Where are the authentic flying lamas or levitating yogis of our times?

After reading accounts by French explorer Alexandra David Neel of flying llamas in Tibet, I tried to find authentic videos that might demonstrate such siddhis.

Instead of finding what I wanted, I got a mixed bag of tricks. But I liked what I got!

Among the many videos on this phenomenon there were the flawed hoaxes as well as others more believable (they may have taken training from the Masked Magician!). Some were some entertaining and even enlightening in their own way. Among them I found a humorous commercial, an expected joke (a group of monks in saffron robes boarding a commercial jet) and other spoofs.

The most laughable were hoaxes by video-photographers who conveniently cut off part of the view where presumably the flying llamas magical-apparatus is hidden–like the top half of the body. At least I hope it was a harness, like the one Mary Martin used for her Peter Pan flights through Never Land. For all we know, it could have been an abrasive rope that lifted him off the floor…

Sometimes I think the YouTube videos should have the disclaimer used by car makers in their commercials: professional driver on closed course; do not attempt.

I found an old expose on how some levitating yogis and other flying lamas made their living for hundreds of years, using elaborate devices not unlike those used by show magicians today.

Oh how I wanted to find flying llamas who were really floating…

The Salusa commercial was well done as you might expect. A note to you amateur video makers: take heart! I predict that with a few lessons from Breaking the Magician’s Code, you’ll pull off better home videos of flying lamas and make me happy that I’ve found the real thing at last.

I did turn up a small gem in my search: a short talk by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche on the flying llamas very human fear of flying. He shares how he calmed a frightened lama during a turbulent domestic flight, and offers us all advice on how to use such instances as opportunities to observe the mind. The video excerpt from Rinpoche’s talk is posted below this article.

Still looking for entertaining descriptions of magical lamas from Tibet? Then I recommend reading some of the Alexandra David Neel books as the best source for classic tales of flying llamas, hands-down. Alexandra David Neel was also the first Western woman to enter Llahsa and be received by a Dali Lama. A practicing Buddhist and scholar, her explorations and writings helped to preserve Tibet’s rich cultural phenomena and beauty before the Chinese takeover.

A well-loved and respected explorer of Tibet, Alexandra David Neel was privileged to witness and record the remnants of what may be a lost world, including true flying lamas. Part of me wishes I was there with her, how about you?

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