Kundalini Shakti in the West - By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

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Kundalini Shakti in the West

By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

 

The notion of Kundalini Shakti is at the heart of yoga and is

embedded in virtually all Eastern traditions regardless of the name

or label that is given. If we carefully examine any school of yoga,

tantra, or various traditions (Shakti, Shaivite, Kashmiri Shaivism),

there will usually be some descriptions of Hatha Yoga, Pranayama,

Kriyas, Mudras, Mantras, and different types of meditations on the

Chakras (energy centers).

 

In the Shakti traditions, detailed descriptions are given of the

various aspects of the visions of the Goddess that arise in

meditation. Even in the school of Advaita Vedanta, which does not

depend on the practices associated with Shakti Yoga, we see that the

great scholar/saint Adi Shankracharya has written hymns to the

Goddess who represents Shakti, the divine power.

 

At a very practical level, the notion of the Divine Mother, Shakti,

the Goddess, is intertwined with most Indian Philosophies. Hatha Yoga

Pradipika, for example, is one of the classics of Kundalini Yoga and

describes how one moves from the physical aspects (Hatha Yoga) of

practice to the mental aspects (Raj Yoga) of self-discovery. In this

school of thought, one starts with various types of Yoga postures,

Mudras, and Pranayama to strengthen the nervous system and the body

and then moves to higher mental and spiritual meditations. The idea

is to clear the path for the Shakti to freely move upwards from the

lower Chakras in the body to higher Chakras along the spinal column.

If this is done methodically, it results in super conscious

experiences including visions of angels, celestial planes, and the

Goddess Herself.

 

As far as I know, Swami Vivekananda in the late 1800's introduced the

idea of Kundalini Shakti in the West when he came as a delegate to

the Parliament of Religions, which was held in Chicago in 1893. The

Parliament was the first inter-faith gathering in the world with all

of the world's major religions represented.

 

The term Kriya Yoga, a method to awaken the Shakti, was later

popularized by Swami Yogananda who came to the U.S in the early

1900s, settled in California, and found the Self-Realization

Fellowship. Awakening the Kudnalini Shakti is central in this

tradition as well, although they do not necessarily engage in very

heavy pranayama exercises.

 

From the mid 1900s to the late 1900s and up until the present, the

number of swamis and yogis from India coming to America grew from a

trickle to a flood and now, of course, Kundalini Yoga or some form of

it is taught in most cities and towns and the word " Chakras " has

entered the mainstream of English language.

 

Kundalini related literature from the East started to be translated

into English in the 1900s. One of the earliest translations which is

still widely available today was by Arthur Avalon (Sir John

Woodroffe), published in 1919 in London, England. It is a translation

of an esoteric text and describes the process of raising the Shakti

by a variety of Kriyas, Mudras, and Pranayamas.

 

In the mid and late 1900s, a number of scholars and practitioners of

Kundalini Yoga have translated classical texts. One example is that

of Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, a brilliant Sanskrit scholar, who has

advanced graduate degrees from both Indian and American Universities.

He has translated a number of ancient works on Shakti including one

of the revered Goddess texts called, " Tripura Rahasya " . Pandit

Rajmani Tigunait is a disciple of Swami Rama who founded the

Himalayan Institute which is located in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.

 

Besides these, there are now literally thousands of books on

Kundalini Yoga available from a variety of people belonging to

different schools of thought. In the past, many of these teachings

involving very subtle psychological and physiological processes were

kept secret in India. Today, however, there is enough literature on

the topic freely available on the Internet to satisfy everyone's

curiosity.

 

One example of this is on the personal section of the homepage of

Professor Kurt Keutzer of UC Berkeley. One can find a wealth of

information on Kundalini there along with Professor Keutzer's

thoughts on the subject.

 

Generally, it should be kept in mind that although there are vast

quantities of information available on Kundalini, there is no

substitute for the deep knowledge of Shakti Yoga which comes only

from many years of study and practice of meditation.

 

As a practical matter, Kundalini Yoga, especially with a focus on

strenuous bodily practices involving Hatha Yoga and Pranayama is not

suitable for everyone and can cause a variety of physical and

possibly psychological problems. Having an experienced genuine

teacher is a must on this path, if one is serious about the practices

which raise the Kundalini Shakti.

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi, the great Indian Sage of Arunachala, discouraged

people from practices of Pranayama and Kundalini Yoga and instead

taught that the aim of all yogas and tantras could be achieved simply

by a reflective self-inquiry where one focuses attention on one's own

sense of being arising from the inner quest to know the answer to the

question, " Who Am I? " Still, for those who wished to pursue Kundalini

Yoga, Sri Ramana pointed out that the source of the Shakti and the

Mind are the same and that Source is the Heart.

 

So whatever one's spiritual path is, including the path of Shakti

Yoga, one ends up exactly in the same place, where one already is, in

the Heart of Reality that is one's own Self.

 

Kundalini Shakti in the West

By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

 

2006/11/30/kundalini-shakti-in-the-west/