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InHinduism,kundalini (Sanskrit:कुण्डलिनी,romanized: kuṇḍalinī,lit. 'coiled snake',pronunciationⓘ) is a form of divine feminineenergy (orShakti) believed to be located at the base of the spine, in themuladhara. It is an important concept inŚhaiva Tantra, where it is believed to be a force or power associated with thedivine feminine or the formless aspect of the Goddess. This energy in the body, when cultivated and awakened throughtantric practice, is believed to lead tospiritual liberation. Kuṇḍalinī is associated with the goddessParvati orAdi Parashakti, the supreme being inShaktism, and with the goddessesBhairavi andKubjika.[1][2] The term, along with practices associated with it, was adopted intoHatha Yoga in the 9th century.[3] It has since then been adopted into other forms of Hinduism as well as modernspirituality andNew Age thought.
Kuṇḍalinī awakenings are said to occur by a variety of methods. Many systems of yoga focus on awakening kuṇḍalinī through:meditation,pranayama, the practice ofasana, and chanting ofmantras.[4]Kundalini yoga is influenced byShaktism andTantra schools of Hinduism. It derives its name from its focus upon the awakening of kundalini energy through regular practice ofmantra,Tantra,yantra,asanas ormeditation.[4][5] When kundalini is awakened spontaneously or without guidance it can lead to kundalini syndrome which sometimes presents aspsychosis.[6]
The concept of Kuṇḍalinī is mentioned in theUpanishads (9th – 7th centuries BCE).[7] The Sanskrit adjectivekuṇḍalin means "circular, annular". It is mentioned as a noun for "snake" (in the sense of "coiled") in the 12th-centuryRajatarangini chronicle (I.2).Kuṇḍa (a noun meaning "bowl, water-pot" is found as the name of aNāga (serpent deity) inMahabharata 1.4828). The 8th-centuryTantrasadbhava Tantra uses the termkundalī, glossed byDavid Gordon White as "she who is ring-shaped".[8]
The use ofkuṇḍalī as a name for GoddessDurga (a form ofShakti) appears often inTantrism andShaktism from as early as the 11th century in theŚaradatilaka.[9] It was adopted as a technical term inHatha yoga during the 15th century, and became widely used in theYoga 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".[10]
Kuṇḍalinī arose as a central concept inShaiva Tantra, especially among theŚākta sects like theKaula. In theseTantric traditions, Kuṇḍalinī is "the innate intelligence of embodied Consciousness".[11] The first possible mention of the term is in theTantrasadbhāva-tantra (eighth century), but other earlier tantras mention the visualization ofShakti in the central channel and the upward movement ofprana or vital force (which is often associated with Kuṇḍalinī in later works).[12] According to David Gordon White, this feminine spiritual force is also termedbhogavati, 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.[13]
In the influential Shakta tradition called Kaula, Kuṇḍalinī is seen as a "latent innate spiritual power" associated with the GoddessKubjika (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 likepranayama,bandhas,mantra recitation, and tantric ritual were used to awaken this spiritual power and create a state of bliss and spiritual liberation.[2][13]
According toAbhinavagupta, the great tantric scholar and master of the Kaula andTrika 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.[14] According to the scholar of comparative religionGavin 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:
the force of the syllableha in the mantra and the concept ofaham, the supreme subjectivity as the source of all, witha as the initial movement of consciousness andm its final withdrawal. Thus we have an elaborate series of associations, all conveying the central conception of the cosmos as a manifestation of consciousness, of pure subjectivity, with Kuṇḍalinī understood as the force inseparable from consciousness, who animates creation and who, in her particularised form in the body, causes liberation through her upward, illusion-shattering movement.[14]
Despite mostly being associated withShaiva andShakta traditions, the concept of Kundalini Shakti is not at all alien toVaishnavism. A popular Vaishnava text calledNarada Pancharatra gives a detailed, although somewhat different description of Chakras and Kundalini Shakti compared to Shaivism and Shaktism.[15]
According to William F. Williams, kuṇḍalinī is a type ofreligious experience within the Hindu tradition, within which it is held to be a kind of "cosmic energy" that accumulates at the base of thespine.[16]
When awakened, kuṇḍalinī is described as rising up from themuladharachakra, through the centralnadi (calledsushumna) 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 amystical experience, until Kundalini finally reaches the top of the head,Sahasrara or crownchakra, producing a profound transformation of consciousness.[17]: 5–6
SwamiSivananda Saraswati of theDivine Life Society stated in his bookKundalini 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..."[18]
Yoga gurus consider that Kuṇḍalinī can be awakened byshaktipat (spiritual transmission by a Guru or teacher), or by spiritual practices such as yoga or meditation.[19][page needed]
There are two broad approaches to Kuṇḍalinī awakening: active and passive. Theactive 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 asKriya yoga andKundalini yoga, which emphasize Kuṇḍalinī techniques.[20]
Thepassive 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 isshaktipat 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.[20]
The twentieth century yogi and mysticGopi Krishna, who helped to bring the concept of Kuṇḍalinī to the Western world, stated that[21]
As the ancient writers have said, it is the vital force orprana which is spread over both the macrocosm, the entire Universe, and the microcosm, the human body... The atom is contained in both of these. Prana is life-energy responsible for the phenomena of terrestrial life and for life on other planets in the universe. Prana in its universal aspect is immaterial. But in the human body, ...The brain is alive only because of Prana... an enlightened person ... [becomes] compassionate and more detached. There would be less ego, without any tendency toward violence or aggression or falsehood. The awakened life energy is the mother of morality, because all morality springs from this awakened energy. Since the very beginning, it has been this evolutionary energy that has created the concept of morals in human beings.[21]
The Americancomparative religions scholarJoseph 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."[22]
According to theGorakṣaśataka, or "Hundred Verses of Goraksa",hatha yoga practices such as the mudrasmula bandha, uddiyana bandha, andjalandhara bandha, and thepranayama practice ofkumbhaka can awaken Kundalini.[24] Another hatha yoga text, theKhecarīvidyā, states thatkhechari mudra enables one to raise Kundalini and access the stores ofamrita in the head, which subsequently flood the body.[25]
The spiritual teacherMeher Baba emphasized the need for a master when actively trying to awaken Kuṇḍalinī:[26]
Kundalini is a latent power in the higher body. When awakened, it pierces through six chakras or functional centers and activates them. Without a master, the awakening of the kundalini cannot take anyone very far on the Path; and such indiscriminate or premature awakening is fraught with dangers of self-deception as well as the misuse of powers. The kundalini enables man to consciously cross the lower planes and it ultimately merges into the universal cosmic power of which it is a part, and which also is at times described as kundalini ... [but it] cannot dispense with the need for the grace of a Perfect Master.[26]
In his book,Building a Noble World, Shiv R. Jhawar describes his Shaktipat experience at Muktananda's public program atLake Point Tower in Chicago on 16 September 1974 as follows:
Baba [Swami Muktananda] had just begun delivering his discourse with his opening statement: 'Today's subject is meditation. ... 'Kundalini starts dancing when one repeats Om Namah Shivaya.' Hearing this, I mentally repeated the mantra, I noticed that my breathing was getting heavier. Suddenly, I felt a great impact of a rising force within me. The intensity of this rising kundalini force was so tremendous that my body lifted up a little and fell flat into the aisle; my eyeglasses flew off. As I lay there with my eyes closed, I could see a continuous fountain of dazzling white lights erupting within me. In brilliance, these lights were brighter than the sun but possessed no heat at all. I was experiencing the thought-free state of "I am", realizing that "I" have always been, and will continue to be, eternal. I was fully conscious and completely aware while I was experiencing the pure "I am", a state of supreme bliss. Outwardly, at that precise moment, Baba delightfully shouted from his platform, ‘I didn't do anything. The Energy has caught someone.'[27]'
The experience of Kuṇḍalinī awakening can happen when one is either prepared or unprepared.[20]
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.[28] Yoga andTantra propose that Kuṇḍalinī can be awakened by aguru (teacher), but body and spirit must be prepared by yogic austerities, such aspranayama, or breath control, physical exercises, visualization, and chanting. The student is advised to follow the path in an open-hearted manner.[20]
Kuṇḍalinī is considered to occur in thechakra andnadis of thesubtle body. Each chakra is said to contain special characteristics[29] and with proper training, moving Kuṇḍalinī through these chakras can help express or open these characteristics.
Kuṇḍalinī is described as a sleeping, dormant potential force in the human organism.[30]
It is one of the components of an esoteric description of the "subtle body", which consists ofnadis (energy channels),chakras (psychic centres),prana (subtle energy), andbindu (drops of essence).
Kuṇḍalinī is described as being coiled up at the base of the spine. The description of the location can vary slightly, from the rectum to the navel.[8]: 229–231 Kuṇḍalinī is said to reside in the triangularsacrum bone in three and a half coils.[31]
Swami Vivekananda describes Kuṇḍalinī briefly in his bookRaja Yoga as follows:[32]
According to the Yogis, there are two nerve currents in the spinal column, called Pingalâ and Idâ, and a hollow canal called Sushumnâ running through the spinal cord. At the lower end of the hollow canal is what the Yogis call the "Lotus of the Kundalini". They describe it as triangular in a form in which... there is a power called the Kundalini, coiled up. When that Kundalini awakens, it tries to force a passage through this hollow canal, and as it rises step by step, as it were, layer after layer of the mind becomes open... When it reaches the brain, the Yogi is perfectly detached from the body and mind; the soul finds itself free. ... The left is the Ida, the right Pingala, and that hollow canal which runs through the center of the spinal cord is the Sushumna. ... The canal is closed at the lower end, ... near what is called the sacral plexus... The different plexuses that have their centers in the spinal canal can very well stand for the different "lotuses" of the Yogi.[32]
When KuṇḍalinīShakti is conceived as a goddess, then, when it rises to the head, it unites itself with the Supreme Being of (Lord Shiva). The aspirant then becomes engrossed in deep meditation and infinite bliss.Paramahansa Yogananda in his bookGod Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita states:[33]
At the command of the yogi in deep meditation, this creative force turns inward and flows back to its source in the thousand-petaled lotus, revealing the resplendent inner world of the divine forces and consciousness of the soul and spirit. Yoga refers to this power flowing from the coccyx to spirit as the awakened kundalini.
Paramahansa Yogananda also states:
The yogi reverses the searchlights of intelligence, mind and life force inward through a secret astral passage, the coiled way of the kundalini in the coccygeal plexus, and upward through the sacral, the lumbar, and the higher dorsal, cervical, and medullary plexuses, and the spiritual eye at the point between the eyebrows, to reveal finally the soul's presence in the highest center (Sahasrara) in the brain.[33]
Krishnamacharya, often called the "father of modern yoga", described kuṇḍalinī differently. To him, Kuṇḍalinī is not an energy that rises: it is a blockage that prevents prāṇa vāyu (breath) from entering the suṣumnā and rising. This interpretation came partly from his own experience and partly from teachings of two sects of Vishnu-worshiping temple priests.[34]
Sir John Woodroffe (1865–1936) – also known by his pseudonym Arthur Avalon – was a BritishOrientalist whose published works stimulated a far-reaching interest inHindu philosophy andYogic practices. While serving as a High Court Judge inCalcutta, he studiedSanskrit and Hindu philosophy, particularly as it related to HinduTantra. He translated numerous originalSanskrit texts and lectured onIndian philosophy, Yoga and Tantra. His book,The Serpent Power: The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga became a major source for many modern Western adaptations ofKundalini yoga practice. It presents an academically and philosophically sophisticated translation of, and commentary on, two key Eastern texts:Shatchakranirūpana (Description and Investigation into the Six Bodily Centers) written by Tantrik Pūrnānanda Svāmī (1526) and thePaduka-Pancakā from the Sanskrit of a commentary by Kālīcharana (Five-fold Footstool of the Guru). The Sanskrit term "Kundali Shakti" translates as "Serpent Power". Kundalini is thought to be an energy released within an individual using specific meditation techniques. It is represented symbolically as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine.[35]
When Woodroffe later commented upon the reception of his work he clarified his objective, "All the world (I speak of course of those interested in such subjects) is beginning to speak of Kundalinî Shakti."[36] He described his intention as follows: "We, who are foreigners, must place ourselves in the skin of the Hindu, and must look at their doctrine and ritual through their eyes and not our own."[36]
Western awareness of Kuṇḍalinī was strengthened by the interest of Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalystCarl Jung (1875–1961).[37]
"Jung's seminar on Kundalini yoga presented to the Psychological Club in Zurich in 1932 was widely regarded as a milestone in the psychological understanding of Eastern thought and of the symbolic transformations of inner experience. Kundalini yoga presented Jung with a model for the developmental phases of higher consciousness, and he interpreted its symbols in terms of the process of individuation, with sensitivity towards a new generation's interest in alternative religions and psychological exploration."
In the introduction to Jung's bookThe Psychology of Kundalini Yoga,Sonu Shamdasani puts forth:
"The emergence of depth psychology was historically paralleled by the translation and widespread dissemination of the texts of yoga... for the depth psychologies sought to liberate themselves from the stultifying limitations of Western thought to develop maps of inner experience grounded in the transformative potential of therapeutic practices. A similar alignment of "theory" and "practice" seemed to be embodied in the yogic texts that moreover had developed independently of the bindings of Western thought. Further, the initiatory structure adopted by institutions of psychotherapy brought its social organization into proximity with that of yoga. Hence, an opportunity for a new form of comparative psychology opened up."
[37]: xviii–xix
The American writer William Buhlman began to conduct an international survey of out-of-body experiences in 1969 in order to gather information about symptoms: sounds, vibrations and other phenomena that commonly occur at the time of the OBE event. His primary interest was to compare the findings with reports made by yogis such asGopi Krishna who have referred to similar phenomena, such as the "vibrational state" as components of their kundalini-relatedspiritual experience. He explains:[39]
There are numerous reports of full Kundalini experiences culminating with a transcendental out-of-body state of consciousness. In fact, many people consider this experience to be the ultimate path to enlightenment. The basic premise is to encourage the flow of Kundalini energy up the spine and toward the top of the head—thecrown chakra—thus projecting your awareness into the higher heavenly dimensions of the universe. The result is an indescribable expansion of consciousness into spiritual realms beyond form and thought.[39]
Sri Aurobindo was the other great scholarly authority on Kuṇḍalinī, with a viewpoint parallel to that of Woodroffe but of a somewhat different slant - this according to Mary Scott, herself a latter-day scholar on Kuṇḍalinī and its physical basis, and a former member of theTheosophical Society.[40]
According toCarl Jung "the concept of Kundalini has for us only one use, that is, to describe our own experiences with the unconscious".[41] Jung used the Kundalini system symbolically as a means of understanding the dynamic movement between conscious and unconscious processes.[42][page needed]
According to Shamdasani, Jung claimed that the symbolism of Kuṇḍalinī yoga suggested that the bizarre symptomatology that patients at times presented, actually resulted from the awakening of the Kuṇḍalinī. He argued that knowledge of such symbolism enabled much that would otherwise be seen as the meaningless by-products of a disease process to be understood as meaningful symbolic processes, and explicated the often peculiar physical localizations of symptoms.[42]: xxvi
The popularization of eastern spiritual practices has been associated with psychological problems in the west. Psychiatric literature notes that "since the influx of eastern spiritual practices and the rising popularity of meditation starting in the 1960s, many people have experienced a variety of psychological difficulties, either while engaged in intensive spiritual practice or spontaneously."[43] Among the psychological difficulties associated with intensive spiritual practice we find "Kundalini awakening," "a complex physio-psychospiritual transformative process described in the yogic tradition."[43] Researchers in the fields ofTranspersonal psychology,[29] andNear-death studies[44] have described a complex pattern of sensory, motor, mental, and affective symptoms associated with the concept of Kundalini, sometimes called the Kundalini syndrome.[45]
The differentiation between spiritual emergency associated with Kuṇḍalinī awakening may be viewed as an acutepsychotic episode by psychiatrists who are not conversant with the culture. The biological changes of increasedP300 amplitudes that occur with certain yogic practices may lead to acute psychosis. Biological alterations by Yogic techniques may be used to warn people against such reactions.[46]
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