Out of body experience during meditation?

[etherealascension]

During meditation, I typically recite my mantra, do my breathing meditation, and that's it. But tonight my mind drifted off... it was like a dream at first. I was sitting at the edge of a cliff, grass surrounding me, a bodhi tree to my right with a branch curved over my head, looking out at mountains. It's night and the sky is full of stars. I sat there in this dream a while, thinking little of it. But I opened my eyes and saw the stars. I reached out and felt the grass between my fingers... it was... eye opening to say the least. Has anyone else had an out of body experience like this?

 

[Otherright]

During meditation, I typically recite my mantra, do my breathing meditation, and that's it. But tonight my mind drifted off... it was like a dream at first. I was sitting at the edge of a cliff, grass surrounding me, a bodhi tree to my right with a branch curved over my head, looking out at mountains. It's night and the sky is full of stars. I sat there in this dream a while, thinking little of it. But I opened my eyes and saw the stars. I reached out and felt the grass between my fingers... it was... eye opening to say the least. Has anyone else had an out of body experience like this?

I haven't, but I'm glad you did. I'm wondering, did you feel the sense of oneness?

 

[etherealascension]

I'm not sure what I felt. It was so brief... I was fully aware that it was myself meditating in my room, but at the same time, I was someone else in a faraway place. Perhaps a glimpse into a past incarnation of myself? It was the most incredible feeling imaginable.

 

[Yeshe Dawa]

During meditation, I typically recite my mantra, do my breathing meditation, and that's it. But tonight my mind drifted off... it was like a dream at first. I was sitting at the edge of a cliff, grass surrounding me, a bodhi tree to my right with a branch curved over my head, looking out at mountains. It's night and the sky is full of stars. I sat there in this dream a while, thinking little of it. But I opened my eyes and saw the stars. I reached out and felt the grass between my fingers... it was... eye opening to say the least. Has anyone else had an out of body experience like this?

Hi Etherealascension!

I'm not officially a Buddhist, but I have a devotion to Tara and use a type of Buddhist meditation. I haven't experienced what you describe, though I think you are quite blessed. What I've experienced occurs when I'm not meditating. Things will look different - brighter, more colorful and they appear "without context" is the best way I can describe it. I will often have this sense of interconnectedness - like the world I'm seeing is only part of a bigger reality, and the sense of a benevolent presence. To have an experience like you had, though, that must be truly life changing.

Peace and blessings,
Yeshe
:flower2:

 

[etherealascension]

Yeshe, I know what you mean. I've always experienced that with meditation. I remember one time in the middle of winter (which here in Florida is really only fifty degrees, but it was still cold to me) I went up on my roof one day and sat and meditated. When I came out of it, I felt renewed, the world looked brighter, the silence was more peaceful, the air was more refreshing. Meditation can provide powerful experiences that nothing else in the world could compare to.

 

[Yeshe Dawa]

Meditation can provide powerful experiences that nothing else in the world could compare to.

Hi Etherealascension!

It is indeed quite amazing! It's also very hard to explain the experience to someone who does not meditate.

Peace and blessings,
Yeshe
:flower2:

 

[Friend of Bill W]

All compounded phenomena is impermanent; including out of body experiences. Although I'm new to Buddhism, I don't believe much store is put into these sort of experiences since they may detract from the path.

Still, I'd love to have one though! ;-)

 

[etherealascension]

I put stock in experiences like this that actually come from meditation. On the other hand, if I took acid or mushrooms and had an experience like that, I wouldn't put much thought to it.

 

[methylatedghosts]

From what I understand, the trap one can fall into is the experiences that you can have while meditating, and believing that the experiences are the goal. That this essentially puts a limit on oneself, and the response from a guru or guide would be "That's nice, now back to the serious stuff of meditating".

Though, I don't know all that much about Buddhism, so I could always be wrong there

 

[YmirGF]

During meditation, I typically recite my mantra, do my breathing meditation, and that's it. But tonight my mind drifted off... it was like a dream at first. I was sitting at the edge of a cliff, grass surrounding me, a bodhi tree to my right with a branch curved over my head, looking out at mountains. It's night and the sky is full of stars. I sat there in this dream a while, thinking little of it. But I opened my eyes and saw the stars. I reached out and felt the grass between my fingers... it was... eye opening to say the least. Has anyone else had an out of body experience like this?

What can I say, you simply get used to it. That said, it is rather amusing being aware of being in two "places" simultaneously. I'm wondering though why you would muse that this could possibly be a "past life" memory. Why could it not be a "memory" from the future?

Eventually, you will reach the stage where a part of your consciousness is always in meditation and the world wraps around that perception. When you are "there" you will understand far more clearly the somewhat trite expression of "Being Here Now".
Keep up the good work, but don't get too distracted by the shiny things that may appear upon your path.

 

[etherealascension]

From what I understand, the trap one can fall into is the experiences that you can have while meditating, and believing that the experiences are the goal. That this essentially puts a limit on oneself, and the response from a guru or guide would be "That's nice, now back to the serious stuff of meditating".

Though, I don't know all that much about Buddhism, so I could always be wrong there

I fully understand that this is clearly not the goal, just an amusing artifact found along my path to enlightenment. To settle for visions like this is to give up too early.

Music, to me, is a great analogy for the path to enlightenment. There is always more to do, more to learn, more to see. Yes, you will have revelations and stumble upon great things, but they are only a part of the bigger picture.

And YmirGF, it was only a thought that it could be something of a past life vision. Although, I do rather like your idea of seeing something in my future, especially when considering that after my last year of high school, I intend to travel to Southeast Asia. Perhaps my meditative vision was something that will happen in the future.

 

[YmirGF]

I fully understand that this is clearly not the goal, just an amusing artifact found along my path to enlightenment. To settle for visions like this is to give up too early.

A weird foible of enlightenment is that it is more about relinquishing expectations than it is about attaining an imagined state. In effect, you are already enlightened, it just takes time for the conscious mind to catch up with the reality.

Music, to me, is a great analogy for the path to enlightenment. There is always more to do, more to learn, more to see. Yes, you will have revelations and stumble upon great things, but they are only a part of the bigger picture.

I was never keen on revelation, but I am big on realization. When one encounters expansions of consciousness that "bigger picture" certainly gets stretched in the most curious of ways.

And YmirGF, it was only a thought that it could be something of a past life vision.

I understood that.

Although, I do rather like your idea of seeing something in my future, especially when considering that after my last year of high school, I intend to travel to Southeast Asia. Perhaps my meditative vision was something that will happen in the future.

It might be helpful to understand that there is only Now and that the now point can act as a gateway between what is seemingly in the past or seemingly in the future. It's all relative.

Oh well, hopefully this wee tune will help convey something to you.
[youtube]GupUBTNcezc[/youtube]
Neologism

Neologism - "In theology, a neologism is a relatively new doctrine (for example, Transcendentalism). In this sense, a neologist is one who proposes either a new doctrine or a new interpretation of source material such as religious texts"

 

[Acim]

I too haven't had same experience noted in OP, though have had visions akin to what OP is conveying.

I occasionally have OBE type meditations (more than 10 in my life) where I am in fairly deep, and I get feeling that my physical self is very very small, detached from me in that moment, and I am 'reaching' (in a non physical way) for grandeur Self. In early stages of this experience, it is unnerving or disorientating. Moments later, it is relieving, but not necessarily in way where release is experience, more like acceptance of adapting to 'new' Self. On hindsight, I would say the impression is one of OBE. The physical ceases to exist as a mental construct and kinesis sensation is absent.

 

[Yeshe Dawa]

Eventually, you will reach the stage where a part of your consciousness is always in meditation and the world wraps around that perception. When you are "there" you will understand far more clearly the somewhat trite expression of "Being Here Now".

Hi YmirGF!

I am looking forward to that! Is this similar to the concept of right mindfulness?

Peace and blessings,
Yeshe
:flower2:

 

[etherealascension]

It hasn't happened again to the degree of lucidity in the first vision, but I've had glimpses of something outside myself. Kind of like blackouts. I lose sense of myself and exist somewhere else for a moment. I can see, but it's not through my own eyes. I feel, but not my own surroundings. I'm not sure what this feeling is, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been here.

 

[tree]

I don't have a vision of being in another place but I have an almost out of body experience on a regular basis whenever I meditate. It happens slowly and I've noticed it more when meditating within my local temple with others. It is a strange experience that I can best describe as becoming the room or my mind expanding and filling the room.