PopoyeSailor

My Opinion: From what I have seen and understood. Not all enlightened have same experiences of enlightenment. Some may experience absolute absence profoundly, some experience absolute presence with everything being one. Some experience both. Some never experience Prema(Unconditional Love) aspect of it(Best example U.G.Krishnamurthi - In one of his videos denied love as an aspect of enlightenment). Some may not get any special insights(What people call as spontaneous knowledge downloads). We hear stories of yogis, saints and sages who although preach non-duality, have lived through many lives through eons of time through multiple various realities. Yet, Most of the Non-Dualers in recent times having never experienced any of the infinitude of most wonderful creations in this (un)reality, seem to commit permanent suicide of merging into Brahman. Non-Dual realization when attained prematurely without proper mental preparation and without equal knowledge of both duality and non-duality, will make one talk like a robot with no feelings, rejecting duality like a plague. Who knows, may be after realising non-duality, one can also learn how to bring ego back again willfully, going in and out of duality with full control. Thus by extending the karmic cycle and experiencing myriad of experiences in various realms in various times, with very little suffering. Why give up individuality? I know there isn't any self to do the willing, but isn't that the same kind of impossibility for a ego self to realize and understand non-duality and yet the non-dual states are achieved(Impossible is attained). Similarly there may be a way to achieve dual-egoic identification once again from non-dual states as well. Who knows, in an imaginary dream reality anything should be possible, for Brahman has no restrictions.

Dear @0bserver, Note: My knowledge is only Intellectual. Yes, ultimately everything is just an imagination like a water in the mirage. You are right on that point. But, it seems that you think that reincarnation as an experience with-in this imaginary reality does not happen at all. May be you haven't watched the videos I posted. Please do watch them. They don't cease to exist. People do remember some details sometimes. Some yogis do remember many or all of their past lives. But, to intentionally remember all of such lives with all the details require deep meditational practices with the same intention. After death, only the Annamaya Kosha(physical body made from food) dies, The other subtle coverings like Pranamaya Kosha(Energetic), Manomaya Kosha(Mental), Vignyanamaya Kosha(Intellect), Anandamaya Kosha(Causal body whose nature is love and bliss) continue to exist even after death. Together all these 5 kosha(s)(Sheaths/Coverings) are collectively called as Pancha Koshas. Pancha means 5. They dissolve only after non-dual realisation, that too only after physical death of the body. In Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna has the same dilemma and asks Krishna: Arjuna: If one follow the path of spirituality and follow all good deeds, but die before attaining Moksha(liberation/enlightenment) what would become of that person's fate? wouldn't they lose everything and have to start again from the scratch in their future life? Krishna: Such saintly person will go to heavenly abodes of gods based on their worship of such gods, and having exhausted their good karma there(positive karmic tendencies - along with the desire, knowledge and belief of such abodes) in such abodes, will come back and take rebirth again here on earth(Having been forced by the karma that is based off of earthly experiences. - Also, doesn't mean always has to come back to earth) either in an aristocratic family or in a saintly home. Will again continue the same work from where they left off previously(the knowledge that was learned previously also has to be relearned. But, this time that portion of knowledge comes naturally and learned very easily without any hiccups. Rarely, some people may remember(Some of it or all of it) naturally without having to relearn everything) Nothing that has been gained spiritually is ever truly lost(Memory of it may not be readily accessible, but as a development in the psyche as a properly aligned goal with the absolute truth, always remains permanent). Mystical awakenings some times give you experiences that are tailor made to the person having them, due to social and cultural conditioning. But, at other times might cause realizations regarding fundamental truths which are true and real for any person of any social or cultural backgrounds. Reincarnation is one such fundamental truth which some times is experienced as a mystical experience even during deep meditation. But, because of knowledge of such truth not being taught in the said culture, one may try to explain it and treat in a way that makes sense in that particular culture / society(Some times in such cultures, such experiences may be wrongly treated as a case of possession, or a medical condition or other such and it'll curtail the spiritual growth of that individual, even causing unnecessary mental problems in his//her life). But, those societies / cultures which have long known about such truths and having studied them for thousands of years, can recognize it right away for what it really is and treat it appropriately. Just take a look at reincarnation research that's been happening for quite a few years now. It shows proof of reincarnation in almost all the major cultures, irrespective of their beliefs. I believe, the truth of reincarnation must have been known to almost every culture at one point, it only got lost recently in some cultures because of invasions, take over, propaganda and other such factors. May be reincarnation is a factor in this reality we are in. May be there are other realities which doesn't have reincarnation. That also seems plausible. 'What is and isn't possible within an imagination'?

Note: I'm not enlightened. My knowledge is scriptural, and as such is only intellectual. Dear @gswva Because of law of karma(Tendencies, conditioning, behavioural patterns, Influences from others & society, etc..) - Once every bit of karma is burnt off including prarabhdha and there is no individuation any more, that'll be the end of that individual. Karma is that fuel which keeps individuation going on. Karma is generated through identification with the body / mind. Any form of identification which is of the nature of ego with the sense of doer-ship creates karma. As long as there is a karmic(cause & effect) chain binding you to some reality, your individuality is safe. Because, even if you get enlightened, the Prarabhdha Karma - 'The fructified karma which determines the experiences of current life' will not get dissolved until the current body dies. Because if it did, the body along with individuation would die the very moment enlightenment happens due of lack of any binding mechanism(karma) to bind it to duality. As to how the initial karma gets generated, there are varying opinions. I have some speculation on it. But, because of lack of direct experience, not so sure about it my self. Also, not sure even if enlightenment might make you understand it. Perhaps samyama on karma might help understand it. Brahman doesn't split into anything. The apparent world is just a projection with-in Brahman - like water seen in a mirage. Even when the projection is happening, there is no change in Brahman(Just like a mirror, even though showing the entire world with-in itself, doesn't change its own state). These projections will keep happening with infinite realities with infinite Jiva(s)(living entities) emerging out and dissolving continuously. But, any PARTICULAR ENTITY with its own 'ego and experiences' having once merged into Brahman will never come back again. "But, I am of the opinion that even after such merging, if prompted by some agency in duality, which has knowledge of said individual, that individual or even a whole reality of a universe can be brought back". There is no self in Brahman. Brahman DOESN'T 'WILL' or 'WISH' to create anything(Willing and wishing are only for the creatures with a 'mind and ego' with-in duality. Brahman is beyond such concepts and is beyond Duality). Just like wetness and fluidity are intrinsic to water; Similarly, the nature of reflecting 'mirage like projections' of realities with-in itself is intrinsic to Brahman. Such projections are what we refer to as 'Creation / Universe'. Brahman has infinite of such Creations / Universes with-in itself. Each of such universes exist within the mind of an individuated atomic-particle(Jiva - PRIMARY CREATION) of Brahman as an imagination/dream-like-projection with-in that Jiva(living entity) - whom we call as god or creator of that universe. These jivas are like mirages without any separate existence apart from Brahman. Cosmic universes(SECONDARY CREATION) experienced with-in Jivas are like water seen in that mirage. (Mirage and Water-seen-in-it are both in truth Non-Existent). (Scriptural Description along with my *own opinion* to clarify the Scriptural Description): With-in each such universe/reality, infinite other universes/realities are created by the jivas who have died in it *and are creating them through mental projection in their after life states / In states of deep meditation, either conciously or unconciously(Just like we do in our dreams). Some of those projections may intermingle with one another and function as one single universe/reality, with many such intermingled universes/realities in existence. While some completely isolated from others as separate universes/realities. Having once come into existence, being supported by Brahman; these universes/realities continue to exist even after the destruction of its parent universe i.e change in state of that jiva or liberation of that jiva who is projecting the parent universe with-in the higher order reality. * With-in each of them, infinite other universes/realities exists. This cycle goes on ad-infinitum with-in them. We are living in one such reality/universe, whose nature is that which we experience in it. That's why reality as a whole is NOT JUST INFINITE IN SINGLE DIMENSION. BUT, INFINITE IN INFINITE DIMENSIONS. If you are to write it is as a mathematical equation, you can write its as Infinity(Infinity(Infinity(Infi.....))))))... infinitely. Not all experiences are neutral, There are literally infinity of experiences that can be had, ranging from suffering, to neutral, to unimaginably exotic realities, full of joy and happiness, stimulating all kinds of emotions and blissfulness with infinite variety to infinite degree. Because, Brahman is not limited by anything as it is the very source of everything. The human body/mind cannot grasp all of these realities from its current state, for it may not even have the faculties necessary to experience such states. No experience is permanently the same. Even with-in same reality experiences keep changing. "Just as karma, such is experience". Infact, some devotional schools of Bhakthi path doesn't even like Non-Dual liberation, and it is considered by them as a permanent suicide. The devotees after attaining a liberation of a dual type, experience going to imaginary heavenly abodes(one of the universes/realities mentioned above) of their imaginary gods(which are experienced as real - Just like this imaginary reality by us) and enjoy heavenly delights with no trace of any suffering, which is far more exotic and enjoyable than any earthly existence. For this reason, not everyone wishes to dissolve their individuation. So, Non-Duality is not the only game in town. May be after Non-Dual enlightenment, one need to learning how to develop purified ego once again to furthur generate more sattva karma to keep the individuation intact. Even Ramana Maharishi who taught Non-Duality worshipped Arunachaleshwara. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who taught non-duality to Swami Vivekananda worshipped Kaali. But, what type of liberation they attained I do not know. My Opinion: To maximise life's potential and blissfulness and swim constantly in variety "Non-Duality is to be Realised and Individuation is to be Maintained".

You seem to be assuming that after death, one enters into the state into which you are describing. But, that's not the case. You were in some form of enlightened state. In enlightened state reincarnation doesn't occur, because the Annamaya Kosha(Physical Body), Pranamaya Kosha(Energetic Subtle Body) Manomaya Kosha(Mind with its Memories, thoughts and its modifications) Vignyana maya kosha(Causal body - Pure individuated conciousness without any further modifications) cease to be. In such a state, no reincarnation, no mental modifications and no heavenly or hellish realms are experienced. Simply comciousness realising its brahman state and remaining as brahman-the pure conciousness. Until enlightenment is permanently achieved, reincarnations as well as mental realms in-between such incarnations keep happening. Here is the proof:

Kundalini awakening in its extreme version may look like this: These involuntary movements are called kriyas and are natural in kundalini awakening. If awakened improperly, and if an expert's help is not sought for, these kriyas in their light or strong version may go on for years, until they subside or enlightenment happens. For some they may not subside in this life time. More intriguing than the kriyas are the extremely depressing or blissful emotional states which are frustrating and disturbing at times which may also last for years. Also, normal working is harder for a person with full blown kundalini acting up in their life. I thought, in these videos, people were faking it, until one day it happened to me. For me it subsided after 10 or so days, but when at its peak felt like volcanic eruption inside the body, with body heating up so much. Sometimes during sleep, energy shooting up like sharp electric pulses in random parts of the body woke me up abruptly. One time a low energy pulse shot up into my left eye causing a mild white visual flash, the next morning there was slight pulsation in the same eye for 2 minutes or so. It didn't do any damage. My vision is fine. Also dreams were a bit weirder during this time. This definitely is no child's play. There are youtubers with kundalini awakening who talk about their symptoms and how it is helping or affecting their everyday life. If you want to reasearch kundalini on youtube, search for keywords like "shaktipat", "kundalini awakening", "kundalini syndrome". May be it is safer if you learn it from a kundalini master. If you wish to involve in kundalini yoga, you can contact the "SKY yoga (Simplified Kundalini Yoga)" center if there is one in your country.(google maps may help) I think they can help people with kundalini problems too. Please have a look at this video: An interesting thing that I heard from one of their videos is that they used to teach how to leave your body, "Out Of Body (OBE)" and roam around freely in a subtle form. But, the UAE government had banned it. After this ban, they themselves stopped teaching this technique to their students. Of course I cannot verify this claim. I'm just putting it out there because it was interesting. I found the video, here its:

Yoga Vasistha(With unnecessary parts removed): https://estudantedavedanta.net/The-Supreme-Yoga-Swami-Venkatesananda.pdf Along with complete knowledge of Non-Duality, it also is the best entertainer than the movies The Matrix, Inception and Interstellar combined. Here is the Full Version for reading online: https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/yoga-vasistha-english Note: Full version gives extremely long poetic descriptions of every thing, which feels very boring. But these poetic descriptions are so heavenly, they can be useful as descriptive memories for acting as heavenly realities in the after-life states. I would recommend sticking to the short version in the first link for the time being. Here you can have small taste of what this work is all about:

Right now you are in a state whose nature is that which you are describing. Because the shit is now hitting the fan and you are in some part of that room. But, there are others who are right smack in the middle of such rooms. The rooms will fade out in due course of time and transform into palaces for all of them one day or another, or in one reality or another. You can be so sure of that, because if there is one thing that doesn't change, that is "change" itself. No state is permanent either in this world or the next. Change is the fundamental nature of reality. Even intense suffering after reaching a certain period will feel like normality, and if it reaches a certain threshold has the potential to bring enlightenment(Best e.g is Eckhart Tolle). For a person who is in suffering, every thought he has, every activity he does, there might be some tinge of that suffering present in all of them. He cannot help himself but see the suffering in the world because he himself is in suffering, so he resonates well with 'other's suffering' / 'suffering in general'. Similarly for someone who is enjoying life free from suffering tends to see joy in everything that he does or everything he thinks about. His resonance is with joy, so he tends to connect well with joy and sees the whole world as full of joy and happiness. "Just as state of mind, such is outlook on the world". Just as much suffering there is in reality, there is as much joy as well. Right now you may be experiencing one side of it more than the other. But, the other side will also come with much intensity one day and will last as much as this side has lasted. Patience is the key. Also, you might ask why not only joy, why should there be suffering? I have already answered it here please read: All this questioning and answering will make one feel comfortable only intellectually. When shit hits the fan, everyone will run for the door, including me, you and even the enlightened. How people process it afterwards is a different thing. Knowledge, although does not take away the physical suffering, has the tendency to lessen the mental suffering. If mental condition is better, even the physical suffering doesn't sting as much. Even though wisdom doesn't take away the suffering completely, it can help you in some capacity to cope with it atleast.

In order for Joy to remain as joy, you need to undergo suffering, infact, perpetually undergoing same joyous state for a certain period will actually turn that same state into suffering. Please read this:

The earthly incarnatory states are not the only states the Jivas(individual conciousness) go through. There are in-between after life states as well which happen between lives which are much more profound than our earthly states. If these states tend to be positive are called as heavenly in nature because they are without much suffering and full of heavenly delights. If these states tend to be negative are called as hellish in nature because of the vividness of such negative experiences. The realities one experiences in these states are also determined by the Samskara(Karmic impressions & tendencies one accumulated through one's experiences and behaviors). The profoundness and intensity of these states may be because of the snowballing effect of tendencies in these states (said by sadhguru in some video). As you can see from below, having once attained liberation/enlightenment in the form of nirvikalpa(non-dual), the individuation ceases to be. There are no infinite lives by forgetting the enlightenment. Enlightenment ends the individuation when attained in non-dual form. There are other types of enlightenment the devotees go through. This page is from Yoga Vasistha: Dear Mirko, Your condition is the best e.g of why direct experience sometimes is very dangerous without strong theoretical background and expert guidance. I can see you are already suffering as a result of some wrong(or should i say right - because they worked) contemplative and pyschedelic practices. Spiritual work is not some casual thing that you do, it takes at most dedication which you clearly posses from your own description of having done some ardent work for 5 years. Such a dedication is very rare. I'm happy for you. But, as you have experienced, even such dedicated work without proper guidance and proper knowledge turns dangerous(In your case existentially dangerous). Sometimes, people use psychedelics or even meditation and experience emptiness and that becomes their greatest fear because of nihilistic feelings. Making it worse are the wrong assumptions and ideas from wrong knowledge or lack thereof. Enlightenment has the potential to give many different realizations which may not be realized all at once. Some of them are very scary/uncomfortable in nature if realized without the accompaniment of other realizations which prevent/neutralize such fear. Take for e;g your own case, you have experienced something profound, now this world is not doing anything for you, nor are you fully there which is very frustrating too. Now you are stuck in between as you say. That's why if you want to ride a rocket you don't go to a local driving instructor. If such serious complications such as yours occur, a proper spiritual master will be able to manipulate and reconfigure the energy system through shaktipata and bring about enlightenment, or atleast alleviate the suffering through proper dietary instructions and yogic exercises. No new age guru is going to help you now, all they do is pointing contemplative exercises which is what caused you the trouble in the first place. As some of the people here advised, taking a break from spiritual work for a while is the best thing you could do right now. Also you can try consulting with Isha Yoga or Sky Yoga center and see if they can do something about your condition. You should be absolutely honest with them about everything if you are to get proper help from them. What you are doing right now(posting) and connecting with like minded people who understands your position is also a good thing. That way you atleast have some proper company(but bad advices from good company is also a bad thing). This is why the spiritual schools always keep these methods and practices as secret and far away from the eyes of the general public. Just see the Kundalini Awakening scene for example, Many people are suffering from what they created a term for it called "Kundalini Syndrome". I'm not saying you shouldn't do such practices. What I'm trying to say is, if you are absolutely mad about enlightenment, that nothing else can satisfy you anymore. Anyway you'll do it, curiosity'll get the best of you. Atleast, try to research as much as possible about the subject matter and gain as much theoretical knowledge as possible and find out beforehand if there are any complications that could arise from the path you are following and if so, what are the solutions. If possible, the first attempt should always be to find a traditional guru who knows how to do shakthipat as well as yoga practices. If not, Be absolutely ready for and ok with any outcome. Even I also am a guilty party in it (it seems curiosity DOES KILL the cat after-all). Fortunately or Unfortunately for me, even the kundalini going nuclear did not do much for me. But, it sure was a very scary experience. For me personally, even if it had caused extreme symptoms, I would have been ok with it. Because, I know where to go and who to consult if things get bad. Anyway, Please atleast improve your theoretical knowledge, so that you don't have any wrong assumptions and ideas about anything and as a result unnecessarily suffer from it mentally. Please read Yoga Vasistha, it'll clarify some of your wrong assumptions: https://estudantedavedanta.net/The-Supreme-Yoga-Swami-Venkatesananda.pdf Please don't take any of this as some criticism, or me trying to one up against anybody, It's just that I see so many people who are so close to enlightenment, but are suffering from such debilitating conditions because of wrong approach or wrong practices. Just trying to help that's all. If any of the things that I have written have hurt you in anyway, or if there is something wrong in my understanding of your condition, I apologize in advance. I wish and hope you'll find bliss in your life soon. Take care.

Suffering in the large scheme of things is very much necessary and useful from the absolute perspective. Please read this:

My opinion: Happiness as a concept/reality will cease to be if there was no suffering. E.g: Imagine you are put into a reality where there is only happiness, and you are able to live forever. A day will come when you have already explored all the possible ways of being happy and there's nothing new to explore. Instead of being so happy of being in a happy reality, you'll be bored to death. Boredom will slowly turn into frustration, frustration into anger. When anger arises you are already in deep suffering. If this continues you'll get into states of suffering unimaginable. Again imagine, after this experience you are transferred to a reality where you are made to suffer all kinds of sufferings for a while. After a while, when you are again put back into the first reality again, those same things which you thought were boring will give you a kind of utter happiness which gains a new intensity which was not even there at the first time. This is why it is said, happiness and sadness are not two different things, they compliment each other, they give existence to each other. There is no one without the other. Happiness cannot be experienced or acknowledged without experiencing its dual opposite: suffering. In order to extract happiness infinitely again and again even from a single particular truth/reality/object/concept, one has to either lose it from possession or suffer some suffering (sometimes related to or unrelated) to that particular truth/reality/object/concept in various angles, circumstances and different variations. Every time when re-possession of the lost object happens or the suffering period subsides, the happiness derived is slightly different and has some variety to it. losing or separation is suffering and uniting is happiness. Unity itself without separation loses its joy or happiness feeling after a while. Separation alone without uniting causes perpetual bondage. The actual action is in-between the unity and separation, that is where the true joy, bliss, satisfaction, happiness is. Non-duality alone is mere peace. Duality alone is pure suffering. Hide and seek of losing unity and finding it again is where bliss of life is hidden. Of course this analogy has its own flaws. But, to explain every possibility of a particular truth with single example is not possible. Hope this helps.

My Opinion: The probability of a human being to not have been a human being in a previous life and not going to be a human being or better in the future life are slim. Most probably you will be a human being or better in your next life. The tendencies, impressions, the accompanying knowledge, intelligence and mental structure being very much in compatibility with its immediate experience of being a human being, along with the further Knowledge of liberation and enlightenment in case of a jnani and devotion towards some god in case of a devotee, combined with atleast socially accepted moral and ethical standards ensure a better life in the next incarnation. Other possibilities are also possible, but are not the norm. Here is the proof: Before a reincarnation occurs, there is a gap in-between(actual earth time differs from person to person) two incarnations where other experiences are experienced, which are either heavenly or uncomfortable depending upon the impressions & tendencies you have accumulated in your life. This is very much similar to the dreams we have at night, which are based on what we do during the day time in our waking state. Having once attained enlightenment and merged completely into Non-Dual brahman(absolute truth / absolute unity), there is no individuation for that particular entity ever again. Other countless individuations may be happening. But, that merged entity is done for, never to be born again or indivduate again. It may be possible to bring the same entity into existence if needed, because ultimately everything is just an imagination. But, for brahman, who is really the doer in the form of prakrithi(Nature/reality). There is no need to depend upon one single entity for anything. Dear friends, it is wonderful that all of you have come so much closer to knowing the truth which is very much worth knowing. But, without studying this truth systematically from the knowledge pile which already exists for thousands of years, and simply depending on your own direct experience for everything is not going to get you so far. Even direct experience without proper knowledge will lead to further illusion and ignorance. As you can see, even the enlightened people will keep changing their teaching as new insights and truths unfold for them. What insights and knowledge one enlightened person has, the other may not have had. All these confusions & fear are there because of not undergoing proper study under a proper authority. These days its very difficult to find a proper authority. Atleast you can read the authoritative books which are accepted by many enlightened for thousands of years. In that regard Yoga Vasistha can answer many of your questions which are irking everyone. This ancient work(Yoga Vasistha) is atleast 10 times better in entertaining than the movies The Matrix, Inception and Interstellar combined: https://estudantedavedanta.net/The-Supreme-Yoga-Swami-Venkatesananda.pdf

Physical pain is there for a reason. If there is no pain, it will cause some complications: https://forumchatz.com/viewtopic.php?f=141&p=79&sid=9166b41ff1047731d356cec1d1e44d56#p79

Regarding this, there is a sage named Dhurvasa in Mahabharatha(The longest epic in the world). He is considered as a paramahamsa(Highly enlightened one). Everyone respects him, but also afraid of him, because he is known for being very angry and curses if he is challenged too much. My two cents on this matter: That is to say, Ego and enlightenment are not contradictory. After enlightenment, the ego may seem to disappear from the foreground, but the vasanas(tendencies) will still remain until the body drops. Even during this period, if the intention to continue the individuation as jiva(small-I-self) remains in the mind (Some may not even be capable of desiring it because of the loss of sense of self is too complete), the individuation will continue with further generation of karma because of presence of such a desire. As long as there is an individuation(even if enlightened), there will always be some form of ego continuing with the individual(Either with the body or without it). This leftover ego which remains will still act according to its previous tendencies I believe. So finding a guru or a teacher who is going to be perfectly saintly in all respects is almost an impossible task. Among many enlightened, there may be few who are perfectly of calm nature. Not all enlightened are moral either, although enlightenment can lessen the tendency to be immoral. The things one should look for in a spiritual guru is whether his work is bringing positive change in the society or not, whether he abuses his disciples unnecessarily in any way, Whether he is involved in immoral activities behind the scenes, whether what he says can be verified from other sources or not, or is he simply repeating the words of others without following them himself? Whether his teachings are actually working for those who follow them? these are the things one should look for. Normal egoic behaviour is common with gurus, it doesn't mean they are not enlightened. Infact, the kind of world we are living in, we need more assertive gurus than soft ones. From what I know, Anger, resentment, emotion, all happen even to the enlightened, its just that their impact is very less or no impact at all (depending on the previous tendencies) and only lasts as long as the event which brings it lasts. As soon as the event passes, the mind does not make a mental circus out of it and simply lets go of it.

As I once read in Tamil literature during my school days, that even direct experience without proper knowledge through proper authority is dangerous and will lead to ignorance. If consciousness is so powerful that it can create infinite diversity within itself, ranging from infinitesimal to infinite; absolute "Non-Dual-Unity" to "Dual-Diversity"; What makes you think that there would be no infinite in-between Possibilities/Realities/Truths as well. Just like, under normal circumstances it is impossible for an un-awakened person to get convinced, understand and realise about non-duality; it may be difficult for the awakened person who has lost the sense of self to meaningfully put an effort to understand and explore these other possibilities. For him Non-Duality is his reality now. But, in order to understand reality in it's full, one has to go beyond the Non-Duality and Duality to be able to see duality and non-duality as simply another dual pair only, and also in absoluteness they are the same and not different from one another. I think extremes of any truth/reality in and of itself is useless. It is always the in-between in which all the action takes place and the real juiciness of life and reality is experienced. As far as mind reading is concerned, I believe it can be done and I think it has something to do with the third eye. Anyway.. As I mentioned about the stories in yoga vasistha in my previous post, here is one: Parakaya Pravesha is power of entering into body of another person through Yoga. https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/10374/what-exactly-happens-during-parakaya-pravesha Read the validated answer from the above link.

Who knows, may be these days they do

You CAN read the minds of other people. For that, I think you need to have your third eye(Ajna Chakra) to be Open. Not only can you read other peoples minds, you can read the future and the past of "anybody / general events". One can also manipulate or dissolve the karmic structure of anybody(Ramana Maharshi said to have completely dissolved his mother's karma during her deathbed by making her experience all the karma at once or.. something like that). There are stories of manifesting a whole palace into existence in the book "The autobiography of a Yogi". Also I once read somewhere that somebody said that they have directly seen some yogi put his hand to the ground and manipulate the atomic structure of the dirt to configure itself into sugar cubes and other items as well. The yogis say that such feats are useless. For satisfying the curiosity of the people, a yogi may manifest something from thin air, but for he himself to survive, he begs others for food. Because such feats has their price. You have to earn the karmic credit to do such feats by undergoing severe austerities, penances and practices. They say, once the credit accumulated is over, no more ability to perform such acts. From Yoga perspective, full mastery of Samyama(Dharana, Dhyana and samadhi happening simultaneously at the object desired) is necessary to gain such powers. In yoga vasistha somewhere it is mentioned that some herbal medicinal preparations and some mantra chants are also said to give enlightenment as well as those powers. Anyway.. Yoga Vasistha: https://estudantedavedanta.net/The-Supreme-Yoga-Swami-Venkatesananda.pdf The above PDF (Yoga Vasistha) contains stories of few people experiencing the experiences of others(Not just mind reading, but actually experiencing the life of other person from that person's perspective). If anybody wants to understand Non-Duality(Advaita) in its most complete form(as much intellectually as possible), the above Vedantic Work is the only most complete work that exists that I know of. The other notable works are: Ashtavakra Gita, Ribhu Gita,.. Note: The above works are very repetitive in nature(Sometimes frustratingly boring). Saying the same thing in many different ways, but slightly different sometimes. That those things which you did not understand during some versions of the teachings, you might understand them during other repeated versions of the same teachings.