What is Kundalini? repost of a post of 1-5-07

[Guest guest]

(Author unknown)

 

What is Kundalini?

 

Kundalini is a subtle energy and consciousness that is said (in

Yogic and Tantric scriptures) to be coiled at the base of the spine

3 1/2 times, holding our system in stasis during our lives. If it

uncoils and awakens, either through spiritual practices, breathing

practices, near-death experiences or by other means, it moves upward

through the sushumna, a subtle energy field which follows the spine,

opening chakras and brain centers and changing the way the body

feels and the quality of awareness. This upward movement may be

sudden or it may be gradual over weeks and months and even years or

lifetimes. This awakening is also acknowledged under other names in

many other spiritual traditions, including Taoism, Tantric Buddhism,

Gnostic mystical traditions, and some Native American practices. In

some cases the energy awakening flows through channels other than

sushumna, triggering a wide range of phenomena, either positive or

negative.

 

Kundalini awakening brings about great changes in the psyche, the

body and the spiritual capacity of the one who experiences it.

Depending on the intensity of the experience, and the channels

through which it moves in our bodies, many phenomena may occur. The

person who has a sudden awakening needs a context and understanding

of this experience, because it may cause an eruption of energy

(involuntary movements, jerking, vibrations), psychic phenomena

(precognition, visions, inner sounds), altered states of

consciousness (out-of-body experience, other-life recall, states of

ecstasy or unitive consciousness or a sense of a void -- a sense of

limitlessness), psychological difficulties, and many physical

manifestations (heat, energy problems, eating and sleeping

difficulties, heart sensations, pains, stomach problems and other

conditions.)

 

Kundalini awakening offers a profound opportunity for those who are

called to follow a spiritual path. It can also lead to sudden

expansion of creativity and intelligence, emotional depth, and a

call to service in the world. Ultimately it is an invitation to

release all the patterns and delusions about your personal identity

and realize the essence of your existence, or the Self (also known

as the non-Self in Buddhist traditions.) Because everyone enters

this process with a unique history and set of habits and beliefs,

there can be much variation in how we adjust to the changes and the

insights that follow a spiritual awakening. It is threatening to the

ego-structure and frightening for many to feel a loss of boundaries,

or experience a fragmenting of the sense of personal control. But

the energy and consciousness that awakens in us can lead us directly

into a profound understanding of who we are, when it is well

supported. Ultimately life becomes more open and free, more

acceptable as it is, more loving and compassionate. You become

grounded in the Truth.

 

Like any energy of creation (prana, electricity, atoms) this energy

can be activated and misused by people who seek only power and do

not follow a spiritual motivation. Many teachers with activated

kundalini energy have not reached the full potential of this

process, and are therefore not free of personal drives and negative

intentions. You can recognize a teacher who has completed this path

successfully by the measure of understanding, wisdom, love and

selfless service they demonstrate. A fully awakened teacher has no

hunger for personal gain or recognition and will always encourage

you to honor the guru within. Such people's lives are marked by

simplicity and presence.

 

 

How Does Kundalini Awaken?

 

The initial arising of kundalini energy is often part of some

intense and concentrated experience This may be in a spiritual

practice using energy manipulation, or meditation, but it also can

happen in response to an intense challenge such as a near-death

experience, a meeting with a teacher who has awakened energy, a

beating or other traumatic event, a powerful sexual encounter, an

overwhelming emotional experience, or extreme anxiety. In some cases

it has awakened during childbirth. In others it seemed to awaken

spontaneously, with no obvious cause, while sleeping at night, and

even following an initiation in a dream.

 

Kundalini is a sanscrit word for the primal energy of consciousness,

and could be considered the life force. It is said by yogis to set

the energy field of the subtle body and chakras into motion, and

then curl 3 ½ times at the base of the spineand hold the body in

stasis through our lives, until it unwinds and leaves the body at

death.

 

While it is coiled the energy we can feel flowing in our bodies is

called prana, chi or ki in various eastern traditions, and sometimes

bio-energy in the West. When the residual coiled energy unwinds as a

result of spiritual practices it is called kundalini. Its function

appears to be the deconstruction of the personal identity, and the

clearing and restructuring of our interior space so that

consciousness can flow more freely, without attaching to all the

held patterns of our personal conditioning.

 

Since as the energy arises we may experience many phenomena,

(sometimes including the opening of abilities to heal, or psychic

abilities, or the experience of bliss, or the freeing of the voice

or creativity so we become more expressive in the world), some

people have associated this energy with gaining powers, called

siddhis in yoga and tantric traditions. But every tradition warns

against becoming attached to any of these phenomena, saying it will

deter us from the original function of the process, which is to

bring us into self-realization.

 

There are gradual schools of training in yogic and tantric

traditions which use breathing, energy and concentration to prepare

the body, balance the major energy flows in the body, strengthen the

body organs, and in time, activate kundalini through specific

practices. They generally require strict dietary rules, disciplined

practice, a non-stressed and simple lifestyle, and often celibacy,

in order to have optimum potential for this awakening to occur and

progress smoothly. When this happens the gradual progression of the

energy from the base of the spine through the crown chakra leads to

a releasing of various contractions in the energy body, and finally

to an experience of merging into unitive consciousness. Usually this

is a temporary condition, and in time the person returns to their

ordinary orientation, but always knowing themselves to be part of

this unitive whole.

 

People can also activate kundalini during or following an experience

of self-realization. In the non-dual traditions such as Zen Buddhism

or Advaita Vedanta, the teachings and the transmission of an

awakened teacher are considered the method to awakening, rather than

working with the energy field of the subtle body. Consciousness

itself suddenly shifts from identification as the separate person,

into a glimpse, or even a lengthy period of knowing itself as pure

consciousness or awareness, without attachment to the body/mind or

any other object. When the person returns to their ordinary

orientation they may feel greatly changed, slightly disoriented, and

may find new energy flows in their body that are unfamiliar and

disarming. The clearing process in such cases happens after the

initial awakening, preparing one in time for a permanent state of

realization.

 

If a student is with a teacher or mentor who has experienced this

journey they may receive guidance that helps them make appropriate

adjustments along the way, so that the changes they are experiencing

are not so frightening. Simply having the context of a spiritual

intention in one's life, and understanding that energy changes are

part of this, can be an enormous support in the process.

 

However, many people who have never known a practice or a teacher

have spontaneous awakenings. These may occur in conditions related

to trauma, body therapy, breathwork, deeply devoted prayer, yoga

practices, martial arts, meditation programs that do not explain the

phenomena of energy, metaphysical programs that manipulate

consciousness, therapies that include deep penetration into

alternate states of consciousness, recreational drug use, automobile

accidents, and even intense biofeedback sessions. In a few cases it

appears someone has had this energy awakened since birth, When

unusual energy and consciousness shifts occur in someone who has no

context for them it often raises anxiety, and this makes the process

more contracted and uncomfortable. People may fear for their sanity

and even their lives. Doctors frequently are unable to understand or

diagnose this situation because it is out of the paradigm of their

training. If during this process they continue to use recreational

drugs, use alcohol, work long and stressful hours, have stressful

relationships, or do more intense energy practices they may find the

kundalini process is very uncomfortable, painful, and feels more

like a punishment than a freedom. If they misinterpret the event as

something that is dangerous or evil, or shouldn't be happening,

their anxiety can greatly intensify the difficulties.

 

There are many myths about spiritual awakening, the most difficult

being that it should only happen to saintly people. This is clearly

not the case. It is an interior phenomena of energy and

consciousness that supports the realizing of our true nature, of our

roots, and is a potential for all humans. Many great mystics and

sages did not live exemplary lives before their awakening. It

appears to happen both in those who have strong intention and in

those who have never even heard of such a thing. It is as if the

collective numinous consciousness itself finds a moment in which it

can awaken our bodies and minds, and stimulate us to turn inward, in

order to discover what we were before we took on all the roles and

concepts and emotions of a human life, and what we are now,

underneath all these garments of separate identity. To awaken all

the way to the Truth is to know the source of our life, and directly

feel it living through us. To reach this state the interior energies

start to move in new ways, breaking old stuck patterns in our cells

and our psyches, opening the belly and the heart to vulnerability

and presence, opening the throat to new expression that is free of

self-consciousness, and opening the mind to clarity and stillness.

This takes some time, usually years, and this is why one is said to

be in a kundalini process.

 

7 Categories of Phenomena Experienced in the Kundalini Process

 

1. Pranic Activity or Kriyas:

These are intense involuntary body movements, shaking, vibrations,

jerking, and the sensation of electricity, tingling, or rushes of

energy flooding the body.

 

2. Yogic Phenomena:

Body involuntary performs yogic postures (asanas) or hand movements

(mudras) that the subject has never before seen, and the psyche may

produce symbolic images, or the sound of chanting, Sanscrit words,

tones or a variety of specific sounds such as bees buzzing, or

kettle drums beating. Some people spontaneously create and enter

into a ritual.

 

3. Physiological Problems:

Activation of latent illness or pseudo illness, apparent heart

problems, gastrointestinal disorders, nervous energy and hyper-

activity, eating disorders, dramatic rushes of heat and cold, pains

occurring in back, head, stomach, or big toes. These and other

difficulties are atypical and usually prove difficult to diagnose

and treat because they are not consistent with known illness and

they come and go spontaneously.

 

4. Psychological and Emotional Upheavals:

Intensification of unresolved psychological issues, fear of death or

insanity, mood swings, overwhelming waves of anxiety, anger, guilt

or depression which may feel unrelated to any personal issues, waves

of compassion, unconditional love, and heightened sensitivity to the

moods of others.

 

5. Extrasensory Experiences:

Visual input (i.e. lights, symbols, images of entities, the

reviewing of other lives, visions); auditory input (i.e. hearing a

voice, music or phrase); or olfactory input (i.e. smelling

sandlewood, perfume or incense).

 

6. Parapsychological Experiences:

Psychic awareness, unusual synchronicities, healing abilities,

seeing or feeling auras, channeling, electrical sensitivity and

psychokinesis are the most commonly reported occult phenomena.

Sometimes there is dramatically awakened creativity.

 

7. Samadhi or Satori Experiences:

The absorption of consciousness into mystical states of unity,

peace, light or energy, sometimes with a clear perception of

existential truths; or a profound sense of I am that or This pure

and open consciousness with no identity is what I truly am. There

may be less intense levels of trance-like states which bring peace,

joy, waves of bliss. These may occur during meditation, or after

meditation, or spontaneously at other times.

 

Please note: Any of these phenomena can occur independent of a

kundalini awakening for various reasons. Particularly if there are

intense physiological issues a medical evaluation should be made to

rule out illness or neurological disorder. But if a person has had a

dramatic initiating event of energy arising, and this is followed

over time with experiences from several of these categories it is

probably a kundalini process.

Derived from Energies of Transformation: A Guide to the Kundalini

Process.

 

10 Things You Can Do to Help Your Kundalini Process

 

Kundalini awakening, whether it occurs within a traditional

spiritual discipline or spontaneously, brings challenges for many

people. It is as if your system has been amped up from 110 to 220

wiring and you, as the appliance, have not yet adapted to it. It is

exceedingly rare for an awakening to be complete before many months

and years of clearing have occurred. This energy of life force,

often depicted as a goddess, has a goal of bringing you to a

complete rest in the universal Self, or the Non-self (not a personal

self),or what has been called the peace that passeth understanding.

As this happens the self-identifications, beliefs and illusions

related to the existing personality are undermined and eventually

dissolve. You may feel you no longer have a place to stand in the

world. You are moving toward standing in the vastness of the whole.

 

This clearing has been called a purification process, or in Hindu

terms it is the release of samscaras and vrittis. Samscaras are all

the conditions brought into this unique life to be played out from

previous lives, but could also be considered the consequence of

effects in the present life. Vrittis are all the movements of mind

and thought, which pester us like flies buzzing in the house hoping

to be made into pets. Many spiritual practices exist for the purpose

of calming and overcoming the activity of vrittis.

 

Because we are spirit imbedded in a physical body all of the cells

of our bodies are like parts of a hologram, containing the memories

of whatever has happened to us. So it happens that as the energies

that hope to transform us move through the body any areas where

energy, pain, memory or contractions are stored will react. This is

what we are feeling when there are pains, jerking movements, heat,

vibrations, rushes and other phenomena during and following a

kundalini arising. Many people have associated some of these

movements with opening the chakras, which is just another model for

saying that as contraction releases new possibilities emerge. People

carry their pain in different ways, just as we live our lives in

different ways, and so there can be a wide variety of responses to

this movement of energy, or clearing process. If there are physical

problems from an old injury it may be especially sensitive. If our

diet has been unhealthy or our lifestyle causes us to live where

there is toxic emotional energy, this can leave us more vulnerable

to difficulties. If there has been abuse of any kind, or there is a

history of alcoholism or drug-use, the body may be especially

challenged by this awakening, which is trying to clear it of the

past memories and experiences that we are identified with. If there

is a tendency of the personality to contract and a strong desire for

control the process can be very difficult because of our resistance

to it. There is an old saying that " What one resists, persists. "

 

For these and other reasons these are a few guidelines that can help

you move through this experience and find inner peace.

 

1. The energy may feel coarse and intense at times. But it is rarely

painful. Usually it is the fear and the attempt to stop it that

causes pain. If you are having lots of body movement, lay down once

or twice a day on the bed, and invite the energy to move through you

and clear out whatever doesn't belong to you, and whatever is in

your best interest to release at that moment. Usually it will run

for a few minutes -- maybe up to 20 -- and then stop, and you will

feel more relaxed. You especially need to do this if you work in an

environment where you may be picking up negative energy or the pain

of others such as healing or therapeutic work, or in places where

there is a lot of alcohol use, or in hospitals. If you are having

persistent physical pain in this process you should have a medical

evaluation.

 

2. Discover what your body really wants to eat. Often people need to

make major dietary changes such as giving up alcohol and

recreational drug use, avoiding red meat, eating smaller and more

simple meals. If you have a persistent problem with kundalini do

detective work to see what is happening when the problem arises. How

long since you ate and what did you eat? Would a small piece of

bread calm it down? Perhaps chamomile or burdock root tea? Do you

need more protein? Yogis recommend sometimes a mix of warm milk with

sugar in it (not honey, which raises heat). Another option is to

have a good analysis done with an Ayurvedic practitioner, who can

assess your body type and balance, and recommend the optimal diet

and herbs for you. There is much variation in what people need to

do, and sometimes people have long periods with no appetite at all,

or long periods with a voracious appetite. Usually a diet focused on

rice and vegetables is most useful, but proteins are also important.

I tend not to eat much meat so I take a powdered protein and mineral

supplement in juice every day and it makes a great difference in how

I feel. Be good to yourself.

 

3. Focus more in the heart and the belly than in the head. Look for

practices that center you more deeply into the present moment. A

devotional practice such as chanting or doing a heart-centered

meditation can help the energy open you to an experience of the

deeper part of yourself, the eternal part, and can also help it move

outward into more loving connections with others, or a tendency

toward service or creative expression, all of which keeps the

awakening more balanced. If you have a divine image ( a god,

goddess, spiritual teacher, saint, symbol) that is comforting to you

use it as an ally during this time, talking to him or her or it and

asking for support, or bringing light around yourself. These are

powerful archetypal energies that help the psyche when it is moving

through challenging changes.

 

4. Do something to help your body be more open such as yoga, Tai

Chi, dance, acupressure, movement processes, long walks in nature,

or whatever you are drawn to. If you don't know what is best for you

try several things and stick with what feels the best. The physical

body is the vehicle that will carry and ground your spirit, your

awakening, in the end. No better how deep your realization you will

ultimately be living in a human body for a few more years. The

better it is cared for the more options you have to express

realization when it occurs. Of course, a person who is weak or dying

can also be a beautiful and complete expression of the Divine, and

poor health does not preclude enlightenment. Those who have set with

people who are dying have seen that as attachment to the body lets

go more and more light shines through. But this should not be

misconstrued to advocate a harsh ascetism. While we are living,

having an open and flexible body accomplishes the same thing with a

lot less pain and distraction. Making the body " disciplined " by over-

doing exercise is not of any use either. Find a middle way, where

your body is in harmony with your spirit.

 

5. Wake up each day expecting not to know what will happen, and

looking with curiosity for the events to unfold. Instead of worrying

and controlling, simply be present to whatever arises with the

intention of meeting it with your best effort. Whatever happens in

the process of spiritual awakening will be unpredictable and will

move on, if you are simply the one noticing it, and not doing battle

or making a big project out of it.

 

6. You may have emotional swings, energetic swings, psychic

openings, and other undesired shifts that feel unfamiliar to your

personality as you knew it. Be the observer. Don't feel you have to

fix or change anything. It will pass.

 

7. If you have serious trauma in your history and have never had

therapy it could be very useful in releasing the pains of the

memories that come up around the events. I have noticed that people

who had good therapy before their spiritual awakenings often have

much less difficulty. Therapy teaches you to express, to witness, to

release and to move on. Your therapist does not have to know much

about kundalini as long as he or she does not discount that part of

your process. What you want to focus on is releasing issues related

to the trauma, and you want a therapist that is experienced and

compassionate and sees your spiritual orientation as a motivation

and a support for the process of healing.

 

8. This process is your opportunity to wake up to your true nature.

Some people wake up first, and then experience a kundalini arising;

others have the kundalini process moving through as a preparation

for the arising. The arising occurs to do the clearing out work so

is part of either model. Waking up means the realization that the

one who is looking through your eyes, living through your senses,

hearing your thoughts and being present in every moment of your

experience, good or bad, is recognized or remembered. This is a

bright, aware detached and unconditionally loving presence that is

universal and eternal and it is completely free of all the

conditions and memories that you associate with as a personal

identity. But as long as you believe in all your personal conditions

and stories, emotions and thoughts, it has to experience life

filtered through them. This conditioned mind is what brings variety

and drama to the game of life, but it also causes suffering and fear

of death. We glimpse the Truth about the deep expansive silence that

is the ground of our being when we are in Samadhi and Satori

experiences. The early Gnostics called it gnosis (knowledge) or the

One. Some spiritual teachings such as Advaita Vedanta and Zen go

directly for the realization, while others see it as a gradual path

accomplished through years of spiritual practices. Either way the

end is the same. When you know who you are the world becomes as

Shakespeare said, a stage, and you the player, and life is more

light and thoughts less intrusive, and the kundalini process settles

down into a mellow pleasantness.

 

9. Give up going places and being with people who cause you pain.

Sometimes people seem to be more acutely sensitive when kundalini

arises. They can't tolerate the energy of large discount warehouses,

or smoky nightclubs, or the kind of family gatherings that are tense

and competitive. It's okay to take care of yourself and find more

quiet time, more intimate friends, and even a new job, if the old

one is overly stressful. Don't feel you have to prove anything by

forcing yourself to be someone you aren't. Rediscover what is

comfortable naturally for you to do and to be. Live more

authentically. In this process you may also find a new creative

urge, which is a wonderful opportunity to express what is happening.

Draw, write, dance, work with clay, paint, garden -- all of these

are great ways of nurturing yourself through the deep psychic

changes you are experiencing.

 

10. Find an awakened teacher to hang out with. For many people with

spiritual awakenings meditation is an intrinsic part of their lives.

An awakened teacher will bring you a transmission of peace, and an

opportunity to sit deeply in the silence of your true nature. An

awakened teacher can be of any spiritual persuasion or none, can

understand kundalini or not be interested in it, and will

demonstrate tolerance and compassion for all who pass their way.

When you learn from them the art of sitting and just being, you will

find the cure for all the suffering of life. In time all the

activity of the mind and complaints of the body fall away, and there

is a deep understanding and love that arises, which brings a sense

of completion, openness, freshness and invitation to the expression

of the greater Self. When awakening is complete, there is no

question it has been the whole purpose of your life. Where it will

take you there is no way to know, and there is no one to care

either. We surrender to the dance, knowing it is a dream.

 

 

 

 

oneSearch: Finally, mobile search that gives answers, not web links.