Magic: supernatural powers are real (video)

SandboxTen; Susan Davis (npr.org); Ven. Nyanatiloka, Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Crystal Quintero, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly

Real magical powers? No way! Ever wonder if people with super powers (magicians, angels, spirits) are real? Here they are caught on tape.

Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva (namo-amituofuo)

There are beings who walk among us, no ordinary beings. They look human, but can they be if they possess supernatural powers (called iddhi in Buddhism). They walk around like average Josephines. We might not notice them.

That is, we probably wouldn't recognize them -- unless we were looking very closely or video recording. Then they might appear.

They seem like human-hybrids, humanoid aliens, reptilians or Nordics (dragons or fairies), oddballs, weirdos, humble wizards, time travelers, futuristic holograms, powered androids, hot models, or just plain Joes wearing hoodies. Maybe the videos are hoaxes. But magic is real.

Disappearing, walking through walls, reappearing, saving lives by moving faster than normal, it's all possible. Does automated video surveillance footage prove it? I'll believe it when I see it, because "Seeing is believing." Yet many, even after they see, still don't believe?
  
Copperfield wants Congress to believe in magic
Susan Davis, All Things Considered (NPR.org, June 10, 2016)

The famous American illusionist David Copperfield is lobbying Congress to pass a resolution recognizing magic as art. It is an art, he says. Sometimes it's real, we say. This week, Copperfield was back in Washington D.C. asking for a new favor. He is lobbying Congress to pass this resolution. It would recognize magic as "a rare and valuable art form and national treasure." More + AUDIO

"Magical powers" in Buddhism

The Buddha had extraordinary powers so much that even reptilians (nagas) protected him.

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Iddhi: The magical powers constitute one of the six kinds of "supernormal knowledges" (abhiññā) such as:

• (1) division bodies: the power of multiplying
  
• shape shifting: power of adopting another form
  
• creating: power of issuing a mentally produced body
  
• protection: power of penetrating knowledge to remain unhurt
  
• safe in danger: power of penetrating concentration
• (2) clairaudience
• (3) reading others' minds
• (4) remembering past lives
• (5) clairvoyance (divine eye).

Devas, gandharvas ("shining ones") have powers.

The magical powers are treated in detail in the Path of Purification (Vis.M. XII; Pts.M., Vibhanga, Appendix). They are, of course, not a necessary condition for attaining enlightenment or nirvana.

They can be gained by developing the meditative absorptions.
 

"Noble power" (ariyā-iddhi) is the power of controlling one's ideas in such a way that one may consider something that is not repulsive as repulsive or something repulsive as not repulsive, while remaining imperturbable and full of equanimity.

This training of mind is frequently mentioned in the sutras (e.g., M.152, A.V.144), but only once is the name of ariyā-iddhi applied to it (DN 28). See more at Pts.M., Iddhi-kathā, Vis.M. XII. More

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