Spiritual Levitations?

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Spiritual Levitations?

Postby mccabe24 » Sep 14th, '06, 01:25



I was reading about levitation and came across this thing called a yoga levitation :? . I don't see how this could work, but here are some links. This just seems too weird....

http://www.naruse-yoga.com/levitation.html

http://home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/Wingmakers ... ation.html

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Postby Godd » Sep 14th, '06, 01:57

not possible.. haha probably just a scam of some sort in my opinion

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Postby mccabe24 » Sep 14th, '06, 02:56

That's what I thought. The picture of the old guy levitating creeps me out, though...

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Postby Craig Browning » Sep 14th, '06, 04:13

I don't know about the photo but the first step of the "Developing Levitation" process is an old isometric trick based on muscle reflex. Psychologically I can see how one could stage this in a way as to appeal to the fantasy of the ignorant.

Long ago when Transendental Meditation was big there was a technique known as Sedi or Seti in which one would learn to "fly" (hop, is much closer to the truth) and even dematerialize... in fact, the advocates of TM claim that this was how Doug Henning (one of their members) was able to walk through a solid brick wall.

If it seems a bit far fetched, such as these claims do, it's more than likely a con. :wink:

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Postby Mandrake » Sep 14th, '06, 09:42

The black and white sequence of photos look similar to the ones 'exposed' on UK TV many years ago. People were bouncing cross-legged on mattresses and the shot was taken right at the top of the bounce so in freeze frame it looks like they're levitating. The movie camera footage taken at the same time showed this bouncing but the claim was that after training the 'bouncer' stayed at the top point longer than they could before. These photos show a thin rug or mattress on a hard floor so are not exactly the same - I'm assuming that photo retouching has been ruled out here but there is very little difference in each photo so could they be almost the same high point shot in quick succession? The low angle of the colour photo shows that the photographer knows what he's doing in terms of giving the figure an even more dramatic pose. For some reason, I just don't find it very convincing at all the 'explanation' of how to levitate:
It is to use instantaneously prana, or vital energy permeating the universe. Place one's conscious on the destination point for floating. According as the amount of consciousness increases, existential reversal takes place and the physical self becomes evacuated. Then, the physical body gets attracted toward the consciousness which has been already shifted to the destination. One can thus levitate.
also suggests gobbldeegook used to try and blind us all with science.

The meditation and relaxation advice in the other link is good and, IMHO, would probably ease a lot of the stresses and strains of modern life if done properly. I seriously doubt if physical levitation would occur but what do I know? I'd be happy to see someone disprove my scepticism!

(Excuse me for a few moments, I need to go and raise my Kundalini, it's dropped to an alarmingly low level!)

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Postby Tomo » Sep 14th, '06, 11:09

I closed the page as soon as I reached the word "energy".

There was a wacky political party in the UK in the 1990s who reckoned the way to solve the world's problems was to think nice thougths and bounce about on crash mats pretendng to fly. For the life of me, I can't remember their name, but they managed to scrape the cash together for a party election broadcast and t was an absolute scream!

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Postby Mandrake » Sep 14th, '06, 11:27

I'm tempted to say that anyone with only half a brain cell will know that you can't resist or reverse the force of gravity purely by thought alone but that might invoke criticism of having a closed mind - which I probably do. The descriptive wording just screams out that it's not genuine and somebody somewhere is deluding themselves and a few others no doubt but, again, that's closed minded of me. However, until such claims can be demonstrated in the open air in front of genuinely impartial and intelligent observers, I'll have to stay closed minded.

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Postby Lawrence » Sep 14th, '06, 11:51

it's wires i tells yee! WIRES!!!!!

i know a couple of people who really believe in this kind of thing, i however believe very highly in the power of suggestion. it's like i keep telling my medicinal learning friend "medicine is only 10% pharmaciutical, and 90% pychosomatic"

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Postby Craig Browning » Sep 14th, '06, 12:13

Lawrence wrote:it's wires i tells yee! WIRES!!!!!


:lol: That reminds me of a guy I saw work long ago at a PCAM convention I believe it was. He's doing a levitation and all the while the guys in the audiences are snickering and chuckling and pointing up at the bit because the lighting is so horrid you can see the wires... once she is in position the mage steps forward for applause and then pauses as he looks back at the young lady... he motions to the audience to wait a second, wipes his brow with a hank and then proceeds to pull out a pair of wire-cutters and goes about the task of cutting all the wires... this results in the board upon which the young lady was laying to fall to the floor while she remained nice & high...

The guy sucked us in big time :lol:

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Postby Tomo » Sep 14th, '06, 12:48

Mandrake wrote:I'll have to stay closed minded.

I always find it interesting that proponents of nonsense insist you have to open your mind rather than look critically at what's happening. Nothing more, just have an open mind. But the problem with having an open mind and no method of discriminating what's reasonable to place in it is that it fills with an awful lot of nonsense.

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Postby Jerome the French » Sep 14th, '06, 15:30

i can do that after a good chilli coln carne.

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Postby mccabe24 » Sep 14th, '06, 22:46

^

:x Dude. I did not want to hear that.

As for the wires, look at the shaddow of the old guy in the orange suit. You can see no wire shaddows from him. I don't think he is acctually levitating, but I don't think he is using wires. Maybe that mat below him is a mattress, as Mandrake mentioned above. By the way Mandrake, how's your Kundalini doing :lol:?

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Postby Mandrake » Sep 15th, '06, 09:29

mccabe24 wrote:By the way Mandrake, how's your Kundalini doing :lol:?
It got very damp in yesterday's rain and is drooping badly - I've tried all the suggested mental and ethereal exercises but I fear it may be time to give up and put it in a splint :cry: .

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Postby Yorkshire Pudding » Sep 15th, '06, 10:27

Tomo wrote:There was a wacky political party in the UK in the 1990s who reckoned the way to solve the world's problems was to think nice thougths and bounce about on crash mats pretendng to fly.


IIRC it was the Natural Law Party and they called it 'Yogic Flying'. What a scream that was!

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Postby Tomo » Sep 15th, '06, 11:03

Yorkshire Pudding wrote:IIRC it was the Natural Law Party and they called it 'Yogic Flying'. What a scream that was!

Ah! That's it. I remember promising myself that if they could fly up my stairs they'd get my vote, but all I got was a leaflet through the door instead of a proper door-stepping.

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