Kundalini energy

In Hinduism, Kundalini ( sa, कुण्डलिनी, translit=kuṇḍalinī, translit-std=IAST, lit=coiled snake, ) is a form of divine feminine energy (or ''Shakti'') believed to be located at the base of the spine, in the ''muladhara''. It is an important concept in Śhaiva Tantra, where it is believed to be a force or power associated with the divine feminine or the formless aspect of the Goddess. This energy in the body, when cultivated and awakened through tantric practice, is believed to lead to spiritual liberation. Kuṇḍalinī is associated with Parvati or Adi Parashakti, the supreme being in Shaktism; and with the goddesses Bhairavi and Kubjika. The term, along with practices associated with it, was adopted into Hatha yoga in the 9th century. It has since then been adopted into other forms of Hinduism as well as modern spirituality and New age thought.

Kuṇḍalinī awakenings are said to occur by a variety of methods. Many systems of yoga focus on awakening Kuṇḍalinī through: meditation; pranayama breathing; the practice of asana and chanting of mantras. Kundalini Yoga is influenced by Shaktism and Tantra schools of Hinduism. It derives its name from its focus upon the awakening of kundalini energy through regular practice of Mantra, Tantra, Yantra, Asanas or Meditation.Swami Sivananda Radha, 2004, pp. 13, 15. The Kuṇḍalinī experience is frequently reported to be a distinct feeling of electric current running along the spine.

Etymology

The concept of Kuṇḍalinī is mentioned in the Upanishads (9th – 7th centuries BCE). The Sanskrit adjective ' means "circular, annular". It is mentioned as a noun for "snake" (in the sense of "coiled") in the 12th-century '' Rajatarangini'' chronicle (I.2). ' (a noun meaning "bowl, water-pot" is found as the name of a Nāga (serpent deity) in Mahabharata 1.4828). The 8th-century ''Tantrasadbhava Tantra'' uses the term ''kundalī'', glossed by David Gordon White as "she who is ring-shaped".

The use of ''kuṇḍalī'' as a name for Goddess Durga (a form of Shakti) appears often in Tantrism and Shaktism from as early as the 11th century in the ''Śaradatilaka''. It was adopted as a technical term in Hatha yoga during the 15th century, and became widely used in the Yoga Upanishads by the 16th century. Eknath Easwaran has paraphrased the term as "the coiled power", a force which ordinarily rests at the base of the spine, described as being "coiled there like a serpent".

In Shaiva Tantra

Kuṇḍalinī arose as a central concept in Shaiva Tantra, especially among the Śākta cults like the Kaula. In these Tantric traditions, Kuṇḍalinī is "the innate intelligence of embodied Consciousness". The first possible mention of the term is in the ''Tantrasadbhāva-tantra'' (eighth century), though other earlier tantras mention the visualization of Shakti in the central channel and the upward movement of prana or vital force (which is often associated with Kuṇḍalinī in later works).Flood (1996), p. 99. According to David Gordon White, this feminine spiritual force is also termed ''bhogavati,'' which has a double meaning of "enjoyment" and "coiled" and signifies her strong connection to bliss and pleasure, both mundane physical pleasure and the bliss of spiritual liberation (moksha), which is the enjoyment of Shiva's creative activity and ultimate union with the Goddess. White, David Gordon, ''The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India,'' University of Chicago Press, 1998, pp. 219–220.

In the influential Shakta tradition called Kaula, Kuṇḍalinī is seen as a "latent innate spiritual power", associated with the Goddess Kubjika (lit. "the crooked one"), who is the supreme Goddess ( Paradevi). She is also pure bliss and power (Shakti), the source of all mantras, and resides in the six chakras along the central channel. In Shaiva Tantra, various practices like pranayama, bandhas, mantra recitation and tantric ritual were used in order to awaken this spiritual power and create a state of bliss and spiritual liberation.Dyczkowski, Mark S. G. ''The Canon of the Saivagama and the Kubjika Tantras of the Western Kaula Tradition,'' Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1989, pp. 60, 89.

According to Abhinavagupta, the great tantric scholar and master of the Kaula and Trika lineages, there are two main forms of Kuṇḍalinī, an upward moving Kuṇḍalinī (''urdhva'') associated with expansion, and a downward moving Kuṇḍalinī (''adha'') associated with contraction. Flood, Gavin, ''The Tantric Body: The Secret Tradition of Hindu Religion,'' I.B. Tauris, 5 Jan 2006, pp. 160–161. According to the scholar of comparative religion Gavin Flood, Abhinavagupta links Kuṇḍalinī with "the power that brings into manifestation the body, breath, and experiences of pleasure and pain", with "the power of sexuality as the source of reproduction" and with:

In Vaishnavism

Despite mostly being associated with Shaiva and Shakta traditions,the concept of Kundalini Shakti is not at all alien to Vaishnavism. Narada Pancharatra, A popular Vaishnava text gives a detailed, although somewhat different description of Chakras and Kundalini Shakti.

Description

According to William F. Williams, Kuṇḍalinī is a type of religious experience within the Hindu tradition, within which it is held to be a kind of "cosmic energy" that accumulates at the base of the spine.

When awakened, Kuṇḍalinī is described as rising up from the muladhara chakra, through the central nadi (called '' sushumna'') inside or alongside the spine reaching the top of the head. The progress of Kuṇḍalinī through the different chakras is believed to achieve different levels of awakening and a mystical experience, until Kundalini finally reaches the top of the head, Sahasrara or crown chakra, producing an extremely profound transformation of consciousness.

Swami Sivananda Saraswati of the Divine Life Society stated in his book ''Kundalini Yoga'' that "Supersensual visions appear before the mental eye of the aspirant, new worlds with indescribable wonders and charms unfold themselves before the Yogi, planes after planes reveal their existence and grandeur to the practitioner and the Yogi gets divine knowledge, power and bliss, in increasing degrees, when Kuṇḍalinī passes through Chakra after Chakra, making them to bloom in all their glory..."

Kundalini experiences

Invoking Kundalini experiences

Yoga gurus consider that Kuṇḍalinī can be awakened by '' shaktipat'' (spiritual transmission by a Guru or teacher), or by spiritual practices such as yoga or meditation.

There are two broad approaches to Kuṇḍalinī awakening: active and passive. The ''active approach'' involves systematic physical exercises and techniques of concentration, visualization, pranayama (breath practice) and meditation under the guidance of a competent teacher. These techniques come from any of the main branches of yoga, and some forms of yoga, such as Kriya yoga, Kundalini yoga and which emphasize Kuṇḍalinī techniques.

The ''passive approach'' is instead a path of surrender where one lets go of all the impediments to the awakening rather than trying to actively awaken Kuṇḍalinī. A chief part of the passive approach is shaktipat where one individual's Kuṇḍalinī is awakened by another who already has the experience. Shaktipat only raises Kuṇḍalinī temporarily but gives the student an experience to use as a basis.

The twentieth century yogi and mystic Gopi Krishna, who helped to bring the concept of Kuṇḍalinī to the Western world, stated that

The American comparative religions scholar Joseph Campbell describes the concept of Kuṇḍalinī as "the figure of a coiled female serpent—a serpent goddess not of "gross" but "subtle" substance—which is to be thought of as residing in a torpid, slumbering state in a subtle center, the first of the seven, near the base of the spine: the aim of the yoga then being to rouse this serpent, lift her head, and bring her up a subtle nerve or channel of the spine to the so-called "thousand-petaled lotus" ( Sahasrara) at the crown of the head...She, rising from the lowest to the highest lotus center will pass through and wake the five between, and with each waking, the psychology and personality of the practitioner will be altogether and fundamentally transformed."

Hatha yoga

According to the '' Goraksasataka'', or "Hundred Verses of Goraksa", hatha yoga practices such as the mudras mula bandha, uddiyana bandha, and jalandhara bandha, and the pranayama practice of kumbhaka can awaken Kundalini. Another hatha yoga text, the '' Khecarīvidyā'', states that khechari mudra enables one to raise Kundalini and access the stores of amrita in the head, which subsequently flood the body.

Shaktipat

The spiritual teacher Meher Baba emphasized the need for a master when actively trying to awaken Kuṇḍalinī:

In his book, Building a Noble World, Shiv R. Jhawar describes his Shaktipat experience at Muktananda's public program at Lake Point Tower in Chicago on 16 September 1974 as follows:

Kundalini awakening

The experience of Kuṇḍalinī awakening can happen when one is either prepared or unprepared.

According to Hindu tradition, in order to be able to integrate this spiritual energy, a period of careful purification and strengthening of the body and nervous system is usually required beforehand. Yoga and Tantra propose that Kuṇḍalinī can be awakened by a guru (teacher), but body and spirit must be prepared by yogic austerities, such as pranayama, or breath control, physical exercises, visualization, and chanting. The student is advised to follow the path in an open-hearted manner.

Traditionally, people visited ashram

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