ShaktiMama

It is not an unusual practice in traditional Tantra to be initiated and instructed by a wiser woman who would be older. Her energy is much more developed. So in a spiritual tradition there is great benefit in being with an older women. Authentic Tantrikas never lose their own energy or steal it from a male in a relationship. Dual cultivation is fun and nourishing and enlightening. http://www.amazon.com/Tantric-Quest-Encounter-Absolute-Love/dp/0892816201 Speaking from personal experience younger men who have a spiritual focus tend to choose older women for partners in life. s

When you meet with Santiago he will have some really good answers for you.

Of course...chi/kundalini feels really good. Laughing kriyas are also exprienced as well as giggling kriyas. I have a couple of students who laugh and giggle non stop when I do transmissions. Just look at it this way...way better than barfing kriyas. Kriyas are a form of emotional release or of toxin release. The action comes from the movement of energy through the body when the channels aren't cleared enough to handle the flow. There are other uses of the word kriya but this is often how it relates in k development. If you leave a water hose out in the sun for a long time it will be come stiff and not pliable. Turn the water on full force and it will whip around in the air. This is what happens in the body. K is of high voltage. Turn it on and it will cause the body to move or do funny things if the body is not used to handling the high energy flow. I have heard animal sounds, seen animal movements, spontaneous chi and yoga forms, other kinds of things. It's a good thing. Shows there is movement of energy happening. Cultivation practice is working. If in your k or chi development practice you are not happy that indicates something needs to be addressed. One begins to smile spontaneously and laugh because the heart is peaceful the further you mature in your cultivation practice. If one has a crabby teacher who doesn't smile a lot as a rule maybe it's time to get another teacher. s

Can you guys give some real time experiences? Just speaking from my own experiences I am aware of my own non-dual nature as it exists with That Which Is. But, I know that this world operates in Duality. Duality is the operating system of this 3D meat suit that I, as Consciousness, lives in. So, i have found it is difficult to get past the duality. I don't know if you really can as long as you wear the 3D meat suit. If I had some real time examples I might be able to be more helpful. s

I know that for me that where I place my attention energy flows. Like for example, right now I place my attention on my spine and bliss rushes begin or more like it is my attention that brings the bliss rushes up in the forefront of my consciousness and amplifies their presence. Bliss runs constantly but I have learned to dial down the volume or it can be incapacitating. The fact that you pay attention to the input of energy amplifies the awareness and feeling of it. One of the skills I had to learn was to be a witness to this whole k process or I could get lost in all the feelings, emotions, sensations, and visions. The way you can practice that is to pull your attention up and away from your body. It's like you are a security camera up in the highest corner on the wall observing your self as you go through this process. Practice in meditation doing that. This will help you to maintain stabiity. don't know if that helps, s

Learned it in medical qigong as the mudra that represents the earth element. It does what Santi says. Once can hold your arms besides your sides as you stand and then put your hands into that fist. It grounds you into the earth.

yes...of course. s

you can learn a lot from a dvd, books, working hard on it, etc. for sure but having someone there is priceless. For example, Santi and I do a lot of teaching online and thru videos and chat but we also do seminars. So in January we were in London. We met some of our online students. It was obvious some of them needed on hands correction in form which we gave. There also is the issue of in person transmission. You can get transmission certainly by long distance but having the teacher put their hands on you is a different matter. The best would be to utilize all ways of teaching if you can but you can certainly get some benefit from all the other ways. I once took an afternoon lesson in bagua from a respected teacher in Canada. I went over with a friend/student of mine to this teacher's house. He just taught me some simple positions and I kept falling over. Yes, falling over as in falling over on to the ground. He didn't touch me, we weren't sparring. It had to do with me learning a new way of chi flow in body as I learned these first positions. He said this way a good thing, me falling over. It means I was really learning that first step and it was having an effect on me. You can't get that from a DVD. s

I learned a new word today, Cat. philematology: the study of kissing. So a philematolgist is a person who studies kissing. This word does not actually indicate if the person has any experience kissing. It struck me that there are a lot of kundalini-ologists but I wonder how many of the k-ologists actually have living experience with kundalini? Describing a kiss without ever being kissed? I suppose it give you some idea of a pale understanding of a kiss. I think that this happens a lot with kundalini, describing kundalini without ever going through the process. enjoy those oysters...i am going out for breakfast crepes and chai myself. s

Parasiva is the realization of the God Self. Self realization. Direct knowing of God. Sometimes called nirvikalpa samadhi, This happens when kundalini pierces the crown is one description. So there is the experience of the non experience of That Which Is. But to describe That which cannot be named denigrates/corrupts understanding That Which Is. The only way we know that this happened or is happening is because there are changes, permanent changes in one's perspective. I would also add permanent changes in one's body, spirit, mind, and emotions. To live in Parasiva is impractical for a human who lives in the world as a practicing human being. Yes, what you call Parasiva has happened to me more than once. Does this make me self realized? I like to think not because I don't live in that state all that time. I do live in a state of That Which Is is present with me, near to me in awareness, all the time. Where or when I focus my consciousness will enlarge or diminish my experience of that state of being. Again, precision in terms does become irrelevant to kundalites. What I know and some of my fellow kundalites know is that attachment to precision of terms is more helpful to those who want to understand what it's like to dwell in the House of the Divine. Again, the terms help us know what the rules are but the rules are like training wheels. They will eventually not be necessary when one understands and has practices which naturally arise that exhibits evidences that shows itself as living in concert with the That Which Is. Life becomes a spontaneous expression rather than a rule based or fact checking practice that depends on structure that was created by a mind. The irony comes when that life will often naturally reflect the spirit found in the listing and defining of virtues and ethical behavior. When kundalini is in play, when The Way is freely expressed without resistance from the human organism, we will naturally become responsible citizens of this planet. It is our nature then to be naturally virtuous. I am not there in that place. It is of less importance to me in my daily life whether I getting off on the 7th floor or the 40th floor on the elevator of Divine Consciousness. It is all magnificent in it's manifestations. A little cup of the Divine Water or swimming in the Oceans of Mercy, it is all deeply transforming. If i lived in a state of nirvikalpa samadhi I would have to live in isolation, have attendants look after me for I would not be able to look after my bodily needs due to being absorbed in 24 hour meditation on the Absolute. I have some who disagree with me but it is really hard to drive a car in nirvikalpa samadhi. I suppose with practice I could but there are more fruitful ways to spend my time than learning to drive in this state. I am a practical person. I choose to live with the people and make my home on the Earth. I think of the pursuit of and living in samadhi as extremely selfish. I would rather teach people a way that will bring them to their own experience of samadhi so they can make their own decisions, their own self determnation. So as far as my implied correlations go they are limited but I hope they help people in reaching clarity. They are signposts not the place and I am not attached to the signposts. They are as malleable as our perceptions of reality. No, I am not a master although I am on the path to self mastery. It's been a difficult one for me. I am more of the elder sister in a big family. By virtue of living longer in the kundalini process I have acquired more knowledge and techniques, life experiences and a more mature persepctive. That doesn't mean I am better than anyone else in the family. It just means I have been at it longer by virtue of being alive longer after the second birth known as kundalini awakening. I think kundalini awakening makes one more of an egalitarian in world view rather than a specialist in one spiritual tradition. So, one can describe, create structure, follow blue prints and say, "Look, I followed the directions, I have the building materials and I was able to create a person who operates in a predictable way." We can disagree and criticize and analyze the building plans but what is missing is this person is not enlivened by Kundalini Shakti. In comparison, people power the body/mind/spirit with gasoline or with rubbing two sticks together. What they don't know is when the kundalini is activated now they are empowered with the kind of energy that creates stars. If your body is 30 years old or 17 or 65 it takes awhile to learn how to live with kind of energy when it is activated. Kundalini has to work against and transform all those unhelpful belief structures and traumas that are crystallized in the body. Kundalini's job is to help you reach your highest potential. These are my thoughts based on my personal life experiences in living with kundalini. If people get benefit that's wonderful. If people don't get benefit that's a good thing too. One less thing to be concerned about in their journey through life.

I am a sucker for tobiko. I would consider flying fish eggs fairly yin but I could be wrong.

kundalite is a term some of us with awakened kundalini refer to ourselves. it's short hand. if we sit in the center of the domain of kundalini...where ever that might be...and look out. One can see different spokes radiating out as ways different people's traditions try to explain the phenomenon of kundalini to others and to themselves. There will be over lap and blurring of boundaries because people vary in their experiences of life and culture. Is there one tradition that accurately explains the phenomenon of kundalini? Based on my experience and the experiences/feedback of other kundalites there is not. There are some that get closer in some individual's opinion but it is subjective over all who really is the closest. Who is to say the the Bushman experience is less valid than the Hindu or of less value than the non sectarian practitioner? It is nice to have a variety of maps around. This doesnt discount the explanations it just shows there are different ways to explain. It doesnt change the nature of what is being explained just illustrates the limitations of the explanation. It doesnt say that the experiential path of kundalites is in error. You are looking at the traditions and the incongruities between them. One does choose a tradition that appeals to what ever reasoning and judgment process we have, yes? I sit at the Source of the traditions and see the seamless thread that connects them all. I see/experience no incongruity under the words. Co-opting to me is natural. Natural to me because exactness around the domain/structure of Spirit is no longer important but that is just me. There is an attraction to creating form and structure people have around That Which Is. I find that trying to do that is like trying to nail jello to the wall. It won't happen but in doing so it gives people comfort in some way. Thinking we know something about Nothing is better than realizing we know nothing about Nothing perhaps? So we can say these are the rules or the laws in describing a form or expression of That Which Is because as a species we don't like living without boundaries. But the structure that we create can feel like a cage to the kundalite for we have experienced or are experiencing that which people try to explain with their knowledge without direct experience. Knowledge is only as good as it's accumulation. We know far less about what we don't know than what we do know. We still try to explain the Unexplainable rather than just sit with the Unexplainable and let It be. The Ardhnarishwara is another representation of the Divine Androgyne. The Androgyne is not an unfamiliar concept in Western Alchemy. Spirit is Androgynous. No gender. I get that. But in my living in Duality, I choose to work with the Divine Feminine/Divine Masculine Archetypes. It serves me to do so. Shiva without Shakti is nothing. Shiva is the platform upon which Shakti dances. Shiva and Shakti are not different sides of a coin. They are on the same side so hence we see the representation of Ardhnarishwara. The insistence on exactness of terms is undertandable. It helps provide structure to the unknowable. Someday there while come a time on the kundalite's path this structure is not necessary anymore. This cause considerable consternation to the non kundalite because it looks like we don't play by the rules. I would say that is true. Liberation is an interesting thing.

drugs can dampen down the k from working. s

cant say that i do.

Yes, one becomes "amoral" the higher one climbs up the ladder.One loses attachment to cultural mores. That is why training in compassion and virtues is important. One determines to act on ethical values rather than moral values. Hatsumi would say that all people need a religious path for this reason. It's in Path Notes. Yes it takes a helluva lot of courage and a disregard for self preservation. When one acts from that point it's very offensive to the public and be prepared to spend your time walking into buzz saws. s

yes...that would work... s

Bob, There are kundalites who would pleasantly disagree with you that kundalini Shakti is not female energy. To be more specific Shakti is a representation of the Divine Feminine which with the Divine Masculine gives a more anthropomorphic picture of the qualities of That Which Is. Pathological energy manifestations do come from blockages in both main energy channels like the Ida and Pingala and all the minor channels and chakras. There are an infinite number of chakras which I learned and experienced in my communion with Shakti. To some of us kundalites we have seen the Maha Chakra which all other chakras are but a reflection of it's attributes. Hopefully, the electrician one hires has experience and does not qualify themselves as an expert because they read ehow on the internet. s

This is a good example of why people should not dabble. Not saying he is in this case either. Once the kundalini is awake, it's permanent. You no longer own your body. You are no longer in control. It will do what it needs to do to complete it's process whether you agree or not. It is the resistance to this psycho-spiritual-physical evolutionary drive that causes such problems. I remember a story in the Bible where the King of Persia, was worshipped by his army as a god. They felt he could do no wrong. He took his throne and sat on it along the shoreline. He put his hands up and commanded the tides not to come in. Well, the tides came in. I bring up this story because to tell Kundalini to stop is about as effective as telling the tides to stop. It's like a ten year old yelling at their parents, "i did not ask to be born!" Can a baby tell its' body to stop developing? Kundalini is a force of Nature. The process can be slowed or maybe modified somewhat. What one of the simplest things you can do is ask that the process be slower. I have done that. My life was havoc for awhile. I was blowing up computers at work. I was having these strong, bizarre kriyas in the middle of the day. Since I had no yoga, chi gung, or any internal cultivation practice, no teacher, no group, I was desperate for relief. In my desperation I spoke to kundalini and begged to have these manifestations stop. I asked for a bargain...let my days be quieter so I can work, pay rent, go grocery shopping, etc. and I would totally surrender to the flow at night. My wish was granted and I was able to function better during the day. The secret smile and other techniques will make the process go faster. We don't refer to this process as the Lightening Path for no reason. This hyper process he is going through is a temporary phase. Once the k is finished with whatever task it is doing right now, the ramping up period will calm down. I observe the development is cyclical in the early stages. Periods of acute ramping up (a yang period) followed by periods of calmness (yin). Over time the periods between the cycling will lengthen moving from a day, to weeks, to months to years till an equilibrium is reached. I tend to cycle with the seasons now. Ramping up in late winter through spring. Slowing down as the winter approaches. The drama is not like it was in the early years. It helps to change perspective. what he is going through means he is blessed. People struggle for years and years to attain what is happening to him now. It is always humorous to me when people come to me with these struggles when it is these struggles which bring them closer to the absorption of themselves within All That Is and recreates themselves as a natural human being who acts in spontaneous concert with the Dao and not as a mechanical, reactive lump of human protoplasm who inhabits a 3D meat suit. He may have to seek out another adept who can work with him one on one to manage flow. Santi is better at that than I am due to the fact he is highly classically trained in IMA and energy cultivation. My expertise comes from being a survivor who thrived in her experience with k process without almost no guidance at all. I had minimal external training except that which comes from being a mystic who totally surrenders to the process in the confidence that it is divinely directed. My training is almost all directly intuitive and in downloads from Shakti. It mirrors much of what classically trained people are taught in the higher esoteric arts. Eating meat and other heavier foods is one effective way of slowing down the process. Being a vegan or vegetarian almost guarantees the process will be intense. Why? Because those diets burn up/digest quickly and the body turns on itself to feed the fires of K. The heavier food gives more substance for the k to develop itself. This is one of those understandings that flows in the face of classical k teaching. There are other things but it helps to talk to an individual because the process is so individual. Telling one to stop meditating and doing yoga may not be what another individual needs. hope that brings clarity, s

you are right on with this john. I couldnt have said this better. I had weird, dramatic things like you described but I was absolutely fascinated by the whole process. I was alone too. No teacher, guru, group to really help me. I felt like i was living in fantasy adventure story for grown ups. The insights you share are not uncommon for a kundalite. Feeling like a Stranger in a Strange Land. Sometimes it feels like the Peanuts characters listening to adults talk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUyLwXhqlWU When I feel this most acutely is when talking to people who are convinced their Kundalini is awake and they have the superior knowledge because some ancient text said this. It is the difference between book knowledge and actual experience. My experience is often not in alingment with whatever book or sacred literature they are referring too. What I have found is my experience is often some thing that is talked about in oral traditions not written down unless in very occult language. Once kundalini is in gear occult language can become very clear to the kundalite. For example, yesterday a student was telling myself and Vajrasattva that he was dreaming/visioning about killing a crocodile with Santi. Is it commonly known that crocodiles are a representation of the 2nd chakra? If one looks closely at a 2nd chakra yantra there is a tiny crocodile represented. The second chakra is water element too. In context of the conversation we know we are working on 2nd chakra development and this is a good sign, not to be feared, not a nightmare. Yes, this can be an unpleasant experience to sort through, the alienation. What makes it a whole lot bearable is being in a community with people who understand what you are talking about. The alienation experience is common. I have yet to meet a kundalite who doesn't go through this experience in some degree. thanks for sharing this, s

you are welcome. you can give him my email address if you like. [email protected] sometimes, just knowing that someone understands what is happening to you and that you are not alone in this takes an enormous amount of stress and burden off of the person. s

EXACTLY John. I have not said in this thread But I have said other times other threads: if your life does not change, and sometimes that change is radical, then whatever is happening to you is not kundalini. Kundalini changes your life. It is the second birth. You will walk, talk, smell, look, think different. Who you were before will transform, transmute, change into another creature. Resistant to change, resistant to the energy flow IS probably the biggest issue I see in people who are on the k path. Resistance to What Is (movement of Shakti or cosmic energy through the body) causes suffering. wooo hooo people who don't resist move quickly in the process. People who are flexible, intelligent, and possess a child like nature of wonder and curiosity do great with the awakening process. People who are not afraid of being loved will do well too. It can be enjoyable, it can be fun. Suffering is optional. s

his guru should have told him that is normal. That is the body "rewiring" to handle the higher voltage/power of the kundalini energy. Feeling as if ants with very hot little feet crawling all over our bodies is how I and some of my friends have experienced it. This is not an unusual phenomenon. Even in medical qigong it is considered an auspicious sign because it shows that energy cultivation practices are working. It's a process. Nothing makes that phenomenon go faster other than working on clearing the meridians and continue cultivating energy. Basic chi gong like standing stake can help. There are some things we just have to endure and get through the other side. Like walking thru a muddy field by ourselves. It can be down right unpleasant. we can turn around and go back or continue on. No one is there to carry you. Karma is to blame for we create karma out of our good and bad choices but the answer shows a serious lack of compassion and knowledge. One can do practices to speed up clearing of karma, like chod for example. Being a leader, authority, guru, etc. is a serious responsibility. Some students, because of their upbringing, their psychological makeup, will give up everything to gain something from the guru. Those who are willing to give everything often finds someone who is willing to take everything. I hope my answer brings clarity.

Learning to surrender to Shakti is an art and a science. Those how have problems must learn how to relax and go with the flow. If you stand in front of a tsunami, you are gonna have problems. Respect the wave. Resistance is futile. s

Dabbling is not a good idea where kundalini is concerned. I tell people that having your kundalini awakened is like moving from driving a tricycle to driving a Lamborghini. One must know more than how to sit in a seat, turn the key, and work the accelerator pedal and the brake. I think it is important to recognize that other cultures who are not from the Asian continent have their own stories and practices around how best to awaken kundalini. For example, Dr. Bradford Keeney, a noted psychologist and a recognized shaman by the Bushmen of the Khalari Desert says, "there are no kundalini accidents in the bush". Why is this so? Because the Bushmen spiritual tradition develops kundalini or what they call the Num in ecstatic shamanic group experiences. When the energy becomes too intense or problematic, they know how to harmonize energy flow. They know how to handle the Shadow. They do this in a family/tribal group setting. Westerners almost always practice or dabble in kundalini as a solo practitioner. Generally, that would be an accident waiting to happen. Whether you choose a leader/guru/teacher to be with or work within a close group, either way the process will be easier. I have one senior student in Utah who uses the Bushmen model for kundalini awakening for his students. Overall, they are a joyful bunch with not much in the way of energy deviations. He has studied in Africa with the Bushmen and is an apprentice to Bradford Keeney. If you want to read more about how kundalini appears in other cultures I suggest you read his book, Bushman Shaman where he discusses the kundalini phenomenon in other continents like South America or in the Caribbean. In my almost 20 years in this process as a student and teacher you will find many poster children for "kundalini gone bad". They like to get together and share their war stories about their solitary path on kundalini development. Also bad news makes good press. People want to hear the bad things about kundalini. People like to stop and stare at car accidents and discuss what happened. The process of kundalini awakening is no different. Those who have a successful relationship with kundalini we don't hear much about. There are whole families that have active kundalini but to them it is as normal as having a particular hair color. I think we do have a skewed perception of the dangers of kundalini because the bad things that happen by people who don't know what they are doing-the dabblers-makes such dramatic car crash story. And yanqui is right. Once the purging begins we as kundalites experience all past problems...from old injuries to addictions to relationship issues...it's all passing through on the way out. The piece of info about mentally ill people who are schizophrenic from kundalini is very high has been re-evaluated as much, much lower and retracted by the person who put that piece of info out there...Dr. Gabriel Cousins who used to run a spiritual emergency clinic for kundalites in San Francisco with Dr. Lee Sannella. Dr. Sannella wrote the book The Kundalini Experience: Psychosis or Transcendence which is now considered classic among kundalini research. Schizophrenia does have a genetic component and it most often makes it's appearance in young adults. If you can make it into your mid 30s without becoming schizophrenic it is likely you never will. Some kundalini teachers out there have also posited a connection between k and bipolar disorder. Bipolar is also with a strong genetic component and results from a deficiency of an element in the body. Going crazy in western culture is taboo. In more primitive cultures who value shamanism for example it is valued as an important process. I point this out because for the temporary time a person has the crazies from K, instead of supporting these people in a communal environment we often medicate and isolate them which makes the chi derangement worse. As a nurse, I am all for using psychotropic meds but used appropriately and conservatively in spritual emergencies like kundalini awakenings. Much of the chi derangements or kundalini syndrome symptoms are easily soothed if not eradicated entirely with the practice of the Secret Smile and the Microcosmic Orbit and learning to keep your tongue up behind the teeth at the roof of the mouth. I hope this helps a little in understanding this process. S

Not sure what you mean but one certainly can have their personal philosophy radically altered by a life long relationship with Kundalini. In my experience of working and knowing hundreds of people in all stages of kundalini development, a fair number of them are eventually drawn to Advaita Vedanta. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita_Vedanta The other philosophy is Kashmir Shaivism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmiri_shaivism Those who are Christians or of other traditions are usually drawn into a new appreciation and deeper understanding of their spiritual heritage. I don't run into very many Daoists who are working with k. S