Beyond The Siddhis: Supernatural Powers and the Sutras of Patanjali [Paperback]

John McAfee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 2001

An illuminating and radical approach to the supernatural powers section of Patanjali's Sutras. Telepathy, time travel, levitation and super-sensory perception are among the siddhis discussed in depth.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John McAfee is the founder of the Relational Yoga Mandiram in Woodland Park, Colorado, and is the organizer and facilitator of the annual Siddha silence retreats in the Rocky Mountains. He has taught self-discovery techniques for more than 15 years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 117 pages
• Publisher: Woodland Publications (December 5, 2001)
• ISBN-10: 097115693X
• ISBN-13: 978-0971156937
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,334,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Good..., November 27, 2003

By 

"akira-k" (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond The Siddhis: Supernatural Powers and the Sutras of Patanjali (Paperback)

The Author, probably because he's not very far on the path, attempts to tell readers that the Siddhis are not to be taken at face value and are in fact only philosophical references. He goes through many of the most popular Siddhis such as Invisibility, Levitation, and Psychic Communication and instead of explaining and expounding on them as they were written by Patanjali over 2000 years ago, he takes outrageous liberties and "philosophizes" them to where they mean nothing.

For example in the section discussing Invisibility he first asks the question "How visible are we to begin with?" Then proceeds to run off with a bunch of philosophical tripe about how none of us are really visible since we cannot "see" each others true selves and nor can anyone "see" our true selves so we're all already performing this siddhi everyday!

He continues to do this exact same thing with every Siddhi he covers, beginning with asking some meaningless philosophical questions and pointing out that we usually are already doing the siddhi we are trying to attain such as with Levitation where he asks "Are we really connected to the earth we wish to levitate above?"

This process of "philosophizing" the Siddhi's into meaninglessness is totally opposite to what Patanjali and the Yogis since him having been teaching and practicing for the last 2000 years.

What's most annoying about this book is that this "philosophizing" technique that the author uses is so out-dated and pathetic that the reader is just left shaking their head the whole time and wondering if the author was even around during the 60's when this stupid technique was most used by every drug using self-professed guru that had to come up with a good explanation for their clueless followers as to why their enlightened teacher couldn't walk on water.

Not to mention the ridiculous idea that these types of "gurus" like to maintain that Patajali, considered the father of yoga, would be stupid enough to write an INSTRUCTION book filled with abstract double meanings e.g. "Oh he didn't mean Levitate off the ground, he meant for us to examine the idea of weather or not we really are on the ground in the first place and we will then find that we are already levitating!"

Given that Yoga is such a difficult subject for laymen to understand it's sad that it must be riddled with selfish fakes like this that purposely seek to destroy what little truthful instruction we have left from the legendary adepts.

Bottom line if you want a good book on the Siddhis I suggest simply buying a direct Patajali's Sutras translation. You'll usually get all 4 books with none of the Sutras missing, the author will probably do the direct translation and then further explain things in more laymen's terms. You still probably won't find many authors that'll heavily discuss their own Siddhi experiences but at least they don't try to destroy what Yogis have spent over 2000 years trying to preserve.

I highly suggest "Raja Yoga" by Swami Vivekananda. Vivekananda was one of the greatest Yogi's of the 20th century and had a clear understanding of the science of Yoga and Patanjaili's sutras and could at the same time present this information in a format available to the modern westerner. Keep in mind this book may be a little tough for beginners but if you understand it then it will be the most important book you've ever read.

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars False Conclusions reached by Ignorent Logic., January 1, 2004

By 

Joseph Kerr "thebalrog99" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond The Siddhis: Supernatural Powers and the Sutras of Patanjali (Paperback)

As other reviewers have already pointed out the author makes a vain attempt to reduce the siddhis to nothing more than shifts in our everyday perception; no more than cryptic word games. The Author's conclusions are utterly ludicrous and are reached through no reasonable amount of logic whatsoever. He tries to explain away and pronounce dead wrong things that 2500 years of Indian scholars and Yogic Ascetics know to be fact. This is by far and away the most ignorant, westernized interpretation of any area of Yoga I have ever seen. I wouldn't be speaking so harshly if it weren't entirely warranted. Trust me. If you want to learn about The Eight-Fold Path and the Siddhis I highly suggest you look elsewhere.

30 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! The true path!, April 8, 2002

By 

"richard_fuller" (Grand Rapids, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond The Siddhis: Supernatural Powers and the Sutras of Patanjali (Paperback)

The foundation of yoga, we learn in John McAfee's brilliant new book, Beyond the Siddhis, began somewhere between 2500 and 5000 years ago. It was then that the focus of humankind shifted from learning to do (build, hunt, sow ) to identity i.e. "Who am I?"

The Sutras of Patanjali, written about 2500 years ago in Sanskrit, are the earliest writings (siddhis) about not only the nature of consciousness, but the New Age mysticism dealing with magic rituals and supernatural powers so popular today. Prolific author and seeker John McAfee's intent "...is to peel back the layers of words that hides the truth beneath the Siddhis." As you read this fine work, you will see he does this quite effectively.

Beyond the Siddhis is filled with truths and understanding. Patanjali's discussions of the Siddhis, originally called Vibhuti Pada, can be confusing, but Mr. McAfee sorts it out easily. Our relationship with the present moment "...becomes a tool that we use to create some future reality in which we will be something different."

We learn that the past, present and future are not real. Only the eternal now exists. The process of becoming is an illusion. Mr. McAfee writes, "The true beauty of Patanjali's writing is that when we stop living in the past and future, when we stop creating images in our minds and living within them, then all time becomes now." This is the real, the true, in which we can live fully.

Beyond the Siddhis is a masterful book about attainment. John McAfee, author of The Secret of the Yamas (see my review), guides the reader to awareness, compassion, love and the means to ease the suffering in your existence. It sheds a brilliant light on the core of ourselves!