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tamasaburo
USA
136 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 16 2010 : 12:22:55 AM
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I feel like the term "Kundalini" is used to mean different things sometimes. Reading Yogani's lessons it seems more like "any sexual energy that is redirected throughout the body," which would mean that pleasant shivers up the spine, throbbing, heat, etc. during pranayama or meditation would be "kundalini."
On the other hand, people seem to talk about "Kundalini awakening" as some kind of extremely dramatic experience--like only when your sushumna is full of light and you can see your third eye and you feel merged with the universe or what have you, is it "Kundalini."
In my case, a few years ago I had some experiences with a type of qigong meditation (similar to spinal breathing without deep meditation, albeit with the addition of some moving and standing exercises), where I started feeling ecstatic feelings in my lower abdomen and tingling up my spine, pressure in the head, feeling of light behind the eyes (albeit no "inner vision" per se, just blobs as if pressing on the eyes). This was accompanied by a lot of emotional ups and downs for a month or two, during which I had to cut out most meditation activity. After that, the energy has always been movable to some extent and I've continued to meditate regularly, beginning AYP about 2.5 years ago (about a year after the initial experience).
Since then, I've had a generally pleasant and fairly smooth unfolding, as it were, but never with anything really dramatic like that. Now I feel strong ecstasy in pranayama and deep meditation, as well as sometimes a sense of "no-self" or as if I am merged with objects of perception. Still no "inner vision" no seeing the sushumna, etc. though I can feel the root, third eye and other chakras as just feelings, like tiny points. I can also feel throbbing-type energy at the crown if I focus there, though nothing like the intense kind of experience I've read about here and elsewhere. I'm guessing that some written accounts of kundalini awakening either are misleading or else unusual because of their sudden, intense nature (I'm thinking of people like Gopi Krishna, for example--besides the problems caused by some kind of imbalance, surely even his initial experience is not typical for a first Kundalini experience?). But maybe not everyone has one big, super-intense event, having instead little mini-samadhis on a longer path?
So I guess the question is: is my kundalini "awake"? Should I consider that period of time a few years ago when I first started experiencing noticable energy sensations my "kundalini awakening"? Or do I still have some new experience to expect after which it will be "awake"? Surely I do expect lots of new experiences on this path and have continued to have some very intense ones (recently I have started to feel a kind of intense ecstasy and once or twice a perception of bright light with sambhavi mudra, for example), but is THE awakening still something to expect in the future? Or do I just expect more gradual unfolding as I've come to expect these past couple of years?
Thanks for any advice or experiences. :) |
Edited by - tamasaburo on Mar 16 2010 12:33:47 AM |
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JDH
USA
331 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2010 : 02:56:17 AM
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Sounds like your awakening was your first experience 3.5 years ago. You've been practicing much longer than me, but I'll comment. My first experience was definitely my "awakening" complete with huge energy flows and fireworks in the whole nervous system. In the last couple weeks as springtime begins here, the energy is very active. Brahmacharya plus tantra seems to be key in the relationship with kundalini. Try practicing those if you aren't.
Just observe the moving sex energy. That's kundalini. The word kundalini has a lot of mysticism associated with it. It's the same energy that is all our energy. Sometimes it has huge energy, sometimes it is faint. Active at some times, quiet at others. The fireworks come during big energy times.
Kundalini also has a property of more raw power than the controlled, consciously chosen releases of energy. Kundalini has a reputation of happening on its own, in accord with the present situation, whatever it is. It's natural, it's present, it has the raw power of nature to it. Ego does not stand in its way. So, it can have huge energy releases. HUGE. And that's when the fireworks happen that you're talking about. To me it seems like it's all the same energy, we just call it Kundalini when we're overwhelmed and have no idea what's going on :)
AYP is designed to facilitate a gradual release, so that we don't go crazy and have to quit our jobs because we're possessed by "serpent fire" and whatnot. It's mysticism, but the energy is real. It's a good thing to realize and understand self pacing and have a conceptual framework for the process. I like the metaphor of the car driving across the country to California. We have to understand self pacing so we don't drive off a cliff on sharp turn. But we also should learn when we're on a straightaway and how to floor it when it's safe to do so. I get the impression that a lot of people read the lessons here and learn how to drive the car, and then they idle across the country at minimum speed.
Recently, self inquiry has become quite real to me. I have a relationship with the energy and I can ask it questions, and make requests of it. For example, I might ask my energy to show me its real power. I might get an answer in a way that I might not expect. It might even be at a later time. I've asked it how to preserve my sexual energy, how to cultivate it, what that translates to in the language of internal awareness. And I get answers.
My experiences of the energy have become less visual so far as I've practiced. Had some fireworks when I began AYP, and now I feel the energy more. Like a 6th sense which will occasionally manifest in other senses.
I'm babbling. Hope there was something helpful in all that. And hoping you get a sign of your awakening that leaves no question about it.
JDH |
Edited by - JDH on Mar 16 2010 03:38:44 AM |
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Pheel
China
318 Posts |
Posted - Mar 19 2010 : 11:41:44 PM
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Hey tamasaburo,
I think it's almost a blessing to have gradual unfolding instead of dramatic episodes. One of the major difficulties on the way, as I understand so far, is to going through the fireworks without being carried away. And I guess that's why meditation is so emphasized. (I went astray with qitong kind of pranayama without meditation.) So, if you don't have dramatic experience, don't even solicit it. The serpent is indeed seductive and can be destructive, if not well tamed by Shiva.
The problem is, once the energy is awakened, the meditation will be permeated by energy flow and the cultivation of inner silence is marred.
Maybe I'd reduce the energy practice and strenghen the shiva in me first.
Good luck to you! |
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tamasaburo
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2010 : 01:37:05 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Philaboston
Hey tamasaburo,
I think it's almost a blessing to have gradual unfolding instead of dramatic episodes. One of the major difficulties on the way, as I understand so far, is to going through the fireworks without being carried away.
Yes, I should probably consider it a great blessing that I now have a slow but steady opening process with notable progress being made but no major ups and downs. I can recall back during those early experiences wishing I could somehow turn down the intensity or slow things down...now of course, I am greedy to amp it up. Just human nature, I suppose. I do think more time in deep meditation is probably a good idea for me. I have been getting kind of pranayama-heavy lately. Thanks for the advice! |
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_Yogi_
USA
26 Posts |
Posted - Nov 20 2011 : 08:32:07 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by JDH
Sounds like your awakening was your first experience 3.5 years ago. You've been practicing much longer than me, but I'll comment. My first experience was definitely my "awakening" complete with huge energy flows and fireworks in the whole nervous system. In the last couple weeks as springtime begins here, the energy is very active. Brahmacharya plus tantra seems to be key in the relationship with kundalini. Try practicing those if you aren't.
Just observe the moving sex energy. That's kundalini. The word kundalini has a lot of mysticism associated with it. It's the same energy that is all our energy. Sometimes it has huge energy, sometimes it is faint. Active at some times, quiet at others. The fireworks come during big energy times.
Kundalini also has a property of more raw power than the controlled, consciously chosen releases of energy. Kundalini has a reputation of happening on its own, in accord with the present situation, whatever it is. It's natural, it's present, it has the raw power of nature to it. Ego does not stand in its way. So, it can have huge energy releases. HUGE. And that's when the fireworks happen that you're talking about. To me it seems like it's all the same energy, we just call it Kundalini when we're overwhelmed and have no idea what's going on :)
AYP is designed to facilitate a gradual release, so that we don't go crazy and have to quit our jobs because we're possessed by "serpent fire" and whatnot. It's mysticism, but the energy is real. It's a good thing to realize and understand self pacing and have a conceptual framework for the process. I like the metaphor of the car driving across the country to California. We have to understand self pacing so we don't drive off a cliff on sharp turn. But we also should learn when we're on a straightaway and how to floor it when it's safe to do so. I get the impression that a lot of people read the lessons here and learn how to drive the car, and then they idle across the country at minimum speed.
Recently, self inquiry has become quite real to me. I have a relationship with the energy and I can ask it questions, and make requests of it. For example, I might ask my energy to show me its real power. I might get an answer in a way that I might not expect. It might even be at a later time. I've asked it how to preserve my sexual energy, how to cultivate it, what that translates to in the language of internal awareness. And I get answers.
My experiences of the energy have become less visual so far as I've practiced. Had some fireworks when I began AYP, and now I feel the energy more. Like a 6th sense which will occasionally manifest in other senses.
I'm babbling. Hope there was something helpful in all that. And hoping you get a sign of your awakening that leaves no question about it.
JDH
I agree. I was wondering myself and you put it exactly as I would. I started off with the whole huge awakening where your spine turns into a lightning bolt and figured it went away for years but with all the daily experiences Ive had in the past few years I figure it must be awake just to different degrees depending on my awareness. I think the whole big awakening happens when your awareness kind of flips from being totally aware of this reality to being totally aware of the energetic reality and once you experience so much energy it is experienced as bliss. I know when I first experienced it it was like my spine was a lightning bolt and I felt like I was getting the electric chair except bliss and the outside reality seemed far away like a dream that is barely there. So yes I would say energy and kundalini are the same yet people usually use the term to refer to that experience where you are being more aware of energy than conditioned reality. |
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FutureHumanDestiny
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - Dec 26 2011 : 1:10:51 PM
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forgive me if i offend,l but having raised kundalini myself i badly wish to delineate and distinguish what kundalini is and isn't.
the "kundalini awakening" discussed in modern literature describes the movement of prana into the body for the first time; this is a wonderous and beautiful time but technically is the awakening of the energy body and the establishment of it's relationship with pranic/upanic energy flow.
people who skip or misuse the purification exercises end up with energy blockages and so-called kundalini syndrome.
the kundalini awakening referred to by ancient manuscripts refers to the coiled serpent which rotates 3.5 times counterclockwise through the body, exploding upwards from the perenium to the crown of the head (in a full rising, though most are partial risings which terminate at the heart chakra). the kundalini refers to the coiled rising event while the awakening refers to the self knowledge or self realization that occurs during (and after) the full rising.
to be fair, awakening is an important albeit ambigious word and everyone is free to use it each time they awaken to a new layer of reality, which is like an onion with many layers to awaken to.
if you want to know more, check out my youtube channel where i detail everything about this and more, from my own experience, to yours.
-dale |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4513 Posts |
Posted - Dec 26 2011 : 5:17:31 PM
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Hi Tamasaburo,
If you are experiencing ecstasy in your body then your kundalini is awakened. Ecstasy is an advanced stage in the process of kundalini. Everyone who goes through a kundalini awakening experiences it differently. Some have dramatic awakenings where they are pretty sure they are going to die (as I did), whilst others hardly notice a thing, until they begin to experience the ecstatic body and start to notice that they are spending more and more time in a state of spontaneous bliss.
So I wouldn't expect anything much in the way of dramatic experiences to happen next, at least not coming from your pelvic region.... but then it was never about the experiences anyway...  |
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Bamboo
Australia
5 Posts |
Posted - Dec 26 2011 : 10:34:02 PM
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| Kundalini is the Infinite energy of life itself; it is the vibration of the Absolute within itself, through which it comes to recognize its own infinite nature within its own dream. When this essential vibration of the universe begins to move within a human being, it may be given the term Kundalini. It’s not unlike that saying, "We are the universe becoming conscious of itself" Which is to say that when God starts to wake up 'through' us, the rumbling of the awakening of God within us is Kundalini. It’s generally a slight mistake (which is okay) to think that Kundalini is simply "within" us, in a sense, we are also within it. As it is universal energy or Para Shakti if you will, we (as human beings) are like a jar submerged in water, the water within the jar we call Kundalini and the water around the jar we call Para Shakti or the Mother or universal life energy etc., yet- in reality, its more in line with the way things actually are to start to see and understand that there is really only one energy in essence although it may be distinct in its various functions. (One of which is Kundalini) This universal life energy is infinite in its own nature, meaning its not a finite energy, you could extract enough of it from any one aspect of it to go on forever, and so within us- it has this same infinity to it and thus when we investigate the nature of what we are (which is essentially an aspect of that energy) we find that the energy of which we are comprised, of which we are a crystalized form -is also infinite, thus they say “it is coiled” within us. Now the Yogis have gone so amazingly deeply into this that its really astounding - yet the thing to understand is that the energy we call Kundalini is really the essence of the life force, so when you expand the life force your expanding Kundalini - when you open to Life your opening to Kundalini, when you open your heart to others your awakening Kundalini. Another point in all this is that this is a conscious energy not a static thing but a living essence, The living essence of everything and as such when we move towards it, it can also be seen that it is moving towards us, or your interest in Kundalini is itself a manifestation of Kundalini you could say. To my way of thinking, the various manifestations of Kundalini like shaking, vibrations, expanded perception, heat, etc. are merely ‘secondary’ like the flush of red in your cheeks when you see your beloved, its the love that matters, not the red cheeks, its the flow of life force that matters most, not so much what particular manifestations arise in your specific instance. When the energy flows within the subtle system and bumps up against a chakra for example we may feel it there, yet it’s also everywhere, you see? Its like the wind outside my window right now, I hear it blow against the house yet the wind is everywhere, Kundalini is like the wind and God is like the Sky and the chakra system is like a tree which rustles in the wind. Ultimately our own ‘true nature’ is the essence of this energy itself and when that is revealed we recognize that all there is, is that, everything is that, not just some specific manifestations but all of it and then its also seen that the manifestations are mere appearance’s whereas the essence IS, or manifestations not matter how sublime are ultimately temporary, even as they “may” have the function of expanding our perception by removing blocks to the awareness of our inherent fullness and completeness whereas the essence (which we fundamentally are) is Eternal and non temporal. Anyways, maybe some of that resonates - if so cool, if not that’s okay too. Hari OM |
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What counts as "Kundalini Awakening"?
