Sorry to Disappoint You, But…
Many people seem to imagine that “monks can see spirits” or that “if you train as a monk, you naturally gain psychic abilities.” I hate to disappoint you, but in my experience, the vast majority of monks have no psychic abilities.
And the truth is, having psychic abilities is not necessary for a monk’s life or practice. In Jōdo-shū (the Pure Land tradition), it is not monks who save the souls of the departed—it is Amida Buddha. Whether or not one can perceive unseen things is a minor issue; what truly matters is offering prayers with sincerity.
Training the Eyes of the Heart
That said, Buddhist scriptures do describe that, through deep practice, one may attain supernatural abilities (jinzūriki). These include powers such as perceiving the thoughts of others (telepathy) or recalling one’s own past lives. In this sense, such abilities could be considered close to what people today might call “psychic abilities.”
The scriptures also teach that as practice deepens, one can leave the world of desire (the desire realm) where we live daily, transcend the material world (the form realm), and enter the purely spiritual world (the formless realm).
Explaining this worldview fully would take many pages. Fow now, I’ll note only the essentials for perceiving the spiritual realm: first, close the physical eyes that look only at the material world, and open the inner eyes of the mind. The second is to continue training to strengthen the power of the mind, thereby observing the spiritual world in detail. I understand that Buddhism has held that doing so allows one to perceive the spiritual world with high resolution (meaning one can also acquire psychic abilities).
Buddhism as Spiritual Training
Thus, Buddhist practice can be seen as a kind of “mental training.” In present-day Japan, however, this side of Buddhism is not often emphasized. Instead, the focus tends to be on respectfully honoring the Buddha, maintaining traditional rituals, and offering memorial services for one’s ancestors. This too is a beautiful and important part of Buddhism.
Still, while overemphasizing psychic abilities may miss the true heart of Buddhism, I believe there is real value in using Buddhism as a path to cultivate one’s own spiritual strength. If more people approach the teachings in this way, perhaps it is only natural that some will find themselves developing psychic abilities along the way.
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