Kundalini - From The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi

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Kundalini

From The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi

Edited by David Godman

 

Question: Will concentration on Chakras quieten the mind?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Fixing their minds on psychic centres such as

the Sahasrara (the thousand petalled lotus Chakra), yogis remain any

lengths of time without awareness of their bodies. As long as this

state continues, they appear to be immersed in some kind of joy. But

when the mind, which has become tranquil emerges and becomes active

again it resumes its worldly thoughts. It is therefore necessary to

train it with the help of practices like Dhyana (meditation) whenever

it becomes externalised. It will then attain a state in which there

is neither subsistence nor emergence.

 

Question: It is said that the Sakti manifests itself in five phases,

ten phases, a hundred phases and a thousand phases. Which is true?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Sakti has only one phase. If it is said to

manifest itself in several phases, it is only a way of speaking. The

Sakti is only one.

 

Question: How to churn up the Nadis (psychic nerves) so that the

Kundalini may go up the Sushumna?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Though the Yogi may have his methods of breath

control for his object, the Jnani's method is only that of enquiry.

When by this method the mind is merged in the Self, the Sakti or

Kundalini, which is not apart from the Self, rises automatically.

 

The Yogis attach the highest importance to sending the Kundalini up

to the Sahasrara, the brain centre or the thousand petalled lotus.

They point out the scriptural statement that the life current enters

the body through the fontanelle and argue that, Viyoga (separation)

having come about that way, yoga (union) must also be effected in the

reverse way. Therefore, they say, we must, by yoga practice, gather

up the Pranas (vital force) and enter the fontanelle for the

consummation of yoga. The Jnanis on the other hand point out that the

yogi assumes the existence of the body and its separateness from the

Self. Only if this standpoint of separateness is adopted can the yogi

advise effort for reunion by the practice of yoga.

 

In fact the body is in the mind which has the brain for its seat.

That the brain functions by light borrowed from another source is

admitted by the yogis themselves in their fontanelle theory. The

Jnani further argues: if the light is borrowed it must come from its

native source. Go to the source direct and do not depend on borrowed

sources. That source is the Heart, the Self.

 

The Self does not come from anywhere else and enter the body through

the crown of the head. It is as it is, ever sparkling, ever steady,

unmoving and unchanging. The individual confines himself to the

limits of the changeful body or of the mind which derives its

existence from the unchanging Self. All that is necessary is to give

up this mistaken identity, and that done, the ever shining Self will

be seen to be the single non-dual reality.

 

If one concentrates on the Sahasrara there is no doubt that the

ecstasy of Samadhi ensues. The Vasanas, that is the latent mental

tendencies, are not however destroyed. The yogi is therefore bound to

wake up from the Samadhi because release from bondage has not yet

been accomplished. He must still try to eradicate the Vasanas

inherent in him so that they cease to disturb the peace of his

Samadhi. So he passes down from the Sahasrara to the Heart through

what is called the Jivanadi, which is only a continuation of the

Sushumna. The Sushumna is thus a curve. It starts from the lowest

Chakra, rises through the spinal cord to the brain and from there

bends down and ends in the Heart. When the yogi has reached the

Heart, the Samadhi becomes permanent. Thus we see that the Heart is

the final centre.

 

[Note: Commentary by David Godman: Sri Ramana Maharshi never advised

his devotees to parctise Kundalini Yoga since he regarded it as being

both potentially dangerous and unnecessary. He accepted the existence

of the Kundalini power and the Chakras but he said that even if the

Kundalini reached the Sahsrara it would not result in realisation.

For final realisation, he said, the Kundalini must go beyond the

Sahasrara, down another Nadi (psychic nerve) he called Amritanadi

(also called the Paranadi or Jivanadi) and into the Heart-centre on

the right hand side of the chest. Since he maintained that self-

enquiry would automatically send the Kundalini to the Heart-centre,

he taught that separate yoga exercises were unnecessary.

 

The practitioners of Kundalini Yoga concentrate on psychic centres

(Chakras) in the body in order to generate a spiritual power they

call Kundalini. The aim of this practice is to force the Kundalini up

the psychic channel (the Sushumna) which runs from the base of the

spine to the brain. The Kundalini Yogi believes that when this power

reaches the Sahasrara (the highest Chakra located in the brain), Self-

realisation will result.

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi taught that the Self is reached by the search for

the origin of the ego and by diving into the Heart. This is the

direct method of Self-realisation. One who adopts it need not worry

about Nadis, the brain centre (Sahasrara), the Sushumna, the

Paranadi, the Kundalini, Pranayama or the six centres (Chakras).

 

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