Investigating the Rainbow Body

 

 

 

Michael Sheehy reviews Rainbow Body and Resurrection by Francis V. Tiso. From the Winter 2016 issue of Buddhadharma. Blogger ref https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Multi-Dimensional_Science

Art by Mary Devincentis Herzog.

If we look across spiritual traditions, we find the human body is broadly envisioned to be a vessel that contains the essence of existence and transformation—a container, likened to clothes that are to be stripped off or a boat that is to be abandoned once one has reached the breaking shore at death. Similarly, there are modern philosophical and scientific models that conceive the body to exist separately from the mind, the kind of mind/body dualism that Gilbert Ryle described as a “ghost in the machine.”
Though we find practices of bodily abandonment and denigration throughout Indian spirituality, the Vajrayana Buddhist traditions that were received and developed in Tibet—due to the synthetic collaborations of Buddhism with the arts and sciences of medicine, astrology, alchemy, and physiology that occurred during the formative period of tantra during the seventh through ninth centuries—place an emphasis on the body as a locus of transformation. Similar to Daoist traditions of alchemical transformation, there are Vajrayana traditions that say that all tangible matter consists of congealed forms of the five elements: space, air, fire, water, and earth. As described in The Tibetan Book of the Dead and illustrated in the murals of the Lukhang or so-called Secret Temple of the Fifth Dalai Lama in Lhasa, there are cosmogonies that suggest the elemental energies that make up the cosmos are undifferentiated from those that make up the human body, and as such the body is a holon, simultaneously the individual person and the cosmic whole.

Vajrayana traditions view our bodies to be an evolutionary product of billions of years of bathing in bright light.

In Dzogchen cosmology, the primordial space of the cosmos is envisioned as being utterly open and translucent. Due to the natural effortless play of the cosmos itself, movement ensues. With this initial gesture, however slight, the element of air stirs up wind that oscillates rapidly into fire; from fire emerges the liquidity of water, and from water the solidity of rock and earth are stabilized. With this gradual gravitational collapse into the elemental forces that comprise the cosmos, a concomitant spiraling reconfigures matter into worlds wherein embodied beings emergently form. As such, the body is conceived to be a part of the whole, seemingly fragmented from itself. Not unlike contemporary astrophysics, Vajrayana traditions view our bodies to be an evolutionary product of billions of years of bathing in bright light.
Describing the reversal of this gestation process, The Tibetan Book of the Dead details the dissolution of these five elements during the time of death. First the body becomes heavy and sags as the earth element dissolves, saliva and mucus are excreted as the water element dissolves, the eyes roll backward as the fire element dissolves, the breath becomes wheezy as the air element dissolves, and finally consciousness flashes and flickers with turbulent visions as the space element dissolves from the physical body.
According to Dzogchen tradition, under certain circumstances the cosmic evolutionary process of gravitational collapse into solidity can turn itself back into a swirling, highly radiating configuration. That is, there are Tibetan traditions that suggest that meditative technologies can intentionally reverse this process of collapse, thereby altering the gravitational field so the inherent radiance of these condensed elements blossom. When this happens, the five elements of the body transform into the five lights of the color spectrum. The Tibetan name given to this fluorescence is jalu, literally translated as “rainbow body.”
Material bodies dissolving into light is the subject of Rainbow Body and Resurrection by Father Francis V. Tiso, a priest of the Diocese of Isernia–Venafro who holds a PhD in Tibetan Buddhism. Exploring the body as a vehicle of spiritual transformation, this book presents Father Tiso’s research on postmortem accounts of the rainbow body of Khenpo A Chö (1918–98) in eastern Tibet, historical background on Dzogchen and early Christianity, and a comparative discussion of the rainbow body and the mystical body of Christ.
Father Tiso introduces his work by acknowledging that because research on postmortem paranormal phenomena cannot be conducted in a laboratory, there are inherent tensions that exist in conducting scientific investigations while relying on the good word of faithful informants. Seeking to take the approach of a participant observer in the tradition of anthropology, Tiso’s chapter on Khenpo A Chö is largely a series of journal logs from fieldwork in eastern Tibet and India and transcripts from interviews with local eyewitnesses.

Rainbow Body and Resurrection
by Francis V. Tiso
North Atlantic Books, 2016
408 pages; $24.95

What is missing at the beginning of the book is an overview about rainbow body phenomena in Tibet. In addition to references to premodern episodes found in Tibetan literature, such as mentions of Padmasambhava’s consort Yeshe Tsogyal going rainbow, reports of rainbow bodies have been emerging from Tibet sporadically over the past century. Perhaps the best known among English-reading Buddhists is that of Yilungpa Sonam Namgyel, who went rainbow in 1952, as recounted by the late Chögyam Trungpa in his memoir, Born in Tibet. There is also the case of Changchub Dorje (1826–1961?), a medical doctor and leader of a Dzogchen community in the Nyarong region of eastern Tibet, about whom we have stories from his living disciples, including Lama Wangdor, and from Chögyal Namkhai Norbu’s The Crystal and the Way of Light. Other well-known cases include: Nyala Pema Dudul (1816–1872), whose life story was written about by the great Nyingma master Mipham Gyatso (1846–1912); the Bonpo meditation master Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen (1859-1935); Lingstsang Dzapa Tashi Odzer; and Khenchen Tsewang Rigzin (1883–1958). Also within the past few years there have been several reports such as those of Lama Achuk (1927–2011), Khenpo Tubten Sherab (1930–2015), and most recently, the mother of Lokgar Rinpoche. What is striking about many of these exceptional figures, including Changchub Dorje and Khenpo Tubten Sherab, is that they tended to be unflashy and nonchalant about their meditative accomplishments. In fact, there are numerous stories in Tibet of inconspicuous nomads and illiterate common folk who shocked their communities by going rainbow.
One particularly fascinating social dynamic that has emerged since the Cultural Revolution—and this has affected the reporting of numerous cases—is that the Chinese government has declared going rainbow to be illegal. In effect, because the phenomena so dramatically challenge the normative paradigm, there has essentially become a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about masters going rainbow in Tibet. For instance, Changchub Dorje’s shrunken bodily remains were hidden from authorities for years until the proper ceremonies could be openly performed.
So what exactly does rainbow body look like? According to these traditions, there are signs that indicate an adept has stabilized meditative realization of the mind’s innate basic radiance. While alive, it is said that the bodies of these beings do not cast a shadow in either lamplight or sunlight; at death, signs include their physical bodies dramatically shrinking in size, and their corpses exuding fragrances and perfumes rather than the odors of decomposition. A common Tibetan metric for the shrunken corpse of a body gone rainbow is the “length of a forearm.” In the case of Khenpo A Chö, as Father Tiso notes, the local Chinese press reported that his body “shrank to the size of a bean on the eighth day and disappeared on the tenth day. What remain are hair and nails.” Other signs are the sudden blooming of exotic plants and flowers anytime of year and, of course, rainbows appearing in the sky.
These signs mark someone who has attained rainbow body, and some are said to have occurred in each of the cases mentioned above. However, there is also a special kind of rainbow body known as the great transference into rainbow body, or jalu powa chemo. This is the complete transference of the material body into radiance so that the only residue of the body is hair and fingernails. Great transference is a deathless state. Realized by Dzogchen meditation masters such as Garab Dorje and Padmasambhava, the great transference rainbow body is understood to be the actual enlightened qualities of these realized masters. Not unlike Christian saints, these qualities are understood to be continually available for beings to receive through the reception of light.
While it is tempting to draw parallels between the luminous bodies of Dzogchen meditation masters and saints, or even with the risen mystical body of Christ, Father Tiso goes one step further. Discussing the exchange of religious ideas along the Silk Route, and possible historical influences of Syriac Christianity and Manichaeism in the pre-Buddhist civilization of Tibet, he asks if the first human teacher of Dzogchen, Garab Dorje, could have been a Christian master imported from the Middle East—or even the messiah himself.
The strength of Father Tiso’s book is its tremendous and ambitious breadth. He brings to the reader’s attention a broad spectrum of doctrinal and historical information not only about what he refers to as the “Church of the East” and possible doctrinal influences of Christian light mysticism on Tibetan religion but also about early Dzogchen practice. Discussing encounters of Christianity with Buddhism and Daoism, he cites little-known Christian mystics, including the Desert Fathers of Egypt, Evagrius, Abraham of Kashkar (ca 501–586), and John of Dalyatha (ca 690–786), all of whom he argues were critical figures in spreading the “religion of light.”
One example of this cross-fertilization with which Father Tiso tantalizes us is the Jesus Sutras, seventh-century Christian texts that were preserved among the caches of manuscripts discovered in the Central Asian cave complexes at Dunhuang. Thought to be have been produced by the Church of the East and Syro–Oriental Christian communities who traveled along the Silk Route, these texts remarkably borrow literary forms and devices employed in Buddhist sutra literature while echoing doctrinal claims of Christian theology in typical Buddhist parlance. For instance, similar in arrangement to many Mahayana Buddhist sutras, these texts present a question-and-answer dialogue about topics of spiritual self-cultivation, except instead of speaking with the Buddha, the interlocutor is the Messiah Christ.
Am I convinced that a Church of the East influenced Dzogchen in Tibet? Was Garab Dorje actually Jesus Christ? Did Christian light mysticism have a significant historical impact on the formation of yogic technologies that culminated in Tibetan expressions of rainbow body? These are certainly alluring questions. However, that’s not entirely the point. Father Tiso makes a compelling case by bringing his reader an intercultural, cross-historical, and interreligious discussion of the esoteric arts. To what extent there was bona fide synthesis among these meditative traditions from Egypt and Syria to China and Tibet is a discussion that warrants more attention and that this book propels forward. What’s most important, however, is that this work brings attention to the shared human experiment of contemplative transformation.

                                                         ---------------------------------

What Is Rainbow Body?

by Michael Sheehy| January 28, 2019

 

In Tibetan Buddhism, it is said that certain meditation practices can alter the appearance of the body, transforming it into five radiant lights. The name given to this physical fluorescence is “rainbow body.”

Five Cosmogenic Elements. Tibet; ca. 15th century, pigment on cloth. Rubin Museum of Art. F1998.16.5.2 (HAR 68878).

In Vajrayana traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, tangible matter is considered to be made up of five elements: space, air, fire, water, and earth. As described in Tibetan literary sources, including The Tibetan Book of the Dead, the elemental energies that make up the cosmos are understood to be undifferentiated from those that make up the human body. Therefore, the body is simultaneously an individual person and the cosmic whole.

Certain Buddhist meditation practices are meant to alter the gravitational field of these five elements that constitute the body, transforming them into the five radiant lights of the color spectrum. The Tibetan name given to this physical fluorescence is jalu, literally meaning, “rainbow body.” Rainbow body is also the name given to the transformation of the ordinary physical body as a result of years of specific disciplined practices.

Reports from inside Tibet of rainbow bodies have emerged sporadically over the past century.

Tibetan traditions have identified signs that indicate when a practitioner has achieved rainbow body. While alive, it is said that the bodies of these beings do not cast a shadow in either lamplight or sunlight. At death, it is said that the physical body dramatically shrinks in size, exuding fragrances and perfumes rather than the odors of decomposition. A common Tibetan metric for the shrunken corpse of a rainbow body is the “length of a forearm.” Other signs are the sudden blooming of exotic plants and flowers anytime of year, as well as rainbows appearing in the sky.

There is also a special kind of rainbow body known as the “great transference into rainbow body,” or jalu powa chemo. This is the complete transference of the material body into radiance so that the only thing left of the body is hair and fingernails. While the historical origins of this phenomena are not well studied, the concept of the rainbow body is associated with the eighth-century Dzogchen meditation master Padmasambhava who, according to legend, achieved great transference and entered into a deathless state of being.

Reports from inside Tibet of rainbow bodies have emerged sporadically over the past century, though there has been an upturn of accounts over the past decades. The best known case is that of Yilungpa Sonam Namgyel, who achieved rainbow body in 1952, as recounted by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in his memoir, Born in Tibet. There is also the case of Changchub Dorje, a medical doctor and leader of a Dzogchen community in the Nyarong region of eastern Tibet, about whom Chogyal Namkhai Norbu recounts in The Crystal and the Way of Light.

This article is adapted from a feature review published in the Winter 2016 issue of Buddhadharma.

Rainbow Body

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia/ Blogger ref  https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Multi-Dimensional_Science

 

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This article is about the Tibetan Buddhist concept. For the musical composition by Christopher Theofanidis, see Rainbow Body.

In Dzogchen, rainbow body (Tibetan: འཇའ་ལུས་, Wylie: 'ja' lus, Jalü or Jalus) is a level of realization. This may or may not be accompanied by the 'rainbow body phenomenon'. The rainbow body phenomenon is a religious topic which has been treated fairly seriously for centuries, including in the modern era. Other Vajrayanateachings also mention rainbow body phenomena.

Contents

• 1Rigpa
• 2Eyewitness account
• 3List of those reported to have attained the rainbow body
• 4Notes
• 5References
• 6Further reading
• 7External links

Rigpa[edit]

Main article: Rigpa

Tibetan letter "A" inside a thigle. The "A", which corresponds to the sound ‘ahh’,^[1] represents kadag while the thigle represents lhun grub.

The rainbow body phenomenon is a third person perspective of someone else attaining complete knowledge (Tibetan: རིག་པ, Wylie: rigpa). Knowledge is the absence of delusion regarding the display of the basis.

Rigpa has three wisdoms, which are kadag, lhun grub and thugs rje. Kadag deals with tregchöd.^[2] The lhun grub aspect has to do with esoteric practices, such as (but not limited to) Thödgal, that self-liberate the human body into a Sambhogakāya(rainbow body phenomenon).^[2][3] The symbol of Dzogchen is a Tibetan "A" wrapped in a thigle. The "A" represents kadagwhile the thigle represents lhun grub. The third wisdom, thugs rje (compassion), is the inseparability of the previous two wisdoms.

In Dzogchen, a fundamental point of practice is to distinguish rigpa from sems (mind).^[4]

The ultimate fruition of the thodgal practices is a body of pure light, called a rainbow body (Wylie 'ja' lus, pronounced ja lü.)^[5] If the four visions of thogal are not completed before death, then during death, from the point of view of an external observer, the dying person starts to shrink until he or she disappears. Usually fingernails, toenails and hair are left behind^[6] (see e.g. Togden Ugyen Tendzin, Ayu Khandro, Changchub Dorje). The attainment of the rainbow body is typically accompanied by the appearance of lights and rainbows.^[5]

Exceptional practitioners are held to realize a higher type of rainbow body without dying. Having completed the four visions before death, the individual focuses on the lights that surround the fingers. His or her physical body self-liberates into a nonmaterial body of light (a Sambhogakāya) with the ability to exist and abide wherever and whenever as pointed by one's compassion.^[7]

Eyewitness account[edit]

Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen's Heart Drops of Dharmakaya, a Kunzang Nyingtic Dzogchen meditation manual commentated on by Lopon Tenzin Namdak, contains an eyewitness account of his main students' bodies shrinking and rainbows appearing in the sky at death.^[8]

List of those reported to have attained the rainbow body[edit]

• Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen (1935)^{[citation needed]}
• Sodnam Namgyal (1952)^[9]
• Ayu Khandro (1953)^[10]
• Kenchen Tsewang Rigdzin (1958)^{[citation needed]}
• Togden Ugyen Tendzin (1962) ^[11]
• Khenpo A-chos (1998)^[12]

Notes[edit]

1. ^ Norbu 2002, p. 56.
2. ^ Jump up to:^a b Garry 2005, p. 296.
3. ^ Dalai Lama 2004, p. 32.
4. ^ Kunsang 2012, p. 154.
5. ^ Jump up to:^a b Ray 2001, p. 323.
6. ^ Norbu 1999, pp. 158-161.
7. ^ Rangdrol & Matthieu 2001, p. 153.
8. ^ Gyaltsen 2002, pp. 135-137.
9. ^ Rabjam, Thondup & Talbot 1996, pp. 137–139.
10. ^ Allione 2000.
11. ^ Norbu 2012.
12. ^ Holland 2002.

References[edit]

• Allione, Tsultrim (2000). Women of Wisdom. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 9781559391412.
• Dalai Lama (2004). Dzogchen: Heart Essence of the Great Perfection. Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 978-1-55939-219-8.
• Garry, Ron (2005). Wisdom Nectar: Dudjom Rinpoche's Heart Advice. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 9781559399517. The practice is that of Cutting through Solidity (khregs chod), which is related to primordial purity (ka dag); and Direct Vision of Reality (thod rgal), which is related to spontaneous presence (Ihun grub).
• Gyaltsen, Shardza Tasha (2002). Heart Drops Of Dharmakaya: Dzogchen Practice Of The Bon Tradition (2nf ed.). Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 978-1559391726.
• Holland, Gail (March–May 2002). "Christian Buddhist Explorations: The Rainbow Body". Institute of Noetic Sciences Review. Institute of Noetic Sciences (59).
• Kunsang, Erik Pema, tr. (2012). Perfect Clarity: A Tibetan Buddhist Anthology of Mahamudra and Dzogchen. Ranjung Yeshe Publications. ISBN 978-9627341697.
• Norbu, Chögyal Namkhai (1999). The Crystal and The Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen (New ed.). Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-135-9.
• Norbu, Chögyal Namkhai (2002). Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light (Rev. Exp. ed.). Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 978-1559391610.
• Norbu, Chögyal Namkhai (2012). Rainbow Body: The Life and Realization of a Tibetan Yogin, Togden Ugyen Tendzin. North Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-1583944912.
• Rabjam, Longchenpa; Thondup, Tulku, tr.; Talbot, Harold, ed. (1996). The Practice of Dzogchen (2nd ed.). Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-054-9.
• Rangdrol, Shabkar Tsogdruk; Matthieu, Richard, tr. (2001). The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 978-1559391542.
• Ray, Reginald (2001). Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet. Shambhala Publications. ISBN 9781570627729.

Further reading[edit]

• Blackman, Sushi, ed. (1997). Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die: Death Stories Of Tibetan, Hindu & Zen Masters. New York: Weatherhill, Inc. ISBN 0-8348-0391-7.
• Norbu, Chögyal Namkhai (1988). Shane, John, ed. The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen: The Teachings of Namkhai Norbu (1st ed.). Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-14-019084-8.
• Reynolds, John Myrdhin (1996). The Golden Letters (1st ed.). Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 978-1559390507.
• Sogyal Rinpoche (1993). Harvey, Andrew; Gaffney, Patrick, eds. Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (Rev. and Updated ed.). HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 978-0-06-250834-8.
• Wangyal Rinpoche, Tenzin (2002). Healing with Form, Energy, and Light. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-176-6.

External links[edit]

• Account of Khenpo A-Cho's Rainbow body attainment archived

Categories: 

• Buddhist terminology
• Chinese mythology
• Tibetan mythology
• Dzogchen
• Taoism
• Tantric practices
• Tibetan Buddhist practices

Radhasoami Phenomenology?

Tuesday, 14 March 2017

SPIRITUAL PHENOMENOLOGY IN RADHASOAMI FAITH

TOWARDS INTEGRATING EASTERN ARTS AND PHILOSOPHY OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND WESTERN PERSPECTIVES OF SCIENCE

(Rhythms of Macrocosmic Universe and Human Microcosm :

Consciousness Systemology Perspective)

Revered Prof. Prem Saran Satsangi

Leader of Radhasoami Faith, Dayalbagh

Chairman, Advisory Committee on Education

Dayalbagh Educational Institutions, Dayalbagh, Agra, INDIA

Excerpted from book entitled Consciousness : Integrating Eastern and Western Perspectives, Satsangi and Hameroff (Eds.) New Age Books, Delhi, ISBN: 978-81-7822-493-0, October 2016, Chapter 1, pp. 3-43.

First-Person Inner Experience Of Spiritual Phenomenology Through "Surat-Shabda-Yoga" (i.e. Meditational Practice of Uniting Spirit Current with Sound Current)

We have oath of secrecy in our faith (Radhasoami Faith) prohibiting members of the Faith from sharing inner experiences, but the Mentor or Adept is exempt from this oath and meditationists may confide in him as they do in other religions (e.g. confession). Accordingly, the identity of meditationists has been masked by the Mentor / Adept under an assigned Code Name before disclosing the first-person inner experience of spiritual phenomenology for scientific research investigations. As a Mentor or Adept, I have exercised the privilege of sharing inner experiences under the assigned code name without disclosing the individual personal identity.

Furthermore, as an Adept or Preceptor myself, I have the privilege to document my own experiences for the benefit of the scientific as well as spiritual community. Accordingly, first of all, I give my own experience of spiritual phenomenology. Though I bear code name O, but as a special privilege as an Adept, I declare that it is my phenomenology.

Code Name O : Spiritual Phenomenology

1. I have been frequently experiencing a Massive Flow of Spiritual Current from Apex of the head outward and downward resulting in perceptible shaking of body especially legs, particularly while standing, right since the day of my acclamation (on May 18, 2003) by Radhasoami Satsang, Dayalbagh as the VIII Sant Satguru of Radhasoami Satsang, Dayalbagh (the first ever instance taking place when I rose from my seat to acknowledge my acclamation publicly (in a gathering of approximately 25,000 in size). This has been continuing right to the present time.

2. Illuminated appearance of the refulgent form of Param Guru Huzur Dr. M.B. Lal Sahab (the preceding seventh Sant Satguru) in a brightly resplendent photo-frame, as it were.

3. Internally experiencing the reverberations of the Original Mystic Word Radha-soami rhythmically while meditating.

4. Internally experiencing progressively ascending succession of union of my spirit current with the sound current over a period of time during “induced” meditation practices ranging from “Bell and Conch” sound through percussion instrumental sounds through-stringed instrumental sounds to wind-instrumental sounds of flute and lute and further unidentified superbly spiritually melodious orchestra of regions beyond Sat Lok right through to the indescribable Region of Original Abode of Radhasoami accompanied by the Ultimate Realization of Param Sat Chit Premananand Prakash Shabda (Mystic Name) Anahad Nad in the Apex Region in a state of rapture together with experiencing its manifestation as reverberation of Radhasoami as the Original Mystic Name.

Now this is something which I have not found documented even by my predecessors in Radhasoami Faith. However, I have experienced it and experienced it progressively from day one (May 18, 2003) right since being publicly acclaimed as the Adept of Radhasoami Satsang, Dayalbagh, on succeeding the last Adept about a decade back. I vividly recall that it was when I rose to acknowledge the Acclamation as Adept by way of consensus, that I experienced the surge of massive flow of inner consciousness current which flooded me with spiritual intuition, as it were. Accordingly, I was not at all at a loss to say what I needed to. This is the kind of support that an Adept gets. This is what is meant by having the “hotline of communication” with an elevated level of consciousness. In other words, the Adept is always in communion with that elevated level of consciousness and whenever he needs support, he gets consciousness of that level immediately to answer any questions spontaneously. In fact, I might have no clue to what is being asked of me, but when the question is posed, I should be able to answer it from the repository of knowledge or consciousness available with the level from which my presiding deity comes. So that is the belief system in spiritual phenomenology. Similarly, it is common place that the first initiates do get the refulgent picture of their Mentor or Adept at the seat of the spirit or higher centres of consciousness to which they have gained access, when they perform meditation. This word Radhasoami, i.e. the original mystic word, resounds internally and that would take me through all the higher stages that I have mentioned in the sound clip (Table 1) brought to you as a simulation. I have undergone requisite inner experience and I can verify those stages. However, once I cross the intermediate stages and reach the highest stage, I may directly reach that stage and may not have to pass through the intermediate stages necessarily explicitly. Thus, it takes only a moment, as it were, to make the internal communication line hot with my source of consciousness. It does not take long. So all these successive sounds one goes through if one had not heard them earlier for a sustained period of time. Once one is endowed with this status of wearing the mantle of the successor adept, then one must have that elevated level of consciousness. In a way, that elevated consciousness is given to you, rather than being earned by you. This encapsulates some of my unique inner spiritual experiences as an Adept or Preceptor of Radhasoami Faith.

Code Name'V'  : Excerpts of Spiritual Phenomenology

Excerpts in the form of English translation from first person spiritual phenomenology of Code Name V (originally expounded in Hindi) are given herewith :

“I hear “Shabda” (i.e. Spiritual Sound), viz., mystic word Radhasoami and unstruck celestial sound during my meditational practice. While Radhasoami name resounds internally, I am not able to identify the accompanying musical instrument which plays clearly”.

“I see briefly “photo-frame” of Adept during meditation practice occasionally.”

“Once I heard drum-beats while going to bed. I hear sound of thunder quite frequently internally.”

“Once in Satsang Hall at Dayalbagh during the regime of the last adept, I was dazzled by the refulgence radiating from his forehead.”

“On Nov. 6, 2012 at IGCAR, Kalpakkam, while I felt enhanced concentration, I did not hear any mystic word or celestial sound internally during my individual meditation session.”

Code Name 'B' : Excerpts of Spiritual Phenomenology

"A day before acclamation on 17th May 2003 around 3.30 am, I was in my bed and was half asleep when I saw the Astral Form of Gracious Huzur Satsangi Sahab looking at me. I closed my eyes twice or thrice but the Swarup (Form) did not disappear."

"I have experienced that on special occasions like Arti, Bhandara, Basant and Holi, the Spiritual Current flows with a force during morning Satsang. At those times, "I am dazzled by the refulgence and brilliance emanating from the eyes and foreheard of Gracious Huzur."

"At Kalpakkam, during individual meditation session of fifteen minutes, I could concentrate better and felt peace and calm. During Dhyan, I could also intermittently see Gracious Huzur’s Swarup (Form). In the group meditation session also, I felt peace and happiness."

With larger samples of subject Code names, tentative hypotheses may be drawn, tested thoroughly and then asserted.

Additional References :

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03081079.2011.602016

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03081079.2014.893298

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03081079.2015.1076405

Readers of the blog are welcome to post their own experiences.