Kundalini

[Guest guest]

[Went looking for a quote and found this old post on Kundalini. Also see

URLs at the bottom.]

>From Lee Sanella, M.D., _Kundalini Experience_

>The awakening of the kundalini signals one's entry into the unknown forest

>of hidden dimensions of human existence. As Jung (1932) put it:

>

> When you succeed in awakening the kundalini, so that it starts to

> move out of its mere potentiality, you necessarily start a world

> which is totally different from our world. (p. 110)

>

>Jung went on to describe the kundalini as an impersonal force, which is in

>consonance with the Hindu sources. He argued that to claim the kundalini

>experience as one's own creation is perilous. It leads to ego inflation,

>false superiority, obnoxiousness, or even madness. For him, the kundalini

>is an autonomous process arising out of the unconscious and seemingly

>using the individual as its vehicle.

>snip<

> Every spiritual tradition has its own model of the transformative

>process. Generally these models stress the subjective side of the

>experience, treating the objective signs as incidental or ignoring them

>altogether. Thus the traditional descriptions of psychospiritual

>metamorphosis, valid as they may be to initiates, are none too helpful in

>making objective comparisons and in arriving at an overall appraisal of

>the process. In physiological terms, most of these models have little

>relevance.

> There are, however, important exceptions, notably the Tantra Yoga

>model of the kundalini experience. According to this Indian tradition, the

>kundalini is a type of energy - a "power" or "force" (shakti) - that is

>held to rest in a dormant, or potential, state in the human body. Its

>location is generally specified as being at the base of the spine. When

>this energy is galvanized, "awakened," it rushes upward along the central

>axis of the human body, or along the spinal column, to the crown of the

>head. Occasionally it is thought to go even beyond the head. Upon arriving

>there, the kundalini is said to give rise to the mystical state of

>consciousness, which is indescribably blissful and in which all awareness

>of duality ceases.

> According to Tantra Yoga metaphysics, the kundalini resident in the

>individual human body is an aspect of the transcendental Power that

>precedes and yet also pervades the entire cosmos. It is that Power. But

>this realization is only made when the kundalini has fully ascended from

>the bodily base to its optimal position at the crown of the head, or

>beyond. Tantra Yoga understands this whole process as a play between the

>two fundamental aspects of the ultimate Reality. One aspect is called the

>"Power," or Shakti, and the other is God Shiva. The Sanskrit word shiva

>means literally "tranquil." In Tantra Yoga it refers to the static

>(masculine) pole or aspect of the ultimate Reality, whereas the word

>shakti designates the dynamic (feminine) pole. Shiva stands for pure,

>object-transcending and self-transcending Consciousness, and Shakti stands

>for the world-creating Power of Consciousness.

> On the transcendental level, both aspects are forever inseparable.

>Shiva and Shakti are always in ecstatic embrace. But on the level of

>normal human consciousness, they appear separated. Hence the ordinary

>individual has only a trickle of that transcendental Power available, just

>as he or she experiences only a fraction of that transcendental

>Consciousness, in the form of individuated awareness.

>snip<

> Elsewhere Woodroffe (1978) observed that the "doctrine of Shakti

>is a profound one," which is "likely to be attractive to Western minds

>when they have grasped it" (p. 119). He was not mistaken, for lately we

>encounter the Shiva-Shakti metaphor in the literature of the "new

>physics." It took the revolutionary findings of quantum physics for

>Western scientists to begin to appreciate Eastern cosmological thinking,

>which views reality as a process of polar dynamics that unfolds against

>the backdrop of a single continuum. This reality appears to be not

>material but supermaterial or, as some avant-garde physicists argue,

>supermaterial and superconscious.

> Like all ancient teachings, Tantra Yoga looks upon the individual

>human being as a faithful reflection of the macrocosm. The universal,

>nonlocal Power is present in the human body-mind at a "location"

>corresponding to the anal region. This is the position of the first of

>seven principal centers or seats of Power arrayed along the body's axis.

>These centers or cakras ("wheels") - often spelled "chakras" - are

>commonly depicted as lotus flowers with varying numbers of petals said to

>correspond to different forms of energy associated with each center. These

>foci are, as it were, the organs or limbs of the Power. They are localized

>vortices of bioenergy.

---------------------

>From Swami Muktananda, _Play of Consciousness_ (_Chitshakti vilas_)

>This path is open to everyone. There is an inner divine power within every

>man and woman, which the Shiva Samhita has described thus:

>

> muladharastha vahnyatmatejo madhye vyavasthita

jivashaktih kundalakhya pranakaratha tejasi

mahakundalini prokta parabrahmasvarupini

shabdabrahmamayi devi ekanekaksharakritih

shakti kundalini nama visatantunibha shubha

>It means that the Shakti, the great Goddess, is of the nature of Brahman,

>the Absolute. People call Her by the name of Kundalini. She resembles a

>lotus stalk and lies in the womb of the lotus of the muladhara. She is in

>a coiled form and is filled with golden radiance and luminosity. She is

>Parashiva's supremely fearless Shakti. It is She who lives in man and

>woman as the individual soul. She is of the form of prana. All letters

>from a to ksha arise from Her. I am describing Her in order that human

>beings may know this inner power and use Her while living in the world.

>Kundalini is the essence of Om. When She is awakened, lives which had

>seemed commonplace and arid, unenjoyable and frustrated, become gay and

>flourishing, filled with sweetness, contentment, and delight.

> Kundalini is the goddess Chiti, the joyous divine energy that

>unfolds the universe. She lives coiled up in the muladhara and keeps all

>the organs of our body functioning properly. When awakened by the grace of

>the Guru, She transforms the body and improves our daily lives according

>to our destinies. She generates a feeling of deep friendship among people,

>enables them to see the divine in one another, and thus turns the world

>into paradise. She makes perfect whatever is not perfect in our lives.

> When this divine power enters a man in the form of grace, he is

>completely transformed.

>snip<

> [The guru] causes the sublime Chitshakti to descend into the

>disciple. This is described in the Pratyabhijnahridayam thus: chitih

>svatantra vishva siddhi hetuh, "Chiti, by Her own free will, creates the

>universe."' This Chitshakti is no different from Paramashiva, the supreme

>Lord. She is the ground of the whole process of creation, sustenance, and

>destruction of the universe.

> Chitshakti is completely free. She performs all actions and gives

>the fruit of all spiritual disciplines. She bestows both worldly

>fulfillment and liberation; She grants an easy means to happiness.

>Self-luminous, transcending time, space, and form, She is the creative

>aspect of Parashiva, the basis of all forms of energy. It is She who gives

>grace and She who controls it; She is the illuminator of transcendental

>reality. She is both worldly life and spiritual life. The glory of this

>supreme Shakti is marvelous. She is the knowledge of the enlightened and

>the fruit of action of the active. She is the ecstatic state of bhaktas

>and the dynamic Kundalini of yogis. In fact, She is the beauty of the

>whole world. The whole world is adorned by Chiti. She is Parashiva's

>supreme Shakti, Chiti, who is exceedingly marvelous, and can be perceived

>only through great wonderment. The entire functioning of this universe,

>from worldly to spiritual, is carried on by Chiti.

 

And he calls her "Mother Chiti,Mother Kundalini,Mother Shakti,"

and

"Yoga Shakti."

--------------

>From the INTRODUCTION by Swami Kripananda to _KUNDALINI: The Secret of

Life_ by Swami Muktananda:

>The book you are about to read is a classic of spiritual literature. To

>understand its importance, we must realize that for centuries the subject

>of Kundalini has been shrouded in mystery, hedged around by

>misinformation, and guarded by the strictest secrecy. This knowledge was

>so well hidden, in fact, that when Swami Muktananda received Kundalini

>awakening from his own Master, Bhagawan Nityananda, and began experiencing

>its effects, he had no idea what was happening to him. He wrote his first

>great work, the spiritual autobiography _Play of Consciousness_, to

>prevent his own students from running into the same confusion, and to help

>them understand the process unfolding within them.

> The experience of Kundalini awakening is incomparable. It is often

>described as a rebirth, since the deep transformation that occurs can make

>us feel as if we had been catapulted into a new world. My own initial

>experience was like this.

>snip<

>

> Whether Shaktipat comes to us dramatically like a sonic boom or

>very quietly and subtly, as it does to many people, the awakened Kundalini

>totally transforms our outlook and our experience of ourselves. This is

>why for so many centuries, in nearly every culture and tradition,

>Kundalini has been known and revered, for in this mighty power lies the

>secret of direct spiritual experience, the lifeblood of true religion. Its

>unfolding has produced the great mystics and men of genius who have

>flourished in every age. Yet it is not the exclusive property of only a

>few. Kundalini exists in every human being, though usually in a dormant

>form. As one ancient Christian text describes it, "In every human being

>dwells an infinite power, the root of the universe. That infinite power

>exists in two modes: one actual, the other potential. This infinite power

>exists in a latent condition in everyone." Once it is awakened, our

>spiritual evolution is assured.

> In the spiritual traditions of many so-called "primitive"

>peoples of Africa, Australia, and America, Kundalini is recognized as the

>evolutionary energy which leads man back to his divine source. The Hopi

>Indians of the southwestern United States are an example. According to the

>Hopi belief, the first people understood that "the living body of man and

>the living body of the earth were constructed in the same way. Through

>each ran an axis, man's axis being the backbone, the vertebral column,

>which controlled the equilibrium of his movements and his functions. Along

>this axis were several vibratory centers which echoed the primordial sound

>of life through the universe or sounded a warning if anything went wrong."

> These centers, of course, correspond to the chakras described

>in Kundalini Yoga. In descending order, the Hopis describe them as being

>located at the top of the head ("the open door" through which man received

>his life and communicated with his Creator), the brain, the throat, the

>heart, and under the navel. The two lower chakras referred to in yogic

>literature, the center at the root of the reproductive organ and the

>center at the base of the spine, are not mentioned in the Hopi tradition.

> According to the Hopis, "Man is created perfect in the image

>of his Creator. Then after closing the door (at the top of the head) and

>falling from grace into the uninhibited expression of his own human will,

>he begins his slow climb back upward ... With this turn man rises upward,

>bringing into predominant function each of the higher centers. The door at

>the crown of the head then opens, and he merges into the wholeness of all

>Creation, whence he sprang."

> Even though knowledge of Kundalini is part of so many

>traditions,in Western society it was known for a long time only in

>esoteric circles. Nowadays, understanding of this powerful spiritual force

>is becoming more widely disseminated, and Western thinkers have become

>increasingly aware of the vital role Kundalini plays in the evolution of a

>human being. Nonetheless, it is only when we begin to recognize that our

>true human potential goes far beyond leading successful personal and

>professional lives, that we realize the enormous importance of Kundalini

>awakening. Very few people realize that it is possible to live constantly

>in a state of totally expanded awareness and joy which we achieve when we

>become one with the Divine. It is only when Kundalini is awakened that we

>can begin to experience the infinite freedom of a human being.

>snip<

---------------

 

*Kundalini URLs*

 

El Collie on signs and symptoms of active Kundalini:

http://members.aol.com/ckress/symptoms.html

 

Kurt Keutzer's FAQs:

http://www-cad.eecs.berkeley.edu/~keutzer/kundalini/kundalini-faq.html

http://www-cad.eecs.berkeley.edu/~keutzer/kundalini/kundalini-yoga.html

http://www-cad.eecs.berkeley.edu/~keutzer/kundalini/shivom-tradition.html

http://www-cad.eecs.berkeley.edu/~keutzer/kundalini/siddha-mahayoga.html

[Guest guest]

Dear Dharma,

Please forgive me,

I just couldn't let this slip by.

Very few people realize that it is possible to live constantly>in a

state of totally expanded awareness and joy which we achieve when

we>become one with the Divine.

 

 

 

 

This very notion makes total awareness and joy impossible to

experience!

 

Sincerely,

Kheyala

[Guest guest]

Dear Kheyala,

 

You wrote:

> Dear Dharma,

> Please forgive me,

> I just couldn't let this slip by.

 

Dharma wrote:

> > Very few people realize that it is possible to live constantly

> > in a state of totally expanded awareness and joy which we achieve when

we

> > become one with the Divine.

 

Kheyala answered:

> This very notion makes total awareness and joy impossible to experience!

 

Too bad :-) you couldn't just let it slip by, Kheyala, as what Dharma says

is indeed not only possible... one only has to recover it... Being so on

your toes, like you just were, "I just couldn't let this slip by." makes it

just a bit harder to recover. There is indeed nothing to reach... one does

not have to be on one's toes...

 

What to do then? Trust Dharma and the funny things that I sometimes happen

to say...

And when you think I'm lying to myself,

or when you think you could be lying to yourself,

or when you think you have been lying to yourself,

start out by not believing it...

 

Take it from there, it is not very far to go... heeheehee

Love, Wim

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[Guest guest]

Hi Kheyala,

> Please forgive me, I just couldn't let this slip by.

>

>>Very few people realize that it is possible to live constantly

>>in a state of totally expanded awareness and joy which we

>>achieve when we>become one with the Divine.

>

>This very notion makes total awareness and joy impossible to experience!

 

I don't understand what you mean, Kheyala. How can a notion make expanded

awareness and joy impossible?

 

Love,

Dharma

[Guest guest]

Hi Wim,

 

Thank you for your beautiful defense and affirmation. But I must point out

that the quotation under discussion isn't something I wrote. It's from

Swami Kripananda's "Introduction" to _Kundalini: The Secret of Life_ by

Swami Muktananda.

 

Love,

Dharma

>Dear Kheyala,

>

>You wrote:

>> Dear Dharma,

>> Please forgive me,

>> I just couldn't let this slip by.

>

>Dharma wrote:

>> > Very few people realize that it is possible to live constantly

>> > in a state of totally expanded awareness and joy which we achieve when

>we

>> > become one with the Divine.

>

>Kheyala answered:

>> This very notion makes total awareness and joy impossible to experience!

>

>Too bad :-) you couldn't just let it slip by, Kheyala, as what Dharma says

>is indeed not only possible... one only has to recover it... Being so on

>your toes, like you just were, "I just couldn't let this slip by." makes it

>just a bit harder to recover. There is indeed nothing to reach... one does

>not have to be on one's toes...

>

>What to do then? Trust Dharma and the funny things that I sometimes happen

>to say...

>And when you think I'm lying to myself,

>or when you think you could be lying to yourself,

>or when you think you have been lying to yourself,

>start out by not believing it...

>

>Take it from there, it is not very far to go... heeheehee

>Love, Wim

[Guest guest]

, Dharma <deva@L...> wrote:

> Hi Wim,

>

> Thank you for your beautiful defense and affirmation. But I must

point out

> that the quotation under discussion isn't something I wrote. It's

from

> Swami Kripananda's "Introduction" to _Kundalini: The Secret of Life_

by

> Swami Muktananda.

>

> Love,

> Dharma

 

Namaste Dharma,

 

I would be a little circumspect about anything Muktananda wrote. Most

of his devotees ended up at Ammachi's. I don't want to go into all

the reasons on here but I think it was the New Yorker magazine that

did a series of investigative articles, from devotees....ONS..Tony.

[Guest guest]

Dear Tony:

 

You wrote to Dharma:

> I would be a little circumspect about anything Muktananda wrote.

 

I'm not surprised that you are!

 

Love, Wim

 

---

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[Guest guest]

Hi Kheyala,> Please forgive me, I just couldn't let this slip

by.>>>Very few people realize that it is possible to live

constantly>>in a state of totally expanded awareness and joy which

we>>achieve when we>become one with the Divine. >>This very notion

makes total awareness and joy impossible to experience! I don't

understand what you mean, Kheyala. How can a notion make

expandedawareness and joy impossible?Love,Dharma

Dear Dharma,

 

I would agree that a notion can expand relative awareness and can be enjoyed. Sure.

 

But Total Awareness and The-Joy-That-Is-Huge-Enough-To-Include-Everything

actually equals, or IS, the Total Absence of all notions.

 

 

While the above letter might have been interpreted (by some) as some

sort of personal criticism, it was not intended that way in the

least: I was struck in the Heart by the blatant falseness of the

statement itself and simply could not let it go by!

 

That particular "notion" being pointed out happens to be one of the

sneakiest and most devastating ideas that typically float around

spiritual communities. It intrinsically implies that "the Divine" is

in one place, and "we" are in another...and that that is why there is

suffering. And then come all the promises of everlasting joy when

there is "unity" again.

 

This is false! It is the Most False!

 

We have never, ever had an existence separate from That

................., whatever you choose to call It, ever. No matter

what it seems, how it feels, however it might look. No matter what.

 

 

This is as close to the Truth as these words can say right now.

 

Take away these words, these pointers, and Look! Here! Total

Awareness! And Joy! Breathing our bodies...beating our

hearts...blinking our eyes...all eyes, everywhere! This is Total

Awareness. Here.

 

 

 

 

In Silence.

 

Love,

Kheyala

[Guest guest]

Dear Kheyala

> That particular "notion" being pointed out happens to be one

> of the sneakiest and most devastating ideas that typically

> float around spiritual communities.

> It intrinsically implies that "the Divine" is in one place,

> and "we" are in another...and that that is why there is suffering.

> And then come all the promises of everlasting joy

> when there is "unity" again.

> This is false! It is the Most False!

 

Absolutely!!!

> In Silence.

 

And in Joy,

(((((((((((((((((((((-:loud and clear:-))))))))))))))))))))

 

Love, Kheyala Wim

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[Guest guest]

Dear Dharma,

 

Dharma wrote:

> Thank you for your beautiful defense and affirmation.

> But I must point out that the quotation under

> discussion isn't something I wrote.

 

Quotation:

> > Very few people realize that it is possible to live constantly

> > in a state of totally expanded awareness and joy which we

> > achieve when we become one with the Divine.

 

What's true is true,

 

truth, so gentle,

no fingerprints,

anonymous

 

 

 

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