A reporter once asked our guru, Swami Satyananda, what psychic powers, or siddhis, he had.

When he replied that he had no spiritual powers despite what people said, the reporter said, “But there is an aura of mystery, peace, self-control, positivism and dynamism around you. You must have some spiritual powers you are not telling us about.”

He questioned Paramahamsaji at length until ultimately he said, “I have been through the dictionary of spiritual powers. Please tell me which ones you have.” Swami Satyananda said, “If I have any power or siddhi at all, it is the ability to stand on my own two feet.”

Put yourself in that situation. We would be delighted if we could read other people’s thoughts, see our future or other people’s futures, if we could fly or walk across water, and not only delighted, we would exhibit that power to prove to other people that we are superior to them.

But a person who is able to find the power of harmony, who is able to discover the force of balance in life will not be happy with an exhibition of such powers. There will be no need, because the force of the self will make us independent and free. It is that freedom and independence that we are aiming for through the practices of yoga.

Therefore, when we say that life is a combination of consciousness and energy, we also have to add that the expressions of conscious

energy can be attained through the practices of yoga. It is this realization that makes us a true human being and gives us the ability to express human qualities.

Being a true human being is the greatest religion on earth.

 United Kingdom, June 8–11, 2000

From the book “Yoga Sadhana Panorama, Vol 4”, Pg 147-148, Sw. Niranjanananda Saraswati