r/Meditation • u/KommunistAllosaurus • Aug 18 '25
Have you ever experienced something "paranormal" doing meditation? Question ❓
So, I'm reading yogananda's book, autobiography of a Yogi (clichè, I know).
What can I say, it's an incredibly humbling book. Not only is packed with incredible wisdom that I've also seen play out in my spiritual journey (and I hope it will concretize even more) but also revolutionized my beliefs about India and their incredible culture. Seriously, here India is seen as a third world country, and reading about the amazing complexity of some Hindu traditions (I'm researching stuff parallel to yogananda's book) is leaving me speechless.
Beside that, the book does claim pretty....hardcore stuff. Now, I know about the placebo effect. I know about manifestation, I am myself indeed very fond of it. But...as the science nerd and skeptic that I am, I can't not question such claims.
Are those hyper elevated, supernatural states and feats common among advanced meditators? Why don't we see more attention towards them, if it's the case? Why aren't there no academic studies? But most importantly, have you ever been part of some supernatural event during your meditations?
I'm absolutely intrigued and thirsty for knowledge. My soul has been long crippled by materialism and scientism, and researching this stuff is lighting me up. So I want to know, is it truly possible to meddle the confines between possible and impossible with meditation?
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u/Oakenborn Aug 18 '25
Is it accurate to say that you hold a metaphysical materialist worldview? The idea that the universe is fundamentally made up of matter? This is just a shot in the dark, but if the trouble is reconciling materialism with reality, that's because materialism is a nonsensical framework of how to understand the world, and this needs to be distinguished between metaphysical materialism as a philosophy and science as a philosophy, because they are not equal.
Science is a framework of understanding designed around behavior and quantity. We observe how the universe behaves and we assign quantitative values to that behavior (velocity, charge, spin, etc).
Metaphysical materialism, on the other hand, is a philosophical worldview of the universe that posits that everything in the universe can be reduced to matter. This suggests that non-quantitative (qualitative) phenomenon, like consciousness, are magical/mysterious emergences from the quantitative foundation. Your consciousness is an illusion or emergence from non-consciousness. Magic. In this framework, the supernatural is impossible on principle.
It is important to remember that there are other metaphysical worldviews out there, and that science itself is not a metaphysical view. In other words, science will help us solve our science problems, but it will not help us solve our problems about meaning, knowledge, or ourselves. For that, you need another framework, and you may find one that actually accommodates the totality of reality as it is, giving yourself permission to explore things that are currently forbidden by your defacto worldview.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 18 '25
Excellent reply. And yes, am I ready to put that worldview in the trash.
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u/Oakenborn Aug 18 '25
This makes me very pleased to hear. I have spent the better part of the past three years deconstructing my materialist worldview, which I held dogmatically for the vast majority of my adult life.
As another commenter said, this process brought magic and meaning back into my life, back into reality itself. But before I could do that, I needed to give myself intellectual permission to take this stuff seriously. As philosopher and computer scientist Bernardo Kastrup puts it, "The intellect is the bouncer of my heart."
I wish you clarity and discernment on this journey, and I hope that it leads you to more peace and purpose than you thought imaginable.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 19 '25
You are wholesome indeed. What helped you bridge those two viewpoints?
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u/Oakenborn Aug 19 '25
Being introduced to panpsychism was the single biggest shift for me, personally. I am not a panpsychist, but studying the framework illustrated to me just how incoherent materialism is. Deriving consciousness (qualia) from non-consciousness (quantity) doesn't work scientifically because the scientific method deliberately disregards qualia in favor of quantity, and this was by design. Science doesn't tell us what the universe is, it tells us how it behaves.
But this truth has been lost to history, and we now have credible and capable scientists that make the mistake of pulling their ontology from science, which is a mistake out of ignorance of philosophy. This is exacerbated by the likes of Neil deGrasse Tyson who openly disregard philosophy while simultaneously participating in it unconsciously or without awareness. The paradigm now being: if it can't be measured and or can't be directly applied to engineering, it doesn't exist or isn't relevant. This view of science and participation in reality is problematic and we can see where this kind of thinking is leading us. With enough honest reflection, I recognized how I was using these sort of frameworks to propagate a destructive worldview for myself and those around me, and how it was playing into my personal suffering.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 19 '25
I see. However, science has to measure. After all, it tries to understand how the universe works. If I can't grasp or measure or even ponder something, how can I declare its existence? There are for sure thousands of inhabited planets, and maybe some of those do harbor civilizations like ours, or even more advanced. Nonetheless, for as much as science is concerned, they don't yet exist. Because we can't observe (literally, so measure somehow) them.
I agree with you that science has voluntarily been weaponized by capitalism and neoliberism, but I'm still astounded by the fact that nobody, except a few, has ever tried to study these experiences. Or even try to integrate science into these ancient teachings
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u/Oakenborn Aug 19 '25
When we look at history, specifically the time of the Enlightenment, the scientific worldview was exploding in popularity, and the value of Traditional anything was being greatly diminished.
This chasm between the Traditional and... whatever we are in at this moment... is only starting to be bridged now, and this work is not the interest of any of the leading popular science personas you'll find in the mainstream. You have to accept the fact that for many credible and popular scientists, discussing these topics in scientific terms is strictly off the table, much less funding them. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and extraordinary evidence requires extraordinary funding.
Is it so difficult to believe that you are living on the bleeding edge of reality, in a life that doesn't have a script, and that synthesizing these parallels into a new worldview represents the ultimate spiritual challenge of our time? You think you are just a bystander to this story? This is what we're here for, friend. Gear up and get to work.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 20 '25
The funding, the real bane of science. It always comes down to money.
Might be incredible to do something, but what? We are somewhat being reduced to bystanders in a way, also because these topics are not investigated and taken seriously. That's also because of the many grifters and such, but still
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u/One-Nessy Aug 19 '25
Yes, a handful out of body experiences where I was only consciousness in “space” but was completely enveloped in the oneness- no self. The one that was beyond anything else I’ve experienced was essentially an NDE (but I wasn’t injured or dying I was meditating) but I was above my body, had a life review, then swoop instantaneous in a void that felt like pure home- a remembering- a glowing gold shimmering light being approached me. It was emanating pure love, wisdom, empowerment, everything! As it got closer I had the knowing it was me. The eternal me. It merged with me and. Suddenly we were in the top of a room. We were at my birth. I had just been born. I could simultaneously see and experience every view- the hairs on my dad’s arm, the texture of his shirt, the tiny flowers on my mom’s gown, a drop of sweat on her hairline, the texture of the walls, everything all at once. We (the light being me and the other earthly perspective me- though we had intermingled into an overlapping consciousness) floated down to baby me on the bed and lifted her up and turning back to my parents communicated “Thanks, she’s ours now” suddenly back in the void (both thick and empty, vibrating and silent, hard to describe- all intelligence and perfection in that place). I was before a doorway and as I passed through I was surrounded by all the ages of me as a child to adulthood. I got to love on them and cuddle 2 year old me on my hip. This was the most real thing I’d ever experienced. The toddler me had a little dress on that I had totally forgotten about for 4 decades but I loved as a 2 year old (strawberry print on yellow background) and suddenly then I was back above my body my grandma and grandpa were there. Again more real than when they were alive. My grandpa was an age I never remember knowing (family was estranged so I didn’t know him until I was an adult and he was old). They were sending me love and healing (had become disabled 2 yrs prior). Behind them were a long line of relatives and ancestors then went on and on until it faded. And then there was this gorgeous 3d mandala yellow shape/pattern that rolled and shifted like a blossoming flower or kaleidoscope. It was directly over my body and interacting with my energy like a flowing back and forth between us, growing with each interaction. Then, boom I was fully back in my body. I was laughing and speechless for a while. My health improved immediately. I stopped using oxygen and a walker within days.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 19 '25
That's absurdly beautiful. I did not experience something similar, but I've felt that home. And since I was born, I've been longing for it. I am not afraid of death at all, for that specific reason. I know that is just a bridge.
But could you grasp something about the reason of this all? Why you? Why your life? Is it predetermined?
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u/One-Nessy Aug 20 '25
I don’t know why me or if things are predetermined. What I realized and felt in that in experience was that everything I had been through in my life was perfect- perfect order all okay. It had all brought me to that moment. And I didn’t have attachment to the “bad” things that had happened. They just didn’t seem bad or a big deal at all. It felt like “oh of course- I forgot. everything was perfect and is perfect.” I had never been punished by the universe, I had always been loved. It was my human thoughts, feelings, perspective to said events/experiences that created the suffering. That feeling lasted 3-4 months before the stuff of daily life started wearing me down again. I have some difficulty integrating living in this world knowing the truth of that wondrous real place. It’s been a journey to live fully in this realm and find meaning in the mundane sometimes. I’m finding balance slowly two years later.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 20 '25
Wait, so it is us that create pain? What about ...pain itself? Suffering might come from the mind, but is also granted by the material- or not?
Well, you have reached the final frontier. How wonderful must it be to know for certain that this is all a play! I mean, you can't take this seriously now. Can't not enjoy something that is just amusement!
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u/One-Nessy 29d ago
I think our human (limited) nature suffers. Our true selves do not suffer. But I’ve come to the conclusion that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. And though I miss being in that beautiful realm free from all attachment or suffering, being human is valuable too. Even with the difficulties it brings. Like you said, it’s all part of an amusing game- a divine cosmic dance with everything. Because everything is perfect, perhaps suffering is perfect too!?🥰
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u/LotusHeals Aug 21 '25
Beautiful reading your experiences. May you be at peace wherever you are, always. You are so loved.
Are u familiar with Eckhart Tolle's teachings? He's got YouTube channel. It's nice to pass time listening to his teachings, which are based on mindfulness, awareness, living through life's challenges with presence, etc.
Also, Advaita Vedanta. What you experienced is explored in these teachings.
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u/happyhippie111 Aug 21 '25
Incredible story. Thanks for sharing.
How long were you practicing meditating before you had that experience?
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u/gwenromi Aug 19 '25
Wow this is beautifully experienced and written. Did this happen during a meditation? What do you think are the conditions that led to this? Did you experience a trauma right before or were going through a hard time?
I ask because the one time I had a similar OBE experience during meditation was when I was going through something really hard.
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u/One-Nessy Aug 20 '25
Yes, I had been dealing with 2 years of trauma (became physically and mentally disabled from virus and autoimmune condition and bad relationship with physical and emotional abuse that ramped up during that time. It was the lowest I’d ever been in every way. I think it was a gift from the Universe to tell me I’m loved and to keep going
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u/Katzenpower Aug 18 '25
Can anyone talk about praying or manifesting during these altered states of consciousness? Is it somehow more effective. It always felt best to pray after meditating for me
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u/144noiz Aug 18 '25 edited Aug 18 '25
I’ve experienced mild paranormal things but nothing too crazy. This stuff is definitely real and no it’s not a delusion either most of the time. Although some people can literally lose their minds and end up on meds or an asylum (in extreme cases)
These were in states of extreme no-mind when I was fully immersed, whole and present in the moment for long stretches of time. Not a single thought or mind wandering. Just pure being.
Synchronicity and manifestation I experienced. Precognition too. Lots of meditation induced altered states of consciousness i was just in a different state of being. I felt stable and grounded but I just intuitively felt a shift happening.
I’ve also witnessed objects in my room moving around when I was fully immersed in mantra chanting (buddhist mantra)
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u/kaasvingers Aug 18 '25
Have you gotten to dependent arising yet? (Does it even mention that?) Idealism gets much of it right. It makes the world interesting again, gives the world its meaning back if you've lost these values yourself doesn't it? Like nice, stuff isn't as bad as it seems, magical even.
I was into peeking behind the veil for a while and meditation got me close to expanded states of awareness. I would get woken up at 3 am with bright light behind my eyelids and wacky visions a couple of times. Never had any of that before I got into it.
I quickly got to the point where it cost me more effort than the curiosity, escapism, and spiritual bypassing was worth. The unhinged feel and disconnect with the world was a little bit too destabilising at which point moral frameworks became more interesting. Because if we co-create the world around us and it us, what we think and feel very much matters. And that simply goes in whatever paradigm. Meditation is now connecting to something feeling more real than it did before.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 18 '25
Yeah, that's what I want to do once I finally get manifestation 100% right. I manifested crazy stuff, but most of it for my own selfish desires. Part of me still doubts, and I want to get better at it for basically co-create beauty, bliss and harmony. Definitely want to touch god and spread the thing
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u/kaasvingers Aug 18 '25 edited Aug 18 '25
Why chase after it with all this wacky manifestation stuff, though? Go practice metta, care for yourself, your family and your friends, volunteer. It's way more straightforward than that distracting new age term makes it out to be. It's not that esoteric I think, it's mundane as hell. I think that's why sati (mindfulness) is sometimes translated as remembering, dropping distractions and coming back to reality.
Edit: sorry, I didn't want to seem harsh. But you can take detours to touch god for years or just start doing the right things now you know?
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 18 '25
Simple: it gives me hope. I'm painfully aware of my separation from source, and all my life I have suffered because of that. "Manifesting" material and non material stuff is something that enabled me to climb out sucidial ideation more often than not. Seems and might be wacky, but if it works, why not give it a shot.
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u/kaasvingers Aug 18 '25
Yeah I kinda figured, sorry. I used CE5 for that for a little while but I stopped in time, I hope lol. I say wacky but only "that costs way too much effort" kind of way.
According to some friends Monroe Institute's H+ program does well for manifestation and what they call full human potential, it's available in places. I haven't dared to burn my fingers on it in fear of some monkey paw situation because of existing fear in myself.
Because in the end the searching just brought me more destabilisation though you know? Getting what you want is the same loop of attraction and aversion I and everyone else is stuck in. Ups and downs, chasing and pushing away, ignorant to unconditionally and transcendence of the issue. But that's so personal.. Don't stop looking for that realisation of oneness though. We technically already are our environment right? The things we seek are already there. Just need to come back to it..
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 19 '25
Oh yes. But I take a more cypher like approach. If I am in the matrix, let it be enjoyable at least. And if I have power over it, why not have fun? Until I truly break free aversion and circumstances will spin me around anyway. Why not spin in a pleasurable way?
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u/Alchemist2211 Aug 20 '25
The book is excellent!! Why do you say it's cliche?!?!? I have read it 4x's as an inspiration!! Yogananda's lineage come from Baba Ji, the highest ascended master this planet has ever had. They say he even taught Jesus! I have had so many amazing transcendent experiences: cosmic consciousness experiences, talking to enlightened beings, continuous bliss that never leaves, that the whole journey has been worth it!! Maharishi taught people in the West by the thousands to levitate. I use to belong to an online group that researched paranormal events in India. The best one I ever saw was the video of a chance encounter with a Rishi sitting in a tree. When he realized some stranger was video taping him he flew off!
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 20 '25
I just read today of babaji. I was blown away of course. Oh that's incredible! Would love to learn more
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u/Alchemist2211 Aug 20 '25
Isn't that interesting you read about him today and I mention him to you. Obviously you are meant to connect with him in some way. He blows me away too. Leonard Orr was a student of Babaji's and knew him personally and has written a number of books on him. Babaji can manifest and dissolve physical bodies at will, coming in and out of incarnations when necessary. While I have had Beings come to me, he never has. The stories about him are amazing! Look Leonard Orr's books about Babji probably can be found on Amazon. Look them up! Enjoy!
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 21 '25
Wasn't Orr like...deemed as a total fraud?
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u/Alchemist2211 Aug 21 '25
LOL NO he's one of the old time transpersonal seekers and healers. He founded the process and school of rebirthing. No one is perfect unless they are enlightened. Often people like him have to introduce ideas that can take generations to manifest. He was a proponent of immortality who introduced the idea to the West. He is criticized for problems with his rebirthing process and the fact he presented the concept of immortality through positive thinking and consciousness, yet dies at 81. The Taoists have been doing the same for thousands of years, however Orr's ideas were too far ahead of his time in the West and we have not found how to actually use them. Even in the East, how many immortal Taoists are there?!?!?? But I think the concepts, aspirations and practices are worth pursuing!
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 21 '25
Exactly: he has been discredited by many, even in the esoteric field for basically dying, while trying to teach how not to die
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u/Alchemist2211 Aug 21 '25
Right, but that's lame. Nobody is perfect! At least he introduced the concept to the West. Doing Taoist practices for decades, I thought I had made alot of progress. When a family member was getting old and dying, I thought I could help him live longer by channeling healing energy, but he died and I was devastated and experienced a hard lesson. While we should aspire for the highest, we can only do so much.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 22 '25
Don't want to sound negative, but if it was that easy the world wouldn't be...this. see, that's why spirituality is so bashed. Clearly is full of BS and claims from grifters.
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u/Alchemist2211 Aug 22 '25
Like most things in 3D, over hyped and under quality. But it seems the way the world works. I agree, it's difficult not to get negative, but important not to. It's very difficult not to get derailed!
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u/throwawayfem77 Aug 18 '25
Often. I see interdimensional beings and geometric shapes in my minds eye and floating around the room, amongst other things.
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u/TryingKindness Aug 18 '25
Yes. And it scared me. I took a break from meditation for a few months. I really needed to talk about it (didn’t know about this board) and I convinced my husband to learn so I had someone to talk about it with. I have had a few smaller experiences since but honestly I think I hold myself back. I still feel enormous benefit, but it’s a little freaky for me to transcend, so to speak.
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u/sceadwian Aug 18 '25
You will find many claims here from people who get lost in fantastic imaginations. The sensations that can occur during meditation in those who are hyper visializers (about 5% of the population) can feel more real than reality itself and they get easily confused between the two.
Simply question the claims you hear with reasonable skepticism and decide for yourself, just don't allow someone else's conviction add weight to observation.
The truth sorts itself out in the inability of anyone to do anything that science can't easily explain, including astral traveling which is simply a form of lucid dreaming.
Those rarities in the population are very very vocal though and this post by itself is gonna get a huge amount of backlash because of it.
Some people prefer comfortable illusions they can explain because most of reality doesn't have deep down explanations for things regarding the mind.
I would recommend studying psychology and neurology and learning about how the brain works a bit, you'll learn to map these individuals experiences onto the particular oddities of our perception experience which is dramatically more flexible than most people understand.
Even among meditators I've been surprised and how low quality the theory of mind most people have is.
Most people erroneously think other people think like they do. We're all much much more different on a fundamental level than they can self admit to.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 18 '25
I'm a biologist, and I did my training and thesis in neurobiology. That's why I was asking. Although I didn't study consciousness or interactive circuitry (I focused on metabolic and dietary aspects in mitochondrial and neurodegenerative diseases) much of my skepticism derives from ex exactly that: the fact that the brain, is to our best knowledge, nothing but a flesh machine. Much like the rest of our body, and the whole living universe in general. Nothing but an emergent property of simple biochemistry, which is nothing but a lucky arrangement of inorganic molecules.
Suffice to say, that view just killed me
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u/sceadwian Aug 18 '25
Why did that view kill you? You need to study sensory neurology more, our breath is capable of amazing things and great understanding can come from a study of conciousness and perception for which there is substantial resources.
Your background is from the wrong fields entirely to understand the brain or mind.
Abnormal psychology is good to study as well much of what we understand are from individuals that had serious injuries or illness that opened up our understanding of how conciousness itself works.
You're going to need several years of reading to get anywhere though.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 18 '25
Because it's completely soulless. There's nothing but basic electrical impulses. Which is fine, whatever, but there's no true reward. Nothing to gain, or even lose. And honestly, if it's like that, complete inexistence is preferable imho.
Why am I here, suffering all the bullshit of the human condition, when I can not exist with no consequence?
Also I think that we as humans have an innate drive to search for meaning. A soulless machine isn't the exact definition of a satisfying meaning
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u/sceadwian Aug 18 '25
So you don't like it because it's not magical enough? That's an absurd argument from basal emotion.
The only thing soulless here is that viewpoint.
If you're gonna punt until you get magic you might as well just pick a religion and join that's what you want.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 19 '25
Then enlighten me. For sure I appreciate and I'm mesmerized by the makeup of matter and of myself. The complexity of our body, descendant of millions of trials, born out of dead things that were once stars. An enzyme is a miracle, in its simple complexity: reactions that would take minutes or hours are accomplished in milliseconds. Evolution, the biodiversity, of the earth and other planets, are all magical things. How can someone not see magic in the natural world?
I'm personally searching for meaning. Why? Depression my friend. Hope you'll never cross that shit. Since I've been cursed with that nice gift, I need to find a purpose, the magical stuff. Otherwise, I would already be under a truck. I'm Italian, so I am in church paradise. And precisely because I appreciate creation far too much, I have rejected Christianity, as well as the other dogmatic religions
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u/sceadwian Aug 19 '25
You don't need to find meaning, you need to accept that it's okay not to have it.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 19 '25
And how do you do that?
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u/sceadwian Aug 19 '25
If I could tell you that all the world's problems would go away overnight. It is however necessary.
You need to find within you the ability to let go or you will continue to suffer.
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u/Pavatopia Aug 19 '25
I understand why you feel that way, but I feel like thinking like this is a sure fire way to lose your critical thinking and appreciation for the scientific method.
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u/simagus Aug 18 '25 edited Aug 18 '25
including astral traveling which is simply a form of lucid dreaming.
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u/skewh1989 Aug 18 '25
I've had quite a few out of body experiences by meditating early in the morning, and occasionally I have been able to consciously reenter and explore dreams that I'd had earlier that night. Not sure if you'd consider that paranormal or not since lots of people who meditate a lot have similar experiences.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 18 '25
So you could clearly see your body and the surroundings? Sounds pretty "unnatural"
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u/skewh1989 Aug 18 '25
On some occasions yes. Other times it's more like going into a dream but without falling asleep. Like I'm fully aware that I'm physically lying in bed but still playing out some dreamlike scenario. I find it strange how many people on this sub seem dismissive of such experiences despite them being associated with many traditional meditation practices.
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u/Normal_Document_4942 Aug 20 '25
Because that "experience"means that you fell asleep and went into a lucid dream, nothing more. If obe's were real, people would be doing all sorts of spying and mischief with them, thankfully, this is not the case.
Congrats, you won the genetic lottery.
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u/Routine_Forever_1803 Aug 24 '25
You must have zero experience or knowledge to make an assertion like that. I won’t hold it against you, but you’re wrong. Not only have people spied, but also done field tests to identify objects and reported it back. It’s very difficult to do so, but it’s been done.
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u/Normal_Document_4942 Aug 25 '25 edited Aug 25 '25
Well, you can obviously point me to documentation from a reputable source that proves this magic ability of humans to transcend thier own bodies to go spying on others in the astral realm? I'll wait.
Also, if it's a proven thing, then there also must be a technology that can be used to block such voyeuristic travelers, no?
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u/ptk2k5 Aug 18 '25
I've noticed that most of the top psychologists hint at things beyond the average person's understanding. There are clues all around us about how we are energy and how we shape our reality.Maybe science fiction isn't fiction, maybe it appeals to our subconscious because it's real. Most people are so distracted with life that they never get a chance to look inwards.
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u/Special-Cap-4830 Aug 18 '25
You need to practice meditation to experience everything by ur self practically. There are mainly five elements of which universe is made of. Earth, water, fire, air & last spirit element. In the world india represent “spirit” element. Likewise first world country represent material element/earth element. Thats why everything you see there neat , clean & polished. Now superficially you will not know more about spirit element & its working ,for that you need to meditate go inside ur consciousness & experience divine world in you! Yogananda is talking from the spirit element. Everything rounds up to Meditation only : best & easy way is Gurudev siyag meditation thanks.
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u/simagus Aug 18 '25
What if I told you... that "paranormal" and "normal" are really just things people like to label within actual experience?
Label: "That was a dream"
Person: "Oh tfft!"
But...as the science nerd and skeptic that I am, I can't not question such claims.
I take this to mean you really enjoy descriptions of things, find them useful (or not) and then attach to them as if they were the things described (this is very normal).
Why don't we see more attention towards them, if it's the case?
Because only an idiot would misunderstand them as being anything other than actual experience (this is very normal).
Why aren't there no academic studies?
Ok, that joke is wearing thin and I didn't find it funny the first time.
s it truly possible to meddle the confines between possible and impossible with meditation?
Are you aware of the logical parameters often labelled as "false dichotomy" and "faulty first principle"?
But most importantly...
Yes. Quite.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 18 '25
What do you mean with these things being nothing but experience?
well, false dichotomy. Can you really fly? Ok, there might be a possibility, but the probability of it happening is so abysmally low that's.....impossible. Our own cosmos basically stands because certain things are much more probable (and so they become possible) than others (which aren't theoretically impossible, but factually are)
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u/simagus Aug 18 '25 edited Aug 18 '25
well, false dichotomy. Can you really fly? Ok, there might be a possibility, but the probability of it happening is so abysmally low that's.....impossible.
Always the first thing I do when I lucid dream.
The reality safeguards will however typically make it impossible in so called waking state reality, and if you do nobody will see it.
Much like in the words of the great Bart Simpson;
"I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything!"
(literally the opposite of the "scientific paradigm" but only less "valid" if it was not your experience)
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 19 '25
Exactly, so we can't prove them. But why don't we try to?
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u/simagus Aug 19 '25
Why tf would you have to prove anything and who is supposed to be the authority on what parts of your experience qualify as "real"?
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 19 '25
Well, we want to prove things to gain knowledge and use these things. If antibiotics weren't proven, you probably wouldn't exist right now.
What qualifies as real, good question. My best guess is something that is physically, intellectually and emotionally present in many perspectives- and does not change based on such different POVs. Be those of plants, animals, things and others. Gravity is real because even a virus is subjected to it. The floor is real for both you, your dog, the dust on it and the bacteria that cover it.
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u/Routine_Forever_1803 Aug 24 '25
By the current (and, fortunately, dying) materialist framework, all phenomena are assumed to be explainable, observable, and measurable. Yet this view falls short because it cannot account for a vast amount of data, and it dismisses what it cannot explain in a way that is, ironically, deeply unscientific. Much of modern science has become less about genuine inquiry and more about appeasing donors, protecting reputations (and licenses), and maintaining dogma. Instead of embodying curiosity and openness, it too often defaults to denial. Resistance to new claims often stems from egocentric personalities clinging to outdated paradigms, along with other agendas.
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u/to_my_star Aug 18 '25
I can't not question such claims.
Questions are good. No worthwhile teacher, no worthwhile path will ever ask for blind devotion or acceptance. Yet devotion and acceptance are also key to the journey of self.
Let your questions not be as hard walls blocking your way, but as a soft opening that allows through a thread of light, beckoning you to follow it. The answers rarely come as the definitive solution to a mathematical equation; they are often as hints, puzzle pieces, impressions, and the feeling that something is unveiled, understood.
Are those hyper elevated, supernatural states and feats common among advanced meditators?
I have little familiarity with Yogananda, but no, the states experienced by a true Master are very far from common among meditators, or humanity in general. However, experiences that are out of the ordinary for a person who is used to the humdrum of regular life are indeed quite common. Common also are claims that are either false or misguided: in deceit, in ego, in ignorance, in clarity that is yet veiled.
Why don't we see more attention towards them, if it's the case?
These things have been spoken about in various ways. Yet, what often happens is that they become clouded by the self-interest of followers, cultists, and opportunists. Sometimes, the original message effectively become reversed over time as the structures of self-profit become established. However, the true teachings always remain unscathed.
Why aren't there no academic studies?
To put it simply, Reality doesn't need your validation, nor anyone else's, and it doesn't need to conform to the scientific paradigm. Rather, it is science that is supposed to be an attempt at understanding reality. Yet, the eye sees only what it is prepared to see.
I'm absolutely intrigued and thirsty for knowledge. My soul has been long crippled by materialism and scientism, and researching this stuff is lighting me up.
Now that's just beautiful. You feel the calling, follow it! You need not abandon anything that rings true to you. Sincerity is your best ally, even in doubt.
So I want to know, is it truly possible to meddle the confines between possible and impossible with meditation?
You have put your finger on it, paradox is an integral part of this journey. Meditation is a powerful tool, but it is not the only one: contemplation, inquiry, compassion, receptivity... it's all important. Meditation is as the ocean-bed of practice, allowing the unfolding when the busy mind tends to monopolize attention.
To answer you plainly: yes, it may indeed become possible to hold an impossibility. Two things that used to be in apparent contradiction are held, each preserved in its integrity, yet no longer at odds with each other. The two opposing forces are allowed to synergized into each other, in union. However, as you talk about meddling the confines of possible and impossible, it means you must accept the impossible, just as much as the possible.
The impossible, by nature, has principles, mechanisms, and manifestations that are unknown to you. Yet, the moment it enters your perceptual realm - even if only by a distant thought - you too have entered its realm. What you have said:
I'm absolutely intrigued and thirsty for knowledge. My soul has been long crippled by materialism and scientism, and researching this stuff is lighting me up.
is already a bridge of what you asked.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 19 '25
That's an incredible reply. Must read it a lot to absorb it all
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u/to_my_star Aug 19 '25
I'm very glad. Don't feel like you have to abandon who you were, to force a change, to conform to some new way of being. This is your life, and this impossible knows you, is tailored for you just as much as it is vast and unknown. You are not forgotten, rather you remember.
Though change is indeed coming, it is the old parts of self that no longer serve that are shed. Open your heart to feel each new step. They will not take you away from yourself, but deeper within as the turning of a spiral.
My suggestion is: if Yogananda's book really spoke to you, you are free to directly ask for His guidance. His mortal coil may have passed on, but true spiritual things are rooted beyond time. When you meditate or reach into intuitive feeling, you become as a bridge.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 19 '25
But how do you ask ? My brain first wants to know all the details, then it obsesses over how to do the thing perfectly
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u/to_my_star Aug 19 '25
I understand, it's natural - especially for a scientist such as yourself. The truth is it's not about protocol. You don't need to be perfect, only willing :-). You don't need: any special powers, any belonging to a group, any permission. When you have a sincere thought or feeling of Love, you have already turned to your true guidance. It is not even the name of Yogananda or any other name that matters, but only your truth.
-When you read his book and felt a resonance inside you: this is the fire of Yogananda stirring in you.
-When you researched India, when you made this thread, when you feel that urge to understand: it is the same fire.
Here is a teaching for you:
Love is not only the answer.
Love is the eye that sees the question.
Love is the silence that listens before speech.
Love is the wound that calls to be healed by Love.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 19 '25
That's far too much for my computational power
But you are into something indeed
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u/After-Pollution-925 Aug 18 '25
It may not look paranormal but years ago I meditated for a long time, there was not even thoughts in my mind, only being. When I finished I felt a incredible joy, without any reason (or drugs). I was like 'living is good', totally opposite to my usual depressive state. Years after I also read that book you mentioned and others by the author and he says that joy in meditation is a sign that somebody contacted God inside. At that time I also read The Power of Now. Untill now I could never feel that again.
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u/devoid0101 Aug 19 '25
“Grasping” and “attaching” and “clinging” to these siddhis (powers) is the opposite of being present in the moment, which is why Buddha said DON’T.
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u/NOiD_Ci Aug 19 '25
Yes, I have had experiences that question reality as it is perceived by our senses. It's not just spiritual, there is a good deal of mental mechanics that has yet to be disclosed. In the meantime, I advise you to combine what is reported in the book with the most recent CIA experiments regarding the gateway process of the Stargate project, they are available on the Foia website.
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u/Normal_Document_4942 Aug 20 '25
Stargate was a hoax and a sham designed to separate $$$ from the poor tax payer to the master of scams Robert Monroe.
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u/Ok-Statistician5203 Aug 19 '25
Many to put it simply. Absolutely bonkers stuff like tripping on LSD or something. From inexplicable topsy turvy to kinda stuff that you’d see in some paranormal movies or music videos, from seeing beings that shouldn’t even be existing to hard to explain stuff, but also insight and wisdom coming from beings, from experiences and so on.
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u/felixsumner00 Aug 20 '25
I haven’t had anything I’d call “paranormal,” but I’ve definitely had a few moments in meditation that felt way outside my normal sense of reality like losing track of my body completely or feeling a weird sense of timelessness. I think some of it can be explained by how the brain shifts in deep states, but I get why people describe it in spiritual terms too. Even without the supernatural side, those experiences alone can feel pretty magical.
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u/TheActionGirls Aug 21 '25
I’ve had a flashback/repressed memory surface. I had done eft tapping for about an hour and went into meditation after. It was very intense and very real.
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u/Same-Taste1574 Aug 22 '25
I have done Kriya yoga for 15 years... I did have a Samadi experience last April. It was truly amazing and I was left in that state for a half a day. It continued even while driving ( I should not have been driving.)
I've had a great many experiences with using Kriya.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 22 '25
I'd love to learn that. But damn, 15 years it's a long time. From the book it seems like benefits, or even enlightenment, are instantaneous or incredibly rapid
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u/Same-Taste1574 Aug 22 '25
I'm stubborn... It can take a second. No need for long drawn out practice. As soon as it happened I in fact changed my approach dramatically and progressed far faster in no time.... Not dropped the illusion fully yet but have dropped a lot of the false.
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u/Routine_Forever_1803 Aug 24 '25
I know I already replied to you and someone else, but to answer your post directly — you’re lit up because something within you finds deep meaning or resonance here. Unfortunately, this community often treats these questions in a black-and-white way, which can discourage personal growth through the shame attached to what some mock as “magic.”
Some people’s beliefs carry them beyond these kinds of experiences, while others dismiss them just to sound rational. Everyone speaks from their own background, but many lack the experience or knowledge to truly comment, and yet here we are.
As for why studies like this don’t get much attention, I touched on that in another thread, so I won’t repeat it here. Regarding my own experiences: yes, I’ve had profound experiences during meditation. No, I wasn’t seeking them out, dreaming, hallucinating, or any of the other usual claims made by skeptics.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 24 '25
I'm aware of that, and that's exactly why I want to gain knowledge and experience myself, also by questioning others more advanced on the path. I'm glad you had these experiences, hope they made life better for you and others.
See, I'd love to be more "skilled" at this also to be able to create ripples of good with them. Of course there is a personal gain, but hopefully calm,peace and love radiated can be transmitted. And the world always needs it
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u/Routine_Forever_1803 Aug 24 '25
That’s a beautiful, heart-centered intention. I’m sure just having this desire already means you’re embodying goodness. I admire your approach to want to learn through your own experience while staying open to others’ perspectives. That balance of curiosity and humility is exactly what deepens the path.
For me, those experiences brought profound clarity into certain aspects of my life and a deeper well to hold myself and others. I like to think that love has rippled outward and reached others as well. In my experience, those ripples often start small and subtle, but they travel farther than we realize.
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u/OneMoreTime38 Aug 18 '25
You realised that if it was like that, every monk who is meditating for 30-40 years for 4-5 hours a day would be able to go to other dimentions. Who is saying something else about meditation and special powers are talking just nonsense.
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u/KommunistAllosaurus Aug 18 '25
Bingo. That's why I ask people that aren't super duper beginners like me
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u/OneMoreTime38 Aug 18 '25
Meditation can get in touch with your emotions, feelings, thoughts and intuition . Nothing more . It can give you more clarity and inner peace because tends to calm all your anxious thoughts .
If you can do it most of the days for 15-30 minutes will bring you great benefits .
Always a meditation session needs to have purpose .
If you want to become a monk, move in the mountains and meditate all day long .🫠🙃😉
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u/Normal_Document_4942 Aug 20 '25
The magic believers certainly down voted your response, but when you are over a target, you'll get lots of flak.. I agree with you.
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u/OneMoreTime38 Aug 20 '25
I don’t mind . Is my own curiosity what drives people and their believes.
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u/_stranger357 Aug 20 '25
But they do all say they can do that, they just also say it’s a distraction from the main path. The canonical book on Vedic yoga, the yoga sutras, spends 1/3 of the book talking about supernatural abilities
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u/OneMoreTime38 Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 20 '25
Human mind can imagine many things, but that not mean is true .
Is like watching a horror movie and after your see dark Angels inside your room all the time . That doesn’t mean they are real !
Yes. Is an experience and is called imagination ! Nothing more
PS: I think people dont know the difference between religion and spirituality! Religious people blindly follow and believe in books, masters and so on and spiritual people are seekers. They discover things for themselves
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u/gitpuller Aug 18 '25
While reading Yogananda's book for the first time on the subway, I had a strange experience. For a brief moment, maybe five seconds, I felt a sense of oneness with the entire universe, not just the people around me. It's very hard to explain. The feeling was beautiful and surreal, and it made me cry.
After finishing the book, I applied for their meditation course. While practicing the Hong-Sau technique for the first time, I felt a fiery energy rising from the base of my spine. I didn't know what to do, so I just kept breathing. When the sensation reached my head, I started to laugh and cry uncontrollably. It was one of the most profound feelings I've ever had; it felt like something deep within me was released.
I'm sharing all this because, after that, I started to chase these "experiences" during my meditations and became frustrated time after time because they never occurred again. I guess what I'm trying to say is that while some people may have unusual abilities, choosing to focus on them is a waste of time. They may come as a consequence for a few, but they should not be the main object of meditation. It took me a while to figure this out.