I don't know what you (they) meant by "blissful times", but "fascinating out-of-body" experiences doesn't sound right. It could be that they experienced someth

I don't know what you (they) meant by "blissful times", but "fascinating out-of-body" experiences doesn't sound right. It could be that they experienced something close to Jhana[0] but I'm skeptical it can be done on a 10 day Vipassana retreat with no previous experience. In all Buddhist traditions, excepting Tantric ones, that emphasize meditation, the techniques (Vipassana being one of them) are mostly really hard work in practicing concentration and attentiveness. It's very hard to get it right, essentially to practice hard without practicing hard, without attaching yourself even to the effort you're expanding, which then can lead to Jhanas. Most of the time, I think, people convince themselves they are experiencing fascinating things, but it's just the mind playing it's tricks. Especially in the West where people attach all sorts of wacky stuff to the term "meditation", which really isn't event the right translation of "samadhi" as it's borrowed from Christianity where "contemplation" is much better fitting as a Western analogue (other techniques from Tantric Buddhism, on the other hand fit the Western term "meditation" better). [0] http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-samadhi/jhana.html http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma...