Is it possible for human beings to levitate? Throughout history there have been many anecdotal accounts of people levitating. Many religions have their traditional stories of levitation. Milarepa, the great thirteenth century yogi of Tibet, is said to have had the ability to levitate. The Ninja of Japan also reportedly were able to levitate. Some of the best records of levitations are among Christian documents which indicate that over 200 Catholic Saints have been credited with levitating.

One of the more remarkable and documented accounts of levitation is of St. Joseph of Cupertino born in 1603 in Apulia, Italy. He was born in a stable, was not well educated, but yet was considered to be very wise. He fasted for 40 days 7 times a year and was able to communicate with animals. He is said to have achieved his ability to levitate after over two decades of intense spiritual practice. He levitated before hundreds of witnesses including one incident when he levitated several feet above the ground in front of Pope Urban VIII. He also levitated before two cardinals. At another time, during Mass, he floated through the air over the altar. He is also reported to have levitated to the topmost spires of St. Peter’s Cathedral. His over one hundred recorded levitations earned him the nickname, the Flying Friar. His longest period of levitation was two hours. He died September 18, 1663 from a severe fever. He was canonized July 16,1767 by Pope Clement XIII. The Church considered his ability to levitate to have been the work of God. A biography of this great saint was written in 1753, at the time of his beatification. It is based on the Acta Sanctorum and the official documentation from the process that obtained his beatification on Februray 24, 1753 by Pope Benedict XIV. The book, St. Joseph of Cupertino, may be ordered at Christ the King Traditional Catholic Books & Gifts.

Other saints who have been reported to levitate were St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the cross; they levitated together up to the ceiling of St. Peter’s Cathedral. St. Teresa stated that she levitated involuntarily during moments of rapture. Sister Anne was an eyewitness to one of St. Teresa’s levitations. In response to an inquiry thirty years later she made a sworn deposition to verify her witness of St. Teresa’s levitation. Other documented Christian levitating saints include: St. Edmund, then Archbishop of Canterbury circa 1242; Sister Mary, an Arabian Carmelite nun in Bethlehem circa 1700; St. Adolphus Liguori in Foggia during 1777; and Father Suarez at Santa Cruz in Southern Argentina in 1911.

Unfortunately, no known photographs exist of Father Suarez's levitations in 1911. So, other than written records, no actual proof exists. It wasn’t until recent times that the levitation phenomenon was photographed as well as scrutinized by investigators. One such opportunity to observe and photograph a levitation exhibition occurred on June 6, 1936 in Southern India. An Indian yogi, Subbayah Pullavar, levitated for five minutes in front of about 150 witnesses. The exhibition was done around noon on a cloudless, sunny day. Visibility was not obscured. The Illustrated London News carried the story and photos. The photos were taken from various angles by P. Y. Plunkett who witnessed and also scrutinized the entire event.

Yogi Pullavar’s attendants erected a small tent in an open area. Yogi Pullavar began by ritualistically pouring water in a circle around the tent. Shoes were prohibited within the area marked by the circle. Yogi Pullavar then entered the tent where he remained hidden from view for a few minutes. The attendants then removed the tent. Yogi Pullavar was seen suspended horizontally several feet above the ground. He was in a trance, lightly resting his hand on top of a cloth covered stick. He did not exert pressure on the stick. He apparently used the stick as a point of reference rather than for support. Many photographs were taken from various angles of this exhibition. Witnesses were permitted to thoroughly examine the levitation. They thoroughly searched for strings, props and any means of possible support above, below and around the levitating Pullavar. Nothing was found.

After four minutes the attendants erected the tent around Yogi Pullavar to shield him as he made his descent. P.Y. Plunkett positioned himself so that the sunlight enabled him to discern Pullavar through the thin cloth tent walls. Plunkett said that he noticed Yogi Pullavar gently swaying for a short time while still in mid-air. Then, he slowly sank in a horizontal position to the ground. The process took around five minutes to complete.

When the tent was again removed, Yogi Pullavar was laying on the ground, still in a deep trance. Volunteers were asked to try to bend Pullavar’s limbs. His arms and legs could not be bent from their position. Attendants had to splash water on Yogi Pullavar and rub him down for five minutes before he came out of his trance and was again able to use his limbs.

If such accounts of human levitation are true, then what enables a human being to counter the force of gravity and levitate? It defies Western logic. Perhaps the physical universe is not a physical universe at all. Perhaps it is just a play of our own conscious thinking, limited by our own consciousness. Perhaps by shifting our conscious awareness to the subtle more powerful regions of the mind we can transcend the limitations that we have at the more concrete expressions of consciousness that we call physical matter.

Quantum mechanics, an aspect of modern physics, identifies a field of life called the unified field, or ground state, which is the fundamental nonchanging field of life. It is eternal, unbounded, beyond space and time, wherein are contained all possibilities. It is the unmanifested field of pure potentiality from where all force and matter fields emerge. If you have this you have everything. Some physicists early on have postulated that this unmanifested field of pure potentiality may be consciousness itself. Max Planck stated, "I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness." And Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington said, "All through the physical world runs the unknown content that must surely be the stuff of our consciousness."

Renowned Harvard graduate and physicist, Dr. John Hagelin, is spearheading the cutting edge of the recent discovery that a unified field of consciousness is indeed at the foundation of all conscious experience. He argues that consciousness is fundamental in nature; the lively origin and basis of everything in creation and not merely the result of biochemical processes in the brain. Dr. Hagelin identifies numerous parallels between the qualities of the single unified field sought by Einstein and the qualities of consciousness. He argues that consciousness is the unified field.

This unified field of consciousness, that is the unified field of nature, is your own inner nature as well. It is your inner Being. It is from here that all impulses of creativity emerge. The reality of life, which was once shrouded in mysticism, is today being understood in terms of modern science. To better understand how consciousness constructs our reality, I highly recommend seeing the documentary-drama film, What the Bleep Do We Know!? For more information, please visit their website at What the BLEEP Do We Know!?

The unified field is the field of all possibilities because it is the home of all the laws of nature, the residence of the constitution of the universe. This is the level from which all of nature manifests and operates. And it does so according to its inherent constitution, the laws of nature that reside therein. This unified field of the universe has now been discovered to be the unified field of consciousness.

Because the unified field of consciousness is your own inner nature you need not look far to find it. It is easily experienced through the practice of deep meditation. All you need to do is to bring your awareness to the deep inner level of unified consciousness, and imbibe that status within your conscious awareness. Operating from that status you gain command and support of all the laws of nature.

According to the Vedic scripture there are 112 techniques for transcending the gross material field of experience to bring one's attention deep within oneself to the transcendental, most powerful level of the mind. Some of the techniques are for recluses, others are for the householder way of life. Some of the techniques have been embraced by various schools of yoga and made palatable for the westerner’s active life style. Students of yoga should thoroughly research the various techniques that are available and select a program that they feel is most suitable for them. My personal preference has been the Transcendental Meditation technique and the advanced practice called the TM-Sidhi Program, both taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I have 35 years experience with these programs and I highly recommend them. For more information please see The Transcendental Meditation Program.

The TM-Sidhi program incorporates various Sutras (formulas). By using these formulas while in the deep transcendental state of meditation one is able to perform extraordinary feats such as Yogic Flying. The next chapter explains the author’s experience with Yogic Flying.