Introduction.
Levitation from the latin word ‘Levitas’ meaning lightness is the process where an object is stably suspended without any physical contact against gravity.
Then there is levitation which involves a human body gets suspended in the same manner. The act has deep spiritual roots and was commonly mistaken as a ‘Trick’ and of late has become synonymous with Street magic. Magicians like David Blaine and David Copperfield have brought it for the purview of the Smartphone toting public.
The search.
There has been mentions of the act in different religious orders ranging from Buddhism – Where Buddha levitated over water to Christianity – Where Christ walked on water and his ascension to heaven and Hinduism – Siddha yogies who could levitate at will, but what caught my attention when i was a little boy was the completely fictional character of the levitating Buddhist monk in Tintin in Tibet. I am sure most of us are aware of this lovely character who rises up in the air and has the gift of clairvoyance.
This character born off the fertile imagination of Georges Prosper Remi (Herge) was my guiding light throughout the years and pointed his magical finger towards Tibet as the place where I can learn more about or maybe actually learn to do this amazing feat.
My next prompt came from David Copperfield, the famous magician who so glamorously flew across the grand canyon, much to the exaggerated gusto of his beautiful assistant. But then, he was a magician after all and I was a teen then and trying to disbelieve everything is kind of the job description for a teen.
When I was studying in Bangalore for my degree, i came across a name more tangible than a figment of imagination or an entertainer. St. Joseph of Cupertino who is also known as the levitating saint a deeply religious man who graced the 17th century, he was prone to ecstatic bouts of spirituality which would make him levitate without warning. Because of this, he is considered the patron saint of Air travelers.
The internet was widely available (mid 90’s) and I put its vast resources to use to search about the phenomenon and that is how i discovered Vajrayana, an offshoot of Tibetan Buddhism. My imaginary monk was pointing in the right direction after all. Practitioners of this tantric path to enlightenment could do astonishing feats including levitation. My correspondence with a few kind souls in Tibet guided me to the purest souls i have ever come across, a Tibetan monk who had made Bangalore his home whose name i cannot disclose as the path requires this to be a secret.
The Teacher.
The Teacher was a man of few words and did not encourage my pursuit of levitation at first. He thought (rightly) that i was trying for an alternative route for transportation. After months of follow-ups and kind words thrown in by my friends from Tibet, he agreed to have a meeting with me. Not much was divulged about his past life, but for the fact that he was one of the forces behind the establishment of the Tibetan colony in Kushal Nagar, Mysore.
We agreed to meet over the next few days to discuss the practice and to check the application of Vajrayana to my single obsession. My father, who has an open policy towards religious practices gave me the go-ahead to pursue this passion of mine. His condition was that I should finish my degree and then devote one year (only) to the pursuit of flight as he put it.
Soon after my degree was over, I went back to Bangalore and immersed myself in attempting to study the ancient order of Vajrayana. The Teacher was an adroit taskmaster who made me see the futility of studying levitation without knowing how the Chakras affect the body and soul and as a reflection, the surroundings. We delved deep into an ancient world and its time tested but not well known philosophies. I learned yoga and practiced to control my mind to attain the deep meditative state which is a requisite of a seeker of perfect enlightenment.
Seven months we continued on this routine and I was nowhere near my materialistic requirement. My Teacher’s family was supportive but apart from my father, no one knew what I was doing. Even my siblings nor my friends were aware of what I was doing. The constant pressure of leading a double life was getting to me and I started to skip the sessions even when the meditations took me to a spiritual level I had never before experienced before. So in all the naivety and impatience of youth, I slowly discontinued the practices and parted ways with The Teacher. It surprised me at that time that he did not show any disappointment at my inept behavior, but in his way of not using too many words, he assured me that I am on the right path and I will attain what I wanted if I persist. I took this the wrong way, I thought he was glad to get rid of my pestilence and my ego did not permit me to keep in touch with him afterwards.
The Rekindling.
Years passed and I finished my MBA, started working, got married and became a father. All this while, I kept up with my practice. Everyday a small amount of time was spent meditating at the most unusual places, while travelling, while waiting in an office and especially, those few moments before sleeping were my escape from this plane to another where ancients dwell and mysticism floats.
And then, about eight years after I lost touch with The Teacher, the trip to Coorg happened. We were visiting relatives in Coorg and went to the Tibetan settlement in Kushalnagar mainly to gorge on the delicious momos prepared by the settlers. But as we reached the settlement, we caught the sight of the Buddhist pagodas and I was drawn in. The next few hours were spent admiring the architecture, the ornate gates, the elaborate statues and the huge murals on the walls.
From outside, a deep and long haunting wail snapped me to my senses and I saw for the first time the famed Tibetan horn. In a huge prayer room next to the main temple, there sat about fifty monks in two neat rows chanting and clanging their cymbals. I was not exposed to all this mainly because I had never visited a Buddhist monastery till then and again, Vajrayana treads a different path compared to Teravada or Mahayana paths of Buddhism.
A gentle tap on my shoulder shook me out of my reverie and I turned expecting to see my impatient wife holding a howling one year old. But it was The Teacher. Looking calm and serene as the last day I met him. The years added lines to his face, but they also increased the circle of radiance he possessed. He smiled at my dumbfounded expression and just nodded his head in acknowledgement. Before I could splutter, he drew a circle in the crisp air of the monastery and pointed at my heart. Then he pointed at my family who were shopping in the Tibetan supermarket adjacent to the temple. Another smile and some sort of genuflection later, he joined the throng of monks inside the monastery and I never saw him again.
Fruition.
From the day I met The Teacher, I have visited the monastery at least three more times and have not been able to meet him or get his whereabouts. But meeting him made me look through all the notes and photocopies of the books he had given me. My quest was still alive. I was repossessed with the passion I had before and I plunged into the path of enlightenment once again with an abandon I never had before. All the excuses I made earlier disappeared as time seemed to collapse for me to do my job, spend time with my family and friends and spend time on meditation and practice.
It has been seven years since my life was turned around for the second time. This time I was not trying to achieve my singular goal of levitation; I was in it for real. With the absence of a teacher, I became an autodidact and poured through texts on Vajrayana for adding the strength and stability it gave my life. I started spending the energy I withdrew from the universe; spending it as a blessing to the people I used to meet. This practice enhanced my abilities to absorb the universal energy in a faster rate. The energy never left me; it was getting replenished much faster than I could expend it.
Then came the precise moment when I knew the time had come. I just knew it, I was in my ancestral home in Pala for holidays and the entire brood was there. I just asked my brother to grab his camera and start shooting. Stood outside in the sun, closed my eyes and concentrated on being one with the energy, concentrated on giving it all, all the good will and positive vibrations I have with me visualizing the receptive portals of my being opening into huge vortexes absorbing and replacing vibrations both good and bad and replacing them with positive vibrations. This was new. This was another level - I knew it. I was inside, the doors had opened and I was where I wanted to be. To be the giver. To take in the bad and give out the good. This was the knowledge I was seeking. This was the simple truth the holy men conveyed. I could not see or hear anything, but through my closed eyes, i could feel happiness spread through the people surrounding me. And I understood why my Teacher drew the circle in the air the last time I met him. I smiled, suspended on air. A smile of contentment.
The picture was taken by my brother while I was levitating; I have no recollection of the incident.
Caution: Meditation of this path should not be attempted without the presence and guidance of a knowledgeable master.
Thank you for reading the story; it is a work of pure fiction published on my Facebook page. This work is dedicated to you. You who had the patience to read the entire 1802 words here.
Note: Vajrayana is one of the paths of Buddhism. The levitation part is a work of fiction.
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