Kundalini Yoga -Introduction and some perspectives

8/7/2019 Kundalini Yoga -Introduction and some perspectives

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Kundalini Yoga--an Introduction and a

Perspective

Dr Srinivasan Nenmeli-K

A topic frequently asked of me is: "Kundalini Yoga".

The FAQ's on this topic are:

-- What is Kundalini? Is it real? Is there a coiled

serpent storing lot of energy at the base of my spine?

--- If so, why it remains coiled or latent?

---- Can it be awakened easily?

----- Will this awakening produce healthy body,vigorous

mind, reduce aging and give longevity?

------Will the awakening lead to Pure Joy or Bliss in yoga

style? or super-consciousness or Self-Realization or Nirvana

Buddhist style or Moksha/liberation sought by Hindus?

----How is this related to various chakras and chakra healing?

---- How K Yoga is related to tantric practices,including

sexual stimulations preached by some yogis/gurus ?


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-----How is this related to traditional yoga of Patanjali

[Ashtanga Yoga]?

----Why is this K-Yoga special ,unlike Bhakti yoga, Raja yoga

or Jnana Yoga? Why is it esoteric?

----Why the secrecy surrounding this path?

---Why some rishiis and many gurus preach against this path or

dissuade one in pursuing this path? This is so in India and in

the west? Why is this labeled as a dangerous path by many

saints?

----Is K Yoga bad for health, reducing one's life, by burning

out?

---- How K Yoga is related to Tibetan {Mahayana/Vajrayana]Buddhism?

----Can Christians and others practice this? How is this

related to Hinduism as such?

---This yoga should be learned from a master or "transmitted "

by a Guru. Why so?

---- Does this yoga confer "psychic powers" like clairvoyance

etc ?


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In this article , I am attempting to answer all of these

questions and more with the best intenti ons of clarifying your

doubts,clearing your confusion and placing the Kundalini yoga

in its proper perspective .

Let me begin by saying that many are drawn to Kundalini Yoga

or become curious, thinking that this is a short cut for

spiritual elevation or get self-realization. Majority of young

men and women get interested or practice in the presumption

that they would get psychic powers or 'siddhis' mentioned in

Hindu literature. A small number may be drawn by self-styled

gurus who profess to confer bliss or sexual titillation in a

quickie manner using K-Yoga.

What is Kundalini Yoga?

There is nothing mysterious or esoteric about this yoga.

It is based on the physical fact that we have nervous centres

or nodes with nadis spanning them all over the body.The seven

chakras or wheels of energy are located in our spinal column.

The lowest one is the base chakra or muladhara [which means

'basic root'] near the base of the spine.

Kundalini also means coiled serpent which has two nadis, Ida


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and pingala which twist around the spinal column or canal

called 'sushumna' which is like a tube going upward. This canal

is closed normally.When opened some fluid is supposed to go up,

causing a tingling sensation as if some mercury is flowing up.

The Chakras are nerve nodes which store lot of energy.They are

like distribution transformers,changing the voltage of an

electric supply and sending them to households. In this case,

the chakras send lot of energy to other nerve centres and

glands which regulate our metabolism,growth and moods.[The

chakras may get charged with energy received through some nerve

channels in the brain. Some yogis claim that cosmic energy,

from outside of the body, enters through the skull and gets

down-loaded into chakras. I am not able to confirm this .]

Many medical men and yogis have tried to draw such parallels

with physiological facts. For our purpose it is enough if we

take the chakras as store houses of energy [call it nervous

energy, if you like] to direct to other organs for positive

benefits.This energy can also be called pranic energy,developed

thru certain pranayama practices.

It should be noted that there are other chakras besides these

seven in th espinal column.. Infact there are strong chakras in


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your palm and in the soles of feet which can also release

energy.[Some writers have stated that there are 41 major

chakras in the body--some of them are activated by acu-pressure

practitioners.]

Kundalini yoga involves activating these chakras while the

kundalini energy passes through the sushumna canal upward,

finally reaching the top most 'sahasrara" or thousand petalled

lotus chakra in the skull. This union is figuratively spoken of

as the union of th e Shakti or female goddess climbing up to

unite with the Lord ,in the skull--called 'Shiva'. During thssi

course of journey, the shakti or energy activates all the

chakras in between, giving positive benefits to the person and

also ennobling him or her to reach the highest state of bliss

during the union.

Note that this Kundalini shakti can rise to any particular

chakra,remain there and again descend. Therefore this upward

movement may be followed by downward movement also.But once it

reaches the Shasrara or top chakra, it would not return.A

person who has reached that state may remain in the physical

body for 21 days, some say for 14 days only.

hy the spinal column is normally kept closed? Where is the


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There is a real danger of someone losing his mind in this

process. This is the reason that Kundalini Yoga is not taught

to all the students.

How this path is related to other yogas like Jnana [pa th of

knowledge or self-enquiry] or bhakti yoga [the path of

devotion].?

In fact many ,in almost all religions, pursue some form of

devotional path [prayer,worship,chanting or japa and meditation

or dhyana]. Would they derive benefit from Kundalini Yoga? Is

there a need for this yoga for those following devotional or

bhakti path?

My considered answer is that Kundalini yoga is only a special

form of yoga which a person may not need as such, unlessspecially interested in this path. Awakening of Kundalini can

and does occur when one follows Bhakti Yoga or Jnana yoga at

certain stage, almost automatically or effortlessly, though he

or she may not realize this. Great saints and yogis and rishiis

did exhibit clear signs of kundalini awakening, if one reads

their biographies carefully. They may downplay that or ignore,

so that their followers or chelas are not diverted from their

main path of Jnana or Bhakti.


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As I said earlier, some are drawn to this path of Kundalini

thinking that it is an easy path. This is a wishful thinking.

Kundalini path is extremely difficult ,as are other paths. For

many spiritual aspirants or sadhaks ,the easy path would be the

path of devotion and not kundalini yoga.If some yogis/swamis

claim to awaken Kundalini ina person in a few minutes or after

a few days of any practice, you can infer that it is only to

impress the student and what happens is not real awakening of

kundalini at all.Such quickie methods or mass awakening in a

large group are not to be trusted.These yogis and swamis are

misguiding their students for getting popularity or money.

hy this awakening of kundalini is difficult or fraught with

dangers, if we are equipped with the necessary physiological

apparatus for that? Why can't that be taught just as one learnsbicycling or horse riding at a certain age, assuming he/she

possesses normal health ?

There are two main reasons for this.

1 Assuming one has normal healthy body and has no organic

defect,assuming one has a good trainer or yogi to guide, the

process of training is long and hard and many fall by the way

side, distracted by minor benefits that may accrue during the


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training period. For instance when one practices some simple

K-yog technique, he/she may get the ability to foresee certain

events--called 'precognition'.This simple 'power' or siddhi may

distract him/her that one starts misusing that and cause more

injury to others. A good guide or yogi master would immediately

check the tendency to misuse. Many times the master is not

always available.!

2 The second reason is that the demands made for Kundalini yoga

in terms of energy and time are great, very few young men/women

have the necessary will--power or facility to undertake this.

As a young person, I did some practices along this line.I found

that my body was activated so much that there was physical

discomfort and also felt dazed that I could not pursue my

duties as a professional person.I had to abandon the practice.[This was sometime in the late 1970's when I was about 40 years

old.]

[Please note that one practising K-yoga should take highly

nutritious food in sufficient amount and also practice

silence/solitude for many months.He should also be free from

pressing domestic or professional work.]

For these two main reasons. K_YOGA is not freely taught or


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encouraged ,except for a few yogi-students under strict

guidance or supervision.

K-Yoga can not be a self-help or 'do-it-yourself' project.!

hat are the normal methods to awaken Kundalini and stabilize

the process?

There are several methods taught in India to those students who

have done gentle forms of yoga and devotion in the traditional

way. I explain them to the extent it is possible to write in a

general article like this for an average reader.

1 Hatha Yoga methods: These are special asanas ,followed by

certain bandhas or locking positions which pressurise certain

points at the spine to effect the awakening.These are difficult

and require careful practice with a yoga master specially

trained for this practice. The master would also introduce some

form of meditation and 'mudras' or hand signs with fingers --to

control and calm the nerve currents in hands. These methods are

taught after the student had practiced many asanas at least for

several months. Certain methods of breath control or pranayama

also can help to awaken kundalini, but it is a gradual process.

One is advised to read the classic text: Light on Yoga by BKS


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Iyengar and his book on "pranayama" before proceeding further

in this path.

I do not recommend the quick methods suggested by some

gurus/yogis for this practice.

2 Mantra Yoga methods These methods are easier and safer to

perform. The mantra to be chanted is invoked and initiated by a

guru who knows this technique well. Several simple mantras

known to Hindus [such as 'Hare Rama' or 'Om Nama Sivaiah' ] can

be practised. These work by 'purifying' your mind first.

Purification means "avoiding bad thoughts and also full

harmonising of one's thought,word and deed.[Note that we often

compromise our thoughts and words or words and actions in

normal mundane life.]

After this purification process, specific mantras can be used

to activate certain chakras. These chakras pull the Kundalini

upward by opening the path through the sushumna canal or danda.

One important requirement is that the follower has a guru or

satguru in whom he /she has complete faith.Without the guru

bhakti ,mechanical chanting of mantra would not help. This ,ofcourse ,is true of all Bhakti path methods. The process of guru

bhakti enables the sadhak to undergo rigorous practice with


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devotion.The guru would also slowly lower the ego or self-pride

in the sadhak in many ways. In olden times,the sadhak, however

rich or big he may be, would be asked by his guru to go begging

for food inthe street.This practice is mainly intended to lower

the ego of the person.The sadhak may also be asked to wander

around to other cities without any money in his pocket.

One well-known mantra , practised in Tibetan Buddhism, is "Om

Mani Padme hum" This mantra is addressed to the mani-puri

chakra or navel chakra. This chakra is called the "gem- city "

or "City of Jewels."[mani-gems puri-city].Buddhist monks and

novices chant this millions of times, with a prayer wheel.

[Each chakra is referred to as a lotus flower,with specified

number of petals. This is a way of pictorial representation and

could have been used as a sign language among yogis/monks.

Certain sylaables are written in each petal.]

Such chanting would not only raise the Kundalini to navel

chakra position or activate the chakra, but leads to a great

sense of peace or calmness in a person.Later one becomes highly

creative---not only in artistic sense, but also in creating

social institutions.

[Some writers have mistakenly written that this mantra "Om Mani


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Padme Hum" activates the heart or anahata chakra.]The present

author practised this for several months in the early 1970's

with intense devotion and scriptural reading . it is difficult

to describe the calmness and peace he felt for a year or

two.Later he switched to other devotional/meditational

practices.

3 Bhakti Yoga methods : Intense Bhakti or devotion to an Ishata

or favorite God or guru can elevate the Kundalini.With devotion

and surrender, the sense of ego gradually melts away. Then a

sort of inner consciousness builds up.With that , petty

thoughts disappear and one develops overarching love and

compassion towards all. This level is exactly equivalent to

awakening of the heart or anahata chakra.At the same time ,the

Bhakta's throat or visudhi chakra is activated. The Bhaktabecomes a poet and singer almost suddenly with profusion of

songs/hymns. The Bhakta is now fully established in his

awakened Kundalini yoga, but not reaching the ajna chakra or

sahasrara chakra. He might open up those chakras towards the

end of life or in certain moments to help a devotee or fellow-

traveller in spirituality.

In Bhakti cults, though such awakenings of kundalini are

recorded, they are attributed to the grace of Devi or Goddess


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in the Hindu pantheon of gods.An exemplar of this was Sri

Ramakrishna Paramahansa and some of his direct disciples.Many

musician saints/composers like Saint Thyagaraja or Muthuswami

Dikshitar in Southern carnatic style of music also reached the

stages we have mentioned here.Poets like Kalidasa and Purandara

were blessedw ith this awakening of throat chakra.

4 Shakti-path : This method dwells on the grace of a great

realized guru who has a mission to awaken the kundalini to

certain chosen disciples. This system has been down graded and

corrupted in India and elsewhere . There is hardly any genuine

shakti-pat gurus who can confer this ,though there could be

some obscure yogi-gurus in the snowy Himalayas. The so-many

institutes/ashrams that profess to 'teach' this method are mere

commercial ventures.

5 Tantric methods : Tantra is based on a basic principle:

Tantriks go beyond the normal cognition of what is pleasant and

what is unpleasant, beautiful and ugly, sacred and profane.All

the dual mental constructs must go.So they meditate in temples

and also in burial grounds; they worship goddess bedecked with

jewels and flowers and also a goddess wearing a garland ofskulls and bloody hands. This approach is difficult and

disconcerting.The biggest assignment for a tantrik is to go


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beyond sexual attraction, worship a woman during menstruation

and treat her as a man and so on.Such pratices are not easy to

practise and requires a master or adept to train others. This

method creates a mental outlook beyond the mundane life.

After such expereinces, the tantrik becomes awakened beyond the

base chakra and reaches the level of ajna or command between

the eye brows and acquires many psychic powers and is

established in highly evolved state. He may pass into

nirvikalpa Samadhi at any time and leave the body out of his

own volition.Such accomplished masters with ajna chakra

activated and still teaching others are rare.

Unfortunately this method degenerated several centuries ago in

India and other Buddhist countries.The tantriks indulged in

venal practices and sexual perversions. As a result tantrik

methods became a forbidden method for most Hindus.Some indulged

in gruesome sacrifices and some tended to practice black magic

to harm others.

Some form of tantric method ,realted to Goddess worship,called

" Sri Chakara Upasana" has survived.This form of worship is

reduced to a form of Bhakti method.

In present day western world, tantrik methods with proclivity


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for teaching and practising sexual stimulation had become a

'spiritual' pastime and a means of making money.This is not the

proper Kundalini yoga as understood by us.

6 Jnana Yoga methods : Jnana yogis practise viveka

[discrimination] and viragya[dispassion] leading to realisation

of Self which is universal Self, not the individual ego or

little self.The yogis discourage practices which dwell on the

body.So they are averse to Kundalini yoga. But ,along the way,

the Jnanis do awaken their kundalini unsought.Many become great

poets and musicians of very high order, which indicates that

their vishuddhi or throat chakra had been activated. For

instance Sadashiva Brahmendra and Muthuswami Dikshitar who

worshipped Shakti are such examples.The former was an

accomplished yogi and also an advaitin.

This means that K-Yoga is not excluded from the experiences of

a Jnani.

Kundalini Yoga and Consciousness

In simplistic explanation, awakening of Kundalini is likened to

the development of consciousness at various levels in anindividual. From pure body and ego consciousness, one develops

compassion and love for all life and goes towards cosmic


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consciousness.

I would desist from simple parallels between the Kundalini

and the consciousness movement which has several proponents

today...But kundalini awakening and its ascent is not an

intellectual approach or something to be easily described in

words. The spiritual market is flooded with books on

"consciousness "development or evolution which ,for the most

part , are academic or intellectual fair with some form of

meditation thrown in. Kundalini Yoga is a much deeper process

which requires a rigorous discipline and transforming a person

in certain ways which cannot be discussed here in further

detail. Kundalini Yoga is not for the common man and is

restricted to small groups only. This naturally excludes the

mass market consciousness groups and churches, though they mayderive some benefit from the knowledge of K-Yoga.

Kundalini and Goddess worship

In Hindu forms of worship, Kundalini worship is identified with

the worship of devi or Shakti or female aspect of Shiva or his

consort Parvati. It should be noted that Goddess worship is a

detailed subject by itself.Many Kundalini Yogis start with

worship of Mother Kali, the gruesome aspect of Divine Mother.At


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one stage,they outgrow that with the awakening of Kundallini.

One should read the life of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, the

guru of Swami Vivekananda, to learn much about this.As

mentioned earlier,many approach t e Kundalini yoga as a form of

Bhakti yoga with Goddess Parvati or Uma devi as their favorite

goddess or Ishta devata.

Some Books

There are very few books of importance in this field.

Arthur Avalon , Woodruffe's books on "Serpent Power" and "Intro

to tantra" are valuable and the author derived from Buddhist

and Tantra tests. He dwells more on rituals in this path.

An elementary but good introductory book is by Swami Sivananda

Radha--"Kundalini for the West".This swamini was a disciple of

Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, India ,who was the founder of

Divine Life Society. Swami Sivananda was a great saintly-yogi

and trained many disciples including Swami Vishnudevananda and

swami Venkatesananda.[ happened to meet Swami Sivananda as a

school boy.]

I would not recommend many other books out in the market,

including those early works of Gopi Krishna and some lamas of


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Tibet.

Can K Yoga give rise to or develop psychic or suprenatural

powers or Siddhis?

The answer is a definite yes, but with the caveat that this

should be used for the welfare of an individual, say one's

disciple or friend or for society/community in general. it

should not be used for selfish purposes or to harm others.If

one indulges in nefarious activities, the Yogi or guru would

suffer immeditately and face terrible consequences.

It is sad to mention that in spite of this caveat, several

yogis/gurus have indulged in harmful practices and brought ruin

for themselves and their followers.

K-Yoga --Can it be practised by non-hindus? Yes-there is no

restriction at all.This method however need to be learnt

properly from experienced masters,hindus or non-hindus.

How K-yoga is realted to other mystic paths such as sufism?

All mystic paths invlove raising Kundalini to certain chakras,

though t emethods may differ widely. I have explained manymethods and some impinge of so-called mystic paths.


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Can K - Yoga be included in normal Hatha Yoga practice?

It is better not to mix up K-Yoga with hatha yoga practise

meant for large number of persons.

Can mental derangement set in due to wrong practice of K -Yoga?

This possibility exists. There had been instances in India.But

again, any yoga practice,wrongly performed, would do more harm

than good.This applies to hatha yoga and anayama as well. here

again a proper guru or teacher is essential.

How K-Yoga is related to Buddhism?

Buddhist practices ,especially Tibetan practice or vajrayana is

linked to K-yoga. Most of their practices are also tied to

Bhakti yoga with goddess worship in some sects.

The author may be contacted at: nksrinivasan at hotmail dot

com.

----------------------------------Om Sai Ram


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