Kuṇḍalinī is the coiled up, dormant, cosmic power that underlies all organic and inorganic matter within us. The word Kuṇḍalinī refers to the Shakti or Power when it is in its dormant potential state. When the same Energy is manifesting, you call it Devi, Kali, Durga, Saraswati, Lakshmi or any other name according to the manifestation it is exhibiting before you.
By the whole process of the Kuṇḍalinī Yoga Sadhana, the body of the Yogi attains a very subtle state of the Spiritual Consciousness. The Yogi who has attained to samādhi experiences everything as Consciousness. The Yogi realizes the oneness of the macrocosm and the microcosm. The energy of Kuṇḍalinī is one energy, but it expresses itself differently through the individual psychic centers or chakras – first in gross instinctive ways and then in progressively more subtle ways. Refining the expression of this energy at higher and more subtle levels of vibration represents the ascent of human consciousness to its highest possibilities.
Kuṇḍalinī is the creative energy; it is the energy of self-expression. Just as in reproduction when a new life is created, in the same way, someone like Einstein uses that same energy in a different, more subtle realm, to create a theory like Relativity. It is the same energy that is expressed when someone composes or plays beautiful music. It is the same energy which is expressed in all parts of life, whether it is building up a business, fulfilling the family duties or reaching whatever goal you aspire for.
These are all expressions of the same creative energy. When you get divine intoxication, when you develop the power of oration, know that Kuṇḍalinī has awakened. When you involuntarily perform different asanas or poses of Yoga without the least pain or fatigue, know that Kuṇḍalinī has become active. When you compose beautiful sublime hymns and poetry spontaneously, know that Kuṇḍalinī has become active.
The word Kuṇḍalinī is a familiar term to many students of Yoga, as it is well known as the power, in the form of a coiled serpent, residing in Muladhara Chakra at the base of the spine. Muladhara Chakra is also called Root Chakra and is the first of the seven Chakras. The other six being Svadhishthana, Manipura, Anahata, Visuddhi, Ajna and Sahasrara, in order. A wise Yogi should take the Kuṇḍalinī from the Muladhara to the Sahasrara or the thousand-petalled Lotus in the crown of the head. This process is called Shakti-Chalana, or the movement/flow of Kuṇḍalinī. The Kuṇḍalinī should pass through the Svadhishthana Chakra, the Manipura Chakra in the navel, the Anahata Chakra in the heart, the Vishuddha Chakra in the throat, and the Ajna Chakra between the eyebrows or the Trikuti.
All Sadhanas in the form of Japa, Meditation, Kirtan and Prayer as well as all development of virtues, and observance of austerities like truth, non violence, and continence are at best calculated only to awaken this serpent-power and make it to pass through all the succeeding Chakras beginning from Svadhishthana to Sahasrara, the latter otherwise identified as the thousand-petalled lotus, which is also the seat of Sadasiva, the Parabrahman or the Absolute. Kuṇḍalinī, also called Shakti being separated from Sadasiva, resides at the Muladhara. She passes through all the Chakras to unite with Sadasiva at the Sahasrara Chakra.
When the aspirant seriously practices all the disciplines as enjoined in the yogic scriptures, and as instructed by the preceptor, in whom the Kuṇḍalinī would have already been awakened and reached its abode or Sadasiva, acquiring which blessed achievement alone a person becomes entitled to act as a Guru or spiritual preceptor, guiding and helping others also to achieve the same end.
Various Yogic practices especially Hatha Yoga is useful in Kuṇḍalinī Awakening. The aim of Haṭha-yogic practice is to force the individual’s Kuṇḍalinī, which is dormant in the ‘root’ chakra, up the central channel of the spinal column (the suṣumṇā nāḍī), from chakra to chakra, until it merges with the unlimited power of the Sahasrāra padma (‘the thousand-petalled lotus’ at the crown of the head) in blissful liberation (frequently envisaged as permanent union and identification with the absolute, however defined). The ascension generates ever-increasing spiritual powers in the practicing yogini.
When the Kuṇḍalinī ascends, the body of the Yogi is maintained by the nectar, which flows from the union of Shiva and Shakti in Sahasrara. The Yoga-Kuṇḍalinī Upanishad attaches great importance to the search for and finding of the right Guru. It insists upon revering the illumined Guru, as God. Guru is one who has full Self-illumination. He removes the veil of ignorance in the deluded individuals.
Kuṇḍalinī is a form of feminine energy located at the base of the spine, and when you awaken it, it brings about spiritual enlightenment and higher consciousness. At the beginning of the host’s life, the Kuṇḍalinī is usually inactive and awaiting its awakening.
Kuṇḍalinī Awakening
Kuṇḍalinī Awakening is a profound spiritual experience. This experience causes the practitioner to transform in all parts of life – emotionally, physically, and spiritually. When Kuṇḍalinī is freed, it flows up from the spine, where the root chakra is also located. Then it travels up through the seven chakras of the body until it reaches the head. As the Kuṇḍalinī moves through the different chakras, it achieves a different level of awakening at each, as well as a mystical experience, until it gets to its final stop.
When it gets to the crown chakra, Sahasrara, it unites with it. This unity triggers a high awareness of your true nature and life purpose. This is known as The Awakening. The Vedas form the sound-manifestation of Ish-wara. That sound has four divisions- Para which finds manifestation only in Prana, Pasyanti which finds manifestation in the mind, Madhyama which finds manifestation in the Indriyas, and Vaikhari which finds manifestation in articulate expression. Articulation is the last and grossest expression of divine sound-energy. The highest manifestation of sound-energy, the primal voice, the divine voice is Para. The Para voice becomes the root-ideas. It is the first manifestation of voice. In Para the sound remains in an undifferentiated form. Para, Pasyanti, Madhyama and Vaikhari are the various gradations of sound. Taylor S (2015) states that in Kuṇḍalinī Sadhana, the goal is to experience this unity with the Divine in the most subtle form. Often when Kuṇḍalinī awakens in a person, he develops some sort of power. Some aspirants can materialize things, see clairvoyantly, hear clairaudiently or read the minds of others.
The awakening of Kuṇḍalinī is a very important, pleasant and historical experience in the life of humans. In the Energy body (also called Pranamayakosha), there are 72,000 nadis. The 72,000 nadis spring from three basic nadis – the left, the right and the central – the Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna. The Ida and Pingala represent the basic duality in existence. It is this duality which we traditionally personify as masculine (logical) and feminine (intuitive). In the systematic process of awakening Kuṇḍalinī, the first step is to purify the 2 nadis- Ida and Pingala Nadis and create harmony in their functioning. Next, all the chakras have to be awakened. Then Sushumna nadi is awakened, and when there is a clear pathway for its ascent, Kuṇḍalinī can be awakened. Popular Yoga text, Hatha Yoga Pradipika emphasizes Kuṇḍalinī Awakening “Like opening a door with a key, the yogi unlocks the door to moksha.”
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- Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Commentary by Swami Muktibodhananda and Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, India, 1905