Miraculous Powers

If a wicked man can become religious, to Buddhism, this is a practical miracle. In every religion we hear some sort of miracles performed by either the founders of these religions or by some of their disciples. In the case of the Buddha, we also come across some miracles from the day of his birth up to his passing away into Nibbana. Many of the psychic powers (called 'miraculous powers' in other religions) of the Buddha were attained through his long and intense training meditation. The Buddha meditated and passed through four stages of contemplation that culminated in pure self-possession and equanimity; he became free from emotions. Such meditation was considered nothing miraculous but within the power of any trained ascetic. Then there arose within the Buddha a vision of his previous births, the hundreds and thousands of existences with all their details. He remembered his previous births and how he had made use of these births to gain his enlightenment. Then the Buddha had a second and wider vision in which he saw the whole universe as a system of kamma and rebirth. He saw the universe made up of beings that were noble and wicked, happy and unhappy. He saw them all continually "passing away according to their deeds", leaving one form of existence and taking shape in another. Finally, he understood the nature of suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path that leads to the cessation of suffering.
Then a third vision arose within the Buddha. He realized that he was completely free from all bandages, human or divine. He realized that he had done what had to be done. He realized he has no more rebirths to go through because he was living with his final body. This knowledge destroyed all ignorance, all darkness and light arose within him. Such is the psychic power and the wisdom that arose within the Buddha as he sat meditating under the Bodhi tree.
The Buddha had a natural birth; he lived in a normal way. But he was an extraordinary man as far as his enlightenment was concerned. Those who have not learned how to appreciate his supreme wisdom, try to find out his greatness by peeping into his life and looking for miracles. However, the Buddha's supreme enlightenment is more than enough for us to understand the greatness of the Buddha. There is no need to introduce any miraculous power in him to make him a great man.
The Buddha was aware of the powers that could be developed by training the human mind. He was also aware that his disciples could train themselves to develop such powers. Thus the Buddha advised his disciples not to exercise such psychic power in order to convert less intelligent people. He was refering to the 'miracle' or power to walk on water exorcise spirits, raising the dead, and so on. He was also referring to the 'miracles of prophecy' such as thought-reading, sooth-saying, fortune-telling, and so on. When the uneducated believers see such powers, their faith deepens. But the nominal converts who are attracted by these miraculous powers are not valuable assets to any religion. These people embrace the new faith, not because they realize the truth, but because they harbour hallucinations. Therefore the Buddha drew converts only by appealing to their reason.
The following story illustrates the Buddha's attitude toward miraculous powers: one day the Buddha met an ascetic who sat by the bank of a river. This ascetic had practiced austerities for 25 years. The Buddha asked him what he had received for all his labour. The ascetic proudly replied that now at last he could cross the river by walking on the water. The Buddha tried to point out that this was such little gain for so much labour, since for one penny the ferry would take him across the river.
In certain religions, man's miracles can help him to become a saint. But in Buddhism, miracles can bar a person from sainthood. Buddhist sainthood is a gradual attainment and nobody else can make another person a saint. Sainthood is an individual concern. Each person himself must work for his sainthood through self-purification.
Many people who are supposed to have obtained some miraculous power, have succumbed to vain glory at having obtained some personal gain. According to the Buddha, a real miracle is the miracle of instruction: when a murderer, thief, terrorist, drunkard, or adulterer is made to realize that what he is doing is wrong and then gives up his bad and sinful way of life, this action is a real miracle. This is also the highest miracle that a man can perform. Many of the other miracles talked about by people are merely imaginations and hallucinations create' own mind due to lack of understanding of things as they are. All these miracles remain as miracles until people know what these powers really are.
Buddha says that anyone can gain supernormal power without also gaining spiritual power. He taught us that if we first gain spiritual power, then we automatically receive the miraculous or psychic powers too. But if we develop miraculous without spiritual development, then we are in danger. There are many who have fallen away from the right path by using their miraculous powers without having any spiritual development