- SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON KUNDALINI
-
- But before discussing Kundalini, we should
first form a mental picture of Yoga. Yoga is the generic name employed
in India to designate all forms of mental, physical, and spiritual disciplines
necessary to explore the incredibly wondrous world of consciousness.
-
- From this point of view, all efficacious
methods of spiritual discipline, adopted in any religion of the world,
can be classified as yoga. Used in this sense, yoga is the master-science
of the future, the door of entry to intelligent levels of creation impervious
to the five senses and unapproachable to the intellect.
-
- THE GATEWAY TO AN ELEVATED HUMANITY
-
- Why yoga is as important for the hard-boiled,
practical man of the world as it is for the seeker after God and self-awareness,
is because it is only self-knowledge and discipline that can help scholars
and scientists to know more about consciousness and the profound depths
of the human psyche.
-
- It is only yoga that provides effective
methods for the opening of the sealed super-sensory compartment in the
brain which, when opened, can lead to Illumination or to the florescence
of genius and psychic gifts in human beings. Yoga is the only gateway to
a more elevated humanity, to a well-provided, progressive, war-free, harmonious
and happy world. It is the only vessel in which one can cross the stormy
ocean of existence to the other shore, where eternal life and unbounded
happiness await the passenger. Yoga, in short, is the methodology and the
science by which the embodied soul can become aware of its own identity
and of the glorious world to which it belongs. This occurs only when
Kundalini, the mechanism of human evolution, is aroused and rises to the
highest center in the brain.
-
- KUNDALINI REVEALS THE SECRETS OF THE
SOUL
-
- The awakening of Kundalini can occur
in many ways, but here we will mention only two. One is the slow, imperceptible
awakening effected by meditation and other moderate disciplines that come
under the name Raja Yoga. The practitioner is usually not aware of the
transformation that occurs in the cerebrospinal system until, in a successful
case, an expansion of consciousness attended by indescribable happiness
and beatific visionary experiences inform him or her that a change has
occurred within.
-
- They often attribute this change to dormant
powers of the mind coming into play, or to divine favor, or, as many psychologists
believe, to the outflow from one's own subconscious.
-
- What is not known or even suspected is
that the expression "awakening of Kundalini," in the language
of science, denotes accelerated evolution of the brain and the activation
of a dormant area in it known as brahma-rendra.
-
- The arousal of Kundalini, through the
forceful methods of Hatha Yoga, can be explosive and sudden. In that case,
the cerebrospinal system leaps to a new, bewildering activity, creating
chaos in the mental world of the subject.
-
- Lightning starts to flash in his or her
system and the whole inner being becomes a turbulent pool of light, with
glistening silvery or golden threads marking the paths of the nerves through
the body. Panchastavi, an authoritative work on the subject, written by
an anonymous Kashmiri sage one thousand years ago, describes the inner
scenario in this way:
-
- "Located between the four-petaled
and the six-petaled lotuses (Muladbara and Swadisbthana) at the end of
the cavity of pudenda (that is, between the rectum and the genital organ),
coiled three times, beaming with unbounded splendor like that of the sun,
fire, or lightning,
-
- "Thou, 0 Kundalini, dost first pierce
the six-petaled lotus, then the ten-petaled (Manipura), then the twelve-petaled
(Anahata), then the sixteen-petaled (Visuddha), and then the two-petaled
(Ajna-hakra), on Thy way to Brahma-rendra, 0 Parvati, Daughter of the Himalayas,
our obeisance to Thee."
-
- The fascinating cartographs in the books
on Hatha Yoga, with their chakras, lotuses, and the figures of deities,
are not merely a figment of imagination or creations of the subconscious.
They represent a figurative rendering of the lightning effects perceived
in the interior when Kundalini starts to operate.
-
- Luminous currents dart here and there
through all the body or rise into the brain to cause an expansion of the
personality and fill it with a splendor that is awe-inspiring to behold.
It is for this reason that in the Taoist manuals, such as The Secret of
the Golden Flower, the awakening of Kundalini is known as "the circulation
of the light."
-
- THE SECRETS OF KUNDALINI
-
- The secrets of Kundalini have not been
disclosed widely as yet. There are, however, some valuable hints scattered
in the tantras, shakti shastras, and books on Hatha Yoga, but direct experience
is necessary to understand them. The fact that the awakening is attended
by luminosity in the interior"particularly in the head"and sounds
in the ears, is repeatedly mentioned in these treatises.
-
- In describing the gifts acquired, the
words "high talent" or "genius" are not used in the
ancient texts, but what is stated very clearly and emphatically is that
the recipient of the "favor from the goddess" becomes a great
poet, a great logician, a great mathematician, a great repository of knowledge,
or an eloquent speaker.
-
- Similarly, the attainment of miraculous
powers or psychic gifts, known as "siddhis" is invariably spoken
of. From this it is easy to infer that in those cases where extraordinary
talent or psychic powers are manifested as a natural endowment, it can
be assumed that Kundalini is active to a greater or lesser degree.
-
- SOME OF THE DANGERS
-
- Traditionally, the practice of Hatha
Yoga is considered to be dangerous because, in the case of miscarriage,
it can lead to insanity or death. The practitioners are forewarned of
the danger in the texts. There is a borderline class, known as Avahoots
in India and Mastanas in Persia, who combine extraordinary clairvoyant
gifts and loquacious tongue with schizophrenia or manic-depressive psychosis
in varying degrees.
-
- They are often highly venerated and sought
after. Crowds follow them wherever they go in the false belief that they
can bestow some boon.
-
- People of this category sometimes pose
as spiritual teachers to instruct others, while they themselves are unaware
of their own aberrations. The irony is that even scholars are often carried
away by the fervor of the moment and lend credence to what they say.
-
- The ill effects on the mind, caused by
a miscarriage of Hatha Yoga practices, can also be true in the reverse
way, which means that certain types of mental disorder might be due to
a malignant activity of Kundalini. This is an issue of great importance
for healers of the mind. Schizophrenia, manic-depressive states, etc.,
are very often caused by a malfunctioning Kundalini.
-
- TWO KINDS OF SAMADHI AND THE SHINING
BODY
-
- The practice of Yoga of whatever kind,
and the arousal of Kundalini, in the final stage, can lead to samadhi or
mystical experience. But samadhi, also, can be of two kinds: one brought
about by self-hypnosis, arrest of breathing, or vacuity of the mind caused
by forced cessation of thought, or by making the mind blank.
-
- This kind of samadhi, except for certain
visionary experiences, euphoria, or other benefits occurring through suggestion,
has no transmuting effect on the personality or of opening a new channel
of perception in the brain.
-
- The other kind of samadhi denotes a revolution
in the brain itself, leading to the formation of a luminous sheath known
as the shining body, and as the solar body, which operates either for occasional
brief intervals or in a perennial form as the interior self of the initiate.
-
- This inner transformation, involving
subtle areas of the brain, is not possible without the activity of the
psychosomatic mechanism of Kundalini.
-
- GENUINE MYSTICS ARE EXTREMELY RARE
-
- The cases of spiritual illumination have
been rare in history. Mystics like Kabir, Rama Krishna, Rumi, or Eckhart
have been few and far between. It is amusing to see the crowds of claimants
to enlightenment who pose as spiritual teachers, counting their followers
in the thousands, or even hundreds of thousands.
-
- Few if any scholars or teachers of yoga
can distinguish between enlightened individuals and highly intelligent,
versatile, but unilluminated claimants to this state. If there is a criterion,
how has it been set up and how many people are aware of it? If there is
no criterion, how can it be assumed today that all that is said or written
on Yoga or Kundalini is correct?
-
- If no standard has been set up and there
hasn,t been a thorough study made of samadhi or mystical trance, it means
that scholars and spiritual teachers are still groping in the dark about
a phenomenon repeatedly observed during the past five thousand years"a
phenomenon on which all of the current religions of mankind are based.
-
- WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW ABOUT TALENT
-
- Kundalini is the evolutionary energy
in human beings. It is operating today, just as it operated in the past,
to produce spiritual luminaries, oracles, prophets, sages, clairvoyants,
philosophers, poets, musicians, painters, scholars, scientists, and other
leading minds of humankind.
-
- What is important for everyone to know
is that the operation of this divine power is influenced, to a considerable
extent, by the environment, the traits of character, the frame of mind,
and the life-styles of the populations or individuals in whom it is active,
creating exceptional personalities for the race. Most of them are benign,
but some are malignant.
-
- Words are hardly adequate to express
the staggering magnitude of the traditional concept of Kundalini, as presented
in the tantras and shakti shastras. Her other name is Prana Shakti, the
creatrix of the universe. As a small sample of the tributes paid to her
as Prana Shakti or cosmic life energy, the following two verses from Panchastavi
will be illustrative of what us meant:
-
- "Thou art luster in the moon, radiance
in the sun, intelligence in man, force in the wind, taste in water, and
heat in fire. Without Thee, 0 Goddess, the whole universe would be devoid
of its substance.
-
- "Those starry hosts that roam the
sky, this atmosphere which gives birth to water, this Shesh-nag [a mystical
serpent] which supports the earth, the air which moves, and fire which
shines bright with leaping flames, they all, 0 Mother, exist only by Thy
command."
-
- Another famous work on Kundalini, Saundarya
Lahari, ascribed to the philosopher Shankaracharya, refers to this Power
in the same reverential terms. Kundalini is the gayatri in the Vedas, the
supreme mantra that every twice-born Hindu must recite with his morning
ablutions. The syllable om is the symbol of the same power.
-
- THE ARCHITECT OF ALL FORMS OF LIFE
-
- As Prana Shakti, Kundalini is the architect
of all forms of life in the universe. She is our thinking, our speech,
our imagination, our creativeness, the energy that brings us to life, guides
us in infancy, fills us with fire of love in adolescence, with ambition
and the desire for adventure in youth and then slowly withdraws the vigor
she had bestowed unto the last breath, when a mortal ceases to be an actor
in the drama of life.
-
- Kundalini will continue to remain a mystery
until the end of time. Even when some of the secrets of this Power, and
the methods to awaken it, become a part of human knowledge, this marvelous
element of creation will still continue to be beyond the reach of our intellect.
-
- Nature has interposed a barrier here
that does not allow human intellect, concerned only with material objectives,
to enter the holy precincts reserved exclusively for the enlightened mind.
But there are physiological symptoms by which the phenomenon can be recognized
at once.
-
- One of them is the highly increased activity
of the reproductive organs in both men and women. In the males, the activity
can be easily measured, but in females, because of the very form of the
organ, it is not so easy to do. This is known as Urdhva-retas, the upward
flow of the reproductive essence. Instead of flowing downward and outward,
as is the case in normal human beings, the reproductive or sexual energy
flows upward, through the spinal canal, and into the brain.
-
- THE PURPOSE OF HUMAN LIFE
-
- If there is a purpose in creation, it
can never be that the race has progressed to this breathtaking degree as
a self-won achievement for which there is no reason or rhyme in the cosmic
plan. Actually, the purpose for which humankind has come on Earth is
engraved on our forehead, stamped on our brain, and ingrained in our blood.
-
- What an average human being longs for
most of all is plenitude, peace, happiness, a loving partner in life, health,
freedom from ill luck, respect of his fellow beings, a long life, and a
peaceful end.
-
- Immoderate ambition, insatiable erotic
hunger, unrestrained lust for heroics or leadership, or a consuming desire
for fame, mark the character of only a fragment. No revealed scripture
commends these traits, for they signify a deviation from the model of a
harmoniously evolved personality.
-
- The goal of humanity pictured by religion
is of a superior kind. Every man and woman has to strive for self-perfection
until he or she gains the inner kingdom or vision of God.
-
- The purport is clear. Satisfaction of
the basic needs or pursuit of pleasure and luxury are not the targets of
human life. Ambitious temporal goals are not equally feasible for all.
They inevitably lead to competition and rivalry, which cut at the roots
of compassion and love, replacing them with envy and hate.
-
- EVERY OBJECTS SPRINGS TO LIFE
-
- In the highest states of mystical ecstasy,
brought about by Kundalini, every object springs to life and the whole
of Nature becomes alive. One incredible living, feeling Ocean of Being
connects the mystic with every object in the universe.
-
- Mystical ecstasy is not an altered state
of consciousness. It is not normal human consciousness in a state of rapture,
or intense absorption in the contemplation of one object, or of quietude
in which the mind reflects only a serene and silent state of awareness.
-
- It is in no way akin to the mental conditions
produced by LSD, nitrous oxide, hypnosis or biofeedback or any other artificial
method or chemical substance.
-
- Mystical vision has nothing to do with
sorcery, magic, miraculous happenings, weird adventures in the realm of
the paranormal, bizarre visionary experiences or fantasies of any kind.
-
- In the genuine illuminative state there
is no clouding of the intellect, no riot of colors, no encounters with
strange creatures, no weird or bizarre scenes, but only an indescribable
state of glory, happiness and love, coupled with the direct experience
of an All-Pervading extended consciousness of an Almighty, Omnipresent
Cosmic Being.
-
- ILLUMINATED CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE GOAL
-
- The only sources available to gain correct
and precise information about this state are the religious scriptures and
the writings of the great mystics of the world.
-
- Since illuminated consciousness, and
not altered consciousness, is the goal of human evolution, it is of utmost
importance to make a distinction between the works of mystics and the fanciful,
highly colored or sensational narratives of those who wish to create an
applauding gallery for themselves or who mistakenly believe that they have
the experience without making any attempt to confirm their belief.
-
- The distinction is necessary to protect
the readers from mistaking one for the other. It is also very necessary
to protect the image of the true mystical vision from distortion by the
ambitious, the dabbler or the uninformed. It does not matter if the wrong
portrayal is from a capable writer or that the book has sold in millions
of copies. It will die its own death if not based on the genuine experience.
Nature has her own methods for sifting the true from the false.
-
- In the course of time the human mind
itself rejects what is not true or of lasting worth to it. The Bhagavad
Gita graphically describes the impact of the vision in these lines:
-
- "If the splendor of a thousand suns
were to blaze out together, in the sky, that might resemble the glory of
the Mahatman. There Pandava (Ajuna) beheld the whole universe, divided
into manifold parts, standing in one in the body of the Deity of Deities.
-
- "Then he, Arjuna, overwhelmed with
astonishment, his hair standing on end, bowed down his head to the Shining
One, and with joined palms spoke."
-
- In every case of illumination, mere visionary
experience is not sufficient. It must be attended by certain objective
signs to confirm it.
-
- IN MYSTICAL ECSTASY, THE INTELLECT REMAINS
ACTIVE
-
-
- Why has mystical vision such a powerful
impact on the mind of the beholder that he or she often becomes intoxicated
with the love of God, preferring solitude to even the most joyous company,
and renouncing the ordinary pleasures of life to revel in a delight before
which all the pleasures of the earth seem stale to him?
-
- It has to be remembered that in the mystical
ecstasy the intellect remains active. There is no blunting of the rational
faculty. This is repeatedly mentioned in the Upanishads and the esoteric
texts on Kundalini. Reason has to be satisfied that the experience is not
a delusion.
-
- This means that the vision is real.
But, then, how can we account for it? Our difficulty in explaining the
nature of mystical experience stems mainly from the fact that we are not
able to visualize a state of consciousness superior to our own.
-
- We cannot even imagine the state of mind
of a musical or a mathematical genius. A child cannot imagine the mind
of an adult. We can understand the position better if we suppose that
consciousness has an infinite series of gradations from the most strong
to the most dilute.
-
- This we can illustrate by treating our
consciousness as the faint glimmer shed by a spark of fire and comparing
it with the blinding glare on the gigantic surface of the sun. The human
eye cannot even bear the sight of this splendor. It would be struck blind
even when millions of miles away. Our consciousness is an extremely dilute
form of this splendor.
-
- Another analogy would be to liken our
mind to a droplet of water and to compare it to an Ocean of Life. If
this one small droplet of Divine Intelligence in man has been able to create
the present amazing world of art, philosophy, science and the wonders of
technology, what is impossible for the Almighty Ocean itself?
-
- WE ARE HELD PRISONERS BY OUR BRAIN
-
- We are not able to perceive this Almighty
Intelligence or its Splendor because our sensory equipment is designed
the other way. In fact, we are held prisoners by our brain. We are not
able by any means to look into the mind of another person, as we look into
a material object.
-
- There is no instrument that can see,
measure, touch, smell or taste consciousness. Then how can we be conscious
of Universal Consciousness, even if all our life we live, sleep, think
and act in it?
-
- Mystical experience, in an instant, shatters
the illusion that our subjective and objective worlds are the only actual
realities. The visionary, for the first time, perceives the all-surpassing
Splendor of Cosmic Intelligence.
-
- In the mystical state a new element dominates
the whole scene. The world of awareness and the world of matter fuse into
one, and a stupendous Consciousness now penetrates and encompasses all
in a blaze of glory impossible to describe. As the vision unfolds itself,
the whole universe seems to melt in the splendor of the One present everywhere.
-
- SCIENCE HAS SEALED THE HUMAN BRAIN
-
- So far as science is concerned, the human
brain is a sealed compartment and has no other potentiality present in
it over and above those manifested so far. This is an error, and as long
as we continue to hold this view the phenomena of mystical consciousness
and extrasensory perception will continue to be unsolvable riddles for
mankind.
-
- We have seen what a tremendous change
the addition of some ounces of brain matter has made in the life of man
as compared to that of animals. But the mere quantitative or qualitative
change in the brain does not explain the whole story.
-
- Dolphins, with an almost parallel brain
weight, bear little comparison to man. Some small species of monkeys have
proportionately larger brains than human beings. The ant with its tiny
brain has an organizing capacity and a social order which is amazing.
Science is still at sea as far as the phenomenon of life is concerned.
-
- It is not elements of matter, like carbon,
oxygen, calcium, hydrogen and others or the DNA and RNA molecules alone
of which life forms are compounded, but there is another element in nature,
imperceptible to out senses, which is at the bottom of all phenomena of
life.
-
- THE LEVER BEHIND PSYCHIC GIFTS
-
- We can call it by the name of life-energy.
It is this force which is credited with magical or miraculous powers in
all the occult systems of the past and is known by various names, such
as astral light, odic force, psychic energy, orgone, super-solar force,
chi, etc.
-
- In India it is known as Prana, and has
been universally held to be the lever behind mystical vision and paranormal
gifts for the last more than three thousand years.
-
- Prana can well be the matrix from which
even physical energy is born. It might be present in the atom and sub-nuclear
particles without ever being detected by any means known to science. It
is, no doubt, a galling position, but it is true.
-
- The pranic force, in combination with
atoms and molecules, fashions the bricks as also the complex structures
of life. For this reason, it has been held to be the architect of the
organic kingdom and the driving force behind evolution.
-
- The Power of the Creator which brings
the universe into existence is known as Shakti, which is mind and matter
both. Gnosis or Knowledge comes from the Creator. This is the Divine
Spark or Soul in us, the Inner Light that illumines the mind and the intellect
both.
-
- We sometimes become aware of this real
"Knower" in states of deep contemplation or in the impartial
Self which tells us that we are wrong, when, in the heat of anger or passion
or in any other turbulent mental state or disturbed reason, we wrongly
act or think.
-
- It is this Self or atman, as it is named
in the Upanishads, which becomes more clear and perceptible in the mystical
state. Shakti, as the Power of the Creator, is incomprehensible to the
intellect.
-
- Shakti is unconditioned and limitless,
capable of creating any kind of world or substance that one can conceive
of or that is inconceivable. Prana, too, is a form of Shakti.
-
- It is the Energy behind the phenomena
of life. It is the Power behind faith-healing and miracles, as also behind
time, space or causality, also emptiness, timelessness and chaos.
-
- METAPHYSICS IS BASED ON SAMADHI
-
- Indian metaphysics is based on the experience
of samadhi or mystical vision. In this state the subtle worlds of mind
and Prana become perceptible to the Yogi. In the time to come, science
will have to adopt the same methods to reach these transcendent planes.
-
- There is no other way for man to find
other areas of creation, not perceptible to our senses. It is only then
that the true proportion of creation can be understood by the human mind.
-
- Prana is the bewildering source behind
the amazing organizations and instincts of living creatures. With the
first breakthrough in the discovery of Prana, which is imminent now, the
incredible behavior of the intellect that has persisted in ascribing the
phenomenon of life and evolution to pure unpremeditated chance will at
once become apparent.
-
- There is a different spectrum of Prana
for each form of life, with modifications for each individual of that form.
We know very well that the organic structures and their chemical compositions
in every species of life vary from each other, and there are slight differences
in the individuals of each species.
-
- This is true of prana also. Each distinct
human personality reflects a distinct type of pranic spectrum. No two
spectrums are alike in every respect, as there are no two personalities
similar in every way.
-
- The differences in our mental constitutions
and character are all due to variations in the spectrum of prana of each
individual. In the pranic plane, human personalities exist as clear and
distinct as their mortal frames in the physical world.
-
- During the course of mystical ecstasy
a new, more potent stream of prana enters the brain, creating a revolution
in consciousness. The flow of this new pranic current is caused by a slight
but clearly marked activity in the brain. It looks as if a hitherto silent
area has leapt to a sudden activity, demanding a more potent psychic fuel
to sustain it.
-
- When the available store of this new
pranic fuel is spent, the mystic again reverts to his normal consciousness
returning, as it were, from a smiling, brightly lit Garden of Paradise
to the humdrum existence of a prosaic world. No words can express the grandeur
and sublimity of the experience nor the happiness and serenity felt during
the interval. In rare cases, the experience can become a perennial feature
of human life. In India, it has been called the sahaja or jivan-mukta
state.
-
- The whole ocean of prana, sustaining
the human race, is in a state of flux. It is this motion in the fundamental
element of life which is behind the evolution of the brain and the transformation
of consciousness.
-
- The human world is advancing in knowledge
because prana is moving in that direction. This movement, in turn, causes
subtle evolutionary changes in the brain which we are not able to measure
yet, but will do so when the mystery shrouding prana is solved.
-
- This will also solve the riddle of talent,
genius and extrasensory perception for a well-marked change in prana is
responsible for these conditions, too. This essay was submitted by the
Kundalini Research Foundation, Ltd.
-
- The evolutionary change occurring in
the race now is irresistible. Mankind is being carried to an, at present,
unknown destination by the very ocean of life which feeds every individual
mind night and day.
-
- This destination is a new dimension of
consciousness which has not been previously defined so far. We call it
by the name of mystical experience, illumination or enlightenment without
knowing precisely what that means. One thing it means is that we, all
of us, are sailing in the same mysterious ship without knowing for which
port it is bound.
-
- --Submitted by the Kundalini Research
Foundation, Ltd.
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