It has long been claimed that spiritual masters
who practice yoga or buddhist meditation or Qigong and other
martial arts develop powers that Western science says do
not exist. Yogis call these 'siddhic powers' which they
say are the result of meditation or powers passed on by
a master.
Westerners can find a good introduction to these claimed
powers in Autobiography
of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda.
These powers include:
* telepathy
* clairvoyance
* not feeling cold temperatures
* being able to live without food
* being able to be in two places at once
* being able to travel out of the body
* being able to see past lives
* being able to chose the time to die
* being able to heal others.
The people who have these exceptional human powers also
claim to be in contact with the afterlife.
Although these claims have been around for centuries, scientific
investigation is only just beginning. At the moment many
of the claims have not been scientifically tested by independent
international observers.
It is also important to understand that yogis do not seek
to encourage the development or proof of these powers which
they see as a unimportant product of spiritual development.
However they have been reported by trained observers and
many of them relate to psychic abilitites which have
been studied scientifically.
Below are just some examples
Prahlad Jani (Mataji) has been investigated by a team of
doctors to confirm his claims that he survives without eating
or drinking.
Chinese researchers claim
that some people who studied qi gong develop exceptional
human functioning.
Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje claims to
be able to move his students using their own energy. See
more at www.pathgate.org
Paranormal powers in Chinese Children
According to Paul Dong and Thomas E. Raffill
the Chinese Government conducts nationwide searches for
exceptional human functioning (EHF) children, that is, those
who have demonstrated extraordinary psychic talent.
They claim that thirty children have been
found who have unusual psychic talent. These children were
given training to improve their abilities while scientists
tried to study how their powers worked.
EHF Children
Paul Dong and Thomas E. Raffill claim that:
one three-year-old
boy was able to read and perceive color with his ear
another thirteen-year-old
girl was good at remote viewing.
a twelve-year-old was able to move objects
with her mind making flower from the garden fly into a
covered tea pot.
another girl could
change the time on a watch from a distance.
other children were able to make flowers
bloom instantly through thought and concentration.
a girl named Yu Rui Ha could tell which
person in the audience had a gun and could read what was
written on a piece of paper in a sealed object under water.
an eleven-year-old
boy was able to locate buried pipelines under the ground.
Zhu Bao Sheng
They also claim that a superstar among Chinese EHF children,
Zhang Bao Sheng, was able to remove pills from a sealed
bottle and move shoes, keys and various objects through
wooden boards and walls. On one occasion in front of several
witnesses, he moved a 100 pound sack of sugar through the
wall of a storehouse.
We will need to wait for well documented studies from independent
scientists before accepting these claims but something is
clearly happening for the Chinese government to be spending
so much money on this program.
