Haha, if only the flip side were anything like we imagine once the veil gives way and the illusions are shaken down (2012, anyone?). Sometimes I wonder if those who claim these states and fantastic feats are embarrassed at or confused by prior misconceptions and fumble at ways to describe the ecstatic and unexplained experiences had at the edge of space and time. It doesn't help that no measurements are taken and there's no data to show for it, and accounts of these people and events are merely eyewitness testimony... and eyewitness testimony is notoriously poor, the prover proves what the thinker thinks. Add to that the common case that when sharing a space and interaction with a person who may have a more broad scope of understanding can quickly turn into a psychedelic experience in its own right... I'm sure we're all familiar with the human tendancy to forget reason when confronted with ecstasy... and it strongly seems to me that this stuff is simply confabulation in the face of the poorly understood.
I'm not saying this as a pure skeptic, but rather as somebody who is routinely and involuntarily thrust into the midst of the fantastic and unexplained, who has no choice but to face it with reason and determination. I am not one to live in denial of the tremendum of my own experience, nor am I one to take it to the head and jump on the "I'm a lightworker/shaman/ET/mystic/indigo/inter-dimensional personality complex!" boat... Either of these extremes result in immediate catastrophe. I am sure that many have experiences that reinforce their fantastic beliefs and lead them the way of the ridiculous... and more power to them; The infinite opportunity and beauty of life is our to see and do with as we individually please. Perhaps they're on the path more suited to discovery and what we may call truth, it's not my place to say.
What I can say, though, is that nothing in my treacherous experience has indicated to me that these fantastic and far-out extremes are anything like they seem, not even my own experience of these extremes. For a time, perhaps... but alas, the world does not care what I believe, and does a great job of putting these theories to the test in the cold light of day. What I have seen though, is that while the magic may be fleeting and absurd at the yonder edges, it is infinite and immediately accessible in the simple beauty of the present moment.
So at the end of all that, I'll throw myself back into the speculative world of the discussion by tossing in my own two cents:
In the context of this "gross body/light body" framework, there is often a trend toward the dissolution of the physical state leading to the primacy of the essential, non-physical state. A compelling idea indeed, especially when considered by the philosophe, seeker or those seeking healing. It seems to resonate perfectly with what we seek, an end to the pains, confusion and limitations of our current state and a transcendence toward an uninhibited state, unified in gnosos with the whole of the universe.
While it is indeed a nice idea, and may even shed light on some crucial points that our more conventional, "terrestrial" models may ignore, It betrays a necessary duality that nags at me unceasingly. That each state, the physical and vibrational, are not implicitly joined and dependent on each other to exist at all. Embracethevoid plays at it deliciously:
embracethevoid said:
The Rainbow body is one you already abide in, but you use this vehicle of flesh to execute your will. When it learns enough, you move the seat of awareness from the physical, to the actual wavelengths of light/musical tones that resonate and animate the body.
I would like to propose the real meat and potatoes of the matter might perfectly between both worlds; That in the complete recognition that the material and energetic are in their manifestations of the same indivisible and undefinable ground of existence, that a harmony may be reached that not only allows each part to operate more freely, but allows each part to cooperate with each other part to act as a unified whole: Mind, Body, Spirit, Matter, Energy, Light and everything else, all together and in harmony.
The result, as considered from this hypothetical standpoint, may not be so incredible as it is described as in myth... Maybe to the uninitiated mind it may be fantastical (as we see the recently-awakened are prone to messianic delusions and a mad urge to correlate ideas), but it seems more likely to me that it is just all a whole lot simpler than it seems at first.
Indeed, if this weren't the case, either precious few of us humans have made it to the other side with any proof for the pudding, or those who do have good reason to leave absurd myth to the seekers, shut their mouths when it counts, and go their own way with their hard-won boon rather than waste time (and risk misunderstanding) in convincing the masses to recognize their achievement. Discipline in determining what remains unsaid is quite a common theme in (especially eastern) spiritual practices... this seems like no stretch to me.
