Theos-Talk Archives (October 2004 Message tt00267)

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "clarity12.1@j..." 
<clarity12.1@j...> wrote:
> To Whomever can respond
> 
> I heard of the yogi mummifiying himself and thus being in some kin?
of conscious state, though the body is apparently dead.

There are two things to which you could be referring. One is 
suspended animation, in which the body "dies" in the sense of all 
apparent signs of life stopping. In this case the yogi is 
subsequently resuscitated by his followers, since he is unable to 
emerge from such a state himself. This practice of burial alive has 
been rendered illegal in India because the sleeping yogis have been 
known to be consumed by armies of white ants, which is a gruesome 
fate even for an ascetic.

The other thing to which you could be referring is the case of 
Parahamsa Yogananda. His followers claim he did die, but that they 
did not think he decomposed. The only way they could know that, of 
course, is that he smelled as bad when he was alive as he did after 
death and they could not tell the difference. Presumably they did 
not sit there endlessly watching him rot. Whether non-use of a 
deodorant is a positive thing or not is beyond my vast yogic powers 
to say. I would not want him in my ashram, dead or alive if he 
smelled that bad. Whew!

> What state of mind would occur in this yogic state

Some fellow was buried alive in India for ten months at the beginning 
of the nineteenth century and later said he had "delicious dreams" 
but did not elaborate. JD Ward published an article in THE 
ROSICRUCIAN DIGEST many years ago entitled "Suspended Animation" 
which detailed such dreams, but I cannot reproduce it without 
violating the copyright, so suggest you get a copy. Incidentally 
suspended animation is in the do-not-try-this-at-home category in 
case any aspiring yogis read this.

> I looking for a reasonably credible explanation for the influence
> of hgily evoled beings, those living amongst us perhaps, whose
> lives have great import and can somehow influence group affairs.

Just as out bodies all come from the same substance of the earth so 
our souls in theory come from the same body of "soul stuff" and are 
eventually re-absorbed into it as our bodies return to the dust of 
the earth. This collective reservoir of "soul stuff" (cosmic 
consciousness if you will, Oversoul, or anima mundi) is influenced by 
our thoughts and influences them in turn. It is therefore impacted 
by good and evil men alike, and, unfortunately, by religious 
Theosophical Fundamentalists as well. No one ever said all the 
influences were good.