform behavioral and mental negativities into their opposite to uncover the pure mind.

In uncovering the pure mind, one develops the siddhi mistakenly called "mind-reading" i.e. telepathy. The actual name for this siddhi is "knowing the mind of others". It is enhanced by careful observation of others.

The use of words (mantra) helps to awaken the mind to the possibility of telepathy.

At the root of telepathy is the siddhi of suggestion, which conditions the mind to being able to hear without ears and to speak without words. The mantra used for this purpose is found in the Flower Sermon.

According to the mundane world and its adherents, this revelation looks like madness.

Thus, it becomes a form of mysticism due to ignorance of the mundane; at the same time, it becomes a revealed truth to the spiritually awakened.

Anyone who is awakened yet chooses to misuse the gift of telepathy is not truly awakened, for such misuse closes one to true awakening.

For clinging to telepathy is at the root of its misuse, and leads the foolish to the delusion that one is truly awakened.

Therefore, the truly awakened will use the siddhi of telepathy to be helpful and of service to others.