Kundalini

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Kundalini (kuṇḍalinī कुण्डलिनी) according to various teachings is believed to be a type of "corporeal energy". Kundalini in Sanskrit literally means either "coiled up" or "coiling like a snake." There are a number of English renderings of the term, such as 'serpent power'.

Kundalini is envisioned as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine.

Hindu sources

In Hinduism, kundalini is a part of the subtle body along with chakras and nadis. A number of models of this esoteric anatomy occur in the class of texts known as Āgamas or Tantras. This is a large body of scripture, which is rejected by many orthodox brahmins.

There are numerous models of kundalini in the Sanskrit source texts. In early texts there are various systems of chakras and nadis, with varying connections between them. An early version of the nadi system is mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad, which says:

“

A hundred and one are the arteries of the heart, one of them leads up to the crown of the head. Going upward through that, one becomes immortal. (CU 8.6.6)

”

Over time one system of six or seven chakras along the body's axis became the dominant model, adopted by most schools of yoga. This particular system may have originated in about the 11th century AD, and rapidly became widely popular. It is in this model where Kundalini is said to "rise" upward, piercing the various centers until reaching the crown of the head, resulting in union with the Divine. This is the conventional arrangement cited by Monier-Williams, where the chakras are defined as "6 in number, one above the other".

The most famous of the Yoga Upanishads, the Yogatattva, mentions four kinds of yoga, one of which being laya-yoga, the symbolic dissolution (laya) of the universe visualized within the body with a corresponding raising of a corporeal energy known as Kundalini.

Another source text for the concept of kundalini is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika written by Swami Svatmarama (English translation, 1992) somewhere between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries.^{[citation needed]}

Western interpretation

Kundalini is a popular concept that is widely quoted among various disciplines of yoga and New Age discourse. Stuart Sovatsky warns that the recent popularization of the term within new religious movements has not contributed to promote a mature understanding of the concept.

One of the first people to bring Kundalini to the West was Sir John Woodroffe (in his pen name Arthur Avalon), a High Court Judge in Calcutta. Woodroffe became interested in Shaktism, a part of Hindu Tantra. His translation and commentary of two rare books was published as The Serpent Power, now considered a spiritual classic. Woodroffe rendered Kundalini as "Serpent Power"; a term he considered closest to the literal translation and being sensitive to the concept it denoted.

Two early Western interpretations of Kundalini were supplied by C.W. Leadbeater (1847-1934), of the Theosophical Society, and psychologist Carl Jung (1875-1961)[2]. Jung's seminar on Kundalini yoga, presented to the Psychological Club in Zurich in 1932, has been widely regarded as a milestone in the psychological understanding of Eastern thought and of the symbolic transformations of inner experience. Kundalini yoga presented Jung with a model for the developmental phases of higher consciousness, and he interpreted its symbols in terms of the process of individuation .

One of the first people to popularize the concept of Kundalini among Western readers was Gopi Krishna. His autobiography is entitled Kundalini—The Evolutionary Energy in Man . According to June McDaniel, his writings have influenced Western interest in kundalini yoga.

According to Sovatsky ^{[citation needed]} the concept of Kundalini comes from yogic philosophy of ancient India and refers to the mothering intelligence behind yogic awakening and spiritual maturation. In this perspective Kundalini is understood as as a maturing energy that expresses the individual's desire for salvation. Sovatsky also refers to a phenomenon called "pranic awakening", where Prana is interpreted as the vital, life-sustaining force in the body. Uplifted, or intensified life-energy is called pranotthana and is supposed to originate from an apparent reservoir of subtle bio-energy at the base of the spine. This energy is also interpreted as a vibrational phenomena that initiates a period, or a process of vibrational spiritual development . According to Sovatsky the possibility of viewing pranotthana and the larger Kundalini process as a maturation of body and character beyond conventional psychological growth is suggested by Sovatsky. According to this view psychological and spiritual development can continue throughout the life-span ^{[citation needed]}.

Kundalini Yoga

Main article: Kundalini Yoga

Kundalini Yoga is a system of meditative techniques and movements within the yogic tradition that focuses on psycho-spiritual growth and the body's potential for maturation. The practice of Kundalini Yoga consists of a number of bodily postures, expressive movements and utterances, characterological meditations, breathing patterns, and degrees of concentration. The movements and the body-work should not, according to some scholars of religion,^{[citation needed]} be considered mere stretching exercises. The concept of life-energy, pranotthana, is central to the practice and understanding of Kundalini Yoga. It also gives special consideration to the role of the spine and the endocrine system in the understanding of yogic awakening.^{[citation needed]} Recently, there has been a growing interest within the medical community to study the physiological effects of meditation, and some of these studies have applied the discipline of Kundalini Yoga to their clinical settings.

Kundalini rising

According to yogic writings and oral tradition, the force of Kundalini is raised through specific meditative exercises.

Kundalini-experiences are understood using the structure of the Hindu chakra system, the psycho-spiritual energy centers along the spine. According to Hindu tradition Kundalini rises from the root chakra up through the spinal channel, (called sushumna), and it is believed to activate each chakra it goes through. Each chakra is said to contain special characteristics . The chakras are any of the nerve plexes or centers of force and consciousness located within the inner bodies of man. When Kundalini Shakti unites itself with the Supreme Being (Lord Shiva), the aspirant gets engrossed in deep meditation during which he perceives infinite bliss . In raising Kundalini, spiritual powers (siddhis) are also believed to arise. However, many spiritual traditions see these phenomena as obstacles on the path, and encourage their students not to be distracted by them .

Lukoff, Lu & Turner ^{[citation needed]} notes that a number of psychological difficulties might be associated with Asian spiritual practices, and that Asian traditions recognize a number of pitfalls associated with intensive meditation practice. Transpersonal literature notes that kundalini rising is not without dangers. If we take this into consideration there might exist good reasons not to engage in such intensive practices unless guided by an accredited teacher, or unless one has undergone thorough psychological preparation and education in the chosen meditation-practice. Traditional teachers of Kundalini meditation also warn neophytes of the potential dangers of experimenting with Kundalini Yoga techniques. Anxiety, dissociation, depersonalization, altered perceptions, agitation, and muscular tension have been observed in western meditation practitioners and psychological literature is now adressing the occurrence of meditation-related problems in Western contemplative life . Among these we find "Kundalini Syndrome" (see below) and different forms of "wind illness" described in the Tibetan tradition .^{[citation needed]}

Problems and side-effects

Kundalini syndrome

Researchers in the fields of Humanistic psychology , Transpersonal psychology , and Near-death studies describe a complex pattern of sensory, motor, mental and affective symptoms associated with the concept of Kundalini, sometimes called the Kundalini syndrome . This psychosomatic arousal and excitation is believed to occur in connection with prolonged, intensive spiritual or contemplative practice (such as meditation or yoga) , or a near-death experience , or as a result of an intense personal crisis or experience. According to these fields of study the kundalini syndrome is different from a single kundalini episode, such as a kundalini arousal. Kundalini syndrome is a process that might unfold over several months, or even years. If the accompanying symptoms unfold in an intense manner that destabilizes the person, the process is usually interpreted as a spiritual emergency .

See also

Hinduism Sahaja Yoga Taoist Sexual Practices Reiki Tummo Tummo Chakra Shakti Kundalini yoga Gopi Krishna

Meditation Od Qi Qigong Self-realization Yoga Satori Dialectic

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1996). ISBN 0-521-43878-0

• Grabovac, Andrea & Ganesan, Soma. Spirituality and Religion in Canadian Psychiatric Residency Training. Canadian Journal Of Psychiatry, Vol 48, No 3, April 2003

• Greyson, Bruce (2000) Some Neuropsychological Correlates Of The Physio-Kundalini Syndrome. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Vol.32, No. 2

• Grof, Stanislav & Grof, Christina (eds). (1989) Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis (New Consciousness Reader) Los Angeles: J.P Tarcher

• Grof, Stanislav & Grof, Christina. (1992) The Stormy Search for the Self, New York: Perigee Books, ISBN 0-87477-649-X

• Harper, Katherine Anne and Brown, Robert L. (2002). The Roots of Tantra. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-5306-5. 

• Herrick, Karen, Finding Our Own Substance: New DSM-IV Code 62.89, Religious or Spiritual Problem. Poster Presentation Abstract at Toward a Science of Consciousness 1996, sponsored by the University of Arizona 8 April–13, 1996, Tucson Convention Center.

• Kason, Yvonne (2000) Farther Shores: Exploring How Near-Death, Kundalini and Mystical Experiences Can Transform Ordinary Lives. Toronto: Harper Collins Publishers, Revised edition, ISBN 0-00-638624-5

• Krishna, Gopi (1971) Kundalini: the evolutionary energy in man. Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala

• Le Fanu, James (2002) A clutch of new syndromes? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine; Vol. 95:118-125, March 2002

• Lukoff, David; Lu, Francis G. & Turner, Robert P. (1998) From Spiritual Emergency to Spiritual Problem: The Transpersonal Roots of the New DSM-IV Category. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 38(2), 21-50,

• McDaniel, June (2006). Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195167910. 

• Scotton, Bruce (1996) The phenomenology and treatment of kundalini, in Chinen, Scotton and Battista (Editors) (1996) Textbook of transpersonal psychiatry and psychology. (pp.261-270). New York, NY, US: Basic Books, Inc.

• Sovatsky, Stuart (1998). Words from the Soul: Time, East/West Spirituality, and Psychotherapeutic Narrative. New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-3950-X.  Suny Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology

• Strassman, Rick, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, ISBN 0-89281-927-8

• Svatmarama, Swami (1992) Hatha Yoga Pradipika. London: The Aquarian Press, An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers. Translated by Elsy Becherer, foreword by B K S Iyengar, commentary by Hans Ulrich Rieker

• Thalbourne, Michael A. (2001) Measures of the Sheep-Goat variable, Transliminality, and Their Correlates. Psychological Reports, 88: 339-50

• Turner, Robert P.; Lukoff, David; Barnhouse, Ruth Tiffany & Lu Francis G. (1995) Religious or Spiritual Problem. A Culturally Sensitive Diagnostic Category in the DSM-IV. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease,Vol.183, No. 7 435-444

• Tweedie, I., Daughter of Fire: A Diary of a Spiritual Training with a Sufi Master, 1995, The Golden Sufi Center, ISBN 0-9634574-5-4

• White, J, edt. (1990) Kundalini. Evolution and enlightenment. New York: Paragon House

External links

• Kundalini links at the Open Directory Project

da:Kundalini de:Kundalini es:Kundalini fr:Kundalinî it:Kundalini ml:കുണ്ഡലിനി nl:Kundalini ja:クンダリニー pl:Kundalini pt:Kundalini ro:Kundalini ru:Кундалини sv:Kundalini uk:Кундаліні

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