iddhi: 'power', 'magical power'. The magical powers constitute one of the 6 kinds of higher spiritual powers (abhiññā, q.v.). One distinguishes many kinds of magical powers: the power of determination (adhiṭṭhāniddhi), i.e. the power of becoming oneself manifold; the power of transformation (vikubbaniddhi), i.e. the power of adopting another form; the power of spiritual creation (manomayiddhi), i.e. the power of letting issue from this body another mentally produced body; the power of penetrating knowledge (ñāṇa-vipphariddhi), i.e. the power of inherent insight to remain unhurt in danger; the power of penetrating concentration (samādhivipphariddhi) producing the same result. The magical powers are treated in detail in Vis.M. XII; Pts.M., Vibh. - (App.). They are not a necessary condition for final deliverance.

'Noble power' (ariyiddhi) is the power of controlling one's ideas in such a way that one may consider something not repulsive as repulsive and something repulsive as not repulsive, and remain all the time imperturbable and full of equanimity. This training of mind is frequently mentioned in the Suttas (e.g. M. 152, A.V. 144), but only once the name of ariyiddhi is applied to it (D. 28). See further Pts.M., Iddhi-kathā, Vis.M. XII.

iddhi : [f.] prosperity; potency; psychic power
 

Iddhi [Vedic ṛddhi from ardh, to prosper; Pali ijjhati]. There is no single word in English for Iddhi, as the idea is unknown in Europe. The main sense seems to be ʻ potency ʼ. -- 1. Pre -- Buddhistic; the Iddhi of a layman. The four Iddhis of a king are personal beauty, long life, good health, and popularity (D ii.177; M iii.176, cp. J iii.454 for a later set). The Iddhi of a rich young noble is 1. The use of a beautiful garden, 2. of soft and pleasant clothing, 3. of different houses for the different seasons, 4. of good food, A i.145. At M i.152 the Iddhi of a hunter, is the craft and skill with which he captures game; but at p. 155 other game have an Iddhi of their own by which they outwit the hunter. The Iddhi, the power of a confederation of clans, is referred to at D ii.72. It is by the Iddhi they possess that birds are able to fly (Dhp 175). -- 2. Psychic powers. including most of those claimed for modern mediums (see under Abhiññā). Ten such are given in a stock paragraph. They are the power to project mind -- made images of oneself; to become invisible; to pass through solid things, such as a wall; to penetrate solid ground as if it were water; to walk on water; to fly through the air; to touch sun and moon; to ascend into the highest heavens (D i.77, 212; ii.87, 213; iii.112, 281; S ii.121; v.264, 303; A i.170, 255; iii.17, 28, 82, 425; v.199; Ps i.111; ii.207; Vism 378 sq., 384; DA i.122). For other such powers see S i.144; iv.290; v.263; A iii.340. -- 3. The Buddhist theory of Iddhi. At D i.213 the Buddha is represented as saying: ʻ It is because I see danger in the practice of these mystic wonders that I loathe and abhor and am ashamed thereof ʼ. The mystic wonder that he himself believed in and advocated (p. 214) was the wonder of education. What education was meant in the case of Iddhi, we learn from M i.34; A iii.425, and from the four bases of Iddhi, the Iddhipādā. They are the making determination in respect of concentration on purpose, on will, on thoughts & on investigation (D ii.213; M i.103; A i.39, 297; ii.256; iii. 82; Ps i.111; ii 154, 164, 205; Vbh 216). It was ar offence against the regulations of the Sangha for a Bhikkhv to display before the laity these psychic powers beyond the capacity of ordinary men (Vin ii.112). And falsely to claim the possession of such powers involved expulsion from the Order (Vin iii.91). The psychic powers of Iddhi were looked upon as inferior (as the Iddhi of an unconverted man seeking his own profit), compared to the higher Iddhi, the Ariyan Iddhi (D iii.112; A i.93; Vin ii.183). There is no valid evidence that any one of the ten Iddhis in the above list actually took place. A few instances are given, but all are in texts more than a century later than the recorded wonder. And now for nearly two thousand years we have no further instances. Various points on Iddhi discussed at Dial. i.272, 3; Cpd. 60 ff.; Expositor 121. Also at Kvu 55; Ps ii.150; Vism xii; DhA i.91; J i.47, 360.

iddhi: f. 神通