When the Kundalini energy reaches the crown chakra at the top of the head , “ the individual self merges in the universal Self. Kundalini is our latent spiritual potential, depicted as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine. This latent force is awakened by Kundalini Yoga as a psychic nerve energy. Its purpose is to raise consciousness, ascending via the chakras to the crown, connecting to the Infinite and realizing Samadhi (enlightenment).

At the base of the spinal cord every human being has a powerful, yet dormant source of energy … If this awakening is to become a universal event, then the entire social structure has to be reorganized.

When the Kundalini energy reaches the crown chakra at the top of the head , “ the individual self merges in the universal Self.

It is so realized because the Spirit has then pierced through the veil of Maya which as mind and matter obscures this knowledge from itself. The means by which this is achieved is the Yoga process which liberates from Maya.

The idea of Shakti is prominent in Tantra where the Kundalini energy is directed toward attaining higher consciousness and liberation from ignorance

The divine mind, like the center of the heavens, is remote; Knowledge of it is difficult; the masses do not know it … Though a man may observe what the will of the god is, the masses do not know it [Lambert, 1996, p. 87].

Awakening of Kundalini:

When our mind enters Bajra (which starts from Swadisthan) Kundalini power awakens. Kundalini is a divine power which is in a sleeping state at the base of the spine. By doing second Kriya, Kundalini awakens. It is a great divine power. When you enter Swadhistan, Kundalini starts to awaken. When you enter Manipura, Kundalini is active. This kundalini, we have to bring up to sahasrasar. When our mind enters Chitra, this is where the kundalini gets activated and pure and sattvic (divine) intellect appears and the connection with this materialistic world ceases. You will come to know everything as well as whatever specific things you want to know.

In the beginning of Kriya practice, everything is dark in the inside world. We cannot assess anything at that time. We have to have full faith in the Guru and should practice as per the Guru’s guidance for a long time without any expectations. Then one can get success. Out of millions of people, only a few people try to practice Kriya yoga and of them, one or two get success. They are the real seekers. Real seekers never give up practising Kriya, whether they achieve or not. They have patience, trust in the Guru and they try to practice perfectly as per the Gurus’ advice. In the beginning, all three of these are required: faith in the Guru, practicing regularly and practicing correctly. Then one day we will start to get results – this is one hundred percent guaranteed.

We do not know how many times we have taken birth and died. By the grace of God, when we start realising the pain of birth and death, we want to get Moksha or salvation. We search for a real Gum who is the representative of God and He/she is the only one who can show us the path to God, turn our mind from the materialistic world to the Divine world, and show us the way to salvation.

Kundalini is our latent spiritual potential, depicted as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine. This latent force is awakened by Kundalini Yoga as a psychic nerve energy. Its purpose is to raise consciousness, ascending via the chakras to the crown, connecting to the Infinite and realizing Samadhi (enlightenment). Attempting or achieving this process is “raising Kundalini”. Bringing that awareness back down and applying it in the everyday world for the greater good is the less-talked-about completion of the Kundalini journey.

Kundalini: the Essence of Yoga

“Yoga” means “union” or “to yoke” in Sanskrit, describing the means for the Self to reunite with the whole. Every religion is a yoga in that each points to God, and every holistic practice is in essence a yoga in that it promotes the harmony of the whole. The postures commonly described as “yoga” make up but one of many yogic paths. “Kundalini” literally means “the coil in the hair of the beloved”, but symbolizes the uncoiling of the inner awareness of our spiritual nature. Kundalini Yoga is the means by which we can safely prepare to activate and channel Kundalini energy, to raise our consciousness through the chakras, and through which we can transform our height-ened spiritual awareness into constructive action. Kundalini Yoga is a powerful, transformative, spiritual technology; fast, focused, and effective. It is your birthright and our life- purpose should be to access it.

Yogic Energetic Physiology The purpose of raising Kundalini energy is to achieve Samadhi, to experience the full energy of consciousness or the energy of full consciousness. The Kundalini process fuses the energies of Shakti, the female principle, with Shiva, the male principle. Through practice of Kundalini Yoga the pranic force is directed downwards, as the apanic force is directed upwards, using the Mul Bandh and Uddiyana Bandh (see Bandhs, pp-134-5). This generates powerful psychic heat called Tapa. These forces are mixed at the Navel Point in an alchemical fusion of Shakti and Shiva energies. This energy is directed to penetrate the Base (First) Chakra, around which dormant Kundalini energy lies coiled. This initiates the awakening of Kundalini, which rises through the central Sushumna. If the channels of Ida and Pingala are clear, and the intent of the aspirant is pure, Kundalini can rise, activating each chakra, and realizing Samadhi. The ability to maintain or access this union gives spiritual liberation and is the fully awakened Kundalini. Kundalini energy is like a rocket; it may eventually transcend gravity, but its tendency is to be aroused, to rise up, and then fall back into its sleeping state.

Divine qualities inhere in it in a latent and finite form and a jiva can develop them through practice of a spiritual discipline by purifying the mind. One cannot develop them to an infinite level because individual mind is finite and remains so even with spiritual growth. Know it for certain that no spiritual progress is possible unless one cultivates divine qualities consciously through practice and, at the same time, shedding their undesirable counterparts.

Knowledge is the perception or recognition of a subject or an object by knowing its characteristics. For example, to know that a tiger has stripes, four legs and is carnivorous is its knowledge.

The divine consciousness uses its inherent knowledge to create the world appearance and its myriad objects. Knowledge is gained in the light that exists naturally in the consciousness. The veil of samaskaras partially blocks the divine light from enlightening the individual mind and, hence, the knowledge of objects that a jiva attains is incomplete and defective

Objective knowledge is acquired by the consciousness, which is used for a variety of purposes; electricity, television, cars etc. have come into being through it only. Knowledge is not attained in darkness, as, for example, in deep sleep; hence, only wakeful consciousness is capable of gaining it.

The darkness of ignorance (i.e. lack of knowledge of one’s real nature) pervades the mind of an average jiva and the only way to overcome it is through the light of divine knowledge imparted by a competent guru or, in a general sense, by the knowledge contained in various scriptures, provided it is put into effect through practice. An earnest aspirant must understand the nature of knowledge in order to employ it in controlling the mind.

One cannot make substantive spiritual progress without it. Knowledge is of two types; absolute and relative. Absolute knowledge is the thing in itself and it is just another word for the Reality. It is neither gained (by anyone) nor is it lost and it requires no proof of its existence. It is known only by transcending or destroying the mind and is, therefore, indescribable in words. Relative knowledge is the knowledge that the mind acquires of its subjective and objective nature.

The anahata-cakra (e.g., heart-soul) has been recognized since the Vedas as a specific locus of the sacred, wherein was found …

the secret seat of the Divine and the location where the immortal sound om … can be heard…. Its seed syllable … is yam, which pertains to the wind element…. The heart-center is likened to the legendary wish-fulfilling tree…. Regular contemplation of this esoteric structure yields a variety of paranormal (siddhr) abilities, including immeasurable knowledge, clairaudi-ence, and clairvoyance [Feuerstein, 1997, p. 22].

The heart has also been, since the Vedas and probably before, the sym-bol for the core of being, the intersection of the microcosm and macrocosm, heaven and earth, the place of rest (e.g., home, destiny) of all beings as well as the location where the Self (purusha), the creator (Prajapan), and the ground of Being (Brahman) resided and from which all Being (e.g., soul united with spirit) emerged. The vision of one’s awakened nature, free of obscuration, occurs in the heart “…when the delusion which induces dreams is destroyed and the awakened (yogi) pervades (all things) at all times by penetrating the Divine Gesture (of enlightenment)” (Dyczkowski, 1992, p. 42).

By close attention, that is, by exercising the mind in such a way as to bring it to rest and turn it away from all external things, whether those of the everyday world or those of the world beyond it, the entire objective order dissolves away in the Heart which is the ground of consciousness that sus-tains all the senses and channels (of the vital breath). The ‘Heart’ is a term used to denote the emptiness of deep sleep as it (marks) the end (avadhs) of the upper Pure and lower Impure Paths (of emanation) because the activity (of the mind) is brought to a halt there and so the mind also dissolves away, just as fire goes out when devoid of heat. (The emptiness of the Heart is) a state of transcendental yogic consciousness beyond mind (nirmanaska). It is a ‘darkness’ devoid of all corporeal and other forms of egoity. Thus, (all) work which needs to be done to sustain the course of daily life and (is incumbent on those who preserve a sense of ego) such as the study of the Vedas, and here indicated implicitly by the words brahmin and ksatriya, comes to an end. In this, the emptiness of the Fourth State, (the yogi) per-ceives his true unobscured nature (svasvabhava) and the ignorance rooted in the senseless (anartha) world of birth and death (samsara) ceases. However, the man of unawakened intellect who happens to enter this state merely experiences sleep (Dyczkowski, 1992, p. 43].

The heart was the source of the creative word and thought, and in the Kashmiri Saiva texts,

The Heart is Bhairava’s true state as the absolute (anuttara) which pours out of itself as the supreme power (parasakti) of consciousness. Its throb is the pulsing union (ramghatta) of Siva and Sakti through which the universe is eternally emitted and reabsorbed as it expands and contracts. At the micro-cosmic level, its outpouring is the effulgent flow (rphurana) of awareness, in the form of the diverse objects of thought (cetya) and thinking subjects (cemyitr) while it itself abides, unaffected by time and space, in the plane beyond mind (unmana). As the source of all energies it is the pure exertion (udyoga) of the untreated egoity of our true conscious nature which is the union of will, knowledge and action and hence is said to be triangular vibration which is the incessant expansion and contraction of the three ener-gies at rest in the abode of great bliss.’ The great wisdom of the Spanda teachings should be treasured in secret in the cave of the Heart for he who reflects upon the inner nature of the Heart merges in the expansion of the vibration (samrambha) of his own consciousness and is liberated. Thus he who knows the Heart in truth gains the true initiation which bestows per-fect freedom and bliss IDyczkowski, 1992. pp. 44-5].

According to ancient Tao-ism the heart and the belly worked together. The heart is the regulator. It may hold fortune or misfortune, good or evil.

In the end, “…the saint is for the belly, not for the eyes’ … because it is in the belly he will attain ‘long life and distant vision…” (Lagerwey, 1987, p. 283).

Again, by Yogic practices, Mind can be used as a tool to control the mind just as the diamond is used to cut the diamond. One can attain the state in which the Mind succeeds in stilling the clamour of the sense organs and, in turn, the mind itself becomes pure, steady, and stilt This is the inner condition that all the spiritual aspirants seek; and, some are even successful to the extent of perceiving God

The Upanishads have declared the great truth ‘Tat tvam ast’, (Thou art that) i.e., ‘Man is divine’, or divinity is inherent in Man. If divinity is the innermost core of man, the path to it lies through the withdrawal of the senses and the mind from the world of sensate experience and diverting their energies inward in a supreme effort of concentration. By such inward penetration, man achieves realization, of his true nature, the non-dual, immortal, changeless and pure ‘Atman’ behind his apparent self of changeful individuality. This is the well known Adhyatma Yoga.

Controlling the mind and the senses, and directing their energies to higher purpose comes under austerity or tapas. There should be no place for argument in any of these practices. In Yoga, the efforts are directed to rise above the sensuate level and intellect level and to reach intuition level.

Pranayama is the means for establishing control over the nerves and muscles involved in breathing, and through that control, over all the finer movements of the Prana in the body. The ultimate purpose of Pranayama' is to arouse Kundalini, the one and the only way to attain Divine wisdom, superconscious perception- realisation of the spirit. This may come through the love of God, through the mercy of a spiritual leader or saint, or merely through analytical will of the thinker. When by the power of long meditation the vast mass of energy stored up travels along the Sushumna, - and strikes the centres, the reaction is tremendous, immensely superior to the reaction of dream or imagination, or even more intense than the reaction of even sense perception. It is supersensuous perception. When this energy reaches the head, theSahasrara Chakra’, a thousand-petalled Lotus, the whole brain reacts, and the result is full blaze of illumination, the perception of the Self. This is the result of rousing the Kundalini by Pranayama.

The concentrated apana stimulates fire – energy there, and fire – energy, together with apana, arouses Kundalini.

According to yoga theories, once prana is drawn into the body and properly restrained, it can be directed into subtle energy channels called nadis. These nadis course through the body like nerves or acupuncture meridians. These subtle channels are be-lieved to carry our spiritual energy. When you can control the prana in the nadis, it can be directed to arouse kundalini, the form of cosmic energy that lies sleep-ing at the base of the spine. As kundali-ni moves up the spine, it activates the spiritual energy centers known as chakras. This whole process is believed to awaken your dormant higher con-sciousness, a state of deep understanding and wisdom.

For the average seeker, even today, kundalini is a supernatural force which can work wonders when aroused. Quite a number of people have awakened this supernatural force.

No doubt these are supernatural powers to the ignorant persons, as these powers are uncommon in this world and in ordinary walks of life. All the supernatural powers live in a subtle or unmanifested form in the different centres of the body of a person as long as the Kundalini Shakti lives in the lowest-centre, Mulaclham But when the Kundalini Shakti ascends from centre to centre, then these dormant powers come into action and one gets different hidden powers at different Chakras.

The vertebral column has the spinal cord running through it and it starts from moolaadhaara and ends up in the brain in the lumbar vertebrae as fine nerve fibres. Two nerve currents flow on two sides of the spinal cord, called ‘Ida’ (the afferent nerve) and ‘Pingala’ (the efferent nerve) carrying sensations to the brain and in turn convey the reactions of the brain to the body.

Between these two nerve currents is ‘Stishumnas (canal centralis). This canal is closed at the bottom and ordinarily does not perform any function unless it is aroused to do. Yogis who practice Kundalini open this canal and let the nerve current pass through this hollow canal without the help of nerves. This is the medium that established contact with Super-Consciousness with the environment during evolution but finally got entrapped.

The release of the bondage of the body and to establish the contact with the ‘Universal Consciousness’ is the purpose of practice of Kundalini Yoga. When the Sushumna canal is opened up and mental currents are passed through its empty space, the bondage of the body is released and the yogi establishes the contact with the Super-Consciousness.

You can overcome all the challenges of Maya, which you face, through just contemplating on the knowledge which God has given.’

Maya is the mind and matter vestures of the human personality that obscures the realisation of the identity of the human and the Divine . The veil of Maya is pierced through the process of Kundalini Yoga when the three gordian knots reach the crown chakra

Now, what we want is to check, to restrain, and to control this downward flow of the energy of the Kundalini Shakti and instead, to make the Shakti rise up to higher planes or centres. This is what is meant by awakening the Kundalini Shakti.

This act of restraint and this act of taking the Kunda-lini Shakti upward is an adamantine task. It is not easy. It is not the work of one or two days or months. But it may take years of hard and ardent work ; or it may even be a life-long struggle. This effort to take the Kundalini Shakti to the higher planes, is just like forcing a mountain stream back to its source from the plains. With all that, one has to do it. There is no other way. There is no other alternative.

One must be prepared for all odds. One should never get nervous. One must make a strong and sincere effort continuously till one is blessed with success. The spiritual path is very long, weary and tedious. There are many pitfalls and dangers on the way. One may expect a fall at any time. But with all these silly failures and pitfalls, one should never lose hope.

One should never get dejected. No. Not the least. With every failure one should summon up fresh courage and resume the work undertaken with an iron will. Then, and then only, one will be blessed with success. That is why the weak have no place in religion.