Bodiless States
Meditationtime Forum Post
Date: Posted 3 years before Sep 18, 2016
MiBeloved 3 years ago
I received an inquiry this morning from Prem in Guyana. This is about his experience in a bodiless state which he compared to being on the causal level of existence.
Below you will see two verses from the Yoga Sutras about the attainment of the bodiless state as described in the ashtanga yoga practice which Patanjali detailed.
Bodiless states do not mean that the individual living entity has no shape or form. It means that the shape or form is not being detected even by the self itself because of the medium of consciousness which that self is located in during the experience.
Chapter 1 Verse 19
भवप्रत्ययो विदेहप्रकृतिलयानाम्॥१९॥
bhavapratyayaḥ videha prakṛtilayānām
bhava – inherent nature, psychology; pratyayaḥ – mental content, objective awareness; videha – bodiless persons; prakṛtilayānām – of those who are diffused into subtle material nature.
Of those who are diffused into subtle material nature and those who exist in a bodiless state, their psychology has that content.
Analysis:
This is another jolt put to us by Śrī Patañjali, as he explained why one yogi gets a certain advancement, which is different from another and why without any current practice, some attain the benefits of yoga. In this case, those who are diffused into the subtle material nature without any effort on their part, without endeavor, are able to do so because of their inherent nature. A question remains as to whether this is the inherent nature of the spirit or of the psyche which is fused to it.
Śrī Patañjali answered that question by using the word pratyayaḥ, which means mental content, the psychological make-up. However, even though it is not their spirits, still they have to adhere to that nature.
Certain other individuals attain the bodiless state and remain in material nature. They sometimes take birth but are unable to remain tied down to a material body due to the inherent tendency to be bodiless.
Bengali Baba, in his commentary on these sūtras, stated that the videhas, the bodiless ones, are the persons who, after performing virtuous actions such as Agnihotra ceremonies of the Vedas, attain the state of freedom, which is similar to absoluteness. He referred to Māṇḍūkopaniṣad, Chapter 2, Part 1. He wrote that they are not to return to human life but they will become presiding officers in future creations. He cited King Suratha who will be the eighth Manu after the reign of the current Manu who is Vaivasvata.
Such persons attain a permanent status as small-time gods of these worlds. They have no need to take a gross body. They either use a subtle form or spatial existence, but their energy affects this creation.
Application:
Even a split second transit out of the mento-emotional energy, gives one a glimpse of the status of the released souls, who are diffused into the subtle material nature requiring no gross existence and those divine beings who exist without a subtle or super-subtle material body. Their mind and emotions do not comprise of subtle energies of material nature.
There will be occasions during meditation, when even a neophyte will experience the self when it is out of contact with the normal mento-emotional energy. Those rare contacts with supernatural reality will allow insight into the mental and emotional content of the yogis whose existences are without lower transmigrations. A great appreciation for the divine beings arises in the yogi.
Chapter 3 Verse 44
बहिरकल्पिता वृत्तिर्महाविदेहा ततः प्रकाशावरणक्षयः॥४४॥
bahiḥ akalpitā vṛttiḥ mahāvidehā tataḥ
prakāśa āvaraṇakṣayaḥ
bahiḥ – outside, external; akalpitā – not manufactured, not artificial, not formed; vṛttiḥ – operation; mahā – great; videhā – bodiless state; tataḥ – thence, from that, resulting from that; prakāśa – light; āvaraṇa – covering, mental darkens; kṣayaḥ – dissipation, removal.
By the complete restraint of the mento-emotional energy which is external, which is not formed, a yogi achieves the great bodiless state. From that the great mental darkness which veils the light, is dissipated.
Analysis:
The great bodiless state, mahāvidehā, is a special accomplishment of great yogis, who go beyond the causal plane but who do not get an exception to leave this solar system. Either by choice or because they fail to obtain the exemption for whatever reason, they remain in the unformed, untapped pure mental energy which was not parceled out to individual spirits. They remain free of involvements. Such yogins hardly interact in the cultural world which is so important to a human being. For those great yogis the mental darkness which human beings consistently experience, does not exist. They have moved beyond the subtle negative influences of material nature.
Application:
By restraining his response to the mental and emotional energy, which is universal, a yogi achieves the great bodiless state. From that, the great mental darkness which veils subtle light is dissipated. After hours and hours of meditation, after repeatedly adjusting a faulty lifestyle, a yogi’s mind remains illuminated. The great mental darkness vanishes.
