Out of Body Experiences
Nataraja, the Lord of Dance, is Shiva as the cosmic dancer. His tandava dance creates, sustains and destroys the Universe.
Travel in the Worlds of the Gods — Darshan of Nataraja
Since I was a child, I have been drawn to Nataraja and have yearned to have darshan of Nataraja. One day in Bangalore, I was crying a lot for Lord Nataraja and I went into Swamiji’s room to see him. I was a little embarrassed to find several devotees with him, but I could not stop crying.
“Amma, what do you want?” I replied that I wanted Nataraja. Swamiji put vibhuti on me and made me sit in a corner of the room. I traveled to many worlds. I saw many beautiful buildings, beings, gardens, forests, and all manner of creation. Some people were dressed in exceedingly fine clothes and gorgeous jewelry. Each sight was more wonderful than the last. It was beauty beyond description. I ended up in a most splendid world where the tables looked like they were cut from diamonds. I passed by many gods and goddesses, some of whom I recognized, like Brahma and Vishnu. But I was looking for Nataraja and failed to even bow to these powerfully wonderful beings. Just as I seemed to be getting close to Lord Nataraja himself, I was pulled back into my body.
Swamiji acted as if he were ignorant of what I had experienced. He asked me to describe in detail what I had seen. Each time I described one of the worlds I had seen, he identified it by name. Despite the wonderful visions, at the time I felt frustrated because I had not been able to see Nataraja.
Only later did I come to realize that Swamiji had indeed granted my wish. Lord Nataraja was before me the whole time I related all that I had seen in my astral travel. Swamiji is Nataraja.
Stopped at the Gates of Celestial Kailash
Once it was dark and I was following Swamiji somewhere in the ashram. He turned around and teased me, “Are you afraid of ghosts?” As he had put the idea in my mind, I did feel a little fear.
Swamiji touched me on the forehead and I flew through many levels of the astral worlds. I flew past ghosts, then different lokas (worlds) and all the way to the gates of Kailash.
After I came back to my body, Swamiji asked whether I had been to Kailash. I said no, the gates had stopped me.
Learning to Fly
The meditation had been going on very well for a long time. One day while I was meditating, my body started trembling as though electric current was being passed through it. Then suddenly I felt that I had come out of the body. I could see that I could float around.
It looked like I was floating around the ruins of a big fort or something like that. While I was floating, I could see everything in vivid detail. It was like when a child tries to walk, he just toddles around. He doesn’t have full control. The same way, I wanted to go out of a door, but I wasn’t able to control myself very well. That was my feeling during that experience. Then I got frightened, and I came out of the meditation.
The next time I saw Swamiji, I started telling him the beginning of the experience, but Swamiji interrupted and completed the story for me. “Then you got frightened, and so the meditation broke.” He told me, “You shouldn’t get frightened at all. You should just think of Swamiji. You think of Swamiji and everything will be all right.”
Astral Flying — Child’s Play
There were some small Muslim boys who used to play with my son. I would get all the children together and make them sit for meditation.
This one little fellow wanted to travel in meditation. The rest got up but this boy remained in meditation. I didn’t know what to do with this little boy. I asked Swamiji and he said to let him be. So I closed the doors and I left him sitting there. Swamiji retired to his room. We had lunch and then Swamiji rested.
This child continued to meditate. After a long while he got up and came to me and said, “Oh, I don’t know where I had been.” He had told Swamiji that he wanted to travel. He went traveling in his meditation and he didn’t know where he’d gone. This little boy came from a village. The only ocean he had seen was in a picture, yet he described traveling in the sky over the sea. The biggest town he had seen was Agra, but he had seen, “tall buildings, like you’ve never seen anywhere.” He described how he was looking down at an angle. “Across the seas. I don’t know.”