The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1804 page)

 
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(P
li, ‘wonder’, ‘marvel’, ‘phenomenon’). A device that could be put to use in winning converts to Buddhism. Canonical Buddhism acknowledges three: the wonder of magic power (
iddhi-p
ih
riya
), of mind-reading (
desan
-p
ih
riya
), and of instruction (
anus
sana-p
ih
riya
). The use of displays of the first two to impress and convert laypersons was severely criticized by the Buddha, because they were feats which non-Buddhist ascetics could also perform and because they played upon people's credulity. He stressed the absolute sovereignty of the third device, instruction in the
dharma
, because it was a means of communicating truths that were intelligible and beneficial to its audience and not a form of exhibitionism like the others.