How does one consciously leave the body?
—Peter , United States
Dear Peter,
To leave one’s body consciously one most have learned the art of consciously stopping the breath. The breath is the cord that binds the soul to the body. Breathlessness is learned by avanced pranayama techniques such as Kriya Yoga, in which one learns to direct the flow of energy and, therefore, of consciousness out of the superficial astral spine of ida and pingala into the deep inner spine, the sushumna.
Breathlessness is deathlessness.
There is a Vedic rite some Yogis use before leaving their body consciously, which also Lahiri Mahasaya applied, as one can read in the Autobiography of a Yogi: it consists in turning the body three times in a circle, and then facing north. After that the yogi sits in meditative posture, enters breathlessness and exits his body consciously and blissfully.
I don’t know why you ask. But leaving the body in any other way is not recommended. The soul still has lessons to learn. Curiously, Yogananda wrote that there are angels (divine intelligence) in our chakras who decide when it is time for us to leave the body.
God Bless You,
Jayadev
