Yoga Sutra Study Series -6: Siddhis - The Mystical powers from meditation-2

The Yoga sutras are a scientific treatise on yoga. Its information content is very dense and Maharishi Patanjali has packed the core of the yoga philosophy in 196 aphorisms. Patanjali lists the ultimate state of yoga as Samadhi - a deep meditative state in which the meditator feels like she/he merges with the object of meditation. A scientific treatise, certainly would list the side effects and Patanjali does indeed list the side-effects of this state of samadhi as Siddhis or Vibhutis. These are the mystic powers that are attained when mastery over certain elements of nature is achieved through meditation.
The first of this two part presentation will cover the mechanism of meditation, its various practical aspects as enunciated by Patanjali and some of the Siddhis.
The second part will look at the rest of the Siddhis. Overall Patanjali uses 43 sutras (41 in chapter 3 and 2 in chapter 4) to describe the Siddhis. This is more than one-fifth of the Yoga Sutras.