Kundalini and ego

[Guest guest]

Hi Linda, you wrote :

 

< I believe that part of the challenge in understanding the 'higher levels'

of <'beingness' is that there is so much ego and imagination attached to

'so-called' kundalini experiences. I have heard people claiming to have

achieved 'Nirvikalpa

<Samadi' speak of all sorts of incredible experiences. While recounting

<their 'experiences' so much of their ego was present that one knows they

<were not in Nirvikalpa Samadi....afterall, would there really be anyone to

<speak to if one had experienced the loss of one's sense of separation?>

 

Kundalini does strange things to people, but what seems to happen quite often

is that during the process one can go into deeply mystical and "cosmic"

experiences, only to come out and suddenly revert into totally opposed states

of anxiety, separation and other very much "unenlightened" states of being.

This has actually gone on within myself for longer than I care to remember !

 

As far as I can understand this, it's all a matter of the kundalini making one

self forcefully aware of hidden and latent tendencies within the psyche, so

as to ultimately transcend them. Active kundalini really is a kind of

automatic spiritual growth in order to become totally free from these

patterns and to then enjoy the sahaja state in the end.

 

This can however be a long and strenuos journey and it's very hard to convey

these inner workings of consciousness, even to people who are spiritually

aware but aren't experiencing the action of the kundalini in themselves. So,

in this context, it's very possible, perhaps even likely to experience

samadhi and inner silence ("without seed" or thought), and then come out and

misbehave. As you mentioned, one has some, maybe deep, experience and is then

challenged or runs into trouble.

 

It really seems as if there's a perfectly intelligent mechanism working

behind the scenes, first giving one a taste of the true self, only to then

start pulling out habitual thought patterns and deeply embedded impressions

("samskaras" or karmic blueprints) from the psyche, just like weeds from an

overgrown garden.

 

I'm not too sure about the concept of "ego-loss" or of "no-one being there" -

what seems to go is the identification with one's personality and personal

history. Instead there's a very slow sort of "sinking" into the deeper

reality of the Self. This can be really scary (we talked about this some time

ago), since the old personality or "ego" struggles frantically to remain in

it's own comfortable little world.

 

In moments of expansion however, when the little ego is silenced and the

larger reality comes to the surface one does tend to project some of this

outwards. To the innocent bystander this might very well seem like a classic

case of bloated and self-important ego !

 

But it doesn't feel as if there's no one there (I don't even think this is

possible - consciousness is always present to some degree ), quite the

contrary, there's no separate person, but instead something awesomely large,

totally silent and very mysteriously unfathomable.

 

Of course it's possible to imagine kundalini, or any other experience for

that matter, in order to get attention, but this isn't real. From the many

stories I've heard and read, including my own weird little movie, however, it

does seem as if the real kundalini-process follows a specific pattern, with

many ups and downs before one is well-baked and thoroughly cooked !

 

Love,

Michael

[Guest guest]

Hi Michael,

 

Beautiful post!

>.... So,

>in this context, it's very possible, perhaps even likely to experience

>samadhi and inner silence ("without seed" or thought), and then come out and

>misbehave.

 

Even if you go into Nirvikalpa Samadhi, it doesn't automatically turn you

into a perfect person. If you still have personality problems and blocks

to clean up when you go into the All, you'll come back and find them still

there waiting for you. )) But the new perspective... seeing the world

with new eyes... may make the job easier.

 

>But it doesn't feel as if there's no one there (I don't even think this is

>possible - consciousness is always present to some degree ), quite the

>contrary, there's no separate person, but instead something awesomely large,

>totally silent and very mysteriously unfathomable.

 

Beautiful!

 

Love,

Dharma

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/22/00 4:08:56 PM Mountain Daylight Time,

MHortling writes:

 

<< It really seems as if there's a perfectly intelligent mechanism working

behind the scenes, first giving one a taste of the true self, only to then

start pulling out habitual thought patterns and deeply embedded impressions

("samskaras" or karmic blueprints) from the psyche, just like weeds from an

overgrown garden. >>

 

Wonderful post -- you've described the movement so clearly! The upshot of

Kundalini for me is that there is no upshot. There seem to be infinite

layers to the Mind that K brings to light and somewhere along the way I

noticed that I was no longer seeking. My love and amazement don't seem to be

goal-oriented (there is no "there" to get to) and instead are fixed on the

tender, exquisite workings of Life Itself. Holly

[Guest guest]

My Groups | Main Page | Start a new group!

Hello Michael:

I definitely agree with you what you say about Kundalini experiences.

For me it has been and is an on-going process with many highs and

lows. The point I was making was in reference to people claiming to

have been in Nirvikalpa Samadhi. There are different levels of

samadhi and nirvikalpa is the final stage the one at which you are

fully 'baked' so to speak. At that point one is beyond karma and it's

related samskaras or tendencies. IMHO there are simply many people

still in a state of kundalini awakening and who are still purifying

or getting baked. Without the proper surrender or discrimination I

believe they imagine they have achieved 'it' and make their belief

known to others. Of course, that is also part of a process but all

too often people believe these claims.

Love,

Linda

> strange things to people, but what seems to happen quite >often >is

that during the process one can go into deeply mystical and "cosmic"

>experiences, only to come out and suddenly revert into totally

opposed >states >of anxiety, separation and other very much

"unenlightened" states of >being. >This has actually gone on within

myself for longer than I care to >remember ! >As far as I can

understand this, it's all a matter of the kundalini >making one>self

forcefully aware of hidden and latent tendencies within the psyche,

>so >as to ultimately transcend them. Active kundalini really is a

kind of >automatic spiritual growth in order to become totally free

from these >patterns and to then enjoy the sahaja state in the

end.>This can however be a long and strenuos journey and it's very

hard to >convey >these inner workings of consciousness, even to

people who are spiritually >aware but aren't experiencing the action

of the kundalini in themselves. >So, >in this context, it's very

possible, perhaps even likely to experience >samadhi and inner

silence ("without seed" or thought), and then come out >and

>misbehave. As you mentioned, one has some, maybe deep, experience

and is >then >challenged or runs into trouble. >It really seems as if

there's a perfectly intelligent mechanism working >behind the scenes,

first giving one a taste of the true self, only to >then >start

pulling out habitual thought patterns and deeply embedded

>impressions >("samskaras" or karmic blueprints) from the psyche,

just like weeds >from .an >overgrown garden.>I'm not too sure about

the concept of "ego-loss" or of "no-one being >there" - >what seems

to go is the identification with one's personality and >personal

>history. Instead there's a very slow sort of "sinking" into the

deeper >reality of the Self. This can be really scary (we talked

about this some >time >ago), since the old personality or "ego"

struggles frantically to remain >in >it's own comfortable little

world.>In moments of expansion however, when the little ego is

silenced and the >larger reality comes to the surface one does tend

to project some of this >outwards. To the innocent bystander this

might very well seem like a >classic >case of bloated and

self-important ego ! >But it doesn't feel as if there's no one there

(I don't even think this >is >possible - consciousness is always

present to some degree ), quite the >contrary, there's no separate

person, but instead something awesomely >large, >totally silent and

very mysteriously unfathomable.>Of course it's possible to imagine

kundalini, or any other experience for >that matter, in order to get

attention, but this isn't real. From the >many >stories I've heard

and read, including my own weird little movie, >however, it >does

seem as if the real kundalini-process follows a specific pattern,

>with >many ups and downs before one is well-baked and thoroughly

cooked !>Love,>Michael//

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