The State Of Dissociated Detachment Typically Accompanying A KAE (Kundalini Awakening Experience)

can become severely unbalanced 'when deep psychological resistances, fear, confusion, or social and other environmental pressures are present' (p. 99). Moreover, Sannella implies that the stirring up of 'the sediments of the unconscious' is an intrinsic aspect of the KAE, confronting a person with 'just those psychic materials he or she wishes to inspect least of all' (ibid.: 98-9). Thus, in depth-psychological terms, repressed or unresolved traumata seem very likely to erupt in the course of a KAE - which suggests that the KAE may be a multifaceted process that includes both the deeply personal and the transpersonal. Again, then, it is clear from this how the symptoms of a KAE could easily be (mis)diagnosed as 'psychopathology' with the underlying generative psychospiritual process being completely missed within a medical-model framework.

For Sannella, then, the KAE constitutes 'an aspect of psychospiritual unfolding' - 'part of an evolutionary mechanism, and... as such it must not be viewed as a pathological development' (p. 9, my emphasis). And Gopi Krishna viewed the KAE as that which 'enable(s) human consciousness to transcend the normal limits..., to transcend the limits of the highest intellect... - the final phase of the present evolutionary impulse in man' (quoted in ibid.: 12; cf. Krishna, 1974). For example, there is 'the ecstatic unification of subject and object' (p. 31), which transcends the dualistic split consciousness of the Cartesian ego, and which the epistemologies of the 'new science' are increasingly beginning to embrace (e.g. see Bortoft, 1996; House, 1999b). According to Sannella, once Gopi Krishna's active kundalini was stabilised, 'it formed the basis for the gradual development of extraordinary mental gifts, creativity and tranquillity - [and] to all kinds of mystical experiences' (p. 51). Gopi Krishna himself goes as far as arguing that the KAE is, inter alia, 'the real cause of all so-called spiritual and psychic phenomena [and] the master key to the unsolved mystery of creation' (quoted on p. 20; Krishna, 1974).
Source

El Collie, Kundalini Pundit, Compassion Personified, and My Inspiration

During her lifetime El Collie selflessly helped thousands of people with her newsletter, her countless email responses, and her many real-world, nonprofit writings about Kundalini. She is and always will be my greatest Kundalini inspiration, and one of the greatest persons I've had the honor of knowing in my lifetime. I believe she's on the higher planes still helping Kundalini suffers all over the world. I miss you El, and I thank you for all the help and support you gave me.

Extracts from Kundalini: the Evolutionary Energy in Man

One morning, during the Christmas of 1937 I sat cross-legged in a small room in a little house on the outskirts of the town of Jammu, the winter capital of the Jammu and Kashmir State in northern India. ..Long practice had accustomed me to sit in the same posture for hours at a time without the least discomfort, and I sat breathing slowly and rhythmically, my attention drawn to the crown of the head, contemplating an imaginary lotus in full bloom, radiating light.

During one such spell of intense concentration I suddenly felt a strange sensation below the base of the spine, at the place touching the seat...the sensation was so extraordinary and so pleasing that my attention was forcibly drawn towards it.

..I had read glowing accounts, written by learned men, of great benefits resulting from concentration, and of the miraculous powers acquired by yogis through such exercises...with a great effort I kept my attention centered round the lotus. Suddenly, with a roar like that of a waterfall, I felt a stream of liquid light entering my brain through the spinal cord.

Entirely unprepared for such a development, I was completely taken by surprise; but regaining self-control instantaneously, I remained sitting in the same posture, keeping my mind on the point of concentration. The illumination grew brighter and brighter, the roaring louder, I experienced a rocking sensation and then felt myself slipping out of my body, entirely enveloped in a halo of light. It is impossible to describe the experience accurately. I felt the point of consciousness that was myself growing wider, surrounded by waves of light.

It grew wider and wider, spreading outwards while the body, normally the immediate object of its perception, appeared to have receded into the distance until I became entirely unconscious of it. I was now all consciousness, without any outline, without any idea of a corporeal appendage, without any feeling or sensation coming from the senses, immersed in a sea of light, simultaneously conscious and aware of every point, spread out, as it were, in all directions without any barrier or material obstruction.

I was no longer myself, or to be more accurate, no longer as I knew myself to be, a small point of awareness confined in a body, but instead was a vast circle of consciousness in which the body was but a point, bathed in light and in a state of exaltation and happiness impossible to describe.

Source

Kundalini: Known Side Effects

Problems have been known to occasionally arise from Kundalini rising. The following side effects have been noted by numerous teachers. These problems can persists for moments, hours, days, months, years or decades. They can also reoccur. All students with an active kundalini, experience at least a few, if not many, of these side effects. Generally these problems begin to occur after a few months (less likely) or years (more likely) after starting a contemplative practice, but in some cases they begin very soon after starting meditation or yoga.

Summary of Known Problems: Death, pseudo death, psychosis, pseudo psychosis, confusion, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, sadness, suicidal thoughts, urges to self-mutilate, homicidal urges, arrhythmia (irregular heart beat), exacerbation of prior or current mental illness, insomnia, inability to hold a job, inability to talk, inability to drive, sexual pains, temporary blindness, and headaches.

According to Transpersonal theory, and eastern spiritual traditions, these problems are thought to arise as karma - deep physical, psychological and emotional material - is brought to the surface of the mind as a result of yoga and meditative practice. Consultation with a meditation teacher who is not trained in kundalini techniques or with a psychiatrist, medical doctor or therapist who is unknowledgeable about this process often leads to confusion and misunderstanding. Using Western medicine to treat or suppress the kundalini symptoms is not recommended, and might in some cases, have undesirable side effects. Grof noted that suppressing kundalini's side effects with psychiatric medicine could lead to death. However, Lukoff et.al note that there may be times when medication can play a role in recovery, and integration of spiritual experiences.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Illusions about Kundalini

There are a variety of odd notions about what the kundalini is and does when it is aroused. This brief article was written to help the reader dispel these illusions, and perhaps more clearly understand this subject.
Illusions

Kundalini has nothing to do with sexual fluids or ojas. The kundalini is a fiery, Divine energy. It is not a fluid. It does not increase with the accumulation of semen in the male prostate, or ejaculatory and lubricating fluids in the female's Bartholin's glands. These fluids are a reservoir of prana, or life force, which people often confuse with the kundalini.

Sexual tantra, which in some individuals can bring about a partial awakening of the kundalini, does not produce enlightenment. Sexual tantra (e.g., sustained sexual intercourse, karezza, or maithuna) can awaken some individual's kundalini shakti into a Subplane of the Biophysical Universe. This is very ecstatic, but has nothing to do with enlightenment. Enlightenment occurs when your attention becomes fixed on your ensouling entity and you discover its eternal nature. You do not need to have sex to achieve this state.

The awakening of the kundalini does not automatically bring spiritual powers over nature (siddhis). Spiritual powers are chosen and anchored by the ensouling entity when the siddhi yantra that embodies them have been integrated into the vehicles of the Superconscious mind. They don’t automatically appear like magic.

The kundalini only rarely can be used to actually produce spiritual transformation, and this is a very dangerous practice that must be carefully supervised by an Adept. It is, for example, used to make the transition between the Lower and Higher Subtle Realms. It is also used during the Fifth Planetary Initiation. Don't try this one at home without the coach.

Kundalini raised up into Cosmic and Supracosmic Octaves, beyond an individual's spiritual cutting edge, does produce deep Samadhi—but often creates many problems. When the energy of the kundalini is raised beyond your ensouling entity, the higher octave of your will cannot control this energy to bring it back down. If a Kundalini Master or Guru is not present to assist you to bring it back, you may be locked in Samadhi with the kundalini burning ever upward. Then your life becomes a total nightmare.

Mudrashram Institute of Spiritual Studies

Cracking Up by El Collie

Even the blissful and joyous experiences can be judged as madness by others -- or by ourselves. Christina Grof said that she denied the reality of her own tumultuous years of awakening after the process smoothed out. She told herself she had simply been crazy or spiritually grandiose during that twelve year span.

The paranormal, mystical and psychic aspects of spiritual awakening are most daunting for those whose prior worldview excluded the possibility of such phenomena. It can help to realize as the astronaut Edgar Mitchell has observed, "There are no unnatural or supernatural phenomena, only very large gaps in our knowledge of what is natural... We should strive to fill those gaps of ignorance."

What seems like encroaching insanity is different for each of us. A man who had been blind from birth had little trouble accepting Kundalini experiences which might have been very frightening to someone else, such as spontaneous out-of-body escapades. But he was seriously concerned over his mental stabilty when he began having inner visions and was able to see colors for the first time in his life.

A woman felt extremely threatened and confounded after experiencing a trance state in which invisible beings planted gems in her chakras while she watched helplessly, unable to move or defend herself from them. In our culture, such an account sounds crazy... or possibly like an encounter with hostile UFO aliens. What is most interesting about this is that shamans from Native American, Siberian, Aboriginal and other cultures have long reported similar incidents, where sacred stones or magical crystals are inserted in their bodies by initiating spirits. The Sioux holy man, Fools Crow, spoke of a time when the Great Spirit had implanted seven stones in his body to make him a medicine man. (The stones suddenly apppeared in his body while he was on a sacred quest.) Says his biographer Thomas Mails:

"One stone was in his back, just below the left shoulder blade, and the rest were just under the skin of his left arm and hand. On one occassion he made me feel the stones and move them around to show me how easily it could be done. It was uncanny, since they could be moved an inch or more in any direction... The stones ranged in size from one-eighth of an inch to one-quarter of an inch. They were round, smooth, and hard as any rock is.

"He told me how the stones knew when a bad incident was about to take place. They began to move rapidly around. Then he would pray that people's hearts would change and the bad would go away so that good could replace it. Also, when he prayed each day the stones sometimes gave him messages from Wakan-Tanka and the other powers."

Kundalini can be terrifying to those whose religious training condemns as evil all psychic and paranormal manifestation. When confronted with evidence that flies in the face of whatever we have believed to be true, we have two choices: (1) to reject the testimony of our mind and senses; or (2) to re-evaluate our prior beliefs and learn what we can through honest examination of our own direct experience. The second choice gives us permission, perhaps for the first time in our lives, to trust in ourselves.

Staying Centered

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Meeting A Holy Man

" A festive mood prevailed along the river bank as pilgrims chanted mantras, sang devotional hymns like Hare Hare Ganga (Long Live the Ganges River), lit oil lamps, released flowers into the water or sat shaving their heads bald before their ceremonial dip.

Besides the river’s holy and mystical attributes, the other attraction at this auspicious festival is the opportunity to seek blessings from the thousands of monks, spiritual gurus, living saints and masters that attend.

The Naga Babas, better known as Naga sadhu (naked holy men), are especially sought after as this is the only time they emerge from their remote dwelling places around India. Naga sadhus renounce all earthly pleasures in their attempt to attain spiritual enlightenment. While these hermits usually shun all contact with the outside world, at this festival, they are quite hospitable.

I met one such naked philosopher sitting in one of the 50,000 tents lining the riverbank and came away with great admiration for his simple life. It might be devoid of comforts and sensual pleasures but that meant it was also free of materialism and all the negativity that entails.

His nakedness was the extreme expression of the idea of having no possessions. Sometimes, he seemed to fall into rather provocative poses but the point of his nudity had nothing to do with eroticism; rather, it showed that he was beyond sexuality.

The moment he made an eye contact with me, he invited me to sit beside him before a small fire over which he was boiling some tea with milk and, in the process offering darshan (blessing) to devotees coming to him. For devotees, receiving the darshan is a way of tapping into the divine energy of such spiritual leaders.

Women, who are forbidden to look at the holy men directly, joined the line with their heads bowed down and sought his blessing by touching his feet. Women who are experiencing bad karma, however, are allowed to take a brief glance at the sadhus as it is said that holy men can partially take on an individual’s karma. This is because sadhus are regarded as representatives of the gods and are highly respected."

The Star Online