The spectacle of the underground (bhugarbha) samadhi that I was privileged to witness at the Kumbha Mela camp of Mahayogi Pilot Baba was truly impressive. Performed by his student, Yog Mata Keiko Aikawa, a Japanese woman, the yogini was buried in an underground pit for 72 hours. She emerged on the afternoon of January 23rd in apparently excellent condition after having entered the pit, which was covered over with earth, on the afternoon of January 20th. The full scientific understanding of this phenomenon awaits an appropriate investigation, which has in fact been scheduled for the spring of this year at the Columbia-Cornell Medical Center. The practice has been observed and written about for centuries by Indians and Westerners, including physicians (eg, Honigberger 1852). An appropriate scientific consideration of the practice must take into account the following: the practice has been done in the past under false pretenses, ie, in some cases a secret tunnel was dug which allowed the performer to escape the underground enclosure. Instances of such deception have been recorded (see Tripathi 1978: 123-4; Siegel 1991: 170f). In addition, the underground enclosure can be constructed so that, in actuality, no special respiratory, metabolic, or other putative yogic abilities are necessary, other than the ability to tolerate the tedium and physical discomfort imposed by the demonstration (although this may not be designed with the intent to deceive). In such a case, the dimensions of the pit, in conjunction with air seepage through the soil, allows for enough oxygen to make survival possible without such reputed yogic abilities.