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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 05 2006 : 9:41:34 PM
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Hi, I'm new here and I guess you could say that I had a spontaneous awakening over 4 years ago in which I dropped down in this void and was lifted up by these all pervading vibrations. I could meditate and hear a very loud "MMMMMMMMMMMMM..." sound/vibration.
My experience was that of a "Top, Down" Awakening, since my higher chakra centers were activated first, until the energy reached my heart chakra. I had this itching on the left side of my back [sympathetic nervous system] and felt that part of myself wanting to breath into the heart center. So I did. And ever since this happened my muldhara chakra was activated.
When this happened, I experienced the "fight or flight" response associated with the base chakra. Some say this is where child hood trauma is stored and it's also the chakra associated with survival, primal needs, etc., whatever. But it was a very horrific purifying experience, personally, until the energy very GRADUALLY moved to the swadhisthana chakra and activated the sexual impulse, which drastically increased and I can now feel these blissful, sensations within my lower back, between my anus and groin, etc. And for some strange reason it's connected to the feeling of taste or to the mouth.
That's where the energy is at now and that's taken over 4 years. I'm frustrated, because it's such a gradual process, although I know it will lead to Higher Consciousness, or God Realization, eventually.
Anyway, the bizarre thing is that I have done this before. And I know this process for some reason. Okay. I don't believe in karma, but I am open-minded. I just don't understand how I could know this process, like I've done this before. But it doesn't feel like I know this from a past life, but more like I know this from child hood dreams?
Anyway, I do have a sound mind and when all of this happened it was very foreign, to me. I had to do research on the subject, but I don't feel any different then I did when I had the awakening. I don't feel enlightened, you could say.
Through reading, I realize that I had experienced prana sensations years and years ago, the "good feeling vibrations", but never knew what they were. So, I guess this process has been going on, unbeknownst to me, for a very long time, although I didn't know what they were.
That was part of my experience and I'm glad to be a member of this forum. 
VIL
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Edited by - VIL on Oct 05 2006 9:56:11 PM |
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Kyman
530 Posts |
Posted - Oct 05 2006 : 11:43:33 PM
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Vil, thanks for stopping by. I never heard the phrase top-down awakening but that is exactly what occured with me. In fact, my work was trying to move energy into my lower body. Thanks for putting that into perspective for me.
You had the experience of doing very specific movements. Very purposeful movements. Later, after learning more of yoga, you probably saw endless techniques that you did naturally.
Yogani describes it well when he says the guru is within you. The nervous system. It seems to streamline itself.
The nervous system is the oldest form of life, or at least somewhere close. It and being are inseperable.
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 02:13:06 AM
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You guys are amazing. Please share more in-depth accounts of your experiences.
Peace, Alan |
Edited by - Balance on Oct 06 2006 03:10:48 AM |
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 03:05:01 AM
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Hi, Kyman, I have never practiced yoga. When I said that I had a spontaneous awakening I probably should have explained myself further. Meaning, that I wasn't and am still not part of any religious affiliation, spiritual practice, or discipline, but believed in the allegorical meaning of Spiritual Teachings. But no matter how hard I tried contemplating the deeper meaning of these teachings, I failed to grasp their inner significance. So, I would pray and pray, to ad nauseum, for God to show me the deeper meaning of things. And upon awaking one morning, although fully aware, but in an subconscious state of consciousness, I dropped down in what appeared to be a void. I was then lifted "Up" by these, at first subtle, then loud, harmonious vibrations, until I was fully consciousness/awake. It was a frightening, yet exciting, experience and my ears actually popped and my skin was still tingling.
From what I understand, my Kundalini awoke and began the arduous task of purifying/opening the chakra centers.
At that point, I read everything that I could get my hands on concerning various spiritual teachings/philosophies/Etc., to understand the experience.
So when I mention a "top, down" awakening it's unusual in the sense that we all know that the Kundalini "sex energy" moves from the base of the spine to the brain. [From the bottom, up]. And when it's [from the top, down] it's what certain Spiritual Writings consider grace. In other words, it is through Grace that the Kundalini is allowed to awaken and it isn't through bodily postures, breath control or any other concentrated effort.
Regardless, whether it's a top, down or a down, up "awakening" the Kundalini still has to ascend from the lower to the higher chakras. The cleansing process is still the same.
Anyway, I didn't know that the nervous system was considered the oldest form of life. That's very interesting. Thank you!
Maybe some of the Kingdoms all around us are related to our bodies, maybe not. I dunno:
Mineral - Skeletal System
Plant - Circulitory System
Animal - Nervous System
Human - Respitory System
Divine - Limbic System
VIL
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Edited by - VIL on Oct 06 2006 03:29:04 AM |
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Scott
USA
969 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 11:05:48 AM
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VIL,
quote:
So when I mention a "top, down" awakening it's unusual in the sense that we all know that the Kundalini "sex energy" moves from the base of the spine to the brain. [From the bottom, up]. And when it's [from the top, down] it's what certain Spiritual Writings consider grace. In other words, it is through Grace that the Kundalini is allowed to awaken and it isn't through bodily postures, breath control or any other concentrated effort.
Welcome to AYP: home of the hamburger. 
We should create some cool saying like that. The hamburger doesn't really fit, and as far as I know it already has a home.
Anyway, back to the point, I personally think the bottom-up ideas are all wrong. Kundalini isn't bottom up or top down. It's just the great purifier within the body. If it needs to go bottom up, it will. Top down? It will. It's always God's grace, because it's the spiritual energy working through you. A bottom up awakening isn't like...the devil's grace or something.
Hope you enjoy the forums here, VIL. |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 11:39:31 AM
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Are you saying that when all is daid and sone that there is no bop or tottom?
When I said above that you guys are amazing i didn't mean to embarass you. What I should have said was that your experiences seem amazing to me as I haven't gone thru such myself.
Glad you could join us VIL
Alan |
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Scott
USA
969 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 11:46:00 AM
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Alan,
Good way to interpret what I said. All I meant was that awakenings come in all different shapes and sizes. Personally, when I had my first big experience, I was laying down and the energy seemed like it came up through my feet and into my entire body. Another time, all I felt were my hands vibrating.
Energy movements can happen anywhere, and it doesn't really mean one thing or another in my opinion. Just that the spiritual energy is working. |
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 11:51:45 AM
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Anyway, back to the point, I personally think the bottom-up ideas are all wrong. Kundalini isn't bottom up or top down. It's just the great purifier within the body. If it needs to go bottom up, it will. Top down? It will. It's always God's grace, because it's the spiritual energy working through you. A bottom up awakening isn't like...the devil's grace or something.
Scott, you may be misunderstanding these ideas to mean something that they don't, when you say they are all wrong.
Some people who have experienced 'the process' start with kundalini experiences in the beginning and get 'higher chakra' experiences (of emptiness and unity and so on) later. For others it seems to go the other way around. For me, it's been largely 'top down' too from the beginning. It's been the same for me as for Kyman, with the process of the last few years being more like 'bringing the energy down'. I think I wrote about this earlier on the older forum, (though maybe I'm thinking of a private correspondence to a forum member).
Of course, we should understand that 'top down' and 'bottom up' are the black and white ends of what is in fact a gray scale of experience.
Kyman, are you doing Kechari? This helped me A LOT in bringing the energy down.
I think most older classical yoga writings write about enlightenment happening 'bottom up'. Perhaps in those times, it was almost always experienced that way? Is there a shift now towards more people getting it in a way they would describe more as 'top down'? I'm thinking maybe. Perhaps greater stimulation of the brain is a possible cause, as our world has moved into a much more cognitively stimulating era.
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Edited by - david_obsidian on Oct 06 2006 12:31:50 PM |
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Scott
USA
969 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 12:54:21 PM
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Hey David,
quote:
Scott, you may be misunderstanding these ideas to mean something that they don't, when you say they are all wrong.
Some people who have experienced 'the process' start with kundalini experiences in the beginning and get 'higher chakra' experiences (of emptiness and unity and so on) later. For others it seems to go the other way around. For me, it's been largely 'top down' too from the beginning. It's been the same for me as for Kyman, with the process of the last few years being more like 'bringing the energy down'. I think I wrote about this earlier on the older forum, (though maybe I'm thinking of a private correspondence to a forum member).
Of course, we should understand that 'top down' and 'bottom up' are the black and white ends of what is in fact a gray scale of experience.
We are in agreement here. Especially when you say that top down and bottom up are the black and white ends of a gray scale. That's exactly what I meant when I said what I did.
quote:
I think most older classical yoga writings write about enlightenment happening 'bottom up'. Perhaps in those times, it was almost always experienced that way? Is there a shift now towards more people getting it in a way they would describe more as 'top down'? I'm thinking maybe. Perhaps greater stimulation of the brain is a possible cause, as our world has moved into a much more cognitively stimulating era.
Good idea. I'm thinking also, that people used to do a lot more physical work. Nowadays more people sit at desks all day, and then go home and watch tv...not much "bringing it down" happening there.
I mean...most people don't even wash their dishes by hand anymore. Everything is automated these days. There will soon be a remote control to shower your body, and you won't even have to press the button because that'd be too hard.
There will be remote controls to work remote controls!
It could also be that throughout time people have always experienced the kundalini in the same way, and it's just an overused misconception that the kundalini experience is usually bottoms up? |
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 1:24:18 PM
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It could also be that throughout time people have always experienced the kundalini in the same way, and it's just an overused misconception that the kundalini experience is usually bottoms up?
I suppose that's partly a semantic question. Some usages of the word generalize the meaning of 'kundalini' to mean the enlightenment process itself, and/or the bodies motivational force for enlightenment, and perhaps you are speaking from that usage. (Of course, some traditions even worship kundalini as the goddess shakti.) But I'm inclined to confine my meaning of the term to the very definite 'bottom-up' experience in the spine. Of course, not all enlightenment processes are bottom-up.
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 1:47:18 PM
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Does anyone suppose that it is possible to become enlightened without experiencing any kundalini events? Writings of, or by, many enlightened people don't mention such things having been experienced. Is it just a matter of course that being in a body one will have kundalini experiences? Maybe those people just didn't feel it was necessary to mention. As you say there are as many experiences as there are people, could kundalini experiences be "overlooked" in some cases. It's hard to imagine something of that nature being overlooked.
yogani? |
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riptiz
United Kingdom
741 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 1:58:30 PM
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Hi Balance,
I doubt if one never has experiences of the shakti as it is common belief that enlightenment cannot be achieved without an awakening of the Kundalini.From my exeriences i can tell you that the common expereinces that some suffer from a spontaneous awakening are most often not experienced when shakti is awoken by shaktipat.In other words I have never suffered from some of the extreme things that commonly occur with a spontaneous awakening.
L&L
Dave |
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 2:01:43 PM
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Thanks for the welcome Balance, Scott and david_obsidian! And, Balance, I wasn't embarrassed by your comment and agree that we all learn from each others experiences:
Scott, to add what david_obsidian had mentioned, I was using the term Grace to denote the awakening of the Kundalini without having any privy knowledge of this energy or process whatsoever. In other words, it was awakened without conscious effort/awareness, nor was there any sort of preparation of the mind/body. In other words, as I had already mentioned in the previous post, there were no body postures involved, breathing excersises, meditation practices, et al. It was "spontaneous" and was a form of "grace", in that the higher [spiritual] chakra centers were "activated", not opened, first. And from what I read, a true Kundalini Awakening occurs when the energy moves from the [gross] root to the [subtle] crown chakra and is a very gradual process. Some say it can take over twenty years. With Gopi Krisha, I think it was 15. Maybe the confusion of the top, down - down, up arises from individuals feeling that their higher chakras are "open" at this point when they truly aren't, but are "activated". But the actual cleansing process begins when the lower chakras are refined/purified, until the energy reaches the subtler/higher chakra centers. I dunno. I'm no expert and can only speak from my own personal experience and this is only my opinion.
VIL |
Edited by - VIL on Oct 06 2006 2:35:47 PM |
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Scott
USA
969 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 2:02:09 PM
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David,
quote:
I suppose that's partly a semantic question. Some usages of the word generalize the meaning of 'kundalini' to mean the enlightenment process itself, and/or the bodies motivational force for enlightenment, and perhaps you are speaking from that usage.
Yes, I was.
quote:
But I'm inclined to confine my meaning of the term to the very definite 'bottom-up' experience in the spine. Of course, not all enlightenment processes are bottom-up.
Why do you confine it to the bottom up experience? I'm not suggesting you're wrong by asking...I'm really curious. |
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Scott
USA
969 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 2:51:22 PM
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VIL,
quote:
Scott, to add what david_obsidian had mentioned, I was using the term Grace to denote the awakening of the Kundalini without having any privy knowledge of this energy or process whatsoever. In other words, it was awakened without conscious effort/awareness, nor was there any sort of preparation of the mind/body. In other words, as I had already mentioned in the previous post, there were no body postures involved, breathing excersises, meditation practices, et al. It was "spontaneous" and was a form of "grace", in that the higher [spiritual] chakra centers were "activated", not opened, first.
That's understood.
quote:
And from what I read, a true Kundalini Awakening occurs when the energy moves from the [gross] root to the [subtle] crown chakra and is a very gradual process. Some say it can take over twenty years. With Gopi Krisha, I think it was 15.
I don't know if I believe that. Specifically that a true kundalini awakening occurs from root to crown...and that it's a long process.
quote:
Maybe the confusion of the top, down - down, up arises from individuals feeling that their higher chakras are "open" at this point when they truly aren't, but are "activated". But the actual cleansing process begins when the lower chakras are refined/purified, until the energy reaches the subtler/higher chakra centers. I dunno. I'm no expert and can only speak from my own personal experience and this is only my opinion.
I'm definitely not an expert either. You may be right in that "activated" and "open" may be confused.
I guess we'll just have to find out on our own! |
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Kyman
530 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 3:00:08 PM
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Vil, I hadn't been doing any spiritual practice either.
When I was 17 I was hit on 95, then three months later by a drunk driver. I used to help teach martial arts. I was enrolled my jr year as PSU. But I ended having to get a surgery where my spine was cut open so nerves could be severed. This launched me into a downward spiral because I had to drop out of everything. And my first love relationship ended in the most tragic way. Then we moved to Virginia.
The basis of my identity was taken from me, so without spiritual wisdom active in my mind I lived in my head, in thoughts, memories, keeping that dead ego alive. I used alcohol and drugs, tv, etc, in order to keep my old self on life support.
For years I was in the most depressed state. I would stay up for 4 days at a time, numb, stuck in my thoughts.
Then I met this one girl, whom I told to stay away from me. I said I am no good for you and I am still attached to someone in my past. She persisted for five months and finally got me to let go of the past some.
Then one day I caught myself cussing inside my head. At myself. Being the most aweful voice. I never spoke to anyone else like I spoke to myself. Moron, you worthless idiot. Stupid. I hate you, etc. Well, with my new semi sense of clarity I saw that was really unhealthy.
I said to myself in the mirror, everyone thinks the world of you. Everyone laughs at your humor. People fall in love with you at a deep place. You are a beautiful person. And every time a thought came into my head that was negative I found a mirror and said nice things to myself.
This began a three week process where the negative thoughts accumulating from years of past trauma began to fade. My hyperfocus returned. I had many spiritual insights from 6-7 years before my 23rd b-day, and they all RUSHED into my mind.
And the end of the third week it happened. I was sitting in my room, and wondering about this world. I remembered learning about the brain in psychology, developmental, and cognitive. My brain used that knowledge to break apart the room.
Stimuli, coming into my brains, where structures interpret the pattern and feed it to the conscious mind.
At that moment I was immersed, real-time, into this seemless process. I sat on the corner of my mind, completely taken hold by the moment. And my mind collapes. All my memories and past knowledge were restructured. Things like pride, fear, collective consciousness, pain, growth, death, time, LOVE, became known at once. The perspective of wholeness.
I didn't experience any inner body sensations. Just intense bliss which lasted nearly three months. During that three months I was like a child, mesmorized by all the newness around me. The realness around me.
During this time I started meditating for the first time in over 13yrs. It was easy. I just layed in bed, and I was meditating naturally.
Around 8 months later I read autobiography of a yogi. I heard about the inner body, read about this strange inner world. Then I asked god to show me the way, that I sincerely wanted to develop myself this way.
The natural result of this was me imagining my inner spine. After a couple days I felt the first sensation in my lower spine. It took me a long time before this sensation traveled completely up my spine.
At the time I cuoldn't even meditate upright. My spine was and is stil so mangled that I always meditated in the corpes position. I'm proud of myself to say that now after all these years of practice I can meditate in an upright position as long as I want, and often without any pain. And this painlessness is starting to move into the rest of my body. When I get a migraine, I focus on the pain and feel nothing.
David, yes I have been doing kechari for a few months now, and it has helped to bridge my mind to the rest of my body. It is indeed powerful, and there seems to be an evolution to it. The place on the hard palate where I often had my tongue has begun to clench or squeeze when the energy locks.
Sorry for the long post, Vil, but I hope what I shared will help you self reflect. |
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yogani
USA
5201 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 3:02:31 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Balance
Does anyone suppose that it is possible to become enlightened without experiencing any kundalini events? Writings of, or by, many enlightened people don't mention such things having been experienced. Is it just a matter of course that being in a body one will have kundalini experiences? Maybe those people just didn't feel it was necessary to mention. As you say there are as many experiences as there are people, could kundalini experiences be "overlooked" in some cases. It's hard to imagine something of that nature being overlooked.
Hi Balance:
Sure, it is possible. Kundalini symptoms are the experience of purification occuring in the nervous system, and they are specific to the unique matrix of obstructions within us. Purification can occur without much in the way of symptoms, if practices are undertaken in a balanced way. Purification can be occurring steadily underground, deep within us. Then, one day, we will notice that our view has changed. It can happen like that.
There are plenty of accounts of advanced souls in history going through dramatic experiences on the way to enlightenment -- time in the desert, dark night of the soul, fire and brimstone, etc. Which does not mean we all will ... better not to draw too many conclusions about experiences happening or not happening ... just keep going with practices with good self-pacing and we will see whatever "scenery" there is along the way.
Interestingly, the ancients did not have the refined level of yoga technology and understanding we do today, so they may have been exposed to more extremes than we are, not less. We owe them a lot -- those courageous spiritual pioneers who paved the way for all of us. And may those who come after us have even better information on the means and processes of human spiritual transformation.
There are many indications in the historical writings that the enlightenment process is universal, with the human nervous system being the common denominator. Every culture has its own terminology to describe the journey, and they all are describing in one way or other the same things we are talking about here on a daily basis. We can read similar descriptions of transformation from many sages coming from diverse geographies and traditions over the centuries.
As for kundalini going up, or down, or sideways, it is all of these. The neurobiology of kundalini is spread throughout the body (in every cell!) and we will experience sensations wherever purification happens to be occurring in the moment. There is also the phenomenon of "ecstatic conductivity" that arises throughout the body, so experiences in one area will be instantly connected with experiences elsewhere, and everywhere -- this is the neurobiology of rising Oneness. It gradually expands over time, reaching beyond the body, assuming we are continuing with practices. If we are not continuing with practices, then the pattern of purification can stall in a particular area, giving rise to experiences that do not necessarily represent the broad progression of unfoldment.
Experiences do not produce spiritual progress. Practices do.
And "grace" comes to those who cultivate bhakti (desire for God and/or Truth), and subsequently engage in practices. Then the whole cosmos is rushing to promote our spiritual progress. "Grace" can also come (seemingly out of nowhere) to those who have longed for awakening and engaged in practices in the past, perhaps an unremembered past. In that case, it can be called "karma."
Just some food for thought. Welcome aboard VIL!
The guru is in you.
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 3:04:29 PM
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Scott asked:
Why do you confine it to the bottom up experience? I'm not suggesting you're wrong by asking...I'm really curious.
I see it as the original meaning of 'kundalini'. Not that original is always best, but I want a word for this phenomenon of 'energy' moving up the spine, which means that and that alone. The expansion of its meaning is an example of synechdoche. ( I used to think Synechdoche (syn-ECK-doe-key ) was a city in upstate New York, but now I know better, and think I should share my learning.  )
It's like if 'a cough' is expanded in meaning to mean 'a cold', we may have trouble discussing them clearly. My reasons are no more than that.
And indeed 'kundalini' is to 'the enlighenment process' as 'a cough' is to 'a cold'. 
VIL, welcome to the forum. And to the enlightenment process itself! |
Edited by - david_obsidian on Oct 06 2006 4:00:42 PM |
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 4:11:58 PM
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Kyman, thank you so much for sharing your experience. Wow, I am really at a loss for words and am truly amazed at what you went through. I will definitely reread your post and contemplate your words. Thank you, again:
quote:
Kyman: I didn't experience any inner body sensations. Just intense bliss which lasted nearly three months. During that three months I was like a child, mesmorized by all the newness around me. The realness around me.
I've heard a few others state that they had this same experience of bliss and it's an awsome state of being. I'm hoping that I can feel the same thing some day. Must have been amazing.
quote:
yogani: "Grace" can also come (seemingly out of nowhere) to those who have longed for awakening and engaged in practices in the past, perhaps an unremembered past. In that case, it can be called "karma."
Could be. Hmmm, I really don't know. But I do know the process, without a doubt, even before it happens. I'm just not sure if it was some sort of connection I had with my future self through the dream state or if it is from a past life.
Scott, I don't have a clue if it's possible or not to reach Enlightenment without the Kundalini Awakening. I believe all things are possible, but I don't have the knowlege to say one way or the other. Let's put it this way, the more I learn, the less I know and I'm not saying that to sound lofty - I mean it.
yogani, I really enjoy your posts, but I don't understand this:
quote:
yogani: If we are not continuing with practices, then the pattern of purification can stall in a particular area, giving rise to experiences that do not necessarily represent the broad progression of unfoldment.
Experiences do not produce spiritual progress. Practices do.
Do you think that there is an innate wisdom, intelligence [Kundalini] that can unblock certain areas without a particular practice that will produce spiritual progress? The reason that I ask is that I do not practice anything and the Kundalini is moving ever upward on its own accord. Or is it something I do subconsciously or does it have to do with Karma? I dunno.
VIL
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Edited by - VIL on Oct 06 2006 4:30:49 PM |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 4:45:42 PM
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Ditto on the thanks for sharing your experience Kyman. I too am at a loss for words
I'll buy it thus far that being in a body necessitates conscious awareness rising up the spine (if those are the right words). Though some zen masters (for instance) became suddenly enlightened, it wasn't written whether or not they experienced such a thing (kundalini rising) at the time of "enlightenment" or before or after. Other zen masters record, or at least talk in circles about kundalini/samadhi events. Even Tolle mentions the sucking up and out kind of thing. I'll also buy the past life conditioning, at least it sounds good. It's interesting, since we've been discussing this I've been getting that old vortex/stillness thing happening in my head It's nice to to be reminded that I'm not just sitting, and sitting, and nothing ever happens. Of course, I have been growing a lot over the months in good ways.
Peace and Love, Alan |
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yogani
USA
5201 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 5:12:08 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by VIL
...do you think that there is an innate wisdom, intelligence [Kundalini] that can unblock certain areas without a particular practice that will produce spiritual progress? The reason that I ask is that I do not practice anything and the Kundalini is moving ever upward on its own accord. Or is it something I do subconsciously or does it have to do with Karma? I dunno.
Hi VIL:
Yes, there is certainly in innate wisdom that is eager to open us with all the force of nature. This is an energy manifestation of our own inner nature. Our essential nature is inner silence, also called pure bliss consciousness. Before we consciously become "that" through daily deep meditation and other means, we can still be in partnership with the energy manifestations of it, or perhaps feel victim to the energy, depending on the degree of inner silence (our true self) we have stabilized in our nervous system. This is why we place deep meditation first in AYP -- because inner silence is the foundation of all spiritual progress. Kundalini is just energy moving instinctively inside us. We have to transcend it to manage it. Then it becomes relatively easy.
Regarding an active kundalini, it really does not matter how how we got to this point. What matters most is how we manage it from now on. In AYP there are a variety of ways to balance and safely promote the advance of kundalini unfoldment. Spinal breathing pranayama is chief among these.
In the case of Gopi Krishna, who I believe you mentioned, he spent years in arduous yoga practices with intense desire and effort, casting his fate to the wind, and eventually achieved a crown opening. Unfortunately, he did not have the knowledge either before or after his opening to conduct a more orderly transformation, so we have a famous story of kundalini throwing this fellow from pillar to post for 15+ years. Well, it does not have to be that way.
Which is not to say you have been trying to make this happen, at least not in recent memory. But now that it has happened, the question is, how are you going to handle it from now on? You are in a much better position than Gopi Krishna was, thanks to all the work that has been done by many people since his time.
How we proceed will determine whether we have a long drawn out process vascillating between excess and stagnation, or a progressive and smooth awakening that is not getting stuck as we spend more time analyzing the experiences of our purfication than engaging in the means that will move us steadily and safely onward through our opening.
While there is a vast innate intelligence at work, it is also very much a matter of cause and effect. Nothing happens without reason, and in spiritual matters that reason is embodied in our thoughts, feelings and actions.
Btw, quite a few have come to AYP over the past few years with previous spontaneous kundalini awakenings, some very extreme, and in most cases the practices have been useful for stabilizing the inner energies and leading to relatively smooth and steady progress. So there are tested resources here, not only for those who are starting out, but also for those who have found themselves in need of some tools on just about any part of the path.
On the other hand, if you would like to wing it, that is okay too. It is your path and no one here is going to tell you what to do. AYP is an open resource that anyone can use for self-directed practice. You will get plenty of suggestions though.
All the best!
The guru is in you.
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 9:44:43 PM
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Wow, great post, yogani. You gave me a lot to think about. Thanks again.
Okay, I've decided to try AYP, so I've begun reading about Yoga on your main page and we'll see where it goes from there:
VIL |
Edited by - VIL on Oct 06 2006 10:08:24 PM |
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Kyman
530 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2006 : 10:51:05 PM
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I'm afraid my experiences came off with more umph than there was at the time. I have no doubt that everyone here has experienced the same thing. Of course, it can't be exactly the same because we are all unique, but you get my point.
And thank you for giving me a chance to share. It feels so good to do so. |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2006 : 5:19:32 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Kyman
During this time I started meditating for the first time in over 13yrs. It was easy. I just layed in bed, and I was meditating naturally.
Around 8 months later I read autobiography of a yogi. I heard about the inner body, read about this strange inner world. Then I asked god to show me the way, that I sincerely wanted to develop myself this way.
Thank you for sharing this Kyman. That was indeed inspiring...
Just one question... you said meditation came naturally to you right? Did you know about it before or were you introduced to meditation before or did you read it up somewhere? Or did this state of bliss just naturally take you into meditation?
"autobiography of a yogi"...... was my saviour too.. got me looking..
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2006 : 5:22:32 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by VIL
Okay, I've decided to try AYP, so I've begun reading about Yoga on your main page and we'll see where it goes from there:
VIL
Welcome to the forum VIL. |
Edited by - Shanti on Oct 07 2006 5:45:23 PM |
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2006 : 10:51:35 PM
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Thank you, Shanti!
VIL |
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