[Der Yoga‑Schlaf
(Samadhi)]
Translated from the German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
Stories have often appeared in newspapers and travelogues about Indian “fakirs” who, in the interests of science or to convince non-believers of the possibility of an existence independent of the mortal body, spent weeks or even months underground in buried locked in a coffin, and then awoke from that apparently dead state without having suffered any bodily harm from that long sleep, during which, as goes without saying, they received no nourishment. These fakirs claim that while their bodies are asleep their spirits enjoy a perfect degree of spiritual self-consciousness and they partake of a heavenly bliss in union with God.
One part of this process, namely the sleep of the body, which in these cases resembles a hypnotic sleep or a sleep caused by anesthesia, in that the body is insensible to external stimuli, has often been observed and studied by naturalists and scholars, and the phenomena occurring therein confirmed. The second part, namely the entry of the spirit or rather the soul into a higher state of consciousness, naturally eludes external observation and thus also scientific research. Nevertheless, this part is the most important; but if we do not experience it ourselves, only a study of the religions of the East, or even the history of the Christian saints, can give us some information about this spiritual condition. For the European, who moves only on the basis of so-called material science, only the external phenomenon is generally of interest, while the Indian, filled with religious feelings, does not consider this external phenomenon worthy of any special attention, and on the other hand considers it as the highest achievement of his life when he succeeds to come into this state of rapture and to find rest and bliss in union (yoga) with God.
There is no lack of examples of reports of fakirs buried alive. In a book published in Leipzig in 1896 there are several such stories, from which we choose the following.[2]
“An Indian rajah [Rāja] heard of a fakir named Haridas, who voluntarily allowed himself to be buried for several months, and after that period was revived. He had the fakir come to him, and he said without hesitation that he would submit to the experiment, to provide the proof that man’s true life does not depend on whether and how this life is expressed in the physical body, but that the personality of man is just the dwelling in which the spiritual individuality dwells, and that the true fakir was told that all possible precautions would be taken to prevent fraud on his part, but he agreed to this too and only asked that it be done, but to take care that his body is not intentionally disturbed, so that his soul may find him unharmed after the appointed time. He then made detailed preparations, which consisted of plugging his ears, nostrils, etc., with wax to prevent the entry of air, then fell into a near-death trance, in which there was no heartbeat, and not the slightest spark of life could be discovered. The apparent corpse was now sewn into a linen sack in the presence of the rajah and his court, which was sealed with the rajah’s own signet ring, and then placed in a chest, which the rajah locked with a lock he had brought with him, and then pocketed the key. This box was buried in the garden of one of the ministers, barley was sown on the burial mound, the whole thing was enclosed in a fence, and military posts were posted day and night.”
“On the fortieth day after the burial, the chest was taken out again in the presence of the Rajah, his ministers, General Ventura and some Englishmen, among whom was a doctor. The fakir lay there rigid and stiff as a corpse, exactly as he had been buried. His body was then exposed to heat, the wax removed, and air blown into it through the mouth, whereupon the body revived and, in spite of the experiment being passed, was just as well as before. One of the ministers present declared that he knew that the same fakir had previously been buried for four months. He related that at that time the fakir had his beard shaved off before the burial, and that when the excavation took place four months later, his chin was as smooth as on the day of the burial, which is proof of the complete cessation of all vital activity on the withdrawal of the soul.”
“The medical Journal of Calcutta, 1835, reports a similar experiment with a fakir, differing from that just related only in that it was employed by some English travelers, who did not bury the coffin in the ground, but hung it in the air , to protect it from the danger of being eaten by the ants. It seems that there is scarcely a limit to how long such a body can be preserved and revived, so long as it is well preserved.”
But not only in Indian but also in European literature there are numerous examples, both of religious “rapture” and of the so-called “witch’s sleep,” both of which are states associated with the above-mentioned samadhi, at least from the external point of view, many have resemblances. For example, the following can be read in Kiesewetter’s “Geheimwissenschaften”[3]:
“An example of such catalepsy and insensibility is given to us by Augustine, who says: “There was a priest by the name of Restitutus in Colomea, who at will, by uttering a wailing sound, drove himself so mad and lay there like a corpse that not only did he not feel pinching and stinging, but also several times without painful sensation and without the subsequent wound was burned with fire, and no one could tell he was breathing, and he himself said that he only heard loud voices as if from afar.
“Legends tell of numerous saints and martyrs who laughed at their tyrants during the cruellest torture, and did not lose their joy of soul under the most terrible torments. If we can no longer say today where the facts began and ended, the reports belonging here are certainly not without any justification.
“This phenomenon is repeated in all religious ecstasies. Horst tells of a Hussite who was tortured in 1461: “Then this strange thing happened to him that he was stretched out on the ladder, was tortured and lost all his external senses like a dead man, and felt no pain at all, so that the executioners, thinking he was dead, let him down from the ladder and threw him on the ground. After several hours he came to himself and wondered why his sides, hands and feet hurt so much. But after he saw the welts, stitches, burns and bloodstains on his body and the instruments of the executioners, he figured out what had happened. He then related a beautiful dream which he had during the torture. He was led to a beautiful, graceful meadow, in the middle of which stood a tree with many wonderful fruits. On it were various kinds of birds, which sang very beautifully, etc.—
“It is also known that [Jan] Huss and Hieronymus von Prague sang songs of gratitude and joy in the flames of the pyre up to their last breath, which is probably also due to ecstasy. Cardanus, like the priest Restitutus, was also able to voluntarily put himself in ecstasy and says about it: “As often as I want, I lose my senses and go into ecstasy. I will relate how I do this and how I feel about it, for I am not affected in the same way as that priest. He didn’t feel the most violent pain, his breathing stopped, and he only heard voices as if from afar. It’s not like that with me: I hear the voices quieter, but I don’t understand what they’re saying; I don’t know if I feel pain; however, I feel neither severe pinching nor the excruciating pain of podagra [inflammation of the great toe due to gout]. But I cannot remain in this state for long. When I enter into it I feel, or rather I cause a certain separation in the heart, as if the soul were about to leave, and a feeling is communicated to the whole body as if a door were being opened. It begins in the small brain and continues through the spinal cord. Great violence is required for this, and all I know is that I am then beside myself.”
If similar conditions are now made the subject of public exhibitions, the purpose is no other than to point out to people who are capable of thinking that apart from the external life activity of the body there is also an inner life of the soul, and that the life of the body depends on the presence of the soul life, but not the life of the soul, depends on the organic activity of the body. With that, the whole wrong, so-called “material” world-view, which is used to confusing the life principle with its revelations in nature, is shaken and overturned at its foundations. Such a high and noble purpose is well suited to induce a man, who has acquired the capacity to enter into this state to demonstrate it publicly, even at the risk of thereby attracting the suspicion of the ignorant crowd and the derision of the expose the ignorant.
Also, as with all arts, there are degrees of ability to practice that art. Sometimes inner enlightenment comes to a person just like a momentary flash of lightning. Some find themselves momentarily free from earthly bonds and elevated to infinity; others are capable of entering and remaining in that state for a shorter or longer period of time. Such people are called “yogis” and differ from the Indian fakirs in the purity of their attitude and probably also in their appearance, who are generally completely ignorant people or dirty beggars who, if they don’t just dabble in sleight of hand, at most have learned a few occult arts, which it is not the place to discuss here. The reason why not every “yogi” who can enter this state is able to remain in it for months without starving to death is that not everyone has developed this ability to such a high degree.
For the physiologist, even if he calls himself a psychologist, only the physical phenomena occurring in this condition are of interest; that which is in the soul, i.e., what goes on in the inner consciousness can only be known with certainty by someone who has learned to immerse himself in this consciousness, which, in addition to an innate ability and a suitable way of life, also requires many years of practice, through which one acquires mastery over one’s own thinking. In such cases, therefore, the physiologist looks for pathological symptoms, for example, tetanus, reaction to suggestion, and the like; but since there are no pathological conditions here, this condition is inexplicable for anyone who understands nothing about the philosophy of yoga, and there is no other way open to him than the suspicion of simulation, which, however, can easily be refuted by the fact that the body shows no other sensation to all external stimuli than can be observed in sensitive plants and in the muscles of freshly killed animals. There is no sign of an intelligence becoming aware of the bodily sensation.
Here the question arises: “Where is the soul of the yogi while his body is in this suspended state?” The answer to this is: “It is where we will all be when we have become free from all earthly bonds; for between a seemingly dead person and a really dead body there is only one essential difference, that in death the soul is completely separated from the body, while in the case of the apparent dead there is still a connection which makes it possible to call the soul back so that it can start its activity in the body anew, from which it emanated before man was born, in God; i.e., the individual consciousness has passed into universal consciousness; the yogi no longer knows anything about the world and also nothing more about his own personality. He could say with Voltaire: “Mon Esprit est partout, et mon coeur est ici.” [“My Spirit is everywhere, and my heart is here.”]
The word yog comes from Sanskrit and means “to unite.” Yoga means union with God, which can only be attained by overcoming self-delusion and self-sacrifice. The teaching of yoga is thus the foundation of the teachings of every true religious system, and union with God is the ultimate goal of all religious endeavour. It is the same in all religions, although symbolized in different ways in different systems.
In order to enable us to make a correct judgment about the “yoga sleep,” it is necessary to be well versed in “psychology” and to know the yoga philosophy as it is found in the works of German mystics, for example, in the writings by Meister Eckhart,[4] but is presented most extensively in the Vedas of the Indians, and in relation to which Aug. Duperon writes:
“Here, learned reader, is the key to the Indian sanctuary. It is a little rough from the rust. Enter if you dare, if you can, with a clean and pure heart, in the spirit as it were clinging to the supreme being and transferred to the same. Let the outer senses rest and wake up the inner ones! Your body is dead and sunk in the sea of knowledge and ignorance; According to the old Indian custom, recognize it as a divine statute that you see nothing but God and that there is nothing besides God.”[5]
However, Schopenhauer says:
“The Germans should be unreservedly enlightened about the pure Indian doctrine! They should know that Brahma, Vishnu, etc., are not mythological figures, but names for states, powers and qualities. The pure doctrine of Brahm is the origin of all religions, who they know and recognize, he has access to the religions of all peoples and sects. This teaching is not pantheism: Everything is created, what is created is not Brahm, it is only the greatness of Brahm. Everything is Brahm and Brahm is (the essential) in above all. This doctrine rejects materialism and skepticism; it leads to a stage where no desire for a higher enters. This doctrine represents the perfect divine world government; it is the sole infallible guide of moral action, it brings happiness even before death.”
As you can see, it is not a question of being hostile to or fighting against any religious system, but rather of finding and affirming what is true in each religious system, and proving that the teachings of Christianity, where they deal with spiritual things, are not just empty words, but refer to things which are as factual to our soul as the external material things are to our material body. This is also the whole purpose of our “Lotusblüten,” and it is not our concern to represent this or that opinion, to make propaganda for this or that party, but to indicate the way, which the wisest of all nations have recognized as the way to knowing the truth. We do not wish to convince anyone, but to give everyone the opportunity to gain the conviction he desires through an insight into the wisdom teachings of antiquity.
Notes
[1] The Yoga-sleep (Samadhi) [Der Yoga-Schlaf (Samadhi) Franz Hartmann, M.D. Lotusblüten 8, no. 50 (November 1896), 820-835] {Translated from the German by Robert Hutwohl. This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}
[2] “Lebendig begraben.” W. Friedrich, Leipzig.
[3] “Geheimwißenschaften.” Volume I, page 650.
[4] See: “Die Geheimlehre im Christentum, nach den Erklärungen von Meister Eckhart.” [“The Secret Doctrine in Christianity, According to the Explanations of Master Eckhart.”] Leipzig, 1895.
[5] The Oupnek’hat.