1
At the outset I would like to add a brief note which you may call "my conclusion".
I have noticed that often changing the position of the body after a long meditation quite suddenly puts one into an OBE and this thing has pretty much convinced me that apart from the physical frame of our body there is possibly also a subtle one which under normal circumstances is extended or spread in many directions due to haphazard thoughts, but when we meditate enough and become very calm then it becomes collected and acquires a shape similar to physical frame and then it becomes prone to venture out of the body (I prefer to call this subtle body a mental body).
Anyway, here is the excerpt from my project:
Being out of body
Most people are aware of three usual states of being namely, waking, dreaming and
deep sleep. However, there are some people, including this author, who have
experienced some other states of being. one of them is called Out of Body Experience (OBE).
This state of being involves dream-like impossible experiences but is much more
remarkable than dreams in that in an OBE one remembers the waking state (to some
extent, and sometimes completely). This makes it just like a waking experience because
the experiences of OBE are as vivid as in the waking state and the person having an
OBE has a sense of doer-ship exactly like the one he has in the waking state. The
individual knows the OBE to be continuation of his waking state (although he may still
find himself in strange lands and having superhuman powers like ability to fly, etc. he is
aware that any time he may snap back to the physical body and waking life, and usually
he tries to avoid that. “Snap back” implies coming back from an undesirable situation but
OBE is actually perceived as a much better experience than real life).
The OBE usually starts with a feeling of floating out of one's body. A person may float
out, or roll out of his body or all of a sudden he may find himself standing apart from his
physical body and staring at it. Almost always it begins with the separation from the
physical body and finding oneself in a similar, but usually a much more capable body.
However, there are instances when one is having an ordinary dream and suddenly
realizes that he is dreaming, and then the dream gets converted into an OBE (some
people call this phenomenon lucid dreaming). The interesting thing about OBEs is that
one can train himself or herself to experience this state.
I was once fascinated with OBEs and have had quite a few. They are really a great
escape, the highest form of entertainment I have ever known. Dreams are supposed to
relieve one of suppressed desires, but believe me, there is no experience which can
compete with an OBE at this front. In fact, if one could perfect the practice so as to be
able to induce an OBE at will, some would probably rate the life of OBE higher than the waking life.
Nevertheless, going deeper into the subject has made the illusory nature of all kinds of perception quite
apparent to me.
In those days I used to keep a journal of OBEs and I would like to insert here a couple of
entries from that journal, just to give you a feel of what an OBE is like and how it is not a
hallucination but as real as the waking life (you may skip if you are already familiar with
OBEs).
My very first real OBE
I was lying down in the corpse posture with my eyes closed. I did some breathing
exercise and then started concentrating on various parts of my body one by one from the
toes upwards. By the time I reached the eyes I knew that my body was quite numb and I
could listen to my heartbeat as well as to the internal sound produced by the flow of
blood in veins and arteries. My body was quite rigid and I felt my body had become very
heavy, as if glued to the bed. I observed that my breath had slowed down considerably
and it was as calm as if I wasn't breathing at all. Then I was disoriented, I felt as if I was
falling into a reverie and was afraid that I would be soon fast asleep.
All of a sudden, I felt something in the back of my neck and then, something even
stranger. I felt a thing, like a second heart beating in my chest, it was right in the center
of my chest and its beating was of a different kind. It was like a circle of energy spinning
around its axis. It made me choke. My breath suddenly stopped completely. The next
moment I found myself floating out of the body (I still had my eyes closed but knew that I
was getting out of the physical body). Surprisingly, my awareness seemed to be shared
by both the bodies, I could feel both of them and think from the point of view of both. But
the higher my new body went the weaker my awareness of the physical body became.
Now, I knew that I was exclusively in my new body; however, I still remembered that I
had left the physical body on the bed.
Anyway, while I was just wondering what really happened, my head bumped into the
ceiling of the room. I wanted to go out, and the next moment I found myself outside,
standing on the roof, stark naked. First, I felt embarrassed but then I realized it was night
time. I instantly forgot all embarrassment. As I looked around I realized that it was not
the roof of my current house (the house where the physical body lived, I still
remembered it), it was the roof of a house we used to live in when I was a student at the
school (I was not particularly fond of that house).
I don't know why, but I was fearless. I jumped down from the roof, got stuck among
some telephone wires, freed myself and was standing on the familiar street of my
childhood. I don't know why, but I knew that I could fly. I wanted to fly and I thought I
needed some speed to take off (perhaps a reminder of airplanes), and so I started
running on the street.
It was a very quiet night and the streets seemed to be completely empty, but all of a
sudden a few children appeared in front of me (I myself had the body of an adult). While
I was still running in their direction I looked at my nudity and thought of covering it with
my hands but as I came very close I instinctively jumped and crossed the hurdle. I found
that now at each step I floated in the air for a few moments and then came down to the
ground (like it happens in those videos where astronauts look like frogs hopping in slow
motion on the moon). Now the speed was of no use, so I tried to push myself higher at
each step and finally started flying.
It was exhilarating, a dream come true. I just wanted to keep floating in the air but then
thoughts started rushing in. I felt as if drowning in a sea of possibilities, I thought now I
could go anywhere at will, I could see the whole world! But then I thought it would be
wiser to first narrow down my choices to a few destinations. First I thought about going
to Himalayas (I am fond of trekking and have trekked some 1300 km in Himalaya,
usually all alone) but then I remembered that it was late night and I wouldn't be able to
see those beautiful mountain valleys at night. My next choice was Barcelona (I have
been there once, physically) because I liked the beaches there. Like Superman I started
flying at a great speed. I really didn't know what direction to take but I was confident that
my instinct would guide me faithfully.
Then suddenly a disappointing thought came over me, I remembered the time difference
between Spain and India. I realized that it would still be late night in Barcelona while I
wanted to see the sunrise there and then go back home (to my physical body) as soon
as possible. I found that it was not feasible at the moment. The remembrance of my
physical body had a strange effect on me. I instinctively knew that the OBE was going to
end very soon. I didn't want it to end as yet but I had no idea what to do. Then I found
the sun rising in front of me (I am not really sure whether it was sun or moon because
while it was white like moon, its size was much larger, or who knows maybe it was the
moon after all, and maybe I had gone too high and so it looked much bigger), and I
snapped back to my physical body.
I was extremely happy and slightly disappointed at the same time. Happy because after
months of practicing what once I thought was only a product of someone's imagination I
had finally come to know that OBEs were a reality, and I had also fulfilled my long
cherished wish of flying. Unhappy, because there were so many things I could have
done but didn't get a chance to do. Anyway, I opened my eyes and noticed some sort of
vibration in my hands. I could feel the pattern of vibration and it corresponded with the
shape of those parts of my physical body. It was as if my OBE body was yet to settle
down completely into the physical frame. I could distinctly feel two palms in a hand; one
of them was not visible to the eyes but felt like some field of vibrations moving back and
forth passing through the plain of my physical palm. After a few seconds the vibrations
disappeared and everything became ordinary once again.
The desire to fly is hard to control
I had already experienced a number of OBEs but the moment I was out of body I always
wanted to fly. My desire to fly had become very strong. Often, before starting the
meditation I thought that it would be wiser for me to try talking with people I see during
OBEs. There were so many things that I could have tried to do in an OBE if only my
desire to fly didn't overpower me as soon as I was out of body. I had not yet reached
Spain even once. Finally, I decided that I would fly once more but this time only
vertically, in order to see if I could reach the space beyond the atmosphere. I decided
that in future I would try to talk to people within the OBE and explore the possibility of
bringing some object from OBE back to the physical world. So, I once more started
meditating and in due time rolled out of my physical body. This time, I found myself in a
room. It was dark but I could see a door. First I thought of trying to pass through a wall. I
tried, but the wall was as hard and impassable as any physical wall. Disappointed, I
approached the door. It was only slightly opened.
Surprisingly enough, I didn't have to move the door and I easily passed through the open
space through which no more than an arm could pass. Once outside, I started running
frantically. I took off with my objective still fresh in my mind. I soared upwards like an
arrow aimed at some star. The wind on my face became cool. Very soon I found myself
surrounded by a thick white mist. I realized that it was not mist but clouds. I kept flying
vertically, and then, it started raining.
Imagine getting wet in rain while flying like a bird, without having to worry that your
feathers would get wet! I can't really describe the feeling. Anyway, now I stopped and
decided to fly downwards (I thought of a maneuver the Indian airmen call 'Vertical
Charlie’). I started descending at a great speed while simultaneously spinning my body.
After some time I stopped spinning but kept descending, I was still surrounded by clouds
but they were becoming thinner. I remember thick cool showers of water pouring down
upon my body; the water was white like milk and falling in torrents. Enormous quantity of
water!
I remember having thanked the clouds. I felt love for some unknown god. I don't know
how long it took me to reach the ground but it definitely seemed like a very long time,
apparently I had traveled quite a distance. Surprisingly, instead of falling head down I
landed on my feet. I took a leisurely walk. Then I thought that the OBE was going to end
sooner or later so why not try flying to Barcelona?
I started flying again and within seconds reached a different place. The streets were
European style. I thought I had reached Barcelona, but on close inspection I found that it
actually resembled Venice (I have been there physically, once). As much as I liked
Venice, I was disappointed that Barcelona had once again eluded me. I became anxious
that I had spent quite a long time in Venice and at any moment now my OBE could end,
which would mean no Barcelona this time. As soon as I thought of the end of OBE and
of my physical body, I knew that everything was fading away quickly. Within moments I
was back to the boring, ordinary existence. Now, sitting up at my bed I realized that
while the OBE seemed to have lasted for at least an hour, in the physical world only a
few minutes had passed.
I commit crimes in the OBE-land
These were two different OBEs. In one of them I interacted with a human being and in
another with an inanimate object. In the first one I found myself in a street resembling a
familiar place in Mumbai. I think it was about to dawn very soon. A couple of men were
sweeping the street. I wandered around for some time and then found myself standing
before a very beautiful and grand mansion flooded with light. I wanted to have a closer
look and so I flew in order to go across the high walls surrounding the estate, I had never
seen such a grand and beautiful property in the real life.
Once in the sky, I discovered that the building was situated in the middle of a very
extensive and beautiful garden. I found two or maybe, three beautiful girls sitting at a
secluded spot, chatting among themselves. I alighted to the ground and went near them.
I noticed that one of the girls was extraordinarily beautiful. I couldn't resist the temptation
and seized her. I took the beautiful girl in my arms and flew away, like a cruel hawk
taking away an innocent little bird. After flying a long distance I alighted at a beautiful
meadow. Before that although I had seen mountains in real life (I am from Uttarakhand
state of India, which is a mountainous region) I had never seen a meadow in the
mountains, and surprisingly, after some months when I had taken to trekking big time, I
saw an almost exact replica of that meadow in the Garhwal region of Himalaya (in real
life).
Anyway, I looked at the girl and tried to kiss her.
Suddenly, I stopped and reflected within myself. Why was I misbehaving with that girl?
What if it resulted in some terrible consequence? I remembered that after all, I was still
not aware of the real nature of these things, and above all, I was a completely different
kind of person in the physical world. The thought of unknown consequences made me
afraid and I was reminded of my physical existence. Immediately I felt being drawn
towards my physical body and soon I was merely an ordinary man lying on his bed,
cursing himself for his wicked nature (and I don't know yet what became of that girl but I
hope she was just an imagination or an ordinary girl having an OBE, in which case she
might have reached home safely).
As for the other OBE, before it began I had decided that I would try to bring back some
object to the physical existence, some sort of souvenir. If I succeeded, I could show it to
my family and maybe teach them my technique. I also thought, let’s go for something
expensive. Although it seemed like a possibility of creating things out of nothing
nevertheless I can see that it was no different than planning a theft.
Anyway, during the OBE I didn't find anything of value that I could take away. I even
looked for some book. I thought if there is a book that I can take away it might prove very
useful, being a book from another world! But unfortunately, all that I could succeed in
laying my hands on was a grayish-brown kettle. In my anxiety caused by my
remembrance of previous OBEs (I remembered that OBEs may end at any time and I
was still not capable of controlling them) I grabbed the kettle lest I have nothing to take
away with me. During the OBE I had the kettle with me all the time but when I came
back to physical existence I saw no kettle.
I was extremely disappointed and at a loss to understand when and where did I lose my
dear kettle. After that experience, although I still used OBEs for entertainment, I stopped
taking them seriously. Apparently, I have failed to learn how to take objects from one
existence to another. I can't take any physical object to an OBE, even the body is a
different one as far as its capabilities are concerned. Similarly, I can't take away any
object from OBE to physical existence. Although, now I knew that it was possible to
interact with people and objects in an OBE, my interest kept waning. I often thought that
maybe I could learn something from the people of OBE world but my passage to that
world became more and more infrequent with time. I don't know if this was a
consequence of my misbehavior with that OBE girl but if it was then I think it was for
better because it was obvious to me that intoxicated with my power of flying I was
becoming some sort of monster-on-rampage in the OBE world.
Nevertheless, I have learned one important thing from OBEs -they are essentially no
different than the waking world and dreams. The fact that I remembered my physical
existence and was often afraid to go back to it proves the continuity in my consciousness
during both states. The fact that I planned specific tasks for an OBE and then tried to
accomplish them (for example, my persistent attempt to visit Barcelona, to fly vertically
towards the space, to interact with people and to try and take away some object as
souvenir) proves that I was not dreaming and the world I visited was as real as this
world.
And the fact that I perceived the strange sensation of having one virtual palm of hand
parallel to a physical one when I came back to physical existence shows that there is
something as serious about the phenomenon of OBE as the real life. Some may say that
perhaps it was because my hands went numb since I was lying on the bed for a long
time in same posture, a genuine suspicion indeed; however, I have lived on this earth
just too long to not to know what the numbness or tingling in the body actually feels like.
It was no numbness but a distinct perception of two palms in the same hand with one of
them which I am calling here virtual (because it felt like a wave or a field but a field
having a distinct shape of palm of hand) going to and fro in the plain perpendicular to the
plain of the physical palm. To those who believe that nothing beyond matter as seen
really exists it may be a hallucination, because to them everything they cannot explain is
just that. I however, don’t bother much about them because apparently they are not
capable of these things (or have been incapable so far) and so there is no point
convincing them, and frankly speaking, if they are not capable of something then
convincing them will be injustice to them because it will be like showing them something
alluring which they cannot obtain -that will be inhuman.
Rhetoric aside, I must add here that it is actually a misconception that anyone is
incapable of anything (unless that person believes him or herself to be incapable), there
is only one entity in existence and all of us are mere imaginations of that entity and so
our status is similar, and so are our capabilities. And as I said in the beginning of this
section about OBEs, these are experiences one can train oneself to have. When you
have a genuine OBE you will realize that what you thought was a waking reality was
actually no different than what you earlier took for hallucination experienced by some
people and not by you.
