Stay away from Miracle-mongers
An aspirant on the spiritual path should be very careful to accept a saint as his guru. The most important point or danger signal to be cautious about is that a genuine saint never indulges in the performance of miracles or revelation of supernatural powers, siddhis. Most people fall into the trap of so-called saints who perform miracles of a material nature. There is a common worldly adage, chamatkara ka namaskara hai which means stay away from miracle-mongers. Even though these miracles lead to hell or some other abominable condition, we are very impressed by them and those who exhibit them.
Let’s say that a sadhu manifests some raisins, dates, or almonds through tamasik siddhi. Being impressed, you eat them when he offers them to you, without knowing what siddhi he used to manifest them or what corresponding punishment he will face after death for exercising such siddhis. There are five main types of siddhis, the lowest of all is tamasik siddhi. This is also called bhuta siddhi in which the help of evil or demonic spirits is evoked. The vilest kind of people exhibit these powers and the consequence of doing so is hell.
Rajasik siddhis are used for the protection of people and are better than tamasik siddhi, but still keep the bearer of them bound to this material world. A wise person therefore has no hesitation in rejecting these powers as well. Sattvik or yogik siddhi contain several different classes within them. The highest are known as the eight primary siddhis, such as anima, laghima, garima and so on. With these siddhis, a person can make himself smaller than the smallest and lighter than cotton. He can become invisible, he can read people’s thoughts and he can create a subtle body that can fly, walk on water, or enter fire without being burnt, and so on. If you were to meet a person displaying sattvik siddhis, you would consider him to be no less than God Himself! However, all these attainments are just material, and their consequences are equally disastrous. Supernatural powers are eventually exhausted from their repeated display. But even if they do not come to an end, those who possess them use them to deceive people because they are still completely dominated by maya. With this being the case, how is it possible for them to put them to proper use?
We have to be extremely cautious about seeking these attainments or associating with those who possess them. If not, we risk losing sight of the ultimate goal of God-realisation completely by becoming infatuated by them. For this reason, Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj advises that all such attainments, whatever the classification, are extremely dangerous and we should stay thousands of miles away from them, and those who exhibit them.
Spirituality in Daily Living, Vol. 4, p32–35
Kripalu Bhaktiyoga Tattvadarshan, Vedic knowledge revealed by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj and presented in English by Dr Vishakha Tripathi, president of Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat
https://www.jkpliterature.org.in/en/product/spirituality-in-daily-living-set-of-4
