Kundalini progress

[konchog uma]

Recently, i had a powerful awakening that i wrote about in the vedanta forum in a thread called Layayoga by Goswami.

 

For the first 4-5 days afterwards i could very easily see, with my mind's eye, the energy as it was, lightning bright and slightly blue with a tinge of violet. I even saw the tiny thread of it between chakras once or twice before i knew the nature of the sushumna (that it is very thin). However, as days go by i find it harder to see in my minds eye, and if i do see it, it is bright but not lightning-bright. I am not worried, because it told me that i should not depend on the inner vision of it and that it can manifest unseen and unknown to me. I am also not worried because i can still FEEL it, and that it what is important. When it has awakened and climbs, i get a feeling like night air in my back and when it gets to the sahasrara, and beyond, i feel cool throughout, very pleasantly so. I feel the sense of bliss that accompanied it at first, and in many subtle ways i feel that it is very much a part of me now. I feel as it rises my chakras "bloom" and awaken to vibrancy, and basically have all the sensations except i can't see it so i wonder "how can i not see it its so bright??"

 

I wonder about the normalcy of this (if thats the word for it?), because i have read that sometimes shaktipat can awaken the mother kundalini for a while, but that it can possibly go back to sleep. I would like to ask the more experienced of you bums about this, mostly for fear of losing this wonderful blessing I don't know what a person can do to keep it from going back to sleep. I use the mantra Hum Hamsa and concentrate on the dormant kundalini in the form of a coil of brilliant light around a linga in the muladhara. I practice 1-4-2 pranayama. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes to even get a hint of bright light, sometimes its almost immediate. I have more success first thing in the morning.

 

Does the visualization of it come and go for others out there? Does it fluctuate, and if so, are the fluctuations i describe normal? Or might i be losing it? Do you have advice on how to cultivate it in the beginning?

 

I feel largely like its the doing of the kundalini, so that i don't indulge in the brilliant display of it and focus instead on the feelings of wakedness and bliss, which are more relevant. At least, like i said, thats what she told me. So thanks for humoring me cause i feel like this is coming from an insecure part of my psyche but i'm really curious as to whether this just happens, or what? Thanks in advance for your advice. Blessings

[Informer]

I don't know anamatva, when I have seen things like what you say I have only considered it as imagination. Like once I had deemed to see a bunch of energy beings all around me, of various and differing colors, yet not solid but flowing energy. They had sorta of long, thin tentacles, and were waving them around at me and trying to penetrate to me.

 

It has never really happened again, once I started to weave a shield, or pretend too Maybe the aura will block somethings from the vicinity.

(pure speculation of course)

 

Normally I can feel a presence more than see anything, weird.

 

By determining a point you collapse the wave. I'm not saying that it is your imagination, I just don't have anything to really relate to it.

 

Could it be your imagination of something that you were told or believed is beginning to fade?

 

I have heard others say they see things like you, but I haven't personally, sorry I can't help more.

 

=-/

Edited February 14, 2012 by Informer

[Informer]

I'm curious anamatva, does there seem to be anything "thinking or thoughts" when this seeing is happening?

[RiverSnake]

I have no experience with Awakeing Kundalini or any practices that focuses on that area.

 

However, one thing i can say with a level of confidence is that whatever experiences you have do not try and hold on to them...this is coming from a state of fear...just continue the practices that brought you to there...obviously you are getting some benefit from them which is furthering your cultivation.

 

If you have questions about the process of Kundalini awakening process i know that Tao Semko does video's for people whom ask questions on youtube.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/KAPvids

[Ulises]

"...i get a feeling like night air in my back and when it gets to the sahasrara, and beyond, i feel cool throughout, very pleasantly so. I feel the sense of bliss that accompanied it at first, and in many subtle ways i feel that it is very much a part of me now."

I can relate to this...

Edited February 14, 2012 by Ulises

[Phosphor]

Good experiences Anamatva.

 

The only constant experience you can depend on is the experience of change. This is especially true when the kundalini is first beginning to make itself known to you and you finally start entering into pratyahara from the withdrawal of the energy into the spine. You will only feel the kundalini when it moves into and out of a chakra. This is not something you will hear anywhere else, but it is the truth. In fact, the feeling of heat and cold is not the kundalini itself. You are feeling the prana. When the prana is hot, it is burning away impurities ,and when it is cold, it has evolutionary affects. Your experience is no small thing, but it does not mean you are enlightened as soon as you feel it moving through the spine. You are feeling it in the spine now because the spine has been opened, but there are many layers for you to work through. When the kundalini rises to a new energy center, it enters into a deeper layer of the spine. Each of these channels lie on top of each other, but are on subtler layers, and so overlap.

 

So even when the actually kundalini is stationed at the lowest chakra, the muladhara, you will likely still feel the prana moving through the entire spine. This is what confuses many students. They will feel sensations in the head, and will wonder why enlightenment is so normal. It is because they are not enlightened. They have been misinformed. It is a big leap for it to move to the navel, and this marks a big achievement in the aspirant. It usually takes a couple of years for it to actually rise there. Then the biggest jump of all is the movement of it to the heart. The largest physical space lies between the navel and heart spiritual centers, and this symbolically represents the huge change which occurs between these centers when you achieve the stationing of the kundalini in the heart. In the old mystery schools of Greece and Egypt, this marked the achievement of illumination. Not enlightenment, but many practitioners confuse these two states because of the huge difference it makes for it to rise to the heart. Truth be told though, it takes a lot more practice to finally raise it to the throat then the head which marks the enlightened state. Nonetheless, you will be able to have glimpses of enlightenment even when at the heart.

 

The centers at the navel, heart, and in the head, are the most important. They are known as the three eyes, and you can find these three eyes in many mythologies if you look close enough. They are known as the eyes because when you are at the navel, you are able to perceive the distant light of the heart, and when you are at the heart, you can perceive the distant light at the head. This is why you can see light, but it is not yet bright and seems far.

 

So you only feel the kundalini when it moves into or out of a center. Many practitioners think they feel it in the lowest center, then the next center, then the next and the next until only 6 days go by and they believe themselves enlightened. No. You will feel the kundalini rise to each chakra very slowly and methodically, often with years between. The actually kundalini feels like a snake twisting and squeezing the chakra it is establishing itself in. You will feel it for only a few days while it establishes itself. Then you will feel hot and cold for some time until it can move further.

 

I am happy for your progress, you are doing great. Keep it up. You have a wonderful life of attainment ahead of you if you stay consistent with your practices and stay true to your path.

[konchog uma]

I'm curious anamatva, does there seem to be anything "thinking or thoughts" when this seeing is happening?

 

no. Its like seeing a lightning bolt in the night sky but with my eyes closed. I probably thought "holy crap" the first time but its something that i associate with the meditative state

Edited February 14, 2012 by anamatva

[konchog uma]

I am happy for your progress, you are doing great. Keep it up. You have a wonderful life of attainment ahead of you if you stay consistent with your practices and stay true to your path.

 

Thank you phosphor, i appreciate your insights.

 

Maybe i am feeling ordinary energy up my back, and only feeling a small part of the whole experience yet. When it awakened, i felt like it went up to my crown in 20 minutes or so, and flooded me with bliss, which is somewhat less time than a couple years per chakra but i am not saying i am right and you are wrong. I am only relating my experience of it. It was a very tangible and insistent force, and when i felt it get to different centers, it shook off blockages there, especially my heart and head. Can the kundalini affect the heart and head without passing through it? And where do you think the flood of bliss might have come from? It was almost from the moment it started humming in my tailbone area i knew it was headed for the crown, and i hadn't even read or learned much about kundalini at all, so that didn't color my expectations and perceptions.

 

I have done very intense chakra meditations for about 2 years under a masters guidance, and my centers are all more or less open. At the anahata and ajna, i experienced a good bit of blockage to be released and dissolved, but i didn't have much of an experience of 3 knots that others have mentioned, or of the slow progress of the energy from one center slowly to another.

 

What you are saying makes intuitive sense to me; perhaps i am just passing highly energized prana through my centers.. do you think it is possible for someone who had done a lot of chakra work and had a pretty clean and clear energy system in the first place to have such an awakening? Or do you have any explanation for what i experienced? Thank you for taking the time to help me...

[Jeff]

Hi Anamatva,

 

Kundalini (and the energy) is alway there. The perception of "coming and going" is only a perception of mind. In the beginning, the energy is much easier to notice (or feel) as it bumps up against obstructions(unresolved issues). Spend some time moving the energy around your body...see what happens...

 

[Phosphor]

I always keep my mind open to possibilities, because perhaps it is entirely possible for your kundalini to raise to the head so quickly. Remember however that such an achievement of it raising to the crown marks the achievement of henosis. Henosis is the complete deification of the lower bodies. This is a higher achievement than samadhi which is experienced when it raises itself to the center inside the head. There are many stages of meditation. You are not in the body anymore when you achieve the higher states. Even by the time you raise to the heart, you have usually already achieved what is known as chorismos in the Greek mystery tradition. This happened naturally when so much energy has built up in your mental and astral body that you leave you physical body so that you can experience higher truths without them having to be filtered through the slower physical brain. Enlightenment is not just a common experience of living like many new age teachers claim today. They do not have proper perspective. They say that everyone is enlightened and that you only need to realize it. This is true, in that we are all already connected to our higher self, which is perfect consciousness. But it takes a lot of purification to be able to actually realize it.

 

Many new age teachers, teaching on the internet and otherwise, are misleading people. They say they have achieved the highest states when most only have risen to the heart. This is a common pitfall. It is a great achievement, but it is not enlightenment. The light of the heart is so great and the state experienced therein so lofty and different from the way the aspirant was normally living that they think that there could not possibly be a greater light.

 

So there are signposts you can expect on your spiritual journey. I will mention only the first few achievements to give perspective of the experiences had even in the beginning.

 

Purification of the nerves. This is the first task of the probationer. This usually requires a great lifestyle change in order to keep anymore residue from accumulating in the psychic nerves, nadis. He must watch his emotions and thoughts, and start consistently meditating. Breathing exercises such as sukha purvaka, or alternate nostril breathing and chikung will help tremendously in purifying the body. This process is a very long one for many students. In my experience, it usually takes about a year or two to achieve actual purification of the nerves. And in our school there is constant transfer of energy to the students as well as energy transmissions given by my master, which greatly speeds up the process. I am not sure how long it would take someone without this help. Since you were with a master like you said, you probably achieved it pretty quickly. Once progress is being made, first heat will be felt all over the body at times. It will feel like it is burning up. Sometimes it will feels like insects are crawling on the skin. Once most of the nerves have been cleansed, usually taking a few months at least, then the heat will centralize to specific nerves surrounding the spine, namely the Ida and Pingala residing on the sides of the main spinal channel.

 

These two nerve channels need to be cleansed before it is even possible for the prana to flow through the central channel. In most people the central channel is atrophied and has almost no energy flow. Their energy flows through these two channels on either side of the main spinal channel. Heat will be felt on the sides of the spine for some time, from the tail bone up to the neck and head. Even during this time heat and cold is felt by some in the head, and light is seen in those who have some clairvoyance. This light is the increased prana flow going into the head. This become much more intense once it starts flowing in the central channel. Finally once the Ida and Pingala have been cleansed, and the nerves in the body are open, only now is there enough energy available for it to finally pierce the knot or blockage in the first energy center residing at the base of the body. The experiences leading up to this breaking open of this first center and the awakening of the kundalini vary tremendously. Some shake violently, sweat, hop, and even partially lift off the ground slowly as if being lifted. I have seen this many times. Then again, some students barely shake at all. Once this first center is open, the prana can be felt flowing in the spine in different areas again depending on the student, but is can be felt all the way at the top of the head. Many students I have been around usually have a very intense experience when this first center is opened. A lot of energy is released, so it can feel like the whole body is filled with energy and light, heat, cold, and static electricity. Many students get quite the ego at this stage in development. They think they are gods. . However, the experience usually dies down in a couple of days and then they are left in deep depression, thinking they have lost something. No. The lack of sensation just means the blockage has been worked through and the path has been opened for further development. This wave of sensation and lack thereof is a common theme throughout development.

 

Withdrawal of the Senses. This is also known as pratyahara. This comes in stages. Once the channel in the spine is open from nerve purification and the awakening of the sophic fire, kundalini, it is possible for the prana to withdraw from the periphery of the body including the senses, and actually accumulate in the spine. I will not go too deeply into this. This is an important achievement however, because it marks varying degrees of detachment, which allows the aspirant to go into deeper states of meditation. At the height of the achievement, nothing can sway you, and no external stimuli will disturb you. It is also very important because you need this energy -which is usually constantly being burned up by the senses and body- to use for meditation. There is a vast storehouse of energy in the body that needs to be taken advantage of. When this energy is fully utilized, the next stage is entered into.

 

Separation from the Body. This state is naturally entered into. It happened when the astral and mental bodies becomes so lofty and light from meditation, that it is magnetically drawn to the higher source. The physical brain is no longer of use. You achieve a sort of partial astral projection, where you can expand and experience higher truths without the hindrance of the body.

 

 

My master always emphasizes the importance of perspective, and so I have come to value its worth as well. There are many stages in between these, and many after. If you want more information you can send me a message.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Phosphor

[konchog uma]

My master always emphasizes the importance of perspective, and so I have come to value its worth as well. There are many stages in between these, and many after. If you want more information you can send me a message.

 

thank you so much, thats completely helpful!

 

i saw with my inner eye the bright light of kundalini as it was between the root and sacral chakra, and entering the sacral chakra. And i see in the same way the bright light of it in the triangle in the root chakra, but i have not seen it go higher than the sacral center (svadhisthana) with my inner vision. I see a light but it is not the same light, in the central channel. It is much less brilliant and only arises at times, although i Feel sensations of energy up and down my spine and in all my centers, i am thinking that this is not the kundalini but just some energized um energy for lack of a better way to put it.

 

My channels are pretty clear. I would not be surprised if i had the energy and clarity for the kundalini to proceed upward almost immediately, but i think my experience was a combination of 1. feeling the kundalini's desire to reach the crown and superimposing that on the experience and 2. the kundalini charging up my energy with its power and that charged energy climbing the spine. Maybe there is more to it than that, and maybe i am still a little off or wrong but that makes so much more sense to me. But i know i saw a gossamer thread of lightning between my root and sacral chakra, and both chakras were "ignited" with the same energy.

 

I can not believe that i have had the full experience yet because i saw it so clearly at first, and then i can not see it later, but that, i think, is because i was looking for it in my upper spine, or in my head, or places where it isn't.

 

I need to learn a lot more about it... this happened before i had really educated myself about kundalini, so i am really learning as i go. I feel excited to know that if just a tiny taste of kundalini-fied energy went to my crown and i felt such a bliss experience, and have had such insights and experiences since then, that there must be much more waiting for me.

 

btw, the morning after i wrote that (about not being able to see it), i saw it again. I think it wants me to talk about my experiences and to read and learn exactly what the hell is going on. I feel foolish but then again, i am a fool, especially in this regard.

 

Thanks and blessings phosphor!!

[Seth Ananda]

It all sounds good and smooth to me anamatva

 

Continue to enjoy, and don't stress if the effects seem to die down for periods, its perfectly natural and cyclical in its intensity... Especially in a system that seems to be quite clear like yours.

 

Also dont take on too much from others experiences of K. You are not 'Supposed to' experience the knots being pierced for Instance.

 

Just Trust and Surrender to her continuously and what is supposed to happen will happen all in its own good time...

[konchog uma]

It all sounds good and smooth to me anamatva

Just Trust and Surrender to her continuously and what is supposed to happen will happen all in its own good time...

 

hahaha why didn't i think of that?! thank you seth

[dwai]

Recently, i had a powerful awakening that i wrote about in the vedanta forum in a thread called Layayoga by Goswami.

 

For the first 4-5 days afterwards i could very easily see, with my mind's eye, the energy as it was, lightning bright and slightly blue with a tinge of violet. I even saw the tiny thread of it between chakras once or twice before i knew the nature of the sushumna (that it is very thin). However, as days go by i find it harder to see in my minds eye, and if i do see it, it is bright but not lightning-bright. I am not worried, because it told me that i should not depend on the inner vision of it and that it can manifest unseen and unknown to me. I am also not worried because i can still FEEL it, and that it what is important. When it has awakened and climbs, i get a feeling like night air in my back and when it gets to the sahasrara, and beyond, i feel cool throughout, very pleasantly so. I feel the sense of bliss that accompanied it at first, and in many subtle ways i feel that it is very much a part of me now. I feel as it rises my chakras "bloom" and awaken to vibrancy, and basically have all the sensations except i can't see it so i wonder "how can i not see it its so bright??"

 

I wonder about the normalcy of this (if thats the word for it?), because i have read that sometimes shaktipat can awaken the mother kundalini for a while, but that it can possibly go back to sleep. I would like to ask the more experienced of you bums about this, mostly for fear of losing this wonderful blessing I don't know what a person can do to keep it from going back to sleep. I use the mantra Hum Hamsa and concentrate on the dormant kundalini in the form of a coil of brilliant light around a linga in the muladhara. I practice 1-4-2 pranayama. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes to even get a hint of bright light, sometimes its almost immediate. I have more success first thing in the morning.

 

Does the visualization of it come and go for others out there? Does it fluctuate, and if so, are the fluctuations i describe normal? Or might i be losing it? Do you have advice on how to cultivate it in the beginning?

 

I feel largely like its the doing of the kundalini, so that i don't indulge in the brilliant display of it and focus instead on the feelings of wakedness and bliss, which are more relevant. At least, like i said, thats what she told me. So thanks for humoring me cause i feel like this is coming from an insecure part of my psyche but i'm really curious as to whether this just happens, or what? Thanks in advance for your advice. Blessings

 

My teacher told me once that we only "feel" the difference when there is obstructions in the flow. Once the path has been cleared, the flow will continue and the feeling becomes insignificant. I guess my question is what one does with the (newly established) smooth flow.

 

I think it's important to consider the koshas at this juncture. Because the prana flowing is just purification at the pranamaya kosha (kundalini is prana). As it works its way through the layers, issues (or insights) relevant to each layer will come forth...darker parts of our self will be revealed (maybe, maybe not, it depends). Then consciousness will implode (and explode simultaneously)...I don't know why I'm stating these...I just feel that's what is going to happen.

 

I'm mixing traditions here, but BKF puts it very nicely in his books (relaxing into being and the great stillness)...

 

As stillness increases, the lightless light of true being will start shining. How does that help one live this life better?

 

 

I think visions, feelings, etc are our interpretation of something that doesn't have any experiential precendence. I once saw all of creation imploding and then exploding...

 

I was hurtling through space, speeding past stars and I saw a brilliant electric blue egg shining at a distance (I was simultaneously moving and stationary) and in that egg I saw Krishna, I saw Buddha, transforming into each other and then the egg exploded and more stars and lights were gushing out of it.

 

The weird thing is I had just begun meditation (this was back in 1998-99) and I never had that vision, insight again. But what it did do is set the tone for my "quest". In the years since, I have fallen hard (both spiritually and morally) and then picked up the pieces and started over again...One thing it did show me (and that has stayed with me) is that there's much more to this existence than what we see and live through every day...

 

PS. Take this post whichever way you want...while I have (and do) feel the energy rising and descending and the coolness you mentioned flows through me as well, I do know that I'm only at the tip of the iceberg...and it's a fun ride...

[dwai]

It all sounds good and smooth to me anamatva

 

Continue to enjoy, and don't stress if the effects seem to die down for periods, its perfectly natural and cyclical in its intensity... Especially in a system that seems to be quite clear like yours.

 

Also dont take on too much from others experiences of K. You are not 'Supposed to' experience the knots being pierced for Instance.

 

Just Trust and Surrender to her continuously and what is supposed to happen will happen all in its own good time...

 

Seth...nice avatar

[Tibetan_Ice]

[konchog uma]

Thanks and blessings dwai and tibetan ice,

 

i'm off to read mudrashram now

[Creation]

Hi Anamatva,

For some comprehensive info about kundalini see http://www.mudrashram.com/reflectionsonkundalini.html

 

and this http://www.mudrashram.com/kundaliniillusions.html

 

and this http://www.mudrashram.com/kundalinitalk.html

This guy is saying stuff that you yourself said is wrong in another thread.

 

I'm not going to believe anything I read on the internet about kundalini anymore. Everyone contradicts everyone else.

[Tibetan_Ice]

This guy is saying stuff that you yourself said is wrong in another thread.

 

I'm not going to believe anything I read on the internet about kundalini anymore. Everyone contradicts everyone else.

Hi Creation,

Yes, there are many contradictions in most writings. Which contradiction did you notice?

 

TI

[Mokona]

This guy is saying stuff that you yourself said is wrong in another thread.

 

I'm not going to believe anything I read on the internet about kundalini anymore. Everyone contradicts everyone else.

You don't know how to deal with different opinions? Do you work or go to school in a straight jacket? :-P

[Ulises]

"systems, transmission, masters"..... : (

 

"The intelligence of kundalini/prana, or could we say:DNA, moves the body, or something even more subtle within DNA: the Mother Herself.

 

There is a joyous sense of being in an otherwise, totally unknown world where the flowing movements from one asana to another happen effortlessly, yet with a wide range of passionate longings and even tearful or laughing-out-loud ecstasies. Such spontaneous, energy-based Yoga is like finding a well-worn path that is hidden from entry by the ways of moving or doing Yoga that are willful and, literally "premeditative." But with self-permission, one can leap onto this path where Hatha-Yoga merges seamlessly with Bhakti-Yoga and Raja-Yoga."

(...)

Imitating others' endogenously originated movements, heartfelt utterances, righteous actions or rapt concentrations, one can go through the back door (literally via a ventral ["front door"] or "Eastern" bodily channel) into the similar depths of wonder, wisdom, and delight. And, by motionless meditation, too, one can enter. Thus, we have numerous helpful yogic texts, new and ancient, and a proliferation of Yoga and still-meditation classes.

 

But when kundalini is reintroduced (via the "Western" and more body-involving spinal channel) to our involvement with physical Yoga and meditation, something deep and primordial ripples through the viscera and physical Yoga or meditation practices can no more be considered "teachable techniques" than gestation or puberty can be.

 

For Kundalini-Yoga surfaces from the same bodily depths as gestation, the first breath, adolescent puberty, and now, beyond. Hope and human development converge as the scent, sound, feel, or taste of future possibilities fructifying in the radiant juices and humming in the quivering tissues of the body and in the dazzling effulgence of consciousness. Moving with that is Yoga.(...)

As the thirteenth-century attainer of final maturation, Shri Jnaneshvara stated:

 

That is called [yogic-developmental] action of the body in which reason takes no part and which does not originate as an idea springing in the mind.

 

To speak simply, yogis perform actions with their bodies, like the movements of children. .

~Stuart Sovatsky

http://www.cit-sakti.com/kundalini/sahaja-spontaneous-yoga.htm

 

“When you’re in tune with inner joyousness,

there is no

such thing as coincidence

or being in the wrong place.

What has been most mundane

is transformed and sparkles.

When you know this approach

miracles begin to happen around you

here and there and everywhere.

But you have to know it thoroughly, as something

quite practical.“

~Dorothy Maclean

 

 

"Sell cleverness and buy bewilderment"

~Rumi

 

The very best, in my opinion, is connecting with the limitless, unconditional love of the universe and the infinite source. Opening your heart, connecting with this unconditional love is always the best. There simple is no more powerful healing energy than unconditional love. When you open your heart like this you can get into the emptiness/the oneness faster, then the Qi will do what is best for you naturally and spontaneously.

~Chunyi Lin

 

Play? the establishment and exploration of relationship. Greeting and ritual are (just) the affirmation of relationship.

~Gregory Bateson

 

“The next Buddha will be a Sangha.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

 

"Since a relationship is more powerful than any individual, we only work as a partnership. The future of spirituality is a return to the hands of relationship, not specially anointed individuals. Similarly, healing is best conveyed in community..."

~Hillary Stephenson with Bradford Keeney

 

....and - by all means possible - meet a group of kindred spirits (amazing synergistic effect) in a common spirit of childlike exploration with an open heart and HAVING FUN (forget the word "work")... :

For the Bushmen, this is ultimately about a healing connection with God, their ancestors and one another. "This is arguably the oldest civilization on the planet, with these dances recorded on petroglyphs," says Keeney. "There's been a long time for the dance to evolve into such a sophisticated form of healing."

 

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NAH/is_6_34/ai_n6181245/

Edited February 15, 2012 by Ulises

[Ulises]

...just take a look at the segments of the Bushman way of n/om("kundalini") - wisdom keepers of the whole of the Mysteries - in this video: open-hearted celebration, trust/surrender...

 

Edited February 15, 2012 by Ulises

[Ulises]

When differentiating mind is lulled and sleeps,

The Kundalini awakens!

The five senses' source gushes forht forever:

The water of unceasing presence to the world

Is sweet, and I offer it to Shiva.

The unending sacred tremoring of consciousness

Is the supreme state

~Lalla

 

"...spanda, the sacred tremor that inhabits everything. Odier teaches that in order to feel the tremor, we have to find the root of desire and experiment with that excitement, that shivering delight. He goes further to say that we come across this tremor in our everyday life, but in order to tune in to the Divine, we need our desires to be objectless. This is quite a challenge for me, but Odier continues by saying that the point is to understand that everything is Divine and that divinity is not an object so we should turn our desires toward that "objectless Divinity." At that moment, we can feel spanda without a cause or effect; we can just become the Spanda. He also encourages the practitioner to adopt a "spherical view," where everything is included in our practice. That view enables us to evolve without limitation and helps us to integrate wholeness in our lives..."

 

extract from a review by ascent magazine (Montreal Canada), of "Yoga Spandakarika", Daniel Odier

Edited February 15, 2012 by Ulises

[Creation]

You don't know how to deal with different opinions? Do you work or go to school in a straight jacket? :-P

Your patronizing remark hurts my feelings.

[Creation]

When I started reading about kundalini, I thought that it was an objective thing that could be pinned down: it has a particular location in the body, a particular path of development with precisely definable stages, etc. I believed this because that's how it was always presented. But the details always contradicted each other. When I saw these contradictions, I assumed it was because the different sources were at different levels of attainment, or were pushing dogma. E.g. maybe this person just experienced a lot of prana, and not kundalini, or they come from a tradition which is misinformed and that colors their perception.

 

So I didn't believe most of what I read, but I believed that there were some who had very high attainment, and who were learned in all the lore of the Tantriks, yet didn't push dogma, but only what they had confirmed for themselves. Then these people would be the ones who actually knew about this particular "thing" called kundalini.

 

Then I realized that even those people contradicted each other. Retaining my faith in the learning and attainment of people I looked up to, the only conclusion left for me was that the initial premise, that there is this "thing" called kundalini, with preciously definable characteristics and developmental stages for all people in all places at all times, was false.

 

Whatever kundalini is, I am no longer going to treat it is something in a petri dish, as it were.

 

My post was more of a expression of years of frustration finally coming out, prompted by a sincere seeker just starting his research being bombarded with contradictory information, than it was a statement of fact.

Edited February 15, 2012 by Creation