[INDOLOGY] Out-of-body experience in Indian religions

Sat Sep 14 17:24:32 UTC 2019

On the Buddhist side, out of body wandering is often associated with nirodha-samāpatti, a high-level meditative condition, which Buddha himself apparently engaged in, in which one’s body is barely distinguishable from a corpse, displaying almost no vital signs. Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga gives various accounts, including ones in which the body, mistaken for dead, is disposed of, so that when the consciousness returns looking for it, it is not there. One can enter nirodha-samāpatti for a short while, or up to several weeks. One supposedly sets in internal timer before entering it, marking the time when one becomes re-animated. The stories he references can be found in earlier sources.

But as Bradley, I think rightly, cautioned, the concept of out-of-body experiences gets complicated in Buddhist context. When Buddha (or others, such as Moggallāna) visit deva realms or hells, etc. or manifest multitudes of alternate bodies elsewhere, etc., there is often (but not always) the presumption that one’s basic body is still in place, perhaps even functioning and performing daily activities. So there are many ways that one can be active and have experiences outside of one’s basic body. One of the ṛddhis, the “super” powers that advanced practitioners may achieve, includes a “divine eye” that can see anywhere, not just where one’s body happens to be. Would that also qualify?

Dan

> On Sep 14, 2019, at 12:57 PM, Bradley Clough via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
> 
> This probably goes down a rabbit hole that Jessie's colleague wouldn't be interested in, but Jessie's referencing the Visuddhimagga and Matthew's referencing tales of Maudgalyayana's journeys makes me think that in Buddhist contexts at least, these experiences were typically assumed to be had with what was termed a "body made of mind" (manomaya kāya [two words] or manomayakāya [one compounded word], depending on the source). This raises the question of whether or not these experiences were literally "out-of-body". The Pāli sources I'm familiar with at least typically say the manomaya kāya is "rūpin", in other words it has form. But I suppose that might well take us into the issue of whether or not terms like "kāya" and "rūpin" connote PHYSICAL form in these contexts...
> 
> But to get back to Jessie's colleague's interests, among the many Buddhist sources that speak of such journeying to other realms by arhats, the Sanskrit ones that Matthew cited are indeed the ones that we can most reliably date as closest to the Common Era's beginnings, the specific period that this colleague is apparently focusing on.
> 
> Brad Clough
> 
> On Sat, Sep 14, 2019 at 9:29 AM Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info <mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:
> For materials closer to the period you are looking at - i.e. beginning of CE -- I would suggest the stories of the arhat Maudgalyayana in the Mahavastu-avadana (trans. Jones) and the Saundarananda of Asvaghosa (trans. Johnston or Covill). 
> 
> good luck!
> 
> Matthew Kapstein
> Directeur d'études, 
> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes
> 
> Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies,
> The University of Chicago
> From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info <mailto:indology-bounces at list.indology.info>> on behalf of Dean Michael Anderson via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info <mailto:indology at list.indology.info>>
> Sent: Saturday, September 14, 2019 10:02 AM
> To: indology at list.indology.info <mailto:indology at list.indology.info> <indology at list.indology.info <mailto:indology at list.indology.info>>; Jessie Pons <jessie.pons at ruhr-uni-bochum.de <mailto:jessie.pons at ruhr-uni-bochum.de>>
> Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Out-of-body experience in Indian religions
>  
> There must be many stories of things like this in texts like the Puranas, but these two references come to mind.
> 
> ) The biography of Shankara mentions him leaving his body and entering the body of a king. Shankara-dig-vijaya is one of the classic texts on this. Perhaps some know of other sources.
> 
> 2) Yoga Sutra III.38 says:
> By loosening the cause of bondage and through sensitivity to the movements (of the mind), consciousness can enter another body.
> bandhakaaraNashaithilyaatprachaarasaMvedanaachcha chittasya parasharIraaveshaH
> 
> Best,
> 
> Dean
> 
> On Saturday, September 14, 2019, 7:35:26 PM GMT+5:30, Jessie Pons via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info <mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:
> 
> 
> Dear list-members,
> 
> A colleague is developing a research project on Out-of-body experiences 
> in religious contexts at the turn of the common era and would be 
> interested in comparing her material (her focus is on the Mediterranean 
> world) with that of other regions.
> 
> I have mentioned Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga and the Yoga-Vāsiṣṭha 
> (though I understand this is a later source) but I would be very 
> grateful to anyone who could suggest additional or more pertinent 
> sources.
> 
> Thank you very much in advance for any help you can provide!
> 
> All best,
> Jessie Pons
> 
> -- 
> Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jessie Pons
> Professor for the History of South Asian Religions
> CERES — Centre for the Study of Religions
> Käte-Hamburger-Kolleg „Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia 
> and Europe"
> Ruhr-Universität Bochum
> Universitätsstraße 90a
> 44789 Bochum
> Tel. 02 34 32 22955
> E-Mail: jessie.pons at rub.de <mailto:jessie.pons at rub.de>
> Room 1/04
> 
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