A Long Deep Sleep

In 1955 a law was passed in India to prevent Yogi known as a sadhu, from burying themselves in the ground alive. This intervention came about after a number of sadhu, who upon retrieval, had been found to be largely eaten by white ants while in the earth.

You see the sadhu had the ability to put themselves into a death-like state and then return to life non the worse for wear, at a later time. During this exercise they would be buried in the ground just like a corpse and would leave instruction as to when they should be exumed from their grave so that they may re-awaken.

The purpose of this practice was to allow the astral body to undertake journeys into the other realms. The Eastern books speak of the six realms of Sangsaric existence which the Yogi seeks to traverse and then eventually to transcend in order that they may reach enlightenment.

There are few notable stories of people known to have accomplished the feat of being buried for a lengthy time and returned with no ill effect. This is sometimes refered to as 'suspended animation'. One such fellow lived in the 1800s and went by the name of Haridas and was witnessed by a government minister called Raja Dhyan Singh in one of his demonstrations. The minister brought Haridas to the attention of the Mahrarja of Lahore who, intrigued by the story demanded a demonstration himself. Haridas obliged. The Maharaja had a grave of stone made for the event, put his personal seal on the linen bag which enclosd Haridas body and placed him in padlocked chest. As further measures to counteract any trickery once buried the Maharja planted barley over the top of the grave and assigned a company of 4 soldiers to gaurd the grave day and night.

Haridas was to be buried for ten months and his internment and exumation was witnessed also by the French General Ventura and Captain Wade. Also present at the preparations before the burial and at the grave side were several British Officers, the British political agent at Lodhiana and the principle Sihk chiefs.

On examination by doctors before his burial it was discovered Haridas had cut the tissue under his tongue. This was so that it could be flung back into the throat to plug the wind pipe. Haridas would also plug his ears and nostrels for the procedure. This blocking of the ears and airways was to prevent any bacteria entering the body that might infect the internal organs during the ten months underground. It also shows that evidently there would be no breathing taking place during the suspended animation.

Despite the Maharajas precautions so far he ordered that Haridas be exumed three times during the ten month period so that he may see that he was in fact in the grave and he was each time, his still body displaying no sign of decomposing.

On his final unearthing Haridas was again examined by doctors who found no sign of life apart from a warmth about the head, but no pulse. Haridas' servants then performed their process of revival which included a hot bath and anointing of the eyes and tongue. Haridas slowly came to consciousness and recognised those present. This feat made Haridas a rich man thanks to the Maharaja's appreciation.

Another tale of intrigue is of the sadhu who was discovered by construction workers in the 17^th century. While digging a drainage ditch they disturbed his grave and brought him upto the surface after noticing that he was fully preserved although obviously in a grave of some age. Once sunlight hit his body the sadu stirred into life. After a few moments the sadhu was conscious and declared he had been buried for 100 years. Now there's one way to time travel.

For your piece of mind I should say that no one prone to sleep paralysis is likley to fall into 'suspended animation' unwittingly.  It takes the sadhu decades of training to be able to accomplish this state.

This morning I experienced a conscious exit, out of body experience.


I was woken at 5.30 by the neighbour and feeling rather awake decided to get up have a drink etc. But no food. I returned to bed to try and get a couple more hours. As I drifted eventually into sleep that heavy sensation often felt with sleep paralysis overcame me, a result I believe of sleeping when then body has really had sufficient sleep already. I was dreaming and stopped what I was doing in my dream. I then began to get a fuzzy floaty feeling all over. I wasn’t dreaming anymore but was aware of being in bed and deduced by my sensations that I was free of my body. I rolled over from my right side and got out of bed. I was out! I turned to look at my body but felt a strange sensation so to avoid getting any unwanted feedback I kept my eyes closed. I remembered that putting a good distance between you and your body eliminated the likely hood of feedback so still with my eyes closed I headed for the garden via the window. I was cautiously climbing through the window my stomach sliding over the window sill although I couldn’t feel the glass. Half through the window I felt for the ground outside and my hand found the concrete surface.

At this point I decided to open my eyes to see what I was doing so I could move a little quicker. I opened my eyes and saw the view from my physical body, I had opened my physical eyes and could simultaneously feel the concrete on the palm of my right hand and the pillows it was sandwiched between. I felt that heavy sensation in my body again and tried to move to see if I was in paralysis. A strange thing happened as I moved my legs out from under the duvet and onto the sheet within my view I could feel the movement but couldn’t see my legs. As I moved my legs I noticed the depressions and ruffles in the sheet from the movement but no legs. Then after blinking at this realisation a ghostly transparent image of my legs faded into view. I was now thinking If I was at the window an second ago and I can see a pair of legs here I must be split into three right now. I closed my eyes for a second and when I re-opened them I was normal self awake in my physical body looking at the exact same piece of bed that I was a moment ago when I saw my ghostly legs.

I should have immediately tried to sleep again but had experienced such a degree of disbelief at finally having a conscious exit during the exit and was quite excited at having experienced it so lay there mulling it in my mind and the drowsiness wore off quickly.

"It was the night before Friday and Saturday when I woke up.

My room was covered in pink fog and I looked around to see where I was.

I saw my own lamp and knew I was in my room.

It was strange I was in my bed but didn't know in which position.

I couldn't feel my legs or arms, as if I was paralyzed.

I felt very light but still under my blanket. I couldn't move, only my eyes moved a little."

Notice how this account describes a typical sleep paralysis experience. The pink fog probably is the individuals interpretation of obscured vision, possibly astral sight. The fact that she feels very light under the blanket suggests she is describing her projected self, possibly not completely exited.

This story is being told by Tarja Katiska. This is how it continues.

"To my left, next to the bed I saw pale, small beings. They had wrinkled faces. I wasn't afraid of them. I felt like this was the beginning of an adventure. Where would we go to? I was ready to follow them. They saw what I was thinking and they smiled in a friendly way. I saw one of them taking a notepad and pen and they said "write." I hesitated. What and to whom should I write? They told me just to write."

This story was actually told as an encounter with aliens for the making of a Finish UFO & Paranormal documentary.

Multiple Dimensions and Multiple Bodies.

To better gain an understanding of what an Out of Body Experience (OBE) or an astral projection is, let us look at couple of basic questions?

1. What is it, going Out of Body or Projecting from me?


2. Where is the escaping part going to?
   

Ok, in relation to question 2, exiting the body you are not in the exact same plane of existence (dimension) as your physical body. There are seven different dimensions, and within each one there are another seven planes which then contain subplanes themselves. But to keep it simple we'll just say there are seven levels of existence which we'll call dimensions.

The seven dimensions can be called;

1. The Physical - where we live


2. The Astral
   
3. The Mental


4. The Buddhic


5. The Atmic


6. The Anupadaka


7. The Adi
   

It is not possible to give a description of these planes that conveys what they are truly like or explain them in an understandable fashion, such is the complexity of dimensional theory. What is commonly agreed is that the other six planes vibrate at a higher frequency than the physical plane. That statement in itself can be quite meaningless to most of us!

I think one way to look at that statement is to imagine the spectrum of light, or the different colours in a rainbow. Each colour has a different frequency that determines its place in the light spectrum and that colour exists without intrusion in it's defined space in the spectrum, determined by it's frequency. In the same way each dimension vibrates at its own frequency.

Ok so now we've got an idea of the where, back to question 1. What?

There are many types of OBE and as a result there are many types of what we call, 'projected double', as mentioned in the post 'Out of body, out of mind?

There are three aspects of this projectable double and these are called;

• The Real Time Body
• The Astral Reflection
• The Astral Body

(There are other aspects of the body that we may refer to later on so don't think of these 3 parts as exclusive.)

Realm of the Real Time

Projectors will often refer to a projection in 'Real Time' or within their Real Time body. The realm of Real Time is that dimension which is closest to the physical dimension. It is in fact a nonphysical reflection of the physical dimension. For example a projector can pass through solid matter in this realm (it's non physical) but it's appearance is much the same as our reality here. Time passed in this Real Time dimension is the same in duration as time here which is why it is called 'Real Time' . This is the place that most projectors will find themselves during an OBE. You'll have noticed this place isn't on the list. Probably because the Eastern theory which formed the list perceived it to be a sub-realm. Modern thinking doesn't always agree but we need not worry about that now.

The Astral

This is where the descriptions become difficult. The Astral dimension is unlike the Real Time and the physical. The physics of the astral plane do not obey fixed laws, they are variable and the astral environment can even be effected by the mind of the projector. So because of this fact alone, any predictability and certainty that you get with our physical reality may not be so in the astral. I've never taken acid/LSD but I imagine that's the closest experience to the astral you could get here.

When the projector experiences an OBE in his astral body it is a more stable experience. The astral plane is the astral body's natural environment and control of ones body will feel a little easier as this body is more energised than the real time self.

So there's a little introduction to the realms and the chariots in which we travel. I hope that makes sense.

Sleep Paralysis Stories - Something Pinned Me Down

This is a story someone told me a few weeks back from their personal experience. This particular person, I should mention, has been a practitioner of the qabalah for quite a few years. I mention this because such a person has a slightly different take on things than that of your average person and is likely to act differently in certain situations given their knowledge.

The experience he told was from a while ago but he recalled half waking, with the sensation of being held down by a weight on his chest. He could see a large black shape on his chest. He described the shape as sitting there like a cat, just looking at him. It was a being of some sort, what, he didn't know. His main concern at this point was getting free of it. Although he couldn't physically move he moved his right arm outside of his physical arm (as you might in achieving an OBE) and grabbed the being and hurled it through the window next to his bed.

He described the shock of this thing when he grabbed hold of it, as if that had never happened to it before and was totally un-expected. (I can't remember if this was a sense or from it's appearance). I should imagine it even less expected to be hurled out of a window. In retrospect he expressed regret in his action and felt sorry for what ever it was that was sat on him that night.

I know many sleep paralysis victims have experienced the sensation and or belief that they have been pinned down in their sleep by something or someone. While there are many possible explanations for this which we'll go into another time I'll just mention the story of the succubus.

The Succubus is a female spirit that visits young men in their sleep to copulate with them. It tends to visit only teenage boys because they are brimming with hormones at that age and give the succubus a high amount of sexual energy on which she feeds and sustains herself.

Other details of the succubus vary depending on the source as its one of those creatures that features in mythologies across the world.

You will still here stories of people today who undergo the succubus experience. A reality or a common dream?

Out of Body, Out of Mind?

Out of Body Experiences and Astral Projection are the same thing to some authors on the subject. Some writers even include Lucid Dreaming as just another description for an OBE or projection. The more technical experts on this subject however will view each term as a different event arising and experienced in a different form to the other. I would tend to agree that at least two of these three names are not the same thing.


Here is a description of Astral Projection by Abisheck Agarwal;

"It is a process by which the human consciousness temporarily leaves the physical body and functions independently, while the physical body remains passive and still throughout.

This results in observing the world from a point of view other than that of the physical body and by means other than those of the physical senses.

Sometimes, however we have complete waking consciousness during the experience, and remember the event in every detail upon returning to the physical body. Mostly this happens without any forethought, by complete surprise and more often than you might think."

When the human consciousness leaves the body it travels in a vehicle more suited to the astral plane, the astral body. Robert Bruce in talking about OBEs clarifies the point well by saying;

"When you project out of body you are not leaving your body an empty shell devoid of mind, spirit, and soul. The term out-of-body experience is really a misnomer, because your spirit is not actually departing your physical body. Rather, you are transferring a perfect thinking copy of your consciousness into a projected double that can exist outside the confines of your physical body and mind. The transfer of this copy occurs automatically during the OBE exit process. In essence, this can permit projectors to experience two places at once."

This creation of a double, a copy of your mind, is the reason that two streams of memory and experience can exist at one time, as first mentioned in the post Who is The Night Stalker.

It gets more complicated as other copies/bodies come into the theory and is confused further by the fact that the names for them will differ between projectors & authors. The descriptions of these bodies may also often be coloured slightly by a particular religious outlook.

For the sake of clarity I will look at the breakdown of our bodies and describe them in terms that are the made the most accessible. Perhaps a better understanding of the attributes of each body will provide some greater insight for the sleep paralysis victim.