What is Kundalini and what entails an awakening

[ChiForce]

Subtle body energy being awakened but only falls within the first stage of jhana....  Because.......you would quickly realize that you would develop the necessary pathways to defuse the energy intensity...to the point that you could no longer feel like you are being struck by lighting....I am speaking from experience of course.  No drug use fyi.  Is almost like the MCO but in a more intense way and somewhat having the mind of its own at first.   

 

FYI, the origin of this energy comes from the root chakra and making its way up to the crown.  The energy is unrefined and I believe is only one way...it does not make a loop back down to your lower dan tian...

Edited March 2, 2018 by ChiForce

[s1va]

Per some teachings of Kundalini and Kriya yoga, the central channel splits into 2 branches.  One goes through the 3rd eye and other through crown.  This may be the reason for some confusion in this area.  Many old texts deal on this distinction.  For those interested, Sri Mukherjee's 2nd book on Kriya yoga has a picture and brief explanation.  I will try to get the picture and explanation later when I get a chance. 

 

Depending on tradition, people seem to have different understanding of these things.  The core underlying event may be similar or same, but the unraveling can happen in more than one ways, or so it seems to me.

 

[dwai]

To me Kundalini is the creative force of consciousness. It is that which enables cellular division and multiplication from a single cell to an organism. After the organism is grown, it becomes dormant and resides in the base of the spine. One cannot increase or decrease it. It is complete as it is. 

 

all this is of course from a dualistic point of view only, for people who have not seen through the illusion of duality. Once duality is dropped, that it is just movement in awareness - which is energy.

Edited March 2, 2018 by dwai

[Jonesboy]

I experienced it back in 2014 when I was doing AYP.

 

“ was doing DM or maybe SBP, I get a lot of visual stuff with SBP. Well anyways I was doing my practice and then from nowhere. Energy like a river was flowing from my groin it could have been 1 or 2 I don't know. It was flowing through me and out of my head. I had a very cool visual that was going along with it. This was a display of energy beyond anything I have ever experienced.”

 

When it happened I remember clamping down on the energy, being fearful of what would happen but even then I knew that was the wrong thing to do. It’s all about letting go and trusting yourself.

 

FYI, I had no negative effects from the experience.

[Jeff]

46 minutes ago, dawei said:

 

I believe tummo is a very advanced practice that Tibetan practitioners have shown they can dry a wet towel laid on their back.  The only westerner to accomplish the practice is 'The Ice Man'...   This does not seem to have any relation to kundalini, which I know nothing about but had a temporary experience of.    Carry on.  

 

Interesting stuff. Thank you.

[Fa Xin]

3 hours ago, Bindi said:

 that the system has to be prepared first, otherwise the energy would likely give an empty result at best and at worst could lead to kundalini problems. 

I was wondering if you can give me some examples of how one prepares the system? What sort of practices are there?

 

i tend to agree with you in this regard. Someone who doesn’t have an open heart chakra - for example - will not benefit from, or experience things like bliss or oneness - no matter how much energy/kundalini they are given. They won’t understand the process of letting go of their hang ups and habits, or they won’t be willing to see past their body/sense of self. How can we let go of things, if we are concerned about losing them?

 

Just some late night musings 😊

 

Thanks and cheers. 

Edited March 2, 2018 by Fa Xin

[ChiForce]

12 hours ago, Fa Xin said:

I was wondering if you can give me some examples of how one prepares the system? What sort of practices are there?

 

i tend to agree with you in this regard. Someone who doesn’t have an open heart chakra - for example - will not benefit from, or experience things like bliss or oneness - no matter how much energy/kundalini they are given. They won’t understand the process of letting go of their hang ups and habits, or they won’t be willing to see past their body/sense of self. How can we let go of things, if we are concerned about losing them?

 

Just some late night musings 😊

 

Thanks and cheers. 

Based on my experience, you need to penetrate Form at least....You must successfully relinquish your attachment to some degree.  I am referring to your immediate attachment and assuming they are bothering you and you are suffering from them.  Physically, you have to be largely "clean" since the Kundalini energy can worsen your physical condition if you aren't physically well.  The energy is like putting yourself on fire and letting it burn...burn all karma away...hehehehe.  It gets HOT to the point that you would be sweating.  The experience is frightening as well and it just comes on you very quickly. 

 

The worst that could happen is that the energy can damage your nervous system and making you to experience a psychosis.  

 

Remember this...Kundalini energy rising experience is often being TRIGGERED by intense, prolonged mental trauma experienced by your mind.  Ideally, yes, the process should be guided by a guru BUT most people goes through the experience in a spontaneous way as long as the condition is met.  Others would use drugs to induce the experience but........can't say it is the same........  

Edited March 2, 2018 by ChiForce

[Bindi]

5 hours ago, Fa Xin said:

I was wondering if you can give me some examples of how one prepares the system? What sort of practices are there?

 

i tend to agree with you in this regard. Someone who doesn’t have an open heart chakra - for example - will not benefit from, or experience things like bliss or oneness - no matter how much energy/kundalini they are given. They won’t understand the process of letting go of their hang ups and habits, or they won’t be willing to see past their body/sense of self. How can we let go of things, if we are concerned about losing them?

 

Just some late night musings 😊

 

Thanks and cheers. 

 

Well I guess the Vajrayana Buddhists must have some good methods, as far as my own practices go my methods are very personalised, though I began with a commitment to psycho-therapeutic health, and my practice has grown organically from there. Certain yoga postures, certain breathing exercises, working with healing qi to shift energy, some other stuff, all in its right time and place. 

 

I gather amongst Westerners especially kundalini is often seen to be the cleaner itself, but I think this is a very unfortunate trend - confusing the queen with the chamber maid IMO - so much of value can develop that wouldn't have a chance otherwise if energies are delicately and intelligently cultivated instead of going at things randomly at a million miles an hour. 

 

In opening the heart chakra, I think of the granthi's, it's easy to say 'I've opened such and such a chakra', but to dissolve the granthis, and transmute the energies, certain steps have to be taken that will take longer than a year or two or even ten.  Theories like non-duality and immediate awakening are not compatible IMO with this deeper sort of energy work. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2018 by Bindi

[Bindi]

7 hours ago, dwai said:

To me Kundalini is the creative force of consciousness. It is that which enables cellular division and multiplication from a single cell to an organism. After the organism is grown, it becomes dormant and resides in the base of the spine. One cannot increase or decrease it. It is complete as it is. 

 

all this is of course from a dualistic point of view only, for people who have not seen through the illusion of duality. Once duality is dropped, that it is just movement in awareness - which is energy.

 

So have you ever experienced any sort of kundalini rising, much like you can still experience sensation in your body from physical causes even after duality is dropped? 

[s1va]

2 hours ago, Bindi said:

In opening the heart chakra, I think of the granthi's, it's easy to say 'I've opened such and such a chakra', but to dissolve the granthis, and transmute the energies, certain steps have to be taken that will take longer than a year or two or even ten.  Theories like non-duality and immediate awakening are not compatible IMO with this deeper sort of energy work.

 

While I completely agree that preparation is needed before someone ventures into Kundalini yoga or tantra, we also need to keep in mind that we are all in different points of evolution.  Not to claim one is superior than other, each one is beautiful and unique in their own ways and everything is manifestation of the same divine.  However, there is a thing such as past lives, karma, etc.  We are blindsided by many things.  It is possible to be born with an open heart.  If such a person spends years or decades on practices aimed at opening the heart, then that may not be the smart way for that person.  This is where the guidance of a teacher or tradition becomes critical.  A true teacher should be able to assess and determine exactly where a student stands and what is right for them at this point.

 

Here is what Swami Satyananda Saraswati writes about this in his book Kundalini Tantra.

Quote

Although kundalini is said to reside in mooladhara chakra, we are all at different
stages of evolution, and in some of us kundalini may have already reached swadhisthana,
manipura or anahata chakra. If this is so, whatever sadhana you do now might start an
awakening in anahata or some other chakra. 

 

Where to begin

 

The practices of kundalini yoga are intended to create the awareness, not necessarily
to awaken kundalini. First of all we have to decide whether kundalini is already
awakened. It may already be on the way and you are opening the garage and there is no
car because it is already on the highway. When you go to satsang, do some kirtan or lead
a yogic lifestyle, you begin to have experiences and you realize something is happening
to you. Then, when you discuss kundalini and the chakras with a guru you start to
understand.

The practices that you do develop your awareness and help you to remember your
connection with your past evolution. They remove the veil which separates this current
incarnation from the previous one. I'll give you a very gross example.
There was a boy who was the only son of a very rich man. The boy went crazy and
was sent to a mental hospital. He ran away and used to go from house to house begging
for food. He did not know that his parents had died and he had inherited a large estate,
cars and shops and a lot of money in fixed deposits. One day his uncle found him and had
him treated properly. The boy recovered from his mental illness and remembered
everything about his heritage. Similarly, there is a process of remembering, and when it
takes place, you know exactly where you stand.

 

[Jeff]

7 hours ago, Fa Xin said:

I was wondering if you can give me some examples of how one prepares the system? What sort of practices are there?

 

i tend to agree with you in this regard. Someone who doesn’t have an open heart chakra - for example - will not benefit from, or experience things like bliss or oneness - no matter how much energy/kundalini they are given. They won’t understand the process of letting go of their hang ups and habits, or they won’t be willing to see past their body/sense of self. How can we let go of things, if we are concerned about losing them?

 

Just some late night musings 😊

 

Thanks and cheers. 

 

I would agree. Opening the heart is the first major key component of the process.  

[Bindi]

26 minutes ago, s1va said:

 

While I completely agree that preparation is needed before someone ventures into Kundalini yoga or tantra, we also need to keep in mind that we are all in different points of evolution.  Not to claim one is superior than other, each one is beautiful and unique in their own ways and everything is manifestation of the same divine.  However, there is a thing such as past lives, karma, etc.  We are blindsided by many things.  It is possible to be born with an open heart.  If such a person spends years or decades on practices aimed at opening the heart, then that may not be the smart way for that person.  This is where the guidance of a teacher or tradition becomes critical.  A true teacher should be able to assess and determine exactly where a student stands and what is right for them at this point.

 

Here is what Swami Satyananda Saraswati writes about this in his book Kundalini Tantra.

 

 

Is Swami Satyananda Saraswati a true teacher though, that I should take his word on anything? 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/11273299/Yoga-guru-was-violent-sexual-abuser-Australia-royal-commission-told.html

[Fa Xin]

2 hours ago, Bindi said:

 

Well I guess the Vajrayana Buddhists must have some good methods, as far as my own practices go my methods are very personalised, though I began with a commitment to psycho-therapeutic health, and my practice has grown organically from there. Certain yoga postures, certain breathing exercises, working with healing qi to shift energy, some other stuff, all in its right time and place. 

 

I gather amongst Westerners especially kundalini is often seen to be the cleaner itself, but I think this is a very unfortunate trend - confusing the queen with the chamber maid IMO - so much of value can develop that wouldn't have a chance otherwise if energies are delicately and intelligently cultivated instead of going at things randomly at a million miles an hour. 

 

In opening the heart chakra, I think of the granthi's, it's easy to say 'I've opened such and such a chakra', but to dissolve the granthis, and transmute the energies, certain steps have to be taken that will take longer than a year or two or even ten.  Theories like non-duality and immediate awakening are not compatible IMO with this deeper sort of energy work. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cool- thank you for the reply 😊 

[Jeff]

10 hours ago, Bindi said:

@Jeff, so it's not a system that I follow, but this description of the Vajrayana system is pretty well how I perceive the subtle energy channels. Which channel was associated with the penis I wasn't clear on before as I have only pursued this information previously to a limited extent. Also of interest, in the last paragraph "meditating on the crown chakra is important for consciousness projection, either to another world or into anoher body" sounds like something you focus on, but this is not the only meditation which is important, and they don't mention what meditation on ajna chakra is important for. 

 

The Vajrayana system states that the central channel (avadhūtī) begins at the point of the third eye like the of Lord Shiva, curves up to the crown of the head, and then goes straight down to the lower body. 

 

There are two side channels, the rasanā and lalanā, which start at their respective nostrils and then travel down to the lower body. The apāna vāyu (down-moving wind, where "wind" means the invisible power to move) governs the lower terminations of the three channels. The lower end of the central channel ends at the rectum. The lower end of the lalanā ends in the urinary tract. The lower end of the rasanā channel emits semen.

 

...completion stage practices, where an attempt is made to bring the subtle airs or winds of the body into the central channel, to realize the clear light of bliss and emptiness, and to attain buddhahood (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Clear Light of Bliss: A Tantric Meditation Manual).

 

...The side channels run parallel to the center channel, except at locations such as the navel, heart, throat, and crown (i.e., the chakras) where the two side channels twist around the central channel. At the navel, throat, and crown, there is a twofold knot caused by each side channel twisting once around the central channel. 

 

At the heart wheel there is a sixfold knot, where each side channel twists around three times. An important part of completion stage practice involves loosening and undoing these knots.

 

...focusing on the subnavel area is important for the practice of tummo, or inner-fire. Meditating on the heart chakra is important for realizing clear light. Meditating on the throat chakra is important for lucid dreaming and the practices of dream yoga. And meditating on the crown chakra is important for consciousness projection, either to another world or into another body.

 

Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal

 

No, I do not focus on the crown, and it has never been part of my practices. Additionally, I would never recommend something like focusing on the sub navel area described in your post as a practice. Below is a an example of what I would recommend as a more foundational practice for energy.

 

 

[s1va]

2 minutes ago, Bindi said:

 

Is Swami Satyananda Saraswati a true teacher though, that I should take his word on anything? 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/11273299/Yoga-guru-was-violent-sexual-abuser-Australia-royal-commission-told.html

 

Sorry, I don't judge people by such arbitrary news and some allegations.  He is a well known disciple of Swami Sivananda and founder of Bihar School of Yoga.

 

I have no special interest towards the Swami besides appreciating some of his great works on Kundalini and Kriya yoga.  You are welcome to come to your own judgements.  The same message there is conveyed by several other teachers.  I had the eBook easily available and so quoted him.  I would rely on messages from traditional teachers any day over the thousands of internet sites, that give information as they like.  

 

The other reason I quote is for others.  Many listen only if something comes from a book or website.  If it will help someone why not?  Most things I say are from my own personal experience.  The reason I quote sometimes is because some of the quotes say what I want to say better than I can in my own words, that's all. If you have something against this Swami and expect some argument fighting for him, that won't happen.  Good luck!

[Bindi]

1 minute ago, s1va said:

 

Sorry, I don't judge people by such arbitrary news and some allegations.  He is a well known disciple of Swami Sivananda and founder of Bihar School of Yoga.

 

I have no special interest towards the Swami besides appreciating some of his great works on Kundalini and Kriya yoga.  You are welcome to come to your own judgements.  The same message there is conveyed by several other teachers.  I had the eBook easily available and so quoted him.  I would rely on messages from traditional teachers any day over the thousands of internet sites, that give information as they like.  

 

The other reason I quote is for others.  Many listen only if something comes from a book or website.  If it will help someone why not?  Most things I say are from my own personal experience.  The reason I quote sometimes is because some of the quotes say what I want to say better than I can in my own words, that's all. If you have something against this Swami and expect some argument fighting for him, that won't happen.  Good luck!

 

But it doesn't fill me with great faith about the benefits of raising kundalini either.

 

 A lot of these swami's and guru's display these double standards, like Muktananda passing off sex with him as kundalini raising, and Sai Baba with his penis massaging fetish - I don't have a lot of time for kundalini preachers who can't even practice what they preach. 

 

To be able to overlook negative actions requires a degree of blind trust that I neither have nor aspire to.

[Bindi]

35 minutes ago, Jeff said:

 

No, I do not focus on the crown, and it has never been part of my practices. Additionally, I would never recommend something like focusing on the sub navel area described in your post as a practice.

 

Interesting, the lower dantian could be categorised as being in the sub navel area, and to me it is the perfect place to start focusing to remain grounded in the body, it was the only place I focused on for a very long time. 

 

The fact that you specifically wouldn't recommend focusing there only emphasises our difference in approach. 

 

Would you ever recommend bringing energy into the central channel? 

 

I'm a big believer in the idea that where we focus our practice develops our subtle energy bodies in specific ways.

 

Quote

 

Below is a an example of what I would recommend as a more foundational practice for energy.

 

 

 

What are the four different lineages?

 

 

Edited March 2, 2018 by Bindi

[Jeff]

1 minute ago, Bindi said:

 

Interesting, the lower dantian could be categorised as being in the sub navel area, and to me it is the perfect place to start focusing to remain grounded in the body, it was the only place I focused on for a very long time. 

 

The fact that you specifically wouldn't recommend focusing there only emphasises our difference in approach. 

 

Would you ever recommend bringing energy into the central channel? 

 

I'm a big believer in the idea that where we focus our practice develops our subtle energy bodies in specific ways.

 

 

If you look at the link that I provided, you will see that I recommend a more full body flow similar to something like the MCO. But, you could conceptualize that flow like a central channel.

 

Once someone has actually opened the heart and there is some real conscious control of their energy flow, focusing on the subnavel area becomes problematic. It is kind of like forcing a car to only drive in first gear, which can cause problems with the tranmission. This type of thing creates the kind of Kundalini syndrome issues that you are concerned about. As my earlier Norbu post stated, a free flow approach is much more stable and clearing.

[Fa Xin]

5 minutes ago, Jeff said:

 

If you look at the link that I provided, you will see that I recommend a more full body flow similar to something like the MCO. But, you could conceptualize that flow like a central channel.

 

Once someone has actually opened the heart and there is some real conscious control of their energy flow, focusing on the subnavel area becomes problematic. It is kind of like forcing a car to only drive in first gear, which can cause problems with the tranmission. This type of thing creates the kind of Kundalini syndrome issues that you are concerned about. As my earlier Norbu post stated, a free flow approach is much more stable and clearing.

I’ve found this too, even before I started working with Jeff. Just residing in the moment and relaxing into “being” (or letting the energy flows where it needs to) felt more natural then trying to consciously control or manipulate where it goes.

 

Just my approach. 

[dwai]

2 hours ago, Bindi said:

 

So have you ever experienced any sort of kundalini rising, much like you can still experience sensation in your body from physical causes even after duality is dropped? 

The energy flows all the time. If you experience it you will know. It’s not a one time deal. Once kundalini awakens and rises to the crown a great sensitivity arises and great awareness. Along with it also a constant bliss (which exists with all of us always) gets unhidden. This bliss is there even if the body is in pain.

 

You have a lot of questions and doubts because you don’t seem to practice much, but only rely on theory. It would be interesting to find out about the practices you follow on a regular basis.

 

 

Edited March 2, 2018 by dwai

[Bindi]

2 minutes ago, Jeff said:

 

If you look at the link that I provided, you will see that I recommend a more full body flow similar to something like the MCO. But, you could conceptualize that flow like a central channel.

 

Once someone has actually opened the heart and there is some real conscious control of their energy flow, focusing on the subnavel area becomes problematic. It is kind of like forcing a car to only drive in first gear, which can cause problems with the tranmission. This type of thing creates the kind of Kundalini syndrome issues that you are concerned about. As my earlier Norbu post stated, a free flow approach is much more stable and clearing.

 

Imagining energy coming in through the crown and going down into the earth and then up again is not actually bringing energy into the central channel though. 

 

Focusing on the sub-navel area happens to be the right place to start for me, when it is time to bring those energies up to the heart, then that is a good time to focus on the heart. It sounds to me like you wouldn't even suggest to focus on the sub-navel area in the beginning. 

 

But then that's what makes your system your system, even within a single discipline there is dispute about these sort of things, like in neidan whether you should start in the upper versus the lower dantian, and these difference of opinion will presumably never be resolved. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fa Xin]

8 minutes ago, Bindi said:

 

Imagining energy coming in through the crown and going down into the earth and then up again is not actually bringing energy into the central channel though. 

 

Focusing on the sub-navel area happens to be the right place to start for me, when it is time to bring those energies up to the heart, then that is a good time to focus on the heart. It sounds to me like you wouldn't even suggest to focus on the sub-navel area in the beginning. 

 

But then that's what makes your system your system, even within a single discipline there is dispute about these sort of things, like in neidan whether you should start in the upper versus the lower dantian, and these difference of opinion will presumably never be resolved. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do you know when it’s a good time to focus on the heart? Does the energy start to rise by itself?

 

For me, things like everyday compassion or caring for others will open the heart.  Kind of abandoning yourself to take care of others (could be a family member or a stranger). We may have different ideas about what a open heart actually means.

 

[s1va]

1 hour ago, Bindi said:

 

But it doesn't fill me with great faith about the benefits of raising kundalini either.

 

 A lot of these swami's and guru's display these double standards, like Muktananda passing off sex with him as kundalini raising, and Sai Baba with his penis massaging fetish - I don't have a lot of time for kundalini preachers who can't even practice what they preach. 

 

To be able to overlook negative actions requires a degree of blind trust that I neither have nor aspire to.

 

As I said, you are welcome to judge any swami or guru anyway you like.  You don't want to trust in the benefits of raising kundalini, fine, that's your personal choice.  I personally don't care one way or another on the topic with respect to others following it.  If you think I am participating in the discussion to convince someone or promote something, you may be mistaken.  I am participating simply because I enjoy being part of some discussions and if I can help someone in someway.

 

Thank God, Buddha and Christ did not live in the world we live in today.  There would be some news paper alleging them of some abuse in some country.  We can quote that and reject their entire teaching and tradition.  I don't think some of these teachers fared very well in their own times either.  It's just human nature to find the fault in others   I noticed that you were using some web sites as your source earlier.  Do you know the personal lives of the people who created those sites, or contributed to those articles?  Not that it would matter to me one way or another.  Maybe they are even clean right now.  What if 30 years later, after the person who is running one of these website is dead, some news paper in UK says he abused women 40 years back.  Would you discard all the knowledge that you learned and benefited all those years, because the teacher did some mistake, some time in his life.  Just some things to think about.  

 

Edit:  In the examples you quoted, I am not even familiar with who Swami Muktananda is, besides hearing his name some times.  Some of the others I know, but I am not part of any of those traditions.  I just try to take the good from any teacher.  So, there is nothing personal in here for me.

Edited March 2, 2018 by s1va

[Bindi]

1 minute ago, Fa Xin said:

How do you know when it’s a good time to focus on the heart? Does the energy start to rise by itself?

 

For me, things like everyday compassion or caring for others will open the heart.  Kind of abandoning yourself to take care of others (could be a family member or a stranger). We may have different ideas about what a open heart actually means.

 

 

Well, in one sense I just knew it was time to focus on the heart, but the real world conspired in showing me how to raise the energies from the navel area to the heart area around the same time, and it was a very specific action, it didn't rise by itself. It was at this time that I also started being able to run healing qi out through my hands, so heart work for me also entailed clearing the arm channels for at least a year, and then some channel from the crown to the heart to allow healing qi to always be available freely.  

 

But heart work also meant clearing ida and pingala between the heart and the head, and entering the central channel, and various other details, mainly setting things ready for later. 

 

This description of the heart knot might make my position a bit clearer as well:

 

Quote

Vishnu Granthi at Anahata Chakra manifests motion and passion of Rajas Guna in that the prospective Sadhaka is attached to family, friends and objects. Its habitat is the heart (Anahata Chakra), dominant in emotion, mistakenly called love. Love in its pure form is love for God for Love's sake. Faustian love is the operating principle of earthly love. Vishnu is the preserver and thus this knot wants to preserve earthly love, compassion, service and all other socially laudable qualities in a person. That is what the religion teaches you. It is a very hard kink or knot to overcome. This knot tells you that you are the good citizen that everyone should emulate. You want to remain the decent man of the world and it is fine to stay that way. You are serving your family, your community, and the world. You like the world and the world likes you.  It is like a powerful aphrodisiac to resist. You have to break this genomic imprint on your psyche to realize higher Chakras. That is why in India, people give up their attachment to the world, receive funerary rites from family members and  become Sannyasis (Relinquishers), so that they can go past the Heart Chakra and move from the phenomenal world to Spiritual World.

 

https://www.dredwige.com/wp-content/uploads/KUNDALINI-POWER.pdf

 

 

[Fa Xin]

11 minutes ago, Bindi said:

 

Well, in one sense I just knew it was time to focus on the heart, but the real world conspired in showing me how to raise the energies from the navel area to the heart area around the same time, and it was a very specific action, it didn't rise by itself. It was at this time that I also started being able to run healing qi out through my hands, so heart work for me also entailed clearing the arm channels for at least a year, and then some channel from the crown to the heart to allow healing qi to always be available freely.  

 

But heart work also meant clearing ida and pingala between the heart and the head, and entering the central channel, and various other details, mainly setting things ready for later. 

 

This description of the heart knot might make my position a bit clearer as well:

 

 

 

Very cool! Thanks for your descriptions. Sounds like a very intricate process, kudos for sticking with it. When you say clearing crown to heart, can I ask why? Does the healing qi come down from above, or is it the pathway the qi flows?

 

I guess my view of things is: rather than clearing specific channels, I clear the issues and junk associated with my conditioning. As I do this, I feel the channels clear as a biproduct of that letting go. 

 

I very much enjoyed your quote on the heart knot!!! Great find. and agree that specific “love” and worldly concepts therein fall away. Your family and friends take the level of strangers in your heart: everyone becomes equal. It can be a very confusing and frustrating time for someone who isn’t aware of what is happening, I can imagine.