Hello!
I was wondering if anyone here has experienced astral trips as the result of his/her yogic practice.
I’ll be glad to hear about the experience and how to achieve it.
Thank you
No, I don’t know how it’s done. Wouldn’t it be fun?
However, in sutra III-38, Patanjali warns us that special powers can be an obstacle to samadhi: << These gifts may feel like attainments, but they distract one from integration.>> The goal of yoga is to end suffering by seeing into the true nature of things, not to cultivate powers in the phenomenal world.
Yes, of course.
But astral world might be a wonderful mean for contacting masters and higher beings could help you in your spiritual development.
Don’t you think?
I’d really be cautious about that. You never know who you’ll meet going on a trip, and not everyone has your best in mind. This is true in our world, and my tradition says its true of non-physical beings as well.
The masters and high spiritual beings usually are not to be found in the astral planes (or very rarely), it is mostly lower astral beings who dwell there and they are not entities you would like to engage casually. Rather heed the good advice of Willem.
Ok, but i’d like to see it, at least once.
I learnt that any curiosity regarding suprasensorial experiences will make sure they will not happen. Which reminds me another poster … so I’ll go and tell him this, too.
If you really want to see other planes of existance, you could try learning and practicing lucid dreaming. Altought, its a practice that takes years to master… I’ve practiced the basics with results in only a month.
Most people get results in one to three months.
Google the subject. Also, you can get the book ‘‘The Art of Dreaming’’ by Carlos Castaneda, wich is a good reference for starters.
Hubert:
It was an intense curiosity which led me to have my first and unique few conscious astral projections 16 years ago (i was only 18 ). I traveled through my house and balcony.
batsugun:
Thanks for the info.
An interesting link:
http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1648&SearchTerms=astral,trip
[QUOTE=panoramix;15474]Yes, of course.
But astral world might be a wonderful mean for contacting masters and higher beings could help you in your spiritual development.
Don’t you think?[/QUOTE]
Hari om
They say that astral projection is an obstacle for self realisation, as the desire is far more dangerous than the desires of our world and to get self realisation you must not fall for desires. they also say that they have dancing ladys trying to seduce you etc… and your spirituality can be depleted if you get seduced and stay there.
This is not my own experience but the famous swami sivananda.
I recommend you to read “sadhana” by swami sivananda there you get much information regarding many things. Ive got many answers on questions that i had in my mind. Hari om.
Panoramix,
On a related note, I was reading a book on Astral P a few years back while I was away on an extended business trip. Before going to sleep, I went through the guided imagery suggested in the book with the intension of visiting my wife back home. I ended up just drifting off to sleep with no sensation of anything extrodinary.
My wife called me the next day and told me of an odd sensation that I was sleeping next to her last night.
I couldn’t say what really happened but it was kind of cool!
They have dancing ladies? Are they beautiful?
What music do they dance? trance, hip hop, house?
(kidding…)
Thanks for sharing Michael.
[QUOTE=Techne;15482]I’d really be cautious about that. You never know who you’ll meet going on a trip, and not everyone has your best in mind. This is true in our world, and my tradition says its true of non-physical beings as well.[/QUOTE]
Yoga Sutras 19 Patanjali
When such concentration is not accopanied by non-attachment, and ignorance therefore remains, the aspirant will reach the state of the disincarnate gods or become merged in the forces of nature.
…But if we really want power and pleasure we can get them (instead of liberation) not only in this world and in this human form , but in other worlds and other forms hereafter.
Concentration upon any of the gross elements or the sense-organs is said to bring us to the condition of disincarnate gods…
So, I think Techne is quite right. You might “there” ghosts, occultists who
wanted power, etc. Not exactly reputed for kindness.
I’ve experienced “sleep paralysis” for years. You can google it, but basically it’s a mental state where you’re between sleep and awake. Mentally, you feel awake and alert, but your body is physically asleep. The mind has no control over the body. It truly does feel like a full body paralysis.
Often when the sleep paralysis hits, I experience auditory hallucinations (and sometimes physical-touch hallucinations). Several years ago, I was in a sleep paralysis period and I could hear my baby crying in the other room. I struggled to move, kind of panicked about the baby crying and my not being able to check on him due to the sleep paralysis. Finally, I “broke through” the sleep paralysis, got up, checked on the baby, and he was sound asleep (the crying was an auditory hallucination due to the sleep paralysis). I went back to my bedroom and when I got there, I was shocked to see myself laying on the bed already! Before I knew it, “I” was kind of sucked back in to the physical body on the bed.
When I told this story, everyone thought I was just dreaming, or dealing with some sort of nutty sleep deprivation. Once I really started to explore yoga, I realized that this was probably some sort of astral projection experience.
So not really related to yoga (I wasn’t practicing at the time, but started very soon after—I think some sort of awakening was created by the experience) but I thought I’d share.
oak333:
Do we practice such severe asceticism in the physical plane? So, why doing it in the astral one?
I’m not afraid of necromancers neither ghosts… I think those we should fear above all are in the physical plane mostly (many of them wear a tie).
What’s a disincarnate god?
eek909:
The same thing happened to me lots of years ago, it was 1pm and i was still in bed, i was awake but could not move my body… I heard the steps of my mom walking on the corridor and feared she would berate me, i wanted to get up but i wasn’t able… suddenly, i remembered the book about astral projections i was reading and voila! i got out my body and found myself floating in the middle of my bedroom. It was an astral projection but there was some degree of unconsciousness, a kind of darkness in my mind…
[QUOTE=panoramix;16763]oak333:
Do we practice such severe asceticism in the physical plane? So, why doing it in the astral one?
I’m not afraid of necromancers neither ghosts… I think those we should fear above all are in the physical plane mostly (many of them wear a tie).
What’s a disincarnate god ?[/QUOTE]
Well, there are two sins which God never forgives: 1) to take his name in vain
2) whichcraft
Necromancers, occultists etc are actually practising whichcraft. Are they really aware of the sin committed ?
The Inquisition burned at stake the necromancers. Not that Inquisition was exactly reputed for kindness.
E. g. it is said that people who commit suicide are actually becoming ghosts or
something like that.
What is a disincarnate God ? I am not sure. Maybe you can ask a qualified spiritual yoga teacher to explain to us in detail Yoga Sutra Nr. 19 of Patanjali.
To the original poster: Swami Sivananda wrote and excellent book called: What becomes of the soul after death. In it he explains exactly why as yogis we shouldn’t try to make contact with the disincarnated souls on the astral plains.
As a yogi we need to understand that the spiritual world of disincarnated souls are just as illusionary as the material world and that it holds no Truth.
My last advice to those who seek to contact disincarnated souls: strange things happens when large forces stir in small vessels.
oak333:
In my opinion inquisition was mostly a prosecution against drug consumers, as nowadays is police. Those “necromancers” were just “ravers” who took mandrake, nightshade… and celebrated parties around a fire… they enjoyed intense hallucinations which were taken verbatim by others, and that was their perdition.
Prosecution of drugs is nowadays’ inquisition.
Do you really think God is someone apart watching everything and punishing or rewarding? Personally i don’t believe in sin but in the effects of the laws of karma.
Pandara:
I have read that book, there are some too mythological excerpts, it’s too “indianized” in my opinion. I incline towards what Buddhism says, that one faces his karma and the projections of his own mind after death.
I don’t see myself facing Yama, but St. Peter because i’m western and have a “christian” collective unconscious (see psychology of C.G. Jung).
I think astral trips might be very useful in one’s life, whether for mundane affairs or for spirituals. It’s like everything in life, it depends on the context.
Sivananda was too extremist sometimes. I don’t deny he was a saintly man but remember what aversion he had against sex… that’s not good.
[QUOTE=panoramix;16792]oak333:
In my opinion inquisition was mostly a prosecution against drug consumers, as nowadays is police. Those “necromancers” were just “ravers” who took mandrake, nightshade… and celebrated parties around a fire… they enjoyed intense hallucinations which were taken verbatim by others, and that was their perdition.
Prosecution of drugs is nowadays’ inquisition.
Do you really think God is someone apart watching everything and punishing or rewarding? Personally i don’t believe in sin but in the effects of the laws of karma.
.[/QUOTE]
I will rather take Pandara’s advice (from Sivananda) anytime.