Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: Siddhi and Samyama Accounts

Record summary

The Yoga Sutras describe samyama, a combined practice of concentration, meditation and absorption, as producing extraordinary capacities such as knowledge of other minds, knowledge of previous births, clairaudience, and perception of distant or hidden objects. These passages are central to later South Asian discussions of siddhis and altered consciousness. They matter for comparison because they distinguish disciplined attentional practice from spontaneous paranormal episodes. The text’s composition date, layers, terminology and interpretation are disputed, and some abilities may be read symbolically or phenomenologically rather than as empirical claims.