Friday, June 30, 2023

The dark and divine side of kundalini yoga

Asangoham, Sept. 26, 2022; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Vanessa (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

WARNING: This is neither the path the Buddha took nor the one he recommended. It does not lead to awakening or Buddhist enlightenment (bodhi and nirvana and the end of all further rebirth and suffering) but rather only to Vedic/Hindu samadhi (a wonderful experience often mistaken for final liberation or Buddhist moksha but far from it). This is also not Guru Nanak and Sikhism's dharma as taught in the West under the brand name Kundalini Yoga, a hazardous mishmash of Ashtanga Yoga limbs, fraudulent Yogi Bhajan inventions tailored to impress Westerners, and cultish nonsense not representative of the Sikh or Hindu religions. See the sex and money scandals of Yogi Bhajan and Guru Jagat as cautionary tales. This discussion of the Eightfold Path of Raja or Ashtanga Yoga within Hinduism, extending to esoteric Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist practices, as these schools are very influenced by Brahmanism and Vedic Hinduism.

The "dark" and "divine" side of kundalini yoga
(Asangoham) The term yoga has its roots in the Sanskrit word yuj, which means "to yoke together, to conjoin."

Hence, yoga implies a spiritual union of the individual consciousness with the all-pervading, universal consciousness, or Brahman (Ultimate Reality behind all maya or "illusion"), according to the Upanishads.

In this way, yoga is the empirical part of religion, says Gopi Krishna in his work, Kundalini: The Secret of Yoga (3).

Of all the different yoga traditions and schools that developed in ancient Vedic times, Kundalini Yoga [the Hindu not Sikh version] is considered to be the most powerful and therefore the most dangerous.

It is part of the Shaiva Tantra system. Kundalini is considered to be a form of sacred feminine energy that lies dormant at the base of the human spine, called the muladhara, coiled like a serpent.

This is pure, formless energy which has immense potential if awakened. Shaiva Tantra calls this "energy" or shakti, Mother Divine, or the formless aspect of the Goddess.

Swami Satyananda Saraswathi, a great master of kundalini yoga and author of Kundalini Tantra says that although one may be generally aware of what yoga is, one requires some kind of awareness of what tantra is in order to appreciate the mysterious working of kundalini yoga.

Tantra says that the range of mental experience can be broadened. With the help of the senses, our mind can have an experience based on an object. There can be an experience within the framework of time, space, and object. But there can also be an experience beyond the framework of time, space, and object.

The second form of experience can happen when the present mind expands beyond its given definitions and borders. When this experience occurs, energy is released from oneself (Saraswati 6).

This concept is the tantric basis of kundalini yoga. The dormant kundalini energy, when awakened, will rise in a spiraling motion up through different energy nexus points in the body called chakras.

The literal meaning of chakra is "circle" or "wheel," but in the context of kundalini tantra, it also connotes a vortex-like motion.

There are many chakras in a human body, but the principal ones within the body are seven. And the highest one, the seventh, is at the crown of the head.

The mind of a worldly person with base desires and passions moves in the muladhara and svadhishthana chakras or energy centers situated near the anus and the reproductive organs respectively.

If one’s mind becomes purified, the mind rises to the manipura chakra, or the center in the navel, and experiences some power and joy.

If the mind becomes more purified, it rises to the anahata chakra, or the center in the heart, experiences bliss, and visualizes the effulgent form of the ishta devata or the "tutelary deity."

When the mind is highly purified, when meditation and devotion become intense and profound, the mind rises to visuddha chakra, or the center in the throat, and experiences more and more powers and bliss.

Even when the mind has reached this center, there is a possibility for it to come down to the lower centers.

  • Voiceover: Surjit Singh
  • Script: Shaiju Koottucheradil Chacko
  • Editor: Medo
  • Score: Epidemic Music
References
1. Halliday, Sandra Tan. Kundalini Yoga: Unlocking the Secrets to Radiant Beauty and Health. Kundalini Research Institute, 2003.
2. Kason, Yvonne. Farther Shores: Exploring How Near-death, Kundalini and Mystical Experiences Can Transform Ordinary Lives. Harper Collins, 1994.
3. Krishna, Gopal. Kundalini- The Secret of Yoga. F.I.N.D. Research Trust, 2000.
4. - --. Kundalini The Evolutionary Energy in Man. Stuart & Watkins, 1970.
5. Paulson, Genevieve L. Kundalini & the Chakras: Evolution in This Lifetime. Llewellyn Publications, 2002.
6. Rele, Vasant G. The Mysterious Kundalini. D. B. Taraporevala Sons and Co., 1927.
7. Sannella, Lee. Kundalini Experience: Psychosis or Transcendence?
8. Saraswati, Swami Satyananta. Kundalini Tantra. Yoga Publications Trust, 2002.
9. Swami, Sivananda. Kundalini Yoga. Divine Life Society, 1994.
10. Grant, Kara-Leigh. The Hidden Dangers of a Kundalini Awakening | UPLIFT

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