I go, "Okay, maybe, maybe not, does it really matter?" I think that when I was younger I was definitely influenced by Superman comic books. I think I had a fantasy come up every once in a while about being able to achieve some psychic powers. Before we started with Buddhism, we learnt some yoga philosophy, and they did actually teach in one book how to develop the ability to read other people's minds.
Now, when you think about that, the first initial reaction is, "Oh, cool", but the second reaction is, after you've been watching your own mind for so long, "Do you really want to add another person's mind?" And another and another, do you really want to know what everybody else is thinking in this whole retreat? You know, spending whole hours sitting there and investigating other peoples' thoughts might actually drive yourself nuts. So my personal attitude is, maybe and maybe not.
As to whether it's possible, it seems like some of these things are possible. After all, within our own lifespan, in last 50 or 60 years, there are people who have actually exhibited some minor types of psychic ability. There was a guy who actually could bend a spoon with his mind. There is, and I think he's still alive, a magician in Canada who is able to guess where something has been put, his own money actually for the evening. He performs and at the end of the evening, he won't take his pay until he finds it. He gets blindfold, he gets taken into another room, they hide his money, there is like sometimes a thousand people in the audience, they hide his money with somebody, he comes back in and he tries to find it. And believe it or not he's missed about 20 times in 20 years. That's it. They made a movie that was based on his life. It's incredible. It's weird. How does he do this?
So, "Yes", I believe that there are possibly people with some psychic ability, but what are they using it for, a magic trick? A fellow guessed Rosemary's mother's name on the beach one day. He was a fortuneteller. He was going up and down the beach telling people that he could predict their fortune and he was able to guess her mother's name correctly. She had to write it on a piece of paper, without him looking, fold it, hold it and then he guessed it. Now, her name is odd, it's Enid, it's not a common name at all, but he guessed it. So that was neat. And sometimes even Rosemary has done some things that are kind of a little special, something's odd, so as far as believing these things are possible, "Yes, but, so what?" As I've said, if you could read everybody's mind, you're might actually drive yourself nuts. If you can levitate and fly a little bit, well okay, you don't have to wear shoes, I guess, but you're to be a freak, and what can you actually use it for? Can you use it to let go of anger? Can you use it to let go of greed and selfishness? Or would you just develop more ego?
They do say that in the Buddha's days people were more pure, that that's why so many people got enlightened; because they were more pure they actually were able to develop some of these psychic abilities without a selfish intention. That was just a natural result of their practice. So as far as what they say in the scriptures, it actually did happen.