Yogi ~ Using Another’s Body
Srila Yogesh wanted me to file a notation about the incidence of a yogi using someone else’s material body. This skill is mentioned in the Patanjali Yoga Sutras and also in the Uddhava Gita. It is one of the siddha perfectional abilities of an advanced yogin.
A question arises as to why a yogi would do such a thing as to possess or use the physical form or astral body of some other person. This cannot be answered in full because the motivations for doing this varies from case to case. However the common possession which we could analyze, is that of a pregnancy which is a case of a disembodied entity taking possession of a woman’s psyche. This means that possession of another’s body is not as sensational as we may think.
This discussion is about an advanced yogin who will not take a material body but who for one reason of the other begins using the physical form of some other person. Usually advanced yogis take possession of the physical body of a student of theirs. They usually do not obtain access to the body of a non-student. It is usually one of the advanced students whose body is used.
There are many reasons for this. Srila Yogesh wanted me to list the most common causes, which are:
· Assisting the student in his or her effort to complete yoga austerities
· Using the student’s body to test the efficacy of yoga kriyas before those methods are divested to others.
· Observing certain difficult-to-eliminate tendencies and natural habits which surface in a student’s form.
The prime reason is the first one listed which is to assist a student in the effort to complete austerities. Sometimes mere instruction to the student is not enough to cause success. Then the yogi will enter the student’s psyche, inspect the components of it and provide recommendation.
The second reason listed is where a yoga teacher in the astral world was successful in his last body using certain kriyas but when he gives that advice to students who are still using material bodies, the instruction does not yield the intended results. The yoga teacher will then go into the psyche of a student, apply those instructions and observe their effects. This gives the teacher first hand perception of why a kriya is no longer effective. He can then make adjustments to the method.
The third reason is a mercy act to a particular student who for one reason of the other has certain difficult-to-eliminate tendencies and natural habits. Even after getting advisories and understanding the information in books like Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras, a student might find that he or she just cannot thwart certain counterproductive tendencies. The teacher will enter the psyche of this student and observe the operation of these unwanted traits. Then the teacher will give a method that is tailored to that student’s psyche.
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A students does benefit from these entries into his or her psyche. Such a student will more than likely be aware of the yogi’s presence because in most instances of possession by a yoga teacher, the student is advanced enough to perceive the teacher’s entry.
Sometimes a yoga teacher will do very advanced kriyas while he is in the psyche of the student. The student may observe these mystic methods and learn by watching what the teacher does.
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Here is a verse about possessing the body of another person:
पर-कायं विशन् सिद्ध
आत्मान तत्र भावयेत् ।
पिण्डं हित्वा विशेत् प्राणो
वायु-भूतः षडङ्घ्रि-वत् ॥१०.२३॥
para-kāyaṁ viśan siddha
ātmānaṁ tatra bhāvayet
piṇḍaṁ hitvā viśet prāṇo
vāyu-bhūtaḥ ṣaḍaṅghri-vat (10.23)
para — another; kāyam — body; viśan — desiring to enter; siddhaḥ — a skilled yogi; ātmānam — self; tatra — there; bhāvayet — should existentially position himself; piṇḍam — gross body; hitvā — leaving; viśet — should enter; prāṇo = prāṇah — the life force; vāyu-bhūtaḥ — the nature of the wind; ṣaḍaṅghri-vat — like the bee.
Desiring to enter another’s body, a skilled yogi, should existentially relocate himself there. Leaving the gross body, his life force which is like the wind, should enter just like a bee. (Uddhava Gita Explained 10.23)
This verse refers an advanced yogi who has a material body and who for one reason or the other, uses the skill of psyche penetration to enter into another person’s physical form. That is different to Yogesh’s incidence above because he does not have a material body. Currently he uses only a subtle form.
Here is another verse concerning this type of entry:
बन्धकारणशैथिल्यात्प्रचारसंवेदनाच्च चित्तस्य परशरीरावेशः॥३९॥
bandhakāraṇa śaithilyāt pracāra
saṁvedanāt ca cittasya paraśarīrāveśaḥ
bandha – bondage; kāraṇa – cause; śaithilyāt – due to relaxation, collapse; pracāra – channel flow; saṁvedanāt – from knowing; ca – and; cittasya – of the mento-emotional energies; para – another; śarīra – body; āveśaḥ – entrance, penetration.
The entrance into another body is possible by slackening the cause of bondage and by knowing the channels of the mento-emotional energy. (Yoga Sutras 3.39)
This verse brings it to our attention that as soon a yogi frees himself from the cause of bondage in material existence and does so in relation to the channels of the mento-emotional energy in his psyche, he can enter into the body of another person. However because such a yogi is free from ulterior motives, it is hardly likely that he will use this prefectural skill. Only on rare occasions will be express this. It is not an ability that he is anxious to use.
