In this video I help you understand what is happening beyond the classic language used by some of the spiritual texts we have. Supernatural gifts are offshoots of spiritual energy where consciousness is interacting with fields of energy and due to the purifying process of a spiritual practitioner have pooled reserves at the related chakras to power the gifts.

Here also is a resource for digging in more that may be helpful to some people. I will paste in some of the text but the site I copied it from is:
thelonerider.com There is a PDF essay on the site that will give you further resources and a nice explanation.

FROM THELONERIDER.COM:
"HOW SIDDHIS ARE ACQUIRED

by birth - because of merits earned in previous lives, a person could simply be born with siddhis. This explains child prodigies who perform far beyond their years. Often times, siddhis remain inert until favorable conditions are met to unleash these gifts.

Ramana Maharshi is a good example. At age 17, without wanting or desiring it, he became enlightened and consequently developed his siddhi (among others) of seeing the true nature of reality and teaching telepathically (he rarely spoke to his disciples).

"Reincarnation is a major concept in Eastern philosophy. The Hindus believe that although we are born in this world with a tabula rasa (blank slate) we carry in us a set of potentialities called Samskaras (the seeds of our actions in previous lives). These tendencies, they say, remain inactive and only manifest when the right conditions are present. Some people may be born with certain talents, abilities, or even spiritual powers, but unless the conditions are favorable to their development, these gifts cannot be ripened to their fullest expression. Additionally, I.K. Taimni mentions in his commentary of the sutras that some people whose moral and intellectual development are not very highly advanced are sometimes born with certain spurious occult powers. The reason could be that they experimented with Yogic practices in their previous lives."

tapas (austerities) - my understanding of tapas is when you have an easy option and a hard option to do something, you do it the hard way. Why? It develops strength of mind and fortitude. But I was not aware it also develops siddhis. I practice tapas as a general rule. Result? Austerity is embraced instead of developing an aversion to, pain is observed equanimously instead of being left to suffer, downturns in life are viewed as part of a karmic process instead of misfortune. In short, with tapas, nothing hurts anymore.

Example: you can take the flight of steps instead of taking an elevator, or you can take a cold shower instead of a hot shower, or you can walk the mile to the store instead of taking your car. This concept is somehow similar to the Japanese code of the Bushido - cry in the dojo, laugh in the battlefield. When you are used to austerity, nothing hurts. While other people may suffer and complain, you can take the punishment or the ordeal with ease and a balanced mind.

mantra (uttering a spiritual sound) - a mantra calms the mind and brings about spiritual awakening. A popular example of a mantra is OM. It is claimed to be the sound of the universe itself. It is the only sound that can be pronounced without the use of the tongue. Most chakras have their own mantra - LAM for muladhara, VAM for svadisthana, RAM for manipuraka, etc. There are long mantras that are powerful. One such is the Gayatri Mantra.

samadhi - it takes a lot of dedication and years of practice to reach samadhi (meditative absorption). Samadi is the highest level of the 8 limbs of yoga... "