Traditionally, kundalini is described as an energy that lies dormant
at the base of our spines which can be awakened in some conducive circumstances. This energy is said to then rise to the head where it opens the crown chakra and causes enlightenment.
This description is not wrong but is extremely simplified. It is akin to saying that sexuality lies dormant at the base of the spine in children, awakens in puberty, rises to the heart and causes a loving relationship with a spouse. Everybody will probably agree that it is not as simple as that and that it takes a lot more than puberty to establish a loving marriage.
The same can be said about a kundalini awakening. Just like puberty awakens in us the desire for romance, sexuality and relationships, so does kundalini awaken the desire in us for higher spiritual states. This desire is just as strong and pervasive as the new desires awakened in puberty and in neither scenarios can it be switched off again, even if we desire to go back to the innocence and unawareness of our previous state.
What are higher spiritual states?
In a nutshell, higher spiritual states mean to experience more love, compassion, honesty and authenticity. People in the kundalini process have a much stronger desire than before to make this world a better place, have more loving relationships, work in a healing profession and become more authentic in their self-expression. Due to this desire, most people face the challenge to change many areas of their lives in order to live in a more loving and authentic way. Relationships with family members have to be improved or made more distant, a career change may be necessary, a move to the country and an overall pruning of superficial and meaningless activities in exchange for more spiritual practice and stillness.
Higher spiritual states also mean an opening up of a dimension of consciousness that was inaccessible before, just like the dimension of romance and sexuality opens up for teens when they go through puberty. There are four dimensions of consciousness that open up during the kundalini process:
Opening up of our unconscious mind
The first dimension that opens up for most people is their own unconscious mind. This means that people may remember many things of their past that they had forgotten, including suppressed childhood traumas and unacceptable animalistic impulses. Some people even remember previous lives in which they were both victims and perpetrators. During this process, small feelings and moods suddenly explode into massive emotions that seem impossible to control.
On the plus side, this purging process gives us the opportunity to purify our own mind completely. With time, our positive emotions also become enlarged and people become able to experience states of ecstasy and bliss that were completely inaccessible before.
Ability to read the minds of others
Just as we get more access to our own unconscious mind, we will become more able to see into the minds of other people. We may become able to feel other people’s emotions, we may sense their hidden motivations and ego games more clearly and we may even become clairvoyant and telepathic. In the beginning, these experiences can be very confusing and overwhelming but once we gain more clarity in this process, we can use these abilities for spiritual healing and influence others in a positive way.
Experiences of the paranormal
In the kundalini process, everyone gets paranormal experiences sooner or later. These may be visions, extremely unlikely coincidences, premonitions, contact with invisible entities, speaking with the dead and many others. Some people become very frightened of these experiences while others take them in their stride. In either case, we can learn to use our access to the paranormal dimension to help others more deeply; for example, by giving reliable guidance through channelling.
Stabilisation of genuine spiritual realisation
The ultimate purpose of the kundalini process is the attainment and stabilisation of higher spiritual states. Most people in this process may at some point have the experience that they can now read spiritual scriptures and actually understand them through their own experience. This is a most wonderful confirmation of being on the right track and of being able to help others more efficiently.
The abuse of kundalini power
At the end, I would like to give one short warning. Just like sexuality can be abused to bring all sorts of suffering to others, so kundalini power can be abused to exploit gullible people. Many successful charlatans or cult leaders had awakened kundalini and used it to dazzle people and take advantage of them. This is a definite danger and should be a warning that we have to try very hard to stay on the right path once we have access to this awesome power.
Tara Springett is a fully qualified Tibetan Buddhist teacher who has specialised in working with kundalini awakening symptoms (or spiritual crisis). She offers skype/phone sessions. Find more information here: kundalini healing
Check out Tara’s new book about kundalini awakening here
Find information about sessions with Tara here: kundalini healing
Find more information about kundalini syndrome: what not to do
.Find out more about kundalini on my second website www.kundalinisymptoms.com
If you like the info don’t forget to press the facebook ‘like button’ so that others may benefit from it, too. Thanks a lot.
