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My experience of Kundalini developed naturally - and benevolently. I read K. theory but followed my instincts, which allowed the energy to follow a spiritual desire. Eventually, when the force entered the cerebral centres it manifested as perfect intimacy.
If the upflow of k. energy is experienced as love, then I suggest reading the works of Christian Mystics will be benificial. These mystical lovers of God provide the necessary emotional or “soulful” dimension that other spiritual systems lack. For me, Kundalini energy, libido, latent will, love and God are one and the same, and as my understanding of God grows so the “fire of love” evolves. It is not enough to have knowledge in your head; you must also have it in your heart.
Porete was burned at the stake for love, Ebner suffered internal tortures because of the ferocity of love, and Hadewijch loved the fire because it loved her. They were all Christians, but love was more important than Christianity - or rather, love transformed their faith. The God within taught them how to live according to love and this orgasm of Divinity became their master.
Whether one expresses the force of K. in the seventh centre or enters Teresa of Avilla’s seventh mansion the mystical love of One is universally desired. East or West, the path is the same.
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| WOW 
What else can you tell me about all this? It's very interesting.
I think I'll go out and get a book about it. I never heard of Kundalini or Christian Mystics. But now I am totally interested.
Thanks man
Vero |
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| Hi Vero,
I‘ve listed a few books which are instructive.
“The Serpent Power” by Arthur Avalon is a classic, and perfect for an in-depth understanding of Kundalini Yoga. Gopi Krishna’s autobiography “Kundalini” exhaustively describes the dangers of arousing psychic energy prematurely - it also has a Jungian commentary which is invaluable.
Christian Mystics? Well, they don’t give a practical step by step guide to enlightenment, but what they do offer is an insight into a passionate belief - and don’t be put off by their use of religious language, you don't have to believe in Eastern deities before learning Yoga, so if you feel uncomfortable with the Christian message simply read between the lines. I recommend the following:
Mechthild “The Flowing Light of Godhead”, Hadewijch “The Complete Works” (Both pub. by Classics of Western Spirituality). “The Way to God” by Jean Guyon is available on-line, as is Teresa of Avilla’s “Interior Castle”, as is Richard Roll’s “Fire of Love”. (Google throws up plenty of info. if you're looking for a "who, what, why" intro.)
Love, like everything else is a form of energy, and it is important to remember that if your own personal desires do not correspond to those of energic Love; that is, if they do not conform to absolute purity, then you run the risk of serious psychic disturbance. Self-awakening or self-destruction.
…Be careful what you wish for.
All the best.
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| I would like to know what Kundalini Yoga is  |
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| I have to point out that reading the Christian mystics without knowing the Christian God is like reading the User's manual of a car without ever seeing, touching, or owning one - fairly fruitless.
Like wise, trying to shoehorn the writings of Christian mystics into Buddism is rather silly, because the basic worldview of those mystics was fundamentally different from Buddism.
Just my opinion... |
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Mixing up religious doctrines? Perhaps. But if the student lacks sufficient intelligence to perceive the truth of things then playing with dud matches cannot harm him. Lack of insight is neither good nor evil, its just ignorance. I would not have to be a practicing Christian to find inspiration in Christian mysticism, nor would I need to convert to Buddhism to glean knowledge from Buddhist teachings. The Kundalini “way” is universal. So no one should not sniff at Christian mysticism simply because one practices Yoga and vice verse - that smacks of ignorance! and ignorance is the surest way to keep one safe from the harmful effects of knowledge.
Kundalini does not belong to Yoga: it is a universal force resident in man manifesting in all cultures, it is the life in all living things but is subject to man's will as it is itself will. There are, of course, Christians who practice Yoga as they believe - quite correctly - that the Kundalini will is a means to their own spiritual end. Yoga generally is a practical system of self-enlightenment and not a faith-based religious doctrine; but systems get “personal”, almost religiously, when the individual is exposed to a higher will. I believe there is a real need for this personalization or emotional contact. In fact, I believe we should think of ourselves as the emotional half of God. To be emotional with God is to know and love God, and to love stuff of creation takes us on to a higher level. Kundalini wants knowledgeable “love” from us, and whatever form love takes (be it religious or non-religious) love as a universal force is right. To follow Elson's automobile analogy, each of us has a preferred emotional vehicle - but whether love is a Ferrari or a jalopy, we all travel along the same road and in the same direction. The wonder of divine will is that it drives us, and not we it. But, for the dimwit who lives in a literal world and takes everything at face value enlightenment can be confusing, especially when confronted with Yoga or any other “alien” discipline. (Personally, I think mainstream Christianity and Christian Mysticism inhabit different planets. I do not think those caught up in the literal “truths” of Christianity would even bother with Yoga.) But to suggest that one discipline has a kind of spiritual superiority over another would be unwise: inferiority is in the mind, not in the method. All systems of enlightenment are dependant on the nous of the individual, and if the individual has a foggy brain then all the spirituality in the world will not be able to penetrate the density of his soul.
There are remarkable similarities in Kundalini Yoga, Christian Mysticism and Alchemy. The experiences of the yogi, mystic and alchemist begin in the sexual earth and end in spiritual heaven. All are enlightened by the energy running up the backbone… They also share a common language. For instance, a term used by all three is “dissolving”, or union:
The alchemist: “Conjoin the servant with his odiferous sister and between them the art shall be engendered… For if woman be married to man they do embrace and so be coupled together, by themselves they be dissolved, and by themselves they be made, that they that were two is made as it were one body.”
The mystic: “When I knew that this fire of love had blazed forth only from within, and was not of the flesh but a gift of my Maker, I was full of joy and dissolved in a desire for yet greater love.”
The yogi: “The Devi, by dissolving Kundalini effects liberation through meditation on the identity of Siva and Atma… The worshipper of any particular Devata should realize that he is one with the object of his worship.”
The personal experiences are identical: the nectar of the Yogi is the dew of the Alchemist is the love of the mystic. The same energy is exploited. If you are a sun worshipper, you’re worshipping God as a solar deity; if you’re a tree-hugger, you love God in Nature… All fairly simplistic loving and worshipping, but it is at the level of understanding in which one loves and worships that’s important. It really doesn’t matter what you believe in as long as you understand your belief. If you have knowledge of God in all God’s energic forms then method becomes irrelevant. I can look at the medieval cloistered nun busting with God and see kundalini, I look at kundalini and see universality. Kundalini is not about posture techniques: it's concerned with the emotional volatility, self- perception and mental aptitude of its host - the individual. Kundalini, unlike method, doesn’t belong to any one school - you can mix and match methods so long as they compliment the design and purpose of life.
When I first became aware of Kundalini Yoga Christian mysticism meant nothing to me. As far as I was concerned, “love of God” was for Christians - what does God have to do with anything, we’re living in the 21st century for Christ’s sake! Then knowledge filled my head, and I lost my stupidity. I would not want anyone to think that I’m evangelising on behalf of the Christian God. Kundalini brought me to this particular brand of mysticism; it made a connection with my emotional life - as it must do - allowing me to empathize with the mystic’s emotional experience. In a natural way, I had linked the universal to the emotional - God’s Will housed in a human being, and the fusion of universal will and individual will through the love of God is complimentary and therefore complete. All paths lead to this loving experience, one is impressed with love whichever way one views God. Chemical reactions that produce “love” in the brain are common to everyone, yet to think of God as the brain’s dribbling and fizzing hardly pushes us further up the ladder. Our connection to God, or Love, is emotional; and when we have knowledge of this something called God, love is its name. Falling romantically in love doesn’t make the lover think of chemicals, and so when we have knowledge of God we have the FEELING of God - that is, love.
The motion of kundalini energy fits perfectly well with the gods of the mystics - Christian or not. It’s the same awakening from unconsciousness to God-consciousness, from the selfish to the selfless. It's liberation by any other name. Knowledge of different methods leads to a greater knowledge of ourselves, and how we get to knowledge is irrelevant. There are many “awakenings” that one has to go through, each requiring an emotional response, which in turn reveals the true nature of ourselves. Our divine selves ask questions relative to the level of our understanding, and we plodders hope to answer correctly. If, in love, my answer take me on to the next level, fine. But if I don’t get it right the first time then I continue searching until I do.
There are those who believe Christ’s teachings were as a direct result of a Kundalini awakening… Well, he did say, “the kingdom of God is within you”.
Whatever works for you, just let it work.
“…There is only one spring in all the world from which this substance may be obtained. That spring is called spring of beatitude. By the grace of God its situation was revealed to the Sages. It issues in a secret place, and its waters flow over all the world. It is familiar to all, yet none knows the principle, reason, or way to find the spring. But whoever does not know the right spring will never attain to knowledge. For, in truth, the spring is difficult to find; but he who knows it may reach it easily, without any expense, labour, or trouble.”
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| i am very interested in kundalini and mysticism. it has all just entered my life very quickly and rather dramatically. i am only beginning to learn about it all- but as i do so many synchronistic things are happening to me and for me- i should be writing a book! i am going to india to study yoga, philosophy, kundalini and mysticism. does anyone know of a school/guru/area that would be ideal for me to study at/with? in my research thus far i am finding it hard to get a lot of info via the web on india. i think i may just need to show up there and let god guide me. but i also figured i would throw something out here on the yoga boards and see if some guidance can be found online. anything you would like to share with me would be appreciated!
~harmonhy |
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| I am an open Christian. I have had several experiences, usually upon wakening in the middle of the night. When I keep my eyes closed there is an expansion in my head as though space or darkness were expanding. I often seem to se, at first, something that is like a mandala or one of those old spin-draw toys. It appears as a negative image in the blackness. Whatever it is seems to envelop my consciousness. I have had experiences of heavy breathing--feelings of air rushing through my body--a slight erection--a pulsating buzzing sound and so on.
Does this sound like a Kundalini release? I don't know of anything like this in Christian literature. |
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| You know, when you become a true christian mystic/yogi it's the Holy Spirit that does the yoga for you. When you're 'yoked' to God, kundalini fades away and Holy Spirit kicks in. Kundalini is raw power and sexual energy and Holy Spirit is Divine energy. Kundalini can lead us only to the point of Self-realization, but you need God for God-realization. There's a lot of confusion about kundalini, Holy Spirit, Self-realization and God-realization. Every serious yogi should understand their difference.
Heart's love, Bodhisattva |
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| i don't think there is confusion about god, god realization, kundalini and sexual power etc. You're confused coz you don't have knowledge - and knowledge is of paramount imporatance before you take any journey in the spiritual world....  |
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| Todays problem is information overload. In reality things are simple, but they may seem complex.
After the years of loading my self with knowledge..I came to a point where I had to leave the knowledge behind to receive a new kind of knowledge. If there would be no confusion everybody would be God-realized.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
  
Location: A Blue State |
Is there a relationship between Kundalini and Tantra, or are the two totally separate?
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| Hello Bay Guy,
"Is there a relationship between Kundalini and Tantra, or are the two totally separate?"
Looking at spirituality using Kundalini and so on started with Tantric adepts. Prior to the time when Tantra came into fashion, there was no notion of Kundalini as such. Some people like to argue universality, etc... but in general something explicitly like Kundalini came into existence only with the Tantras.
In nearly all schools of Hindu Tantra, spiritual progress is understood in terms of Kundalini. There are several understandings of what Kundalini is and in general it doesn't have to be the energy that goes up people's spine only. That is prana-kundalini and manifests itself mostly in people with relatively greater wordly attachment. There is cit-kundalini which doesn't involve a succesive rise but is more instantaneous; this is predominant in people with more detachment. There is also para-kundalini which is supposed to be the energy that creates, sustains and destroys the world.
Understand that the more detachment and general emotional and mental maturity you have, the less negative Kundalini-symptons you will have. The problem with a lot of Kundalini yogas, especially the more physically oriented ones, is that they bring about experiences but do not really purify the mind and so on properly. This leads to the incapability of handling these experiences.
Also, keep in mind that even if Kundalini reaches Sahasrara, this is not liberation, but just a temporary experience. One must then practice what in Kashmir they call krama mudra, which is basically the integration of the consciousness throughout the day until it is maintained effortlessly.
On another note, people argue whether or not there is Kundalini awakening explicitly mentioned in Buddhist Tantra. Some people hold that Candali (or Tummo in Tibetan) is the same as Kundalini. Awakening Tummo is important in Buddhist Tantra to create more subtle levels of mental activity, which are capable of cognizing emptiness. The techniques used to awaken Tummo are relatively similar to Hindu tantra and involve breath retention, visualizing Nadis and so forth. In Buddhist tantra people are prepared for this practice by generation stage practice which involves visualization a deity and eventually learning to "live" like a Buddha would.
Please check the various Kundalini FAQs by Kurt Keutzer which are well made and explains most things one would want to know as well as the disagreements in interpretations and so on:
http://www-cad.eecs.berkeley.edu/~keutzer/kundalini/kundalini-faq.html
Regards. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |
Thanks, this is very interesting. I will have to think about it more..... BG. |
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Kundalini and Christian Mystics
