Principles of Cultivating Psychic Powers

When focusing effort on the manas (the mental faculty), one can develop supernatural powers. The so-called supernatural powers mean that the manas connects to the Tathagatagarbha (Buddha-nature), the Tathagatagarbha connects to everything, and then the six consciousnesses connect to the manas. By cultivating the four dhyanas and eight samadhis, the six consciousnesses can connect to the manas, enabling one to request things from the manas and unearth all that the manas knows. When the manas does not cling to the body, does not grasp the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness) as truly existing, it can do whatever it wishes. When not clinging to the body of the five aggregates, the body cannot obstruct the manas, and whatever the manas intends to accomplish can be completed instantly. If there is a constant sense of the body in the mind, the body becomes a burden, and no significant feat can be achieved. When there is truly no concept of the body in the deepest level of the mind—when one forgets or does not cling to the body—supernatural powers naturally manifest.