WHAT IS KUNDALINI?Re-printed with permission from the Kundalini Guide web site. Kundalini is a Sanscrit term from ancient India that identifies the arising of an energy and consciousness which has been coiled at the base of the spine since birth, and is the source of the life force (pranic energy, chi , bio-energy) that everybody knows. Yogic science suggests that this energy triggered the formation of the child in the womb, and then coils 3 ½ times at the base of the spine to hold the energy field in stasis until we die, when it uncoils and returns to its source. Kundalini may unravel and arise from the base of the spine (or sometimes from the feet) due to spiritual practices, or in response to life events, and when this happens it may move gradually, uncoiling like a snake, or quickly and explosively, into the gut, the heart or the head. This event can be startling and chaotic, frightening or blissful, and it usually triggers months and years of new sensations and changes in the person who awakens it. It may feel like the body’s wiring has moved from 110 to 220, and it takes time to adapt to it. It is understood in the eastern tradition to be a significant adjunct to spiritual realization, but it is rarely recognized as such in western traditions, although Christian mystics have often been said to have intense energetic or physical problems. It is possible to find acknowledgement of this spiritual movement in many yogic and tantric traditions, Tantric Buddhism, Taoism, gnostic mystical tradition and some Native American teachings, and indigenous societies. An image of a rising snake in the body signifies its existence in the esoteric art of many cultures. The capacity to intensify and raise energy in the body has been explored for thousands of years. It is a natural human potential. Kundalini awakening can trigger a wide range of phenomena, both positive and negative. It can cause significant changes in the physical, emotional, sensate and psychic capacities, cause stress in vulnerable areas of the body, open the heart and mind to major shifts in perspective, and cause many unique and unfamiliar sensations including shaking, vibrating, spontaneous movement, visions, and many other phenomena. Kundalini awakening offers a profound opportunity for those called to follow a spiritual path. It gradually releases many patterns, conditions and delusions of the separate self. It can be threatening to the ego-structure because a person may feel a loss of interest in their old life and identity, and consciousness may go into unfamiliar expansive or empty states that are disorienting. It also makes people who are unfamiliar with it afraid they are ill or losing their minds. So understanding is important. Like any energy of creation (prana, electricity, atoms) this energy can be activated and misused by those who are not spiritually motivated or have not completed this process and are therefore not free of personal patterns. It is very helpful to understand the process and the intention of your own life force as it awakens you so that you may discover wisdom, love and authentic direction in your own life. Simplicity, contentment, unconditional acceptance and presence are hallmarks of an awakened life. Bonnie Greenwell Ph.D. is the author of "When Spirit Leaps: Navigating the Process of Spiritual Awakening", "The Kundalini Guide" and "The Awakening Guide" and has been consulting with people in a kundalini or awakening process for over 35 years. THE BIOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS:Case Studies in Kundalini by JJ Semple (from the book description) Kundalini is a biological actuality, a primordial energy in every human being, capable of modifying DNA in a single lifetime. Nevertheless, many people are confused by its real nature, so we must define it accurately, starting with what it is not. It is neither a supernatural cult, nor a religion, nor a sect. You can’t be "converted" to Kundalini any more than you can be converted to a heart attack or an orgasm, or any other biological phenomenon. Kundalini occurrences aren’t limited by social, political, or religious constraints; Kundalini is trans-national, trans-cultural, and, most important trans-denominational. Anyone can activate it.
The Biology of Consciousness: Case Studies in Kundalini examines the notion that consciousness exists outside the body and actually drives evolution by what Gopi Krishna called “the evolutionary impulse.” Human biology is an expression of consciousness and the kundalini energy in our bodies, when awakened, is responsible for significant evolutionary leaps. The nine case studies in the book document the different ways Kundalini is awakened and include: sexual ecstasy, meditation, drugs, emotional crises, eye-gazing, and Shaktipat, supporting the hypothesis that consciousness exists outside the body and is not extinguished at the time of death. Normally, human growth proceeds in a linear pattern. However, disease, environmental factors, biochemical changes can create genetic mutations, ultimately modifying DNA. Depending on the type of stimulus, these mutations are either beneficial, harmful, or neutral. Kundalini awakenings bring about major beneficial mutations — evolutionary leaps — in their subjects which get passed along in DNA code to the next generation. The Kirkus Review of Books says: “The author fleshes out the book with a dramatic section devoted to case studies of different types of Kundalini encounters, showing the different ways that practitioners ‘awaken’ energies inside themselves, as well as how Kundalini helps people tackle personal challenges. These studies give the work an instantly relatable, human dimension that's often missing from books of this kind and underscores Semple's approachable, ordinary-guy tone throughout.” The book also examines the arguments for and against God, making clear that there is very little evidence to support either side, but there is a large body of evidence that supports the notion of an energy continuum. The nouveau atheists (Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris) cross swords with the proponents of intelligent design (William Dembski, Michael Behe, Jonathan Wells) over God vs. No God. The argument between atheism (No God) and intelligent design (God) is the wrong argument. Each represents a reductionist extreme too far out of range to prove or disprove. However, there is a pragmatic middle ground related to this subject that’s easily summed up by the following language: There is proof that a metaphysical dimension, or energy continuum, exists, and that an all-encompassing consciousness, not an anthropomorphic figure, residing somewhere above our heads, is responsible for all cosmology. If not easily proven, at least, Kundalini has a respectable amount of anecdotal evidence to support its validity. There is neither anecdotal nor scientific evidence to support the claims of the other two arguments. And that’s where the book’s case studies come in — as evidence-based accounts of how super-consciousness is triggered and how it affects the individuals it settles on. All of which indicates that we are intertwined in so many ways, in spite of the self-imposed barriers we erect to separate us from each other and from the super-consciousness that permeates all of existence.
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