Out of body travel

[Guest guest]

2-20-00

 

James Bean spiritualawakening

 

Dear Tim:

 

The practice of meditation and mystical experience goes way beyond

philosophy and theory, into the world of personal spiritual experience

during meditation practice. Rather than being new age or anything new,

experiencing inner Sound is found in such ancient scriptures as the Nag

Hammadi Library of Egypt, Corpus Hermeticum, the Gita, and there are

Upanishads dedicated to inner Sound mysticism such as the Nada Bind

Upanishad, and the Hansa Naad Upanishad. In Buddhism, the Surangama Sutra

records ancient Buddhist practices of hearing the inner Sound and inner

exploration. Shabda Yoga and Nada Yoga have been around for a very, very

long time.

 

Granted, perhaps in an age of super string theory and quantum

physics, mystics can come up with better metaphors to describe the inward

journey with greater accuracy, yet I suspect that the finger pointing at the

moon will continue to NOT BE THE MOON, as the saying goes. Words alone will

not do justice to these experiences. Terms like " out-of-body " are often used

to describe spiritual experiences that are truly beyond language. The

one-true-fundamentalist approach always demands a literal interpretation of

words, but to come to true comprehension requires a certain amount of

seeking and and willingness to go and take a look. If we are too quick to

judge others for following different paths and meditation practices than our

own, then we'll spend much of of our time and energy judging.

 

As for the Heart of the matter: the " out-of-body " experience, as

defined by the great Masters and Mystics, refers to rising above

body-consciousness, gaining spiritual AWARENESS during one's contemplative

meditation practice. We can rise not only above body-consciousness, but

above and beyond the subtle bodies as well. Another way to speak of " out of

body " travel or ascension mysticism is the shedding of subtle bodies.....the

naked soul gaining awareness of itself through direct perception. This

travel is not time/space physical " travel " from point " A " to point " B " , but

the travel of the awareness from the material world of the seen, to that of

the Unseen.

 

James Bean

 

>

>Message: 8

> Sat, 19 Feb 2000 13:43:37 -0800

> Tim Gerchmez <core

>James/Re: out-of-body-travel...

>

>

>Dear James,

>

>To me, the traditional idea of " out of body travel " is profoundly

>dualistic. Do we have separate " souls, " and is there even a body to

> " travel out of? " (normally the body is considered an extension of the mind,

>the " gross body " and the " subtle body " ).

>

>If there is such a thing as out of body travel, it comes from the fact that

>we (as awareness) are simultaneously everywhere and nowhere, and thus can

> " be anywhere. " Awareness can attach itself to anything, but ultimately

> " out of body travel, " from the standpoint of nondualism, has to be looked

>at as a misnomer -- there is nowhere to travel to. The mind (subtle body)

>may be involved, but from a more " pure " nondual outlook, there seems about

>as much purpose to attempting out of body travel as there would be to stand

>on one's head and spit wooden nickels :-).

>

>With Love,

>

>Tim

>

>

>At 12:16 AM 2/19/2000 EST, you wrote:

> > " james bean " <spiritualawakening

> >

> > James spiritualawakening

> >

> >

> > The following comes from the book " Radhasoami Reality, " by Mark

> >Juergensmeyer, Princeton University Press, from a chapter titled, " The

> >Journey of Light and Sound. " The focus is spiritual experience during

> >meditation practice (Surat Shabda Yoga, meditation upon the inner Light

>and

> >Sound of God). Visions of the heavens or higher planes, of course, have

>been

> >reported throughout all recorded history, and reported by the mystics

>within

> >each of the world religions.

> >

> > Beginning Out of Body Travel

> >

>

____

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