Liberation

The final stage, in Yoga doctrine, rarely can be attained in one lifetime.

Usually, several births are required to achieve liberation, first from the world of phenomena, then from thoughts of self, and finally from the spirit’s entanglement with matter.

The separation of spirit from matter is Kāivalya, or true liberation.

As adept Yogi approach Kāivalya, they are supposed to acquire certain remarkable capacities.

They become insensible to heat or cold, to injury, to pleasure or pain.

They can perform supernatural mental and physical feats and even change the course of nature.

They can distinguish the subtlest elements of matter and can, at the same time, see the universe as a whole, comprehending both microcosm and macrocosm in the same thought.Such are the powers claimed or promised by Yoga.

Few, if any, of these powers have been successfully demonstrated to disinterested observers.

Nevertheless, extraordinary achievements have been reported by sober witnesses.

Most impressive, perhaps, is the Yogi-sleep, in which animation is nearly suspended, enabling the Yogi to be buried alive for days.

The Yogi-sleep has been explained by some authorities as a sort of cataleptic state induced by self-hypnosis and not essentially different from the cataleptic states that can be seen in mental hospitals.