Acharya Mahaprajna
A Negro woman called Lilian is an adept in transcendental experimentation. Someone asked her, "How do you come to know of transcendental events?" She said, "I know them through astral projection. Every living being is possessed of a vital current, which is also known as the astral body. Through astral projection I go out of the body to visit a particular spot and after having observed what is happening there, I come back and tell others about it."
The technique of astral projection, now recognized by science, is analogous to the process of samudghata in the Jain tradition. Samudghata means that at the time of occurrence of a particular situation the vital current, goes out of the gross body and reaches the scene of occurrence and becomes acquainted with it. This vital essence can go very far; it has infinite capacities. When a man is assailed by excessive greed, his vital body opts out. Similarly, in the case of some dreadful disease, or imminent death, the vital spirit quits the body. Modern science has witnessed many such happenings.
A patient was lying on the table in the operation theatre. He was about to undergo a major operation. The doctor started operating. At that time vedana samudghata (distain projection) materialized in him. His vital essence departed from his gross body and established itself near the roof. The operation went on and the patient observed it through his vital body. In the course of the operation, the doctor made a mistake. Immediately the patient from above spoke out, "Doctor: You've made a mistake:" The doctor did not even realize who it was that spoke. However, he corrected his mistake. After the pain had abated, the vital body re-entered the gross body. The process of projection was completed. On regaining consciousness, the patient said to the doctor, "I have watched the whole operation while clinging to the roof."
There are many techniques of body projection. In all these, the vital body opts out.
The Negro woman Lilian said, "I come to know the factual position through astral projection. I get into the aura of the people and can thus describe their character. Of course, I cannot construe the character of a drunkard because his aura gets disintegrated and becomes so blurred that its colors cannot be distinguished."
Our feelings and conduct are the creator of our aura. When the sentiments are good and the conduct pure, the resulting aura is very strong and clear. When the current of feeling is sullied, and the conduct impure, the aura, too, becomes dim, distorted and defiled.
Simon Kirlyon, an electronic specialist of Soviet Russia and his scientist-wife "Valentina" evolved a special technique of photography. Through this technique, it is possible to photograph the subtle electronic movements around living beings and plants. A film made of the developments about a leaf immediately after it was torn from a plant revealed a remarkable scene. The first picture showed around the leaf sparks, shimmers and scintillating lights. In the pictures taken after 10 hours, these bright spheres of light seemed to be languishing, and after the next 10 hours, they had grown altogether indistinct. In other words, the leaf was dead.
The Kirlyan couple used this special technique to film a sick leaf. Its aura was dim from the very beginning. It soon disintegrated. The Kirlyan couple also took photographs of the human body from very near. The pictures revealed delicate spots of various colours on the neck, the chest (near the heart) and the abdomen. These spots were indicative of the electrical discharges emanating from those parts. Colour is found in the vegetable kingdom too. It is also found in animals, birds and men. Thus, every living creature has an aura.
The occult scientists have made it manifest that unless a man can turn the special centres of his body into electro-magnetic fields he will not be able to awaken in himself the capacity to see through things. The whole purpose behind the concept of the psychic centres and chakras is to turn the body into an electro-magnetic field. The exercises for increasing tolerance and equableness - fasting, asanas, pranayam, exposure to the sun, development of the capacity to bear the heat and the cold-all these serve to turn the atoms of the body into a magnetic field and that field becomes so transparent that the consciousness within can peep out and observe what is happening there.
Today, the parapsychologists make use of telepathy. Telepathy means - thought-transmission. A man is stationed miles away. How to communicate with him? Is it possible? Today, we have the telephone and the wireless. A man sitting in the comfort of his home can talk to his kith and kin living thousands of miles away. But in ancient times, such means were not available. How could then one establish contact with people far away? In ancient times, even the world 'telepathy' did not exist - it is an English word. In those days, recourse was taken to the technique of distant thought-transmission. For instance, take the case of a yogi. His disciple is living five thousand miles away. The yogi wishes to communicate something to him; he wants to talk with him. What should he do? The modern means of communication were not available in the olden times. But the technique of thought- transmission was practised in those days, by which an exchange of ideas was accomplished.
