Along your path of practice, you will encounter some interesting physical, mental, and spiritual phenomena. In meditation, you may feel parts of your body shake uncontrollably, you may sense heat circulate through or grow in parts of you, you may have visions, you may hear voices, you may be one with the world. Know that even more meditation experiences await you as you deepen your regular practice. You must also remember that these states of being are transitory signs pointing to an intensive and advancing practice, not ultimate enlightenment. Hence for each experience the same refrain about being relentless with continued awareness, avoiding the derailing belief that you are now awakened, a sage.

It’s helpful to know that meditators since times of old have traversed amazing states as they wrestled with form, feeling, thinking, volition, and consciousness aggregates. Aggregates are composites that accumulate, like pixels that assemble into an object that is an image. As meditators unseat and release portions of the pixels that have been collecting since time immemorial, form, feeling, thinking, volition, and consciousness aggregates cannot become material to obstruct the path of practice.

Some refer to these experiences that occur as you wrestle with the aggregates, “demonic states” or “demons” that possess. While I acknowledge the existence of dark forces, the emphasis here is on the devil of the mind. Evil has nothing to hook if you have nothing to let catch. Dark forces ultimately emanate from you, so explore your shadows. It is only when you resist your shadier sides that you ignore them, become unaware of them, and can become consumed by them. Use these shared experiences as a guide for precaution, after all, seemingly lofty spiritual aims can become subtle or outright wantings that lead even the most sophisticated practitioners astray.

I will post 10 experiences for each of the five aggregates separately. Here is the first set for the form aggregate that you should let go in the event that you encounter any.
I. Form

1. You walk through physical walls.

The refrain: this is a temporary state and positive indication of your progress in meditation as long as you don’t consider yourself enlightened. If you consider yourself a sage for this experience or capability, you are prone to the assaults of darker forces.

2. You reach into your intestines and lift out worms.

The refrain: this is a temporary state and positive indication of your progress in meditation as long as you don’t consider yourself enlightened. If you consider yourself a sage for this experience or capability, you are prone to the assaults of darker forces.

3. You hear the teachings of the Buddha in space.

The refrain: this is a temporary state and positive indication of your progress in meditation as long as you don’t consider yourself enlightened. If you consider yourself a sage for this experience or capability, you are prone to the assaults of darker forces.

4. You see all beings as Buddhas. You spontaneously see Vairocana Buddha on a glowing dais throughout millions of worlds.

The refrain: this is a temporary state and positive indication of your progress in meditation as long as you don’t consider yourself enlightened. If you consider yourself a sage for this experience or capability, you are prone to the assaults of darker forces.

5. You see infinite colored auras simultaneously everywhere.

The refrain: this is a temporary state and positive indication of your progress in meditation as long as you don’t consider yourself enlightened. If you consider yourself a sage for this experience or capability, you are prone to the assaults of darker forces.

6. You see things in the dark.

The refrain: this is a temporary state and positive indication of your progress in meditation as long as you don’t consider yourself enlightened. If you consider yourself a sage for this experience or capability, you are prone to the assaults of darker forces.

7. You undergo burns and cuts without sensation or harm.

The refrain: this is a temporary state and positive indication of your progress in meditation as long as you don’t consider yourself an enlightened sage. If you consider yourself a sage for this experience or capability, you are prone to the assaults of darker forces.

8. You see Buddhas, Buddha lands filled with gems and lights. You also see the heavens above, the hells below.

The refrain: this is a temporary state and positive indication of your progress in meditation as long as you don’t consider yourself enlightened. If you consider yourself a sage for this experience or capability, you are prone to the assaults of darker forces.

9. You see scenes and people in the distance.

The refrain: this is a temporary state and positive indication of your progress in meditation as long as you don’t consider yourself enlightened. If you consider yourself a sage for this experience or capability, you are prone to the assaults of darker forces.

10. You see teachers physically morph before you. You speak the Dharma in an intriguing manner very different from your usual self.

The refrain: this is a temporary state and positive indication of your progress in meditation as long as you don’t consider yourself enlightened. If you consider yourself a sage for this experience or capability, you are prone to the assaults of darker forces.