Silent Musings

If you type “Kundalini Awakening” into the Google search, you will be amazed at what has been written about the topic. Some of it is downright unbelievable. I know when I was first getting serious about meditation, I was really fascinated with the whole idea of it, and all the fantastical stories I read. I certainly wanted to experience it for myself, to know what all the hype was about, if nothing else.

Here is what two dictionaries have to say:

1) The vital force lying dormant within one until activated by the practice of yoga, which leads one toward spiritual power and eventual salvation.

2) Energy that lies dormant at the base of the spine until it is activated, as by the practice of yoga, and channeled upward through the chakras in the process of spiritual perfection.

Actually, those definitions aren’t too bad, although they don’t really say too much. I’ll say a little bit more here in terms of background, for those who are unfamiliar with the topic. The kundalini energy, also sometimes called Shakti, also similar to the Chinese concept of qi (or chi), is the vital force present in all creation. For the meditator or yogi, the experience of kundalini awakening is an emerging awareness of the presence of this life force, which often feels as though it originates from the root chakra (perineum). Several forms of meditation and yoga practice, such as kundalini yoga, kriya yoga, qigong, pranayama, and so forth, are designed to activate or awaken the kundalini within the practitioner’s body. However, it is less well known that just about any form of meditation practice that produces stillness (yes, even zazen and vipassana) will awaken the kundalini at some point, if practiced properly. In fact, the more forceful methods such as pranayama can be dangerous if overdone, because they are capable of awakening the kundalini in a practitioner who is not emotionally or physically prepared for the experience. Thus, I recommend letting it occur much more naturally and in due time.

Personally, I have tried many different meditation techniques, but I tend to prefer the simplest and most direct ones such as vipassana or zazen. So I know at least from my own experience that the kundalini can be awakened quite naturally without forceful breathing techniques. In fact, whatever I have to say about the topic personally comes from this experience. Yes, I have occasionally dabbled with pranayama, but never very much or very seriously.

The first thing I can say about the actual experience of kundalini awakening is that it can be somewhat stressful to the nervous system, and certainly there are times when it is strongly activated, and other times when it is not. When I say stress here, what I mean is that there is an experience of something working on you, you’re not quite sure what it is, but it is definitely rearranging you in a way. So that can occur as stressful. More often, it occurs as very pleasant, sometimes even more so than sexual experience. Prior to the real awakening of kundalini, there is a period of time in which the nadis (energy channels), also known as qi mai in Chinese acupuncture, are gradually opened throughout the body. This experience is often mistaken for kundalini awakening, because it does sometimes feel as though there is a force moving throughout the body, and sometimes a heat or burning, which is how kundalini is often described in writing. However, the real kundalini is much more powerful and blissful; it can also be warm at times, but usually in a mild way rather than extreme heat that sometimes occurs when nadis are opening.

The physical experiences of kundalini are certainly intriguing at the very least, however, it is the effect on the mental and emotional states that I think are far more important. One thing that is often written about it, and certainly seems to be true as far as I can tell, is that once it is awakened, the kundalini owns you in a way. You begin to realize that “your life” is not really “yours” in the sense that you thought it was. It is hard to put this into words, but in intellectual terms, it is the beginning of the real deconstruction of the ego. This is not always easy to face. It can result in severe reactions such as depression, loneliness, alienation, and even psychosis. More commonly, it produces mild versions of all of these symptoms. It also makes it difficult to function normally at times. There have been at least a few times where I just stayed home from work to rest because the kundalini activity was just too overwhelming to let me work. It wasn’t that I felt there was something wrong, rather, I just felt the need to let the process take place without distraction or energy being drained into some other activity.

There are schools of thought that place kundalini awakening as the root source of spiritual awakening and eventual enlightenment. This kind of thinking is misguided. Seeing one’s Original Nature is not dependent on kundalini awakening, nor is it guaranteed to the individual in whom the kundalini has been awakened. It is better to think of it as a result of meditation practice that is correlated with progress on the path. A simple metaphor to compare it to is losing weight while training to run triathalons. While losing weight may significantly improve your chances of success, and is inevitable if you started out overweight and train properly, by itself it isn’t worth much if your goal is to compete in triathalons. It’s the training that counts. Kundalini awakening is similar. The real training, meditation, is what makes the difference; and if you meditate properly, the kundalini will awaken. It will even help you with your meditation. But it isn’t the final result, nor will it alone help you to awaken spiritually or become enlightened.

Hopefully whatever I’ve had to say here has been useful or valuable in some way. If nothing else, I hope that perhaps I’ve contributed in some way to removing the big mystery surrounding this strange word, kundalini. In a way, it is part of the ultimate Mystery, and yet it is also quite an ordinary part of the spiritual path, even though there are many people who will never experience it in their lifetimes. I also know from experience that if you are curious about it, but have never experienced it, then there isn’t anything I can say that will satisfy your curiosity. By all means, definitely find out for yourself. But if you take anything from this writing, at least take away the trust that it will occur for you just as it should, without any need for forceful methods on your part. The best way is to sit quietly and let Grace be your guide.