Kundalini History 101

[Guest guest]

Kundalini is a Sanskrit word meaning either " coiled up " or " coiling

like a snake. " There are a number of other translations of the term

usually emphasizing a more serpent nature to the word - e.g. 'serpent

power'.

 

The caduceus symbol of coiling snakes is thought to be an ancient

symbolic representation of Kundalini physiology.

 

The concept of Kundalini comes from yogic philosophy of ancient India

and refers to the mothering intelligence behind yogic awakening and

spiritual maturation. It might be regarded by yogis as a sort of

deity, hence the occasional capitalization of the term.

 

Within a western frame of understanding it is often associated with

the practice of contemplative or religious practices that might induce

an altered state of consciousness, either brought about spontaneously,

through a type of yoga, through psychedelic drugs, or through a

near-death experience.

 

According to the yogic tradition Kundalini is curled up in the back

part of the root chakra in three and one-half turns around the sacrum.

Yogic phenomenology states that kundalini awakening is associated with

the appearance of bio-energetic phenomena that are said to be

experienced somatically by the yogi.

 

This appearance is also referred to as " pranic awakening " . Prana is

interpreted as the vital, life-sustaining force in the body. Uplifted,

or intensified life-energy is called pranotthana and is supposed to

originate from an apparent reservoir of subtle bio-energy at the base

of the spine. This energy is also interpreted as a vibrational

phenomena that initiates a period, or a process of vibrational

spiritual development.

 

The source text for the concept of kundalini is the " Hatha Yoga

Pradipika " written by Swami Svatmarama (English translation, 1992)

somewhere between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. Any examination

of the topic should include this work. The pradipika is one of the

later developments in yoga sacred texts. Hatha Yoga is strictly

speaking a forcing technique which has as its primary aim the forcing

of the arising of kundalini.

 

The main emphasis is a difficult regime of breathing techniques meant

to increase the store of " prana " in the body. The well known physical

postures are only meant to be an aid to maintain peak physical

fitness, so as to support the real work of the breathing practices.

All of this has, according to tradition, to be accompanied by

prolonged and unbroken meditation practise (for which the main text is

the " Yoga Sutras of Patanjali " ). The text adds that great good fortune

is another requirement, i.e.luck, for the procedure to succeed.

However, these techniques are not without dangers.

 

The Interpretation of Kundalini

 

Two early western interpretations of Kundalini were supplied by C.W.

Leadbeater (1847-1934), of the Theosophical Society, and the

analytical psychologist Carl Jung (1875­1961).

 

Jung's seminar on Kundalini yoga, presented to the Psychological Club

in Zurich in 1932, has been widely regarded as a milestone in the

psychological understanding of Eastern thought and of the symbolic

transformations of inner peace.

 

Kundalini yoga presented Jung with a model for the developmental

phases of higher consciousness, and he interpreted its symbols in

terms of the process of individuation. (Princeton University Press

Book description to C. G Jung - " The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga " ,

1999).

 

A few western translators interpret the energetic phenomena as a form

of psychic or paranormal energy, although the western

parapsychological understanding of psychic energy, separated from its

cultural-hermeneutic matrix, is probably not the same as the yogic

understanding. Yogic philosophy understands this concept as a maturing

energy that expresses the individual's soteriological longings. Viewed

in a mythological context it is sometimes believed to be an aspect of

Shakti, the goddess and consort of Shiva.

 

Kundalini might be said to be a popular concept, since it is widely

quoted among various disciplines of yoga and New Age beliefs. However,

the recent popularization of the term within new religious movements

has - according to some scholars of religion - not contributed to

promote a mature understanding of the concept (Sovatsky, 1998). As

with many eastern contemplative concepts there exist considerable

difficulties, and possible semantic confusion, connected to the way

these concepts are adapted to a western context.

 

This has led to somewhat different interpretations and applications of

the concept of Kundalini within the spiritual and contemplative

culture in the west. On the one hand there are the New Age

popularizations, and on the other hand there is the traditional

lineage of Kundalini Yoga understood from its cultural background and

interpreted within the academic fields of Religious Studies, Pastoral

Theology and Transpersonal/Humanistic psychology.

 

With the tools of these academic traditions it is possible to give

different interpretations to the concept of Kundalini; such as

physiological interpretations, psychological interpretations, clinical

interpretations, religious interpretations, mythological

interpretations and spiritual interpretations.