Whether or not you’ve ever heard of or have a basic understanding of kundalini, some fundamental questions will inevitably still arise: what exactly IS kundalini, why do we posses it, what does it mean to ‘awaken’ it, and why would we want to? In this article I will endeavor to answer those questions and make some sort of sense out of a vast and somewhat obscure topic… but one that is very slowly becoming more familiar here in the West. The ancient teachings on this esoteric piece of the human mechanism seem to be slowly creeping their way into the mainstream. Simultaneously, the world at large seems to be in an ever-deepening degenerative state, and there are many who would say this is no coincidence. Kundalini has always been regarded as the ultimate means for personal evolution, but increasingly, it is also being recognized as the final element of human evolution on a global scale… and there can be no doubt that mankind is presently in desperate need of something to help us rise above and transcend the current, destructive state of humanity.
UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU’RE MADE OF
According to certain aspects of Yogic philosophy and it’s parent philosophy Vedanta, there are two fundamental elements that comprise the universe – Energy and Consciousness. All of creation, all matter is, at its most fundamental level, comprised of energy… including you. And what constitutes “you” includes both your physical being and the entire field of your mind. You see, even though the mind and our thoughts are not tangible like other physical manifestations of energy such as your body, they are created by an energetic impulse nonetheless, and are therefore considered to be part of the realm that constitutes matter. In this discussion, the terms ’matter’ and ‘energy’ can be used interchangeably.
If matter, or manifest energy, constitutes all of creation, then the element which illuminates and brings light to that creation is our consciousness. In fact, according to Vedanta, consciousness is the over-riding, ever-present, all-pervasive element of the Universe. Without consciousness, matter has no context. If we are not aware, not conscious of our physical being or that we think our thoughts, then there is no framework whatsoever for us to move through or understand our world. In fact, one of the main tenets of this philosophy suggests that without consciousness, matter does not even exist. This line of understanding follows the age-old philosophical conundrum “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Vedanta would say no. It is only through our awareness of something that it becomes part of our conscious reality. As an aside, in the same way we can use ‘matter’ and ‘energy’ interchangeably in this discussion, the terms ‘consciousness’ and ‘awareness’ can be interchanged as well.
All matter is, on some level, in a constant state of flux. Matter is energy, energy is vibration and vibration is movement… and due to the moving nature of vibration, it is always temporary. The exact vibration of this moment is gone the next… whether it is the vibration of a thought that comes and goes or the vibration your individual cells are creating to do their work. As we move through life we ourselves are in an ever-changing state, and the vibration of one moment is so quickly replaced by the next that we notice neither lapse nor change-over. So while some manifestations are clearly temporary, such as our cells which are constantly dying and regenerating, others are harder to discern. The vibration that creates the matter of a rock is so low and dense that it feels quite permanent, yet if our perception could go deep enough or long enough we would see that it too, is ultimately temporary. Eventually, given enough time and elemental resistance, even a rock will begin to wear away. The vibratory nature of matter is always temporary, as energy is always in a constant state of morphing from one form to another. So our perception of stillness is simply relative to our perception of time.
Consciousness, on the other hand, is always only conscious. That is its nature. It is the unwavering, non-fluctuating presence of the universe, and it is the unifying force of all existence precisely because it never wavers. Awareness is always aware and it is always there, waiting for us to become conscious of it. Simultaneously, our actual awareness of being aware constantly drifts in and out (primarily out) making consciousness seem temporary. But consciousness itself is never anything except conscious, and that never, ever fluctuates. It is we, due to the nature of our distracted minds, that fail to recognize the ever-present, unwavering nature of our consciousness.
And so the foundation of Vedantic philosophy (and to a major degree, Yogic philosophy) is not only that consciousness gives rise to the experience of matter, but that matter and consciousness are inextricably intertwined as part of our current experience of what it is to be human. Intertwined, that is, until such a point when we begin to recognize that matter is, in fact, very separate from the consciousness which perceives it. This is an important point, and one that philosophers have continued to ponder and dissect throughout the ages. Kundalini, once she begins to awaken inside our being, begins to show us the distinction between the world we perceive and the consciousness which perceives it.
If you can grasp this on an intellectual level, you can begin to understand how what we experience as our ‘self’, including both our physical being and our mind, is only part of the equation… and the lesser part, at that. You could say our experience of life is the ‘effect’, where consciousness itself is the ‘cause.’ It is the awareness of the experience that creates the experience. After all, what would be the point of all the body and mind can can execute without any awareness of it?
Broadly speaking, humanity currently resides in a limited state of awareness. Most of the world moves through life on a sort of conditioned auto-pilot, with the subconscious mind, full of things embedded there long ago which we have no awareness of (and subsequently no control over) dictate the majority of our lives. It is only by becoming aware of awareness itself, which will begin to illuminate all those previously unperceived layers of the subconscious, that we enable ourselves to transcend the limiting state of human consciousness we currently find ourselves in. Kundalini is the vehicle that will take us on this transcendent ride, and it is this transcendence which is the next stage of our human evolution… but we’ll touch more on that later.
Meanwhile, to some, this entire line of thought may seen far-fetched and enigmatic, and yet in the last century or so, science – specifically quantum physics – has found evidence that the universe operates on exactly this model. At the quantum level, science has proven that it’s our mere attention to a particle that directly affects how the particle behaves. In other words, our focused awareness of something will alter its behavior. The principle is so counter-intuitive to what we think we know of the world and how it operates on a fundamental level, that Einstein, when postulating this discovery, called it “spooky action at a distance.” So not only does our consciousness ‘create’ our physical world simply by virtue of making us aware of it, science now knows that consciousness actually affects it. And so now, it is the job of humankind to take this reality out of the laboratory, away from the fringes of progressive thought, and to bring it into the real world, smack dab into our day to day lives. Luckily, we’ve been given the means to do just that.
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS KUNDALINI AND HOW DOES IT FIT INTO ALL THIS?
Most often, kundalini is thought of as energy, since it is her energetic catalyst which initiates her transformative nature. She is the life-force energy of the universe… that energetic spark which creates the difference between what is alive and what is inanimate, and as such, she the life-force energy inside you. This universal energy created you, and it continues to sustain you, even without being awakened to its full potential. Her dormant presence in your body is enough to bring you life. Concurrently, kundalini is also part of your conscious nature. She is the direct link, the binding factor, the bridge between the matter of your mind/body and all the realms of your consciousness. Through our experiential understanding of life, we perceive our physical and mental activity to be part of our conscious nature and vice versa, but kundalini helps us understand the subtle yet important independence between the two. Paradoxically, it is only through our physical being that kundalini can eventually help us begin to dis-identify with our physical being – our body, it’s five senses and all it experiences and sees – and helps us start to identify as the seer itself.
Kundalini’s ultimate purpose is to fully awaken all the layers of your individual consciousness: your normal, waking, conscious state, your vast subconscious storehouse, and the enormity of all your unconscious realms. Incidentally, the subconscious and unconscious states are often seen as the same, but there are differences. For example, when you are driving to the grocery, your ability to autopilot comes from an abundance of input you once received and learned that is now housed in the subconscious mind, so you don’t need to actively think about the countless mental intricacies of operating a vehicle or specifically which turns to make in order to get you there. By contrast, when you are asleep, you are not at all aware, and yet your conscious mind hasn’t gone anywhere, you’ve just moved into an unconscious state, a state you’re unaware of when in it. Still, the terms often can be used interchangeably to denote anything we are NOT conscious of in our normal, waking state.
In working on your states of consciousness, kundalini awakens you to the inherent connection of your ‘individual’ consciousness to the greater collective consciousness… that over-riding, all-pervasive element of the Universe. The consciousness you see as ‘yours’, that gives rise to all you perceive as a human is not, in fact, individual at all, but simply an extension of the greater Universal intelligence that connects all things. There is only one consciousness, and the consciousness you perceive as yours is but an extension of that. Kundalini was built into our human mechanism for the exact purpose of leading us to this realization. That is her nature and her purpose.
This is why we call kundalini an “intelligent energy”. Inside you, she has specific work that is relevant only to you and your evolution as a happy, healthy, conscious and sacred being, and yet she is part of the greater intelligence that creates the natural order of the universe, of which you are also a part of. In the natural world, everything exists and functions from that higher intelligence. In the animal kingdom this is referred to as instinct, and in humans we can tune into this through our intuition. Every plant, every animal, every eco-system has a specific function, each part reliant upon the other, all parts working together in harmony. Nothing is superfluous and nothing is wasted. There is an intelligent order at work from the micro to the macro, even when it appears chaotic and haphazard to the undiscerning eye. The world which humans have created is frequently out of alignment with this intrinsic harmony, as humans have moved quite far away from their part in the natural order of things. But if kundalini were allowed to do her job in every human on the planet, it is safe to say we would be experiencing a very different world. As humans, we have a consciousness that no other living thing on the planet possesses; kundalini is the gift we’ve been given as a human.
SO HOW DOES IT WORK?
The purpose of kundalini is to make the entire realm of the unconscious mind conscious, and in doing so, bring us closer to living the most authentic, truthful, connected, joyous life possible. Renowned psychoanalyst Carl G. Jung dedicated much of his life’s work to this end, and is famously quoted as saying, “Until you make the unconscious conscious it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” By bringing that which we are unaware of into our conscious mind, its like an overhaul and upgrade to our entire system. Through heightened awareness, we actively start to rewire and ‘uninstall’ all the old, out-dated, ill-served programming embedded in the subconscious mind that is currently dictating our thoughts, behaviors and tendencies… things we unconsciously learned well before we had any understanding or choice in the matter.
So the esoteric term “higher states of consciousness” refers to just this… our unconscious becoming conscious. Like the skin of an onion, there are layers upon layers of mind which we are not aware of. But layer by layer, kundalini’s energy brings consciousness to all those unconscious habit and thought patterns, bringing each new layer out of the darkness and into the light. And this illumination is the foundation of our mental health, spiritual growth, and ultimate transformation.
Modern science understands that what goes on in the mind has a direct effect on both the physical body and our mental health. Now imagine all the millions of things you hold in your subconscious mind… every single thing you have ever seen, heard, touched, thought, experienced, inherited etc. All of this input is stored somewhere in the subconscious space of your mind, and if your conscious mind has a direct effect on your physical body and mental state, imagine the effect the unfathomably vast subconscious mind is exerting.
Thanks to an important filtering process in the mind and it’s corresponding mechanisms in the brain, we remain unaware of most of the million bits of data that hit all five of our senses on a non-stop basis… otherwise we would be completely overwhelmed with information all the time. Unfortunately, that filtering process isn’t very discerning, and we often miss valuable insights as they get pushed into the subconscious of our mind along with everything else coming in, and this is what creates our ‘normal’ yet limited state of consciousness.
Much of what is stored subconsciously is useful and we draw upon it as needed… like the example of driving the car to the grocery… but vast amounts of this storage is simply old data that is no longer relevant or helpful to our lives… like experiences from our childhood… and yet it is still exerting an effect. That effect manifests not only in our thought and behavior patterns, but in our physical system as well. For instance, Western medicine now knows that stress undeniably causes illness, and can even show us a complicated chain of events in the brain and nervous system that will produce a physical response to mental activity or particular states of being… however there is still a serious lack of scientific evidence to help us understand the complicated effects the subconscious realm creates for us. Research continues, but it’s no secret that when there can be no medical evidence found to substantiate a physical ailment or illness, the issue is generally referred to a psychiatrist… and experts in that field will readily admit that we still know very little about the intricate workings of the mind and our states consciousness.
In the Yogic sciences, however, these mysteries have been long-understood, and it is the subtle energy body that is the interface between the mind and the physical being. It is also through the subtle energy body that Kundalini eventually carries out her work. Although Western medicine has yet to fully acknowledge the energy system since it cannot be seen or touched, the subtle energy body has been recognized and understood as an integral part of our system by many cultures throughout history. Most of the yogic teachings and practices deal with and work directly on this layer of the human system, and in our culture one of the most recognized aspects of working with the subtle energy body is through acupuncture, which works directly upon this energy system for treatment. In the yogic realm, we know that the subtle body acts as a “two-way street” of energy, moving the energetic impulses of the mind into the body and from the body into the mind. Hence, the mind-body “connection”.
This energy system is like a ‘super-highway’ which carries a very complex flow of information. When moving from the external inward, it is the five senses, which are part of the physical system, that are the gatherers of all our incoming data. Once that data comes in through the senses, it passes through the subtle energy body and then gets deposited somewhere in either the conscious or subconscious parts of the mind. “Traffic” also flows in the opposite direction, where thoughts originating in the mind pass through the subtle body and have an effect somewhere in the physical layer.
This is greatly simplified, of course, but it’s important for us to understand, that in the same way we are unaware of all the information coming in through the senses and being stored in the subconscious mind, we are also unaware that there is a correlating, reactionary process that happens in the subtle body itself. The subtle body, which is the vast network of energetic pathways in the human system, delivers the energetic activity of the mind (both conscious and unconscious) throughout the human system where it then leaves an ‘imprint’ somewhere in the subtle body network. You could think of it like a truck carrying a load of debris along a bumpy road. As it travels, rubble falls out and lands somewhere along the road where it remains, potentially forever, or at least until something comes along and cleans it up. These energetic imprints of the mind onto the subtle energy body are referred to as ‘samskaras.’ So while these samskaras greatly affect our mind-space, they also have an integral part in forming our physical being since the ‘matter’ that comprises our body is connected to the ‘matter’ that comprises the mind via the subtle energy body.
Each and every experience in our life creates a samskara. Depending upon the action or experience, some of those reactionary imprints on the subtle energy body resolve themselves and dissipate quickly, like a line drawn in the sand that is washed away by the tide. Other samskaras run incredibly deep, set like a carving in stone. These deeply carved imprints show up as blockages in the subtle energy body and in the correlating mind-space, and have a profound effect on molding our personality traits, our tendencies, habits, compulsions and how we generally perceive and respond to the world around us as well as affecting our physical abilities, ailments, etc. If you’ve ever wondered at your personality, why you are the way you are, or why, for instance, siblings brought up in the same home often posses vastly different personalities and perspectives, well, science will tell us it’s genetics, but yoga goes beyond that and tells us it’s due to these specific energetic holdings, these samskaras, in your subtle body. That energetic information has created both your physical being and your mental make up. It continues to morph throughout your life based on your actions, but it’s also important to know you brought the blueprint in with you when you were born.
You see, the larger, deeper energetic imprints, called ‘karmas’, are not only ones we have generated in this lifetime, but often, are ones we have brought with us from previous lifetimes. Reincarnation is obviously a huge topic of it’s own accord, but to simplify, the concept is based on the premise that your physical being is an energy body above all else, and like all manifestations of matter, energy never actually dies, but merely changes form. The densest layer, your outer, physical manifestation, will change from one life to the next, but your energy body, a more subtle layer and an aspect of your “true self” or your soul, will continue on, picking up next time where it left off this time. So the condition of your subtle body and all it’s existing samskaras upon exiting this life, is the foundation for how it enters the next one. You will get a new “home”, a new physical existence in which you will reside (and again, the specific nature of this new “home” or physical body is also based on your samskaras and karmas) and thus will begin another cycle or process, which Buddhism refers to as samsara… the seemingly endless cycle of of the soul. However, both Buddhism and Yoga prescribe their own philosophy and methodology for breaking the cycle of samsara, and this is why spiritual seekers endeavor to clear their samskaras and karmas through their practices. That clearing is the foundation the soul needs in order to evolve.
Using the subtle body interface, it is kundalini’s movement through the energy system, once she awakens, that we begin to clear these long held blockages of samskaras. On a physical level, the clearing of the subtle body affects the brain and central nervous system which enables the rewiring I spoke of earlier, and simultaneously, on a psychological level, she clears the correlating blockages in the mind, which is where our compulsions, tendencies, behavior patters etc originate. Her movement is methodical and intelligent and that intelligence is divine in nature. Your specific energy system requires specific healing, and she always knows what to do to facilitate the process… a process which is not of the logical mind, and yet makes perfect sense.
The physical body, the energetic body and the mind field are three of the five ‘bodies’ or layers of a human, which yoga refers to as the ‘koshas.’ The remaining two layers are the higher intelligence or intuitive body, which is the last layer between your physical manifestation and pure consciousness, and finally the bliss body, which is a state of existence where we no longer identify with any of our human attributes, and as the name would suggest, is an incredibly beautiful state. The Yogi’s call this Samadhi and the Buddhists call it Nirvana. Connecting to this last layer is the final stage of kundalini’s work, but it is through the first four layers that she executes this work. Kosha translates to ’sheath’ and in the yogic philosophy, these sheaths, which move from the outermost layer of the human structure to the innermost layer, getting more and more subtle as they go, are the covering of our true self, our highest self, our connection to, and identification with the all-pervasive consciousness, which is a state that is blissful by nature. In this ultimate human state, our divinity is expressed beyond all physical manifestation. But we will never reach this point while we remain largely unconscious. It is only through consciousness that we’re able to open that door and move toward our fullest potential.
To be objective, there are other methods to move us toward higher states of consciousness, such as the aforementioned psychotherapy, which works toward accessing the subconscious through the conscious mind; meditation, which bypasses the active, conscious mind by observing it’s nature and recognizing the awareness that lies beyond it; the entire realm of yoga, which through its abundant and varied practices (of which meditation is a primary part) works directly on the subtle energy body itself; psychedelics and plant medicines, which chemically stimulate the brain to help the mind mimic certain altered states of consciousness, opening up our realm of experiential understanding. Many people, in searching for ways to grow and heal old wounds (which translates to clearing deep samskaras and karmas) find some of these other methods to be useful in some way, and the yogic sciences outline an entire process to that end, if one is willing to put in the unrelenting, dedicated effort, since awakening kundalini is actually the ultimate purpose of yoga. Still, for many of us, regardless of the methodology applied, we simply cannot break through to the deepest levels of the unconscious mind. Our layers of conditioning and subsequent perception of the world and our place in it, are just too deep. And this is precisely why such a powerhouse of organic energy is provided in the human mechanism. It is needed for the process to find completion.
WHY PURSUE THIS IF I’M CONTENT WHERE I AM?
Some of us are quite content right where we are, and it could be fair to say that as humans, we can adequately exist with the basic, minimal flow of kundalini that is naturally coursing through our system. This energy flow of the subtle body is most often simply referred to as prana or qi (chi), both of which translate to “energy.” But there is an enormous well of this energy that lies untapped inside every human, and it is there for a reason. It is there to enable us to expand into something more.
Kundalini is a vast ocean of vibration that is wanting and waiting to be awakened. It is the awakening of this dormant reservoir, this massive energy waiting to manifest itself, which will enable us to take the next big evolutionary leap. A leap that will take us from the limited state of human existence due to our limited state of consciousness as we’ve been conditioned to accept it, to a higher state of existence that we are meant to live in – a state that gives us a clear understanding and awareness that we are an intrinsic and valuable part of a greater whole. This concept, while lofty and admirable if not completely necessary for human survival, is also somewhat inaccessible for many of us since in general, we have a hard time seeing the bigger picture. So it needs to be made clear that aside from the good of all mankind, an awakened kundalini is the direct means which enables us to live our highest purpose individually through the course of daily life, and to do so happily and joyfully.
The problem is, in our modern culture, particularly in the West, we have been conditioned to see and believe in separation, also known as duality. I am different than you. My skin is different. My beliefs are different. My desires are different. My mind is different. And even when we are able to find commonalities, ultimately we still see ourselves as separate beings, because it is easy to see where my physical existence ends and yours begins. I am me, and you are you, and whatever similarities we have, we remain separate entities. This is because we identify, unwaveringly, with the physical world and our specific, individual physical manifestation in it. We have yet to learn (because we’ve never been taught) that while we do, in fact, inhabit individual physical manifestations, our true identity lies in the consciousness that perceives that manifestation… and that consciousness is one unified entity. In that state of understanding, we start to comprehend that there can exist a million different states of physical manifestation, but behind all of it, we are united through consciousness. We are connected and we are one. What I do to you, I also do to me. With this understanding, it is not difficult to then make the intellectual jump toward how different our world would be if all humans operated from this perspective.
One of the primary responses to our dualistic conditioning is to see and label everything different as ‘good or bad’ ‘better or worse’ ‘right or wrong’ etc. Most often these responses come from those deep layers of the subconscious mind, planted there long before we had any inkling of what these concepts meant, so that we don’t even recognize how quickly and automatically we categorize virtually everything. To be fair, this unconscious categorization also has an extremely helpful function, which is why we possess the ability at all. Without much thought process, we learn that fire is “good” when we want to cook with it, but “bad” if we try to put our hand in it. This categorization produced by the mind has a benefit primarily when we are aware of it and can choose with discernment, but left primarily unrecognized and untended, it has created and will continue to create an incredibly deep crevice of separation throughout humanity. One barely has to glance at the predicament of the world to see the abundant evidence of duality’s detriment.
Let’s now go back to the science of quantum mechanics. The term ‘quantum entanglement’ comes from science showing us that particles which are connected, or entangled, have an immediate effect on one another, even if they are separated by vast distances. So while I couldn’t begin to articulate this in scientific terms, what is clear is that current research is beginning to see the convergence of modern science with an age-old, spiritually-based science. As long as humans have walked the earth they have been trying to understand the meaning of their existence through philosophy, spirituality and a science based on very different methodology… one of experiential knowledge. Much later, in relatively recent history, science has altered and expounded in new directions, and has begun to slowly piece things together from another angle. And now, modern science is finally catching up to and finding a basis for many of these ancient teachings. In modern times we have always viewed these things – science, philosophy and spirituality – as potential yet different and individual explanations of the universe… and this has caused much separation in humanity. But I think it’s becoming clear that part of our human evolution involves the understanding that science, philosophy and spirituality are simply different viewpoints of the exact same picture.
The world we live in is in a crisis due to separation. This illusion of duality… that we are separate from the earth which we are actively destroying, separate from the animals, living creatures who suffer for our consumption, separate from other humans we deem better/worse/different than ourselves – these perceived dualities have had nothing but harmful effects on humanity and the planet that houses us. We have been conditioned to see only the differences in the vast variety of physical manifestation and we have given absolutely no consideration to the undeniable, unbreakable thread of consciousness that connects all life. This fact, that there are many life-forms and manifestations of matter, but only one consciousness, is the basis for the theory of non-duality. We appear to be separate, but every action, physical or mental, has an effect somewhere on the whole because we are intrinsically connected through our consciousness. Yes, this may be difficult to grasp, or perhaps it’s easy to grasp on a theoretical level, but our perception of the world has been so deeply engrained from birth, that taking it beyond theory is extremely difficult, if not impossible. But it is the job of kundalini to bring the illusion of duality out of the theoretical realm and into the realm of experiential understanding… and this can only be done consciously.
Humanity is at an evolutionary stage where there is no more unconscious growth as sentient beings. If we remain in our current state of unevolved consciousness, the same endless, mindless circle of life will go on. But how much longer can we sustain that? Not long. Duality is destructive by nature, whether it is our intention or not. We are therefore entering an age, a critical era, where more and more humans are beginning to sense this predicament as they move through their day to day lives. The routine, the status quo, the striving for accomplishments and things that, once procured, leave us no happier than where we started, is beginning to become apparent. People are beginning to experience the undeniable fact that true, lasting joy and contentment cannot come from external situations, because all external experience is fluctuating, fleeting and ultimately rooted in duality. And so, there is a point for people who have reached some sort of internal discontentment, where the desire for something greater, something beyond what we take for granted or that we’ve always seen as empirical, begins to grow.
This is the beginning of what is referred to as “spiritual awakening” and it is why ALL the countless paths toward awakening eventually bring us face to face with kundalini. Throughout history, she has been depicted in one way or another in every ancient culture, scripture and art form, and has been called many different names – the Holy Spirit, Divine Mother, Shakti, Quetzalcoatl, Ka, the list goes on. Every single existential teaching known to mankind has reference to kundalini, either directly or metaphorically, and ultimately directs you toward awakening this force, because she is not just ‘another path’. Kundalini is THE path.
From this awakening, we can only transcend consciously. To evolve in this way, to awaken fully, we need the necessary energy for that to unfold. Of our own accord, we have a very limited capacity to break through our current state of consciousness. So even if we have the intellectual understanding and the desire to move forward, the conditioning, the illusion of separation, the stories we have taken as truth are generally just engraved too deeply. So the creator, however you like to context that, has provided us with an infinite volume of untapped force, that if directed properly can be used to break free from our current state of human experience and our current dimension of consciousness. Kundalini is the path to deep and true joy, but if we continue to try and seek our joy and happiness through the external, manifest world, we will never truly connect to it. All the answers and all the potential lies within us but remains untapped, waiting for us to begin seeking it out. Kundalini IS that potential. It is the evolution we desperately need as a species, but it is also the evolution you ache for somewhere deep inside your own heart.
OK, SO NOW WHAT?
So maybe all of this sounds a little fantastical and you wonder what all the fuss is really about. If life is primarily good, that is excellent. You’re time for awakening is not here yet, or rather, life is still preparing you, and all of this information is but a sprinkling of seeds being planted for future growth. Generally speaking, most people only move toward spiritual discovery for one of two reasons: They are deeply unhappy and thus seek to find happiness and a real meaning to their lives, or they have been primarily content and successful in life, but have found a kind of boredom and dissatisfaction with all that the external world has brought them, highlighting the feeling that there must be something more to life.
For many of us, to some degree or another, the active desire to heal… to free ourselves from these deeply embedded issues we all have… is something that consumes space somewhere in our thoughts and our daily lives. So whether you are simply open to growth or are actively seeking it, the realm of kundalini awakening can still feel like a rather large leap from the way we currently move through our day to day lives to where we’d ultimately like to be.
Historically, people had their kundalini awakened in one of three ways: First and generally the most common, is by the repetition of some sort of intense practice directed toward that goal. Specific teachings in yoga are aimed toward this end (and one could argue that all the yogic practices are ultimately aimed toward that end,) although there are countless means people across different cultures have used for time immemorial. These modalities are categorized as the “self-willed practices” geared toward awakening one’s own kundalini.
Second, some sort of “karmic event”… an enormous, life-altering event such as a near-death experience, physical trauma, or a severe illness can all bring on an awakening. Sometimes a “spontaneous” awakening occurs that seems to have no apparent impetus behind it. In this case, the person, despite having little or no knowledge of spirituality, kundalini or it’s process, was simply at a point in their soul evolution where they were “ready” based on their karma.
Lastly, kundalini can be awakened by the grace of another human… the transmission of energy given by a guru, an enlightened master or another person who’s energy is strong enough to transfer the initiation of awakening. Traditionally, this was one of the most difficult means, as the teachings of kundalini were kept purposefully esoteric and secret, given to another only when the guru or teacher deemed the student ‘worthy’ or ready for it’s power.
What’s interesting, is that today, in our modern culture, more people are experiencing this awakening than ever before, and transmissions such as KAP (Kundalini Activation Process) while still considered unusual against broader standards, are finding their way into the mainstream at an ever-increasing rate. Speculation leads myself and others who do this sort of work to understand that more of us have access to this today because collectively, we are in a place of large-scale evolution. We’re currently in what’s been referenced by the popular song from the 60s as the “dawning of The Age of Aquarius.” This collective shift in consciousness, this large-scale awakening, which is the inevitable evolution relative to the greater cycles of civilization and time as dictated by the cycles of our planet and solar system as it moves through the galaxy (note the connection to the ‘natural order of the universe’ and our place in it, as previously discussed) has been clearly noted and predicted throughout history. Great cultures such as the Mayans and the Egyptians and of course the Yogi’s, have always understood the inevitability of this evolution.
There is no question that the world we live in needs this healing. But we cannot heal all that ails this world until we go inward and heal ourselves first. KAP is a bridge to help us cross this divide. It helps bring our understanding of consciousness out of the theoretical realm and into the realm of experiential understanding, which is really the only understanding that matters. Theory is a beautiful tool, but when you actually experience something, it then becomes your truth.
I will not go into great detail here on how exactly KAP works, as I have provided an abundance of information on my KAP webpage but would like to add that what I have just described is an enormous process, and the beauty of KAP is that it works incrementally. Doing an internet search on “kundalini awakening” will pull up mountains of information, and much of it can feel sensationalized or downright scary. And the truth of the matter is, kundalini IS a powerful force, which is why it was historically kept in the shadows until the ‘seeker’ was deemed ready by the teacher. But it’s important to understand that while KAP awakens this life-force, it does so in such a way that her inherent intelligence gives you only what you need and what you are ready for at that moment in time. No more, no less. The KAP transmission is both effective and safe.
To be clear, however, this is not to say that the processes will always be a bed of roses. By the laws of nature, change and growth do not happen without some sort of destruction first. Something old must give way to make room for something new, and that fact is evident across all aspects of life. But just as the seed cannot hang on to it’s casing as it begins to sprout into a tree, we cannot hang onto our old ways and beliefs if we are to evolve. Even when we are unhappy, there is a comfort in the familiarity of that state of existence, thus making change inherently difficult even when we actively seek it. Yet to move forward, we must let go of the old and embrace the unknown… there is no other way. Regardless, I would venture to say that the mere fact you are reading on this topic right now is a sign that somewhere inside you evolution is happening, and you are seeking assistance in some way, whether you are conscious of it or not.
I hope in providing this essay that I have answered some questions for you, but I have an even greater hope that I have created more questions. This universe and its workings are vast beyond comprehension, and once we open the door of questioning, the answers inevitably only bring more questions, and yet ultimately, this is one of the most beautiful places to be. When we think we understand things fully, when we establish a concrete belief, we inherently create a boundary or a box around our thinking which limits our expansion and evolution. It is only through our continued, persistent desire to grow, learn and understand our true nature, to question everything we think we know about ourselves and the world we live in, that we can heal… heal ourselves, the earth and the world we live in… and lead a happy, joyful life the way we were meant to. That joy is our human birthright and the time to access it is NOW.
With deep love and gratitude,
Namatse
