Kundalini & Chakras

[Unseeking Seeker]

Originally Posted by running

its sorta grown into two topics is what happend. one being the process. the other being the practice.

the practice can include many things such as meditation, yoga, pranayama, trance, to name a few. the one coming up here lately that may be creating some confusion is presence. presence by a guru wich could include the planet, a physical being, guides of various types and so on.

somebody or something with some power to rub off on another is a common practice since time memorial. it could be said imo that who and what they are is of little importance. but if they have the power and one is coming into contact with a quickening happens of the unraveling to ones own power.

for a lot of people to help open up to such a relationship could be helpful to build trust and helpful insights and understanding as the process unfolds. so for some it could be as important from the personal aspects as the power itself.

in the end one becomes his or her own power. but therr is a process to that. and even then relationships could have value.

for me its easier to mostly just relate to the bliss and silence itself. but there were times conversations through me from beings was helpful. perhaps again sometime in the future. i don't know? its more natural for me to feel my way to deeper depths since that is most accesible for me. so i don't personally think about beings like many others do. although i do when somebody brings it up. cause im aware of how powerful presence is as a practice.

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Yes ... and at the same time the process as in sequence of unfolding is not fixed as we can see from this thread itself. As for the practice ... the core of each practice, be it meditation, prayer or an induced breathing system or chanting is essentially to shift attention away from association with ego (separateness) delusional limitation thereby connecting to the source.

Bliss is the being-ness in divine connectedness in a continuum. The stretching of the continuum is dependent upon our attention prioritising the blissful orientation. If our consciousness is internalised we are connected. If our attention is deflected as in glued to any aspect of association in the external ... attachment (fear/desire), the bliss continuum is interrupted.

Interaction with higher beings would again depend upon their wish to connect and our receptivity to accept. Voluntary on both sides. Again, there need not be any form as such although we tend to associate ‘seeing’ with the sensory aspect which again is natural since that’s how we imbibe/ experience ... through senses. Ultimately we cannot ignore a telepathic or a definitive ‘out of the box’ interaction if it stares us in the face! Kind of like the sun shining ... needs no introduction.

The feeling of bliss also ultimately is ‘sensed’ within although the type of sensing is subtler and transcending the earlier known joyous embracing. I call it all nodes within in ecstatic synchronous alignment. Someone else may use different words ...

The knowing which needs no validation is true. And yet changing, evolving.

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[NoOne]

It would seem, that everyone experiences spiritual awakening slightly differently. Not everyone is comfortable involving higher-plane beings in their awakening and would prefer a more abstract experience. In other words, if you choose not to see or experience something, you won’t, and your senses will choose to interpret what you are perceiving in a manner that suits your belief system.

I started out as an Atheist, but despite that I always knew there was a spiritual realm that we can’t see. I slowly accepted that there may be beings in the unseen that we can interact with and my interest in ancient history any myth drove that interaction. At times, I was more comfortable with a psychological interpretation of divinity, thinking of higher being as mere extensions of my higher Self, or alteregos, if you will. However, since they visited others on my behalf, often on the other side of the planet, I had to disabuse myself of yet another comforting illusion. We can’t deny the reality of deities, however much we may prefer to leave them out of the picture.

How does that relate to Kundalini and Chakras, though?

James Woodroffe, in the Serpent Power, writes about various Siddhis, or powers, that get unlocked as the Serpent moves from Chakra to Chakra. Most of them are wildly exaggerated of pure fiction, even. Yet, there are indeed some Siddhis that appear to be real, though none would make for an interesting spectacle. They are mostly inner abilities, that get enhanced with the extra power provided by the reproductive system as it turns its attention upwards and inwards, rather than its usual flow of downwards and outwards. They mostly seem to relate to communication, inspiration, healing and connection. They all flow from a connection to Heaven, through the Crown Chakra. This connection to a higher realm and a higher power is behind all inspiration, whether artistic, scientific, spiritual or religious.

On my own spiritual journey, I went from Atheism to accepting the reality of some sort of Theism, through a gradual process. I now realise that my rejection of God was the main reason I suffered from a stubborn and unyielding blockage in my heart chakra. Ironically, it was divine grace and intervention that removed it, yet I rationalised the intervention away in atheistic terms to help me explain away the inexplicable. I had to relate to the gods as a contactee, who was dealing with Aliens and they indulged me, for a while, to preserve my fragile sense of self. Slowly, surely and slyly, they moved me away from my atheism and gradually eased me into the idea that perhaps religion isn’t all evil and destructive after all and that the idea of an infinite and benevolent creator actually makes logical and rational sense.

One must also not discount the importance of coming to terms with one’s own spiritual, cultural and religious background. I’m a Roman Catholic by upbringing and even during my time in India, I attended a Catholic school (St Paul’s in Neyveli, Tamil Nadu). My Atheism was largely a reaction to the Paedophile scandal that was engulfing the church in Ireland when I lived there and it was amplified by the extreme materialism of Singapore, when I moved there after Ireland. I believe there is no other country in the world so focussed on business and making money than the Lion City (that’s what Singapura means in Sanskrit). London, on the other hand, piqued my interest in the occult and spirituality in general, because there is so much hidden magic (and I mean that literally) embedded in the most unlikely places. It is a place that looks business-like on the surface, but in truth is the pre-eminent occult and spiritual capital of the world. Moving back to my native Hungary has helped me overcome my agoraphobia, which was triggered by the craziness and sheer size of London. It also allowed me to re-connect with a more human-sized living environment and give me better access to nature. In hindsight all of it, my entire life, was clearly planned in advance and I was told as much by higher beings.

At this point, I’m cool with Christianity. My rejection of God was truly silly, little more than an adolescent Tantrum. I’ve even made my peace with Jesus, even though people who keep throwing his name around as if he was their personal trainer or something, still irritate me. I realise now however that he is a truly excellent role model and I can learn a lot from him. Making my peace with my Christian background and upbringing has given me incredible peace and serenity. I still follow other traditions that suit me better, but accepting my Christian roots has proven crucial in mending my heart and filling the hole that was left there by my rejection of God. We really make a Huge effort to deny the reality of a benevolent and loving Creator, in whatever form, and I think it is making our entire society crazy. It is possible to overdo it of course, with religious fundamentalism, but we should all strive for some sort of balance between the profane and the divine.

[Shivani Devi]

Sorry to be pedantic, but it is Sir John Woodroffe and not James Woodroffe or his Nom de plume - Arthur Avalon.

Please continue.

[NoOne]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

Sorry to be pedantic, but it is Sir John Woodroffe and not James Woodroffe or his Nom de plume - Arthur Avalon.

Please continue.

Ok, thanks for spotting it. Unfortunately it was too late to edit the message, but your correction should suffice.

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

Yes NoOne, amazing really how everything unfolds automatically.

On my part, even though born and brought up in India surrounded by several variants of Hindu tradition, intermingled with Sikhs, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians and other sects, I’ve never identified with a ritualistic pattern of religion. Agnostic self inquiry has been the way ... intellectually on say somewhat like Krishnamurthy’s pattern and intuitively ... well, quiet contemplation & meditation with conscious choice to slowly weed out ferality in thought, word & deed. Only since the last 2-3 years there has been a consciousness shift for whatever reasons ... but I’m not complaining considering the rapidity of the unfoldings! Yet not seeking either.

I’ve noticed many people who have had some deep spiritual experiences off late. There is a definite shift. Not for all but at least for those who wish to look within.

On kundalini the closest correlated experience matching what I’ve experienced recently (after three Oneness through crown chakra blessings as graced) is as on post 196 ... video of Igor Kufayev where the cool explosion at heart centre stretched in a long, long continuum with all chakras and nodes enlivened.

Of course, I see that experiences vary in as felt. The bottom line however seems ingraining Love within in colourations moving from joy to bliss to compassion. No absoluteness about it ... we don’t leap out of bed donating all our wealth to charity but yes .... empathy, truth, mindfulness, nonjudgmentalness, a kindly eye and acceptance do build up. We can see it. Reduction of egoic content ... haha! Stated egolessly

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[Shivani Devi]

My experience was similar, but also different to No-One's experience.

I grew up, a white caucasian female in Australia and as a child, I always believed in a Divine presence/God ...it was the only way I could make sense out of anything around me...not particularly helped by uncaring, atheistic parents who would always answer my impertinent questions with: "God did it" instead of spending any time giving me the "scientific version" of things..I had to find that out for myself later. "God did it" simply meant "I don't know why myself, so shut up now and run along".

I tried Christianity for a while, and enjoyed the Monotheistic notion of a "Sky Daddy" up there somewhere...I just loved and lapped up the whole Old Testament, but Jesus and the New Testament did absolutely nothing FOR me...I also discovered that Christianity really didn't answer my deep questions either, even though I enjoyed colouring pictures of Noah and all the animals in Sunday School.

It wasn't until my family moved to Bali, Indonesia that things really took off and I was placed in the Balinese education system and spent a lot of my free time watching puppet plays about the Mahabharata and Ramayana, the Barong and Kris dance, the Kechak Dance...not understanding a word they were saying..so I decided to study Balinese and Sanskrit so that I could at least. I was totally intrigued by men trying to impale themselves with daggers and women going into heavy trance and screaming or fainting...totally intrigued and enthralled by that.

This came to a head when my father got an assignment to travel to Malaysia to cover the Thaipusam festival and not only were people trying to impale themselves with daggers, but now they were driving them, and fish hooks and metal skewers through their skin with heavy weights placed upon them...no blood, no pain...so at the tender age of 14, I made two life choice decisions...first that I was going to dedicate my life to the study of Hinduism by becoming a Hindu myself...and secondly, I wanted to find out what triggered these "altered states of consciousness" and it wasn't long before I experienced it for myself...when my gaze fell upon a beautiful picture of Lord Shiva...and my whole reaction was "have we met? you look SO familiar to me" only to be met with "I have been waiting for this moment, my love...welcome home".

After that, I wanted to know how to worship/serve Lord Shiva and what he could teach me.

I returned to the hotel in Melacca, and something made me look under the bed I was sleeping in...there, I found an old, dusty book; "Lord Siva and His Worship" by Swami Sivananda Saraswati...I knew then, that this had been fated from the start...it was my destiny.

We returned to Bali and I became interested in Tantra and Martial Arts..my parents were pleased that I was taking up a "sport" and how I was also interested in the culture of the country I found myself in...as long as I never discussed it with THEM... because they were just there to do a job...they couldn't care less about anything but doing photoshoots and hotel ratings for all the travel mags back home in Australia and then going to the beach when it was all over.

After a few years of traveling around Bali and Java (they had to drag me away screaming from Borobudur and Prambanan temples), we returned to Sydney and I spent most weekends looking in Australia for what I had experienced in South East Asia...there wasn't much...still isn't.

I found myself at the Hare Krishna temple every Saturday afternoon, stuffing my face with Prasadam and even joining the devotees in Sankirtan...but while they all chanted praises to Lord Krishna..I had tasted something much deeper...more profound than any of that, so I applied Bhakti Yoga that I learned in my two years being with the devotees at ISKCON, to the love deep inside my heart - Lord Shiva, feeling like the biggest hypocrite out there...I knew this wasn't going to last.

I left ISKCON when I found the Theosophical Society and the first of my mentors, Geoffrey Hodson:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Hodson

His health was failing by the time I met him and within six months of our meeting, he passed away...but not before introducing me to Kundalini (which I had briefly heard about in Bali a few years before) and he gave me a cassette tape he recorded; "Kundalini, the Life Force in Man" - I played that tape on my walkman many, many times over the next few months, until the tape got chewed up badly and I broke it trying to extract it from being wound around the "heads", however, I was also a member of the Adyar Library, so it was there I found and borrowed "The Serpent Power" by Sir John Woodroffe, "Shakta and Shakti" by the same author, as well as works by Pundit Gopi Krishna and my favourite author on the subject, Harish Johari. I read "Breath, Mind and Consciousness" until the covers fell off.

At the same time, my college library had just received the whole set of Tuesday Lobsang Rampa books (before it was known that the Tibetan Lama was just a plumber from Bristol, England called "Cyril") and I also found two of Alain Danielou's books on Shaivism from a very old second hand esoteric bookstore in Sydney...suffice to say I had enough reading material for the next 2 years...and spent the next 2 years doing JUST that! At the expense of my college grades, unfortunately..but being the only one in my college who was fluent in Sanskrit had to amount to something right? Apparently not. LOL

During this time, I was fortunate enough to meet Swami Satyananda Saraswati twice...he became my second mentor and I was also given two books "Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha" and "Sure Ways to Self Realisation" to study, and I began the practice of Hatha Yoga under his tutelage. It was only later I realised I have been receiving the Divine transmission through the Saraswati Guru Parampara all along and down the line (and in 2001, I took Mantra Diksha from Swami Chidananda Saraswati).

The mantra Swamiji gave me, was one for the invocation of the Goddess Durga:

https://www.google.com/amp/ritsin.co...urga.html/amp/

Well, at that point, I sorta said to Swamiji "no disrespect to you, sir..but I am a Shiva Bhakta and I was hoping for a Shiva mantra".

With that, he laughed and said "I just gave you one".

I had the look of puzzled indignation on my face, going "but how?"

He just replied "It is only through Shakti that Shiva is known... hasn't all your studies taught you anything, my dear?"

Well, that is my story...or part of it anyway... possibly the highlights of my journey up until I experienced it all for myself about two years ago.

Thank you for reading.

[Shivani Devi]

Oh, by the way, Igor Kufayev is my current teacher (on YouTube of course).

I also enjoy the videos of Craig Holliday and Peter Marchand (who is a direct disciple of Harish Johari).

These master's teach Kundalini Yoga and Tantra the way it SHOULD be taught! The way I learned it from my mentors back in the 1980's.

Watching their videos is like a beautiful trip down nostalgia lane.

[NoOne]

Thanks for sharing Shivani. Now I really get why the Goddess likes you so much. Love Melaka, been there a few times and really enjoyed immersing myself in Peranakan (Straits Chinese) culture. Some of my friends from Singapore are also Peranakan.

My exposure to Hinduism was far more limited. I was a kid when we lived in India and later, when I developed an interest in it, it was damned hard to find information on anything related to Hinduism in my country. I also read some ISKCON material, but never really liked their cultish ways. I'm not a believer in Westerners dressing up in Eastern garb and pretending they are something they're clearly not. There's just something off about it. Also, whilst I love Asian food, my Western stomach and digestive tract has entirely different ideas about what it can take. My years living and travelling in Asia has had a seriously negative effect on my long-term intestinal health. We all must eat the food we grew up with and that's just the way it is.

For myself, I have lived the past 30 years traveling with Native American Medicine men and women.

Doing ceremonies in a way that we work directly with the Creator 1st on down to the to elemental spirits.

At the same time purifying our heart minds and bodies in ceremonies while helping others in what ever needs they have.
Be it a doctoring our finding a lost loved one or doing Spiritual battle.(which is upsetting to me, but seems necessary at times.)

We many times operate in total darkness and operate on spiritual sight and energies
felt experienced through the body and intuitive knowing.Never put to much conditions on what
is aura and kundalini. So it is a different language to me.
But we do desire to hollow ourselves out to let the spirit flow through us. Always praying from the Creator down
as to have protection from negative spirits.
Many times we put our lives on the line in trust of the Creator to do the spiritual work and it is always GOOD.

[sentient]

Originally Posted by ImthatIm

Never put to much conditions on what
is aura and kundalini. So it is a different language to me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you ….. you answered what I wished to ask you.
Not in shamanism either – not that I know of. Like Kundalini, what the heck is Kundalini?
I really do not doubt the experience nor the spiritual validity of it, so I am curious.

As far as I know, from shamanic point of view and from my limited experience ..... you are taught nonduality (as a base) – you awaken - go through shamanic death experience (Thunderbird sounds, lightning strikes) – Spirit descends – you get “powers” like the ghosts have, but only after you have died to the self/ego and become a hollow, empty channel.
Besides we really do/did not have a separate-self-id either, but collective/tribal id.

But we do desire to hollow ourselves out to let the spirit flow through us.

That’s it, precisely. To serve the clan/tribe etc.
So your astral dreaming serves that purpose as well, if you are a healer, you might dream of a plant, oil – whatnot for cure.
Or you are there to take care of the dying or recently departed, who are in a shock …. like plane crash sites, tsunamis etc. But “you” don’t do it – it is in the “Spirit’s design” that directs you there.


There was/is no such thing as seeking occult powers for separate-self-id. Though our shamen were accused of it and were witch-hunted down for that by the invaders who projected that notion onto our shamen.

Always praying from the Creator down
as to have protection from negative spirits.
Many times we put our lives on the line in trust of the Creator to do the spiritual work and it is always GOOD.

Yes, absolutely!


Though to detect energy fields – that you learn early.
Sacred sites, ‘spirit trees’, rocks, people …… etc. etc.

And chakras opening – well, the symbolism is familiar ……. especially the crown …. though we had different mythological descriptions for it ....

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