How to Diagnose and Support Kundalini Awakening

How to diagnose and support the Kundalini process Kundalini is a powerful, Divine energy. In most people, this energy is dormant or working partially. When this energy is focalized, it rises within the vehicles and produces a variety of experiences. Kundalini effects the state of awareness within your vehicles. As it is focalized, it may powerfully absorb your attention within, intensify the activity of your higher vehicles, and withdraw energy from your Conscious mind and your personality. In the deepest states of kundalini awakening in your vehicles, you enter samadhic trance. In samadhic trance, you are unable to move, to speak, or even to think—you are completely merged in bliss and the ecstasy of the Soul and its higher octaves. Understood and mastered, the Kundalini awakens the multi-faceted potentials of the entire mind. Misunderstood, misused and awakened inappropriately, kundalini can lead to disruption of personality functioning, kundalini emergency syndrome, and psychosis. In reading all this it is important to remember that the Kundalini process is only the mechanical and volcanic opening of the way for Grace to descend. Our emphasis is on Grace, else why bother with the risks and potential unpleasantness of the arising Kundalini. Grace is always the aim. Unlike the energies of the ascending Kundalini which are rather impersonal and automatic, the nature of the descending Grace is that of the Intelligent Love of the Divine. Kundalini only moves, Grace creates, nutures and transforms. For Grace to descend the Kundalini rises to make a path and then must descend again to make space for the Grace to come in. This is why it is so important that the full cycle of rising and descending is mastered. The other thing to consider is that sometimes Kundalini does arise spontaneously and we need to be able to understand, support and stabilize the process so that it may bring the many benefits that can be had. . These states are most definitely non-ordinary. This document seeks to assist the reader in mapping where in the process a given person may be, and to advise appropriate support.

The Criteria There are specific effects on behaviour and the kinds of actions and attitudes you can expect from a person at various stages. We use these criteria to grade our students. To recap the 3 stages of Kundalini Arousal: 1. Kundalini is awake - We are working towards the Lesser Kan and Li 2. We are fully K - Awakened - Lesser Kan and Li

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3. We have had a Full K-Arousal - Greater Kan and Li Generally the whole process can be done two ways: • Spontaneous • Directed If the process is spontaneous then the person will be experiencing a period of weeks or months of the kinds of emergence characteristics described for the Greater Kan and Li. It generally takes about 5 years to fully integrate a Greater Kan and Li experience. If the process is directed the movement from starting to awaken Kundalini to the Lesser Kan and Li is usually measured in months, after that the person’s own evolution and integration of the Lesser Kan and Li will largely determine the interval between Lesser and Greater Kan and Li. The distinguishing factor between Greater and Lesser Kan and Li is that the Greater ALWAYS causes a complete loss of control during the height of the event.

1. Before the Lesser Kan and Li - Diagnostics and checklists to see how the various chakras are wiring up and to help people through the issues associated with that. The person experiences “pranothanna”, an intensified energy activity; a precursor to Kundalini awakening. When you consistently work on the energy three things happen. 1. Your "pipes" get bigger, and blockages in the pipes are gradually dissolved by the energy running through them - that is to say you can "carry more current". But only in the places you actually do send energy through. (Some blocks can also be helped by acupuncture.) 2. Your "generator" gets more powerful - that is to say that you can "generate more current" (In fact each chakra is a mini generator that you activate by breathing into it.) 3. Your intent (hopefully) becomes more concentrated - you can use the current to do what you want to do rather than just exploding in all sorts of uncontrolled lightning bolts.

As the energy moves through the various chakras a keen observer can detect the following changes or evidence of specific blockages:

Number

Location

Orientation

Issues

Benefits

1 Base

Base of the spine

Animal instinct Survival

Insecure in the world

Sense of groundedness Security

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Earth

2 Sacral Water

3 Personal Power Fire

Elimination, release, letting go

Life is a battle just to stay above water On edge.

A stable base from which to move forward

Just above the base of the spine around ones sex organs

Creativity, specifically around the creation of life.

Blocked: insecurity with ones own sexuality.

Proper flow of energy through reproductive organs Healthy sex life Transmute the creative energies of the second chakra into the higher energy centers

In the belly

Project will into manifestation “Core” balancing activities in martial arts Core, or power center, Feel in control of their own destiny.

The desire to pass along our genetic blue print and produce offspring.

Over active: too much focus on sex. Under-active powerlessness. Over-active overpowering of others, typically for selfish desires. The root of this problem stems from not transferring the energy of the 3rd center up through the heart center.

4 Heart Wind

Between the shoulder blades, slightly higher than the physical heart.

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Love and balance

Blocked: lack of abilty to The blending of the give freely, or a higher and lower lack of centers, across the heart resources. center. In order to achieve a proper balance and flow of energy through

Properly proportioned sense of self Ability to influence/change ones environment Strong digestive system Core stability. Regulates the flow of energy to the other centers. By clearing this chakra of imbalances we can operate powerfully in our environment. This leads to an improved sense of self, and self esteem, which in turn increases our ability to help others. Love Ability to give freely to others Abundance Healing for ones self and others Integration of the higher and lower energy centers

“Monadic Heart Center”

the chakras, that energy must be integrated across the heart center. Tends to require the most healing: “who hasn’t been hurt by a loving relationship in the past?”

5 Throat. Communi cation Void

Heart Center is also the primary center from which healing flows. Center of communication. Express ourselves properly in the world. Center of truth, Speak the truth and articulate our intentions well.

Out of balance: Impure words, or false statements. Overactive: Constantly express oneself even if the timing is not appropriate.

Integrate the impressions given by the rest of our chakras and with balance express them via the 5th chakra.

6 Third eye Void

Brow, between the eyebrows on the forehead.

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As the third eye opens one is able to access their intuition at a much higher level. The sixth chakra also provides a channel for

Expression of the truth, Ones words hold weight with others A creative outlet via communication, spoken, written or otherwise Confidence in the ability to express oneself Access to Etheric communication When one has balance in the 5th center, an interesting coincidence is that one may find that the need to communicate with frequency reduces, but the power of their word increases…

Insufficient: Challenges projecting thoughts into the world of manifestation.

Improved intuition Ability to swiftly transition into a meditative state Psychic ability Thought projection into manifestation

projection of energy, more specifically thought energy. As one starts actively working with the Third Eye, sensations or impressions begin to register with the conscious mind, right in the forehead.

7 Crown Void

Top of head

One may speak of it as reinforcing ones forehead Connection to the divine. One that is properly centered is able to operate in the world, while not being of the world.

They will also have difficulties with their sense of intuition. Overactive: Too heady Too much focus within their own mind Can come off as aloof.

Blocked: Impedes the flow of divine light. Challenging for us to acknowledge the divine. Overactive: Crown chakra that is not balanced across the heart center may cause a loss of connection with the everyday world from time to time.

Connection with ones soul Ability to realize soul purpose Meditative prowess Acknowledgement of the divine within all form Close relationship with G.O.D. Knowing and walking ones path

Flighty, or aloof.

These techniques increase the flow of energy:

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Intensely focused kundalini meditation - a type of meditation that involved visualising and focusing on an image of the kundalini rising from the base of the spine. Intensely focused meditation on the divine.

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Intensely focused meditation on chakra points. Intense prayer and devotion. Intensely focused meditation on the unity of life. Intense practice of Hatha Yoga. Pranayama. Tantric sexual practices. Receiving shaktipat from a person with a highly active kundalini. Intense, prolonged concentration or focus on spiritual topics - this includes reading spiritual material, discussing and debating spiritual topics, contemplating spiritual questions, or attending spiritual conferences. Intensive, prolonged concentration or focus on any subject without breaks. Intensive, prolonged periods of reading. Tai Chi. Bodywork, massage, shiatsu, etc., that is aimed at increasing or stimulating the flow of energy. Chanting. Sexual relations with a person who has an active kundalini. Being in the prolonged presence of others who have an active kundalini. Being in a state of emotional and spiritual openness; surrendering to the divine.

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2. Validating Lesser Kan and Li - Checklist of what really constitutes a Lesser Kan & Li event, and the effects that can come along.

There is a big difference between "just" running energy and being even partially Kundalini Awakened. To say that you are Kundalini Awakened means that at some point you have managed to get the wires between sex and brain connected, and run energy through them. You may not have connected all the other stuff up, but the straight wire between sex and brain has connected. This is a significant, defining event, and it leaves a trace that is detectable by people who have been through the Greater Kan and Li. The event might even have already happened a long time ago, and you didn't really recognise it for what it was, or don't remember it. Imagine you have plugged the wires from the sexual chakra and all the chakras together into the brain, and you are in a nice open posture so the energy can flow and you are breathing to generate increasing amounts of energy and send the energy around, and you are directing the energy up the spine towards the brain, it will all still tend to fall apart when you stop concentrating on it. Being Kundalini Awakened (Lesser Kan and Li) means that that you can connect ALL the wires, run your first stage generator (and all the minor chakra generators) and make the energy go wherever you want. You get increased perception, fluidity of movement, and all that stuff, as long as you are actively running the energy. If you keep working at it you also get the amazing, if temporary effects of really running energy from your base chakra all the way through your crown chakra, with all the first stage generators running and all the pipes wide open. This is a sort of a rehearsal for the “BIG THING”, the Full Kundalini Arousal or Greater Kan and Li . (The feeling is pretty amazing, and it is sometimes mistaken for the “BIG THING” itself.)

This is a discrete event – a distinct, noticeable time-bound experience. It does not last. A person may speak of experiencing inner sensations of light, sound or heat, feelings of energy flowing or vibrating within, elevated sensitivity, spontaneous bodily movements, a height-ened inward awareness or bliss, interest in spiritual growth, or a sense that something non-ordinary, transformative or holy is happening.

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3. Validating Greater Kan and Li (Full Kundalini Arousal - Big Bang) … What is that "Big Bang" really? Was it REALLY the Big Bang? What are the likely (possibly negative) effects of a spontaneous Big Bang? How do you diagnose this as what is happening to someone? At some point though, there comes a time when a certain critical voltage is hit and the wires FUSE together. This sets off a second generator at the base of the spine that can only switch on when the fusing has happened. This propels a huge burst of energy up and out of the crown chakra towards the Stars/the Divine. The energy launches up and straight out of the body in an incredibly powerful way. It literally surges straight up through the central channel like a rocket. (Better hope to have your back straight at this point.) The body may jerk around as overspill from this hits the energy pipes throughout the rest of the body. How harsh it is depends on how much practice you have been doing to widen and unblock the pipes, and how relaxed your body is at the time. The key difference between these two generators is that the energy generated by the first generator is directed by the mind. The energy that surges up the spine when the second stage kicks for the first time is completely beyond the control of the mind. This can feel pretty terrifying since the mind is not used to losing control. This is where we must put our trust in the Universe and reach up. After that, it is permanently connected. There is not a permanent awareness and ecstasy of the energy surging up the spine (would be kind of impractical anyway) but the channel is open, and you can get the second generator to kick in anytime you bring the voltage in your body up high enough. That is called Greater Kan and Li or Full Kundalini Arousal – The “BIG THING” The distinguishing factor between Greater and Lesser Kan and Li is that the Greater ALWAYS causes a complete loss of control during the height of the event.

When the Greater Kan and Li is happening some or many of the following emergence phenomena will occur. Even if the process is being carefully directed these can be quite overwhelming, and when the process is happening spontaneously, the more destructive phenomena tend to occur. (See section on emergencies for what to do in these cases). • •

Muscle twitches, cramps or spasms. Energy rushes or immense electricity circulating the body

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Itching, vibrating, prickling, tingling, stinging or crawling sensations Intense heat or cold Involuntary bodily movements (occur more often during meditation, rest or sleep): jerking, tremors, shaking; feeling an inner force pushing one into postures or moving one's body in unusual ways. (May be misdiagnosed as epilepsy, restless legs syndrome, or PLMD) Alterations in eating and sleeping patterns Episodes of extreme hyperactivity or, conversely, overwhelming fatigue Intensified or diminished sexual desires Headaches, pressures within the skull Racing heartbeat, pains in the chest Digestive system problems Numbness or pain in the limbs (particularly the left foot and leg) Pains and blockages anywhere; often in the back and neck Emotional outbursts; rapid mood shifts; seemingly unprovoked or excessive episodes of grief, fear, rage, depression Spontaneous vocalizations (including laughing and weeping) -- are as unintentional and uncontrollable as hiccoughs Hearing an inner sound or sounds, classically described as a flute, drum, waterfall, birds singing, bees buzzing, (but which may also sound like roaring, whooshing, or thunderous noises, or like ringing in the ears.) Mental confusion; difficulty concentrating Altered states of consciousness: heightened awareness; spontaneous trance states; mystical experiences (if the individual's prior belief system is too threatened by these, they can lead to bouts of psychosis or self-grandiosity) Heat, strange activity, and/or blissful sensations in the head, particularly in the crown area Ecstasy, bliss, and intervals of tremendous joy, love, peace and compassion Psychic experiences: extrasensory perception; out-of-body experiences; past life memories; astral travel; direct awareness of auras and chakras; contact with spirit guides through inner voices, dreams or visions; healing powers Increased creativity: new interests in self-expression and spiritual communication through music, art, poetry, etc. Intensified understanding and sensitivity: insight into one's own essence; deeper understanding of spiritual truths; exquisite awareness of one's environment (including "vibes" from others) Enlightenment experiences: direct Knowing of a more expansive reality; transcendent awareness

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Dr. Greenwell ("Energies of Transformation" -1990) has noted seven categories of symptoms which have been observed during Spontaneous Kundalini awakening: 1. Pranic Movements or Kriyas Prana is the Hindu word for vital energy. Thus as intense energy moves through the body and clears out physiological blocks, a person may experience intense involuntary jerking movements of the body, including shaking, vibrations, spasm and contraction. As deeply held armouring and blockages to the smooth flow of energy are released, the person may re-access memories and emotions associated with past trauma and injury. 2. Yogic Phenomena Some people find themselves performing yogic postures or hand mudra gestures which they have never learned or could not do in a normal state of consciousness. Similarly, they may produce Sanskrit words or sounds, or have an awareness of inner music or sound, mantras or tones. Unusual breathing patterns may appear with either very rapid or slow, shallow breathing. Some people may not breathe at all for extended periods. 3. Physiological Symptoms A Kundalini Awakening often generates unusual physiological activity as intense movement of energy releases toxins in the body. Symptoms include apparent heart problems, pains in head and spine, gastrointestinal disturbances and nervous problems. Internal sensations have been reported as sensations of burning, over sensitivity to sensory input, hyperactivity or lethargy, great variations in sexual desire and even spontaneous orgasm. Symptoms can be erratic, coming and going without provocation, but are generally unresponsive to medical treatment. 4. Psychological Upheaval Spiritual awakening offers a direct challenge to the primacy of ego consciousness and the myth of separation. It brings with it a challenge to move beyond the unconscious responses ruled by drives and instincts and remove ego consciousness from the centre stage of the psyche. It comes as no surprise that such a challenge produces a period of confusion and unbalance. People find themselves beset by inexplicable emotional states as they move to clear out unresolved issues. The emotional roller coaster may swing from feelings of anxiety, guilt and depression, through to compassion, love and joy, with accompanying bouts of uncontrollable weeping. 5. Extra Sensory Experiences As perception expands outside of the consensus reality, people experience atypical visual phenomena, including visions of lights, symbols, entities, or review of past life experiences. Auditory input may include hearing voices, music, inner sounds or mantras. Even the olfactory system may be stimulated with perception of scents of sandalwood, rose or incense. There may also be disruption of the proprioceptive system, with losing a sense of self as a body, or feeling bigger than the body, or out of the body, with the resulting confusion and disorientation.

Susanne Williams 2006

6. Psychic Phenomena With the opening up of psychic abilities, a person may experience precognition, telepathy, psycho kinesis, awareness of auras, and healing abilities. 7. Mystical States of Consciousness A person may shift into altered states of consciousness where they directly perceive the unity underlying the world of separation, and experience a deep peace and serenity with a profound knowing of wisdom. In some cases, the state of emergency due to psychological upheaval is so acute that it resembles a psychotic episode. Many clinicians still regard phenomena associated with spiritual emergence as indicative of pathology because the signs are so easily confused with the indicators of psychosis, mania, depression, schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder. Many people undergoing spiritual emergency are misdiagnosed and treated with suppressive medication which further complicates their process.

Susanne Williams 2006

4. Validating claims of having "Achieved the Greater Kan and Li". We recognise someone may have gone through the Greater Kan and Li event (Big Bang) yet be completely useless at using it. For us, just having had the Greater Kan and Li, or Full Kundalini Arousal is not really a measure of achievement because it can happen spontaneously (and destructively). The achievement is in harnessing it and integrating it. The ability to raise the kundalini from its ground state to its origin and guide it back to full groundedness is a marker of Kundalini Mastery. Careful control of the energy of the Kundalini grants the ability to: • Optimally energize any vehicle of consciousness for use • Awaken awareness through the whole range of its potential • Turn on specific abilities or siddhis to operate in the Subconscious, Metaconscious, and Superconscious bands of the mind • Focalize the nurturing, purifying and healing aspects of the Kundalini in a specific vehicle • Arouse the kundalini in others, and guide it to rise to a specific stage of awakening; then guide their kundalini back down to its fully grounded state • Utilize kundalini to open up a person for a potential descent of Grace

To pass the test with us you need to have experienced the Greater Kan and Li, and shown significant evidence of having integrated it. Then you are validated by two people who themselves have integrated the Greater Kan and Li, and have themselves been tested by two people....etc. It usually takes no less than 5 years to integrate a Greater Kan and Li event. The ongoing observation of a person who has integrated their Greater Kan and Li will show a marked change towards personal growth, characteristics of high moral nature, detachment, cosmic expansion, inspiration, and psychic talents. Also one observes the Fruits of their Work; watching the effect the person has on other people and situations around them. Look for: "maturation of the personality; spontaneous abandonment of self-destructive habits; resolution of psychological blocks; loss of the fear of death; increased humanitarianism, love and empathy; increased altruism; decreased materialism; increased spiritual focus and deeper spiritual insights; and increased intuitiveness and creativity." Further characteristics: • an awareness of the "cosmos, that is, of the life and order of the universe" • "an intellectual enlightenment or illumination" • "an indescribable feeling of elevation, elation, and joyousness" • "a quickening of the moral sense, which is fully as striking and more important both to the individual and the race than is the enhanced intellectual power"

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"a sense of immortality, a consciousness of eternal life, not a conviction that he shall have this, but the consciousness that he has it already."

A humorous list: • A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fears based on past experiences. • A loss of ability to worry (this is a serious symptom). • Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation. • Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature. • Frequent attacks of smiling through the eyes of the heart. • An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment. • A loss of interest in judging self. • A loss of interest in judging others. • A loss of interest in conflict. • A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others. • A loss of ability to worry (this is a serious symptom). • Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation. • Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature. • Frequent attacks of smiling through the eyes of the heart. • Increasing susceptibility to love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it. • An increasing tendency to let things happen.

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Emergencies The full mastery of Kan and Li or Kundalini is to be able to direct the full cycle of the arousal of Kundalini, its rising and its retreating back to base. When this cycle is not yet mastered a range of Kundalini emergencies can occur: • K is going up and it is hurting • K is up and isn’t coming down • K came up before I was ready The key to avoiding these emergencies is steady practice and the precautions that are taught within the system. If an emergency occurs due to a spontaneous awakening, several strategies and methods are outlined below.

K is going up and it is hurting We have already given a list of symptoms of Kundalini emergence above, but here in summary again: • • • • • • •

Sudden rushes of energy or dizziness Rapid mood swings Illusions of perception Lapses in memory (spacing out) Pain that moves around in the body that can not be linked to a medical etiology Getting lost in reverie or daydreaming, or involuntarily dissociating Paranoid or delusional beliefs

An overload of one's nervous system with the potential to cause a break with reality, necessitating a hospital stay and medical treatment. If you force Kundalini you can overload your nervous system to the point that you feel like you are walking a tightrope between sanity and insanity for days, weeks, and in extreme cases, even years. Short or long-term disorientation where one spaces in and out of higher planes and is rendered unable to focus long enough to be able to work. There have been a number of cases where people have been debilitated by Kundalini and struggled for years trying to correct the imbalances, often with no success and much despair. Sexual dysfunction: I know of several people unable to have normal relationships with their partners due to the workings of the Kundalini current in the genital areas. This usually passes in time, but I know of individuals who have been burdened with it for some time.

Susanne Williams 2006

Gastro Intestinal Disorders: There can be issues of digestion that are said to be caused by raising Kundalini energy pressing upon the colon area. Some people have to adapt their diets entirely. Severe anxiety: when Kundalini becomes overwhelming, it can make one feel as though they are on the brink of losing their mind, and cause constant fear. Nightly dreams where one leaves the body; in some cases a person feels as if they are being tormented by negative entities that seem too real and cause one to wake up in total fear, thinking they are doomed to experience these hellish dreams over and over. Excessive Kundalini building up in the head when one tries to study or read for extended periods of time along with waking up all through the night from the increased Kundalini energy flowing into the brain (this can put an end to a person's pursuit of higher education, and leave one tired all day from insufficient sleep). Problems can surface years after the initial awakening: If you are having what you consider to be a flawless Kundalini experience, do not think you are out of the woods. Disturbingly, some peoples' egos seem to expand along with their consciousness when they have what they consider to be an advanced Kundalini awakening. Some think Kundalini will purify any blocks within people and fashion them into human beings equivalent to the Mother Teresas, and the Dalai Lamas of this world. Not so! Some of the poorest representations of spiritual growth gone wrong have been people with advanced Kundalini experiences, or alleged to be fully enlightened, and some of the finest have been those with the most challenging and problem-ridden Kundalini awakenings.

Kundalini is up and it won’t go back down: The Kundalini, when it passes through unawakened aspects of an inner vehicle, or an unawakened band of the continuum, produces emergence phenomena. This is not a sign of spiritual attainment: it is a catharsis of your unconscious mind. Without the ability to integrate this material, it has little therapeutic benefit. Keeping the Kundalini raised will certainly keep you in a state of Samadhi, but it will seriously hamper your ability to function in your personality. Remember, when the Kundalini rises, it shuts off the functioning of the personality. This means that you lose: • your sense of identity and rootedness in your personal history (ego) • your ability to think and test reality (mental seed atom) • your ability to feel your emotions and relate to others as human beings (emotional seed atom)

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your ability to move, and sense what is going on in your body (physical seed atom) your ability to anchor your attention in the waking state so your personality functions seamlessly and automatically

Being able to produce this state of catatonia is extremely useful if you are planning to remain motionless without thought in a state of paralysis and suspended animation for long periods of time, so that birds can build nests in your hair or people can bury you alive. It is not a useful state if you are planning to work, study, or live any semblance of a normal life. There are three major types of phenomena that occur when the Kundalini won't come back down: (1) Your personality shuts down. When this occurs, you cannot function normally. Your will doesn't work. Your sense of self is distorted, ranging from feeling you are a witness viewing your body and life from outside (depersonalisation) to feeling you are an omnipotent godlike being (grandiosity). You can't think logically. You cannot form normal relational bonds with others. Your attention is locked or fixed in an altered state of consciousness and it is difficult, if not impossible, to return to the ground state of awareness. This state is frightening and overwhelming. (2) You experience emergence phenomena. You may experience any of the physiological and behavioural, emotional, psychological, spiritual and mystical markers described above. This experience can also be frightening and overwhelming. (3) You may enter Samadhic trance. In Samadhic trance you are in a complete state of catatonia without; you are in ecstasy within. You cannot function, because your personality is shut down. You cannot communicate the ineffable beauty and majesty you are beholding. You may experience union with the Divine. You may find however, that you cannot terminate this experience when you wish—that you are trapped or locked in an ecstatic state of consciousness from which you cannot escape or emerge. This experience is both euphoric and terrifying. It is euphoric when you are immersed in the vistas of supernal bliss. It is terrifying when you can't come back. What you can do: There seem to be several helpful measures that we have noticed may assist you with grounding the Kundalini energy. However if you are at the stage Gopi Krishna describes where you are completely swept away, there may not be much that can be done; you just have to ride with it until the energy stabilizes at a deeper level.

Susanne Williams 2006

You may wish to try these methods to help bring Kundalini back from a highly aroused state: (1) Do a visualization: see the Kundalini energy as drawn down to the base of your spine and drawn down into the center of the earth. (2) Bring the attention down to waking awareness and keep it there [at the medulla center where attention rests in the waking state of consciousness]. Stop meditating or altering your awareness until the Kundalini is fully grounded again. (3) Do some physical activity such as exercise, dance, or do heavy lifting to get yourself fully grounded in the body. (4) Look at pictures of people that you love on the physical Plane (No Gurus or Saints, please—the objective is to help you connect your emotional seed atom with your human relationships). (5) Do some analytical work that engages your reason. Solve a puzzle. Read a technical book. Take apart a watch, or fix something that is broken. (6) Focus on just being a human being in your present body in your unique human life. Reflect upon what you have experienced in your life, and how blessed it is to have this human form. Appreciate your body, your ability to feel, your ability to move your body, to think. You need to draw the energy back down from the state of higher consciousness into your egoic state. Once you have grounded the Kundalini: • Stop doing any striking of the chakras or squeezing them (bandhas) • Stop doing any hyperventilative breathing (breath of fire, holodynamic breathing, rebirthing, bastrika, etc.) • Stop doing any mantras on the breath; avoid watching the breath as a technique until the Kundalini fire subsides—this can be several weeks to months • Stop doing any mantras that awaken the chakras (chakra bijas) • Stop doing kundalini yoga if you are practicing it Recovery Take it slow. Basic hatha yoga is probably OK. Concentration exercises (Raja Yoga), contemplation focusing on the spiritual heart with methods like prayer should not rekindle these fires. Your deep intuition will let you know when you are healed from this ordeal. How do you know? Your sense of harmony will be restored. You will begin to feel peace. The terror will finally release. You will walk on the earth and feel grateful for every step, grateful for every breath, grateful just to be alive. You will appreciate the beauty around you, the miracle taking place within you.

Susanne Williams 2006

Advising those in the K-state

This next set is from “A Farther Shore” by Yvonne Kason & Teri Degler. Dr Kason defines the term STE Spiritually Transformative Experience. " The Basics of a Balanced Lifestyle" is extremely practical and valuable information for people recovering from any sort of emotional or spiritual crisis. This is from Chapter 15 "Strategies for living with Spiritual Transformation".

1. Develop and stick to a regular daily routine - have a regular rising, bed, and meal times and set aside regular periods each week for exercise.

2. Get plenty of sleep and rest and set aside regular times for daily relaxation and weekly recreation. 3. Do not skip meals. Eat a nutritious, well-balanced diet. You don't need to deprive yourself of 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

occasional treats, but avoid junk foods in general. Keep the amount of stress and hectic activity in your life to a minimum. Communicate and share your thoughts and feelings with a supportive person daily, or as often as possible. Keep you sex life moderate, and pay attention to your body if it seems to be telling you to cut down. Spend time in nature; get plenty of natural daylight. Avoid toxins and self-destructive habits such as smoking and drugs; keep alcohol consumption to a minimum. Get regular physical exercise, at least two or three times per week. Spend a moderate amount of time each day in meditation, prayer, and/or a spiritual practice.

Grounding Strategies. Many spiritual practices will disconnect you from the physical world. This is fine for short periods, but large amounts of stress can result if you are not often grounded - centred in physical reality. If emotional and mental stress starts to mount, try the following:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

Stop meditating. Decrease all forms of concentration. Keep prayers very brief. Decrease amounts of reading. Decrease stress and the hustle and bustle in your life. Increase your sleep, rest and relaxation time. Try to follow a fixed daily routine. Try eating small, more frequent meals instead of three large ones per day. Never skip meals or fast during periods of intense Spiritually Transformative experiences, even if you feel an aversion to food. Eating frequent, light meals is essential. Avoid caffeine (not just coffee, also chocolate, coca-cola, tea, etc.); avoid junk foods; avoid excessive and regular intake of refined sugar (a sugar craving during a crisis is often better served through a sweet nutritious snack, eg dates or other dried fruit). Cut out alcohol consumption or occasionally have just one glass of beer or wine per day. Small amounts of alcohol can be very grounding, but can lead on to alcoholism in certain cases. Reserve alcohol as an emergency grounding measure. Increase your daily intake of protein, such as yogurt and other dairy products, chicken, and fish. For the most grounding effect, eat red meat. Cut out recreational drugs and tobacco if you haven't already. Take some light physical exercise daily, such as walking, cycling, or swimming. Walking in a pleasant environment is a very grounding exercise. Do light manual work, such as gardening, cooking, housecleaning.

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15. Increase body awareness by rubbing your body or massaging your legs and feet; for an immediate 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26.

grounding effect take a hot bath or shower, vigorously scrub your body with a cloth, sponge or loofah, rub your scalp, and wash your hair. Try having a vigorous massage to increase body awareness, but monitor the effect it has on you, as many types of massage may stimulate the flow of energy. Set aside time for contact with nature; regularly spend some time outdoors in a park or other natural environment. Be exposed to natural light (not direct sun or UV rays) as much as possible. Take time off from work if necessary and spend some time in a peaceful, quiet environment. Pay careful attention to how your sex life correlates with any difficulties you may be having and moderate your behavior accordingly. If your sex drive is very high, having sex and orgasm with your partner may release sexual energy and have a grounding effect; if your sex drive is low, do not have sex or masturbate. Visualize your chakras closing up, like full lotuses closing into buds and withdrawing back into their stem. Visualise your energies withdrawing from your head region, moving down to the base of your spine, and staying there. Visualise your energies traveling down your legs to your feet, and focus on feeling your feet firmly planted on the ground; feel your energies linking you to the ground. Visualise your energies extending down from your body and projecting down to the center of the earth. Feel your energy "hook" into or connect to the center of the earth. Find a creative outlet for your energies, such as art, dance, music, or writing. Observe how these activities affect you and moderate them accordingly. Try to flow with surfacing psychological or spiritual issues rather than trying to resist or struggle with them.

Susanne Williams 2006

K came up before I was ready Since no two people experience the process of Kundalini in the same way, it is quite hard to give general advice. But we do however try to give some rules of life that makes life easier with an active Kundalini. But do remember that since we develop all the time our strategies, too, need to change from time to time. And it is a good thing to remember that what is useful for one person has no effect on another, or may in fact be harmful. Be careful before you follow another person's advice. The following advice we have partly taken from books, and partly developed out of our own experience: 1. Long walks are always a good thing. If you consider yourself too tired, try to go anyway. To walk in itself redirects the energy down into the ground, and when you are feeling better your strength returns spontaneously. Some people feel well when they do hard physical work, for instance jogging, gymnastics or dance, and others feel overpressure in the head and dizziness from too intense exercising. Do your own experiments, carefully, and find out what is best for you. 2. Physical work requiring very little mental work, for example cleaning, gardening, or household duties, diverts the attention from the process. The same is the case with light work like needlework, painting, singing, poetry or working with clay. 3. Close contact with nature diverts the energy. In summertime close contact with a tree or the ground is good grounding (to divert the energy into the ground) or walk barefoot and the bioelectrical currents will more easily go down. 4. Normally you have to change your sexual life. If the sexual desire disappears completely, it is best to make a pause. Some people experience increased desire and the orgasms then balance the energies. If you do not have a partner - use "loving self-help". Some people can absolutely not endure to have orgasms in the acute phases, even if they would want to. The orgasm establishes a contact between the upper- and lowermost chakras, so that the current unrestrainedly rushes up to the brain. 5. Anti-depressive medicine and psychopharmacological drugs can mitigate the process. It might seem tempting for those who suffer, but you do not fully recover to how you were before the process started, but instead the process will freeze in its present stage. There is a risk that anti-depressive medicine can trigger a psychosis in people who are at a vulnerable stage, and anti-psychosis medicines can cause chronic involuntary bodily movements. And there are more side effects. And still there are people who are so out of balance that they cannot function without the help of this medicine. Among other things it can mitigate attacks of agony. Many people speak about sleeplessness lasting for several weeks when the process started. A small dose of sleeping medicine might be necessary. 6. Overpressure and burning sensations in the head and in other places can, in some people, be mitigated by ordinary prescription-free medicine. Muscle cramps can get better with anti-cramp medicines, which can only be obtained on prescription. It is of

Susanne Williams 2006

course best to avoid medicine, but one has to live. But the threshold of pain is individual, so you have to try and test, and listen to your inner voice. Some succeeded in calming the process with help of the new "happy-pills", and others got worse. 7. When the energy is extremely active there is a risk that you do not get enough food for long periods of time. This increases the process. If you have a tendency to get into states of trance or "space-out", then you can keep your blood sugar level up by eating small regular meals or snacks, even if you are not hungry. And do not go to bed with an empty stomach. If you are constipated, eat linseed. It regulates the function of the intestines. If you have diarrhoea you can drink tea made from bilberry. Ask your health store. Eat more than usual. And include more protein and sugar. If you are a vegetarian it is important to get nutrients, big meals including dairy products, eggs, beans, rice, root crops, coarse bread and so on. 8. If the problem is body temperature, a cool bath can mitigate. Swimming is good therapy for most people. If you have burning sensations on the top of your head, you can put cold water on the points where it burns. You do not have to soak your hair completely. We know of one single case where the energy got extra violent in the bath, so here, too, caution is recommended. If you freeze a lot or have joint- and muscle pains, a hot bath can mitigate. If your body is burning hot and hand and feet are ice-cold or the other way around, you should dress accordingly, or, have cold or hot hand- and foot baths. Most people have problems with heat waves. Lie in the shadow and use a widebrimmed hat. Do not lie in the sun too long. Use sunglasses. Bathe as often as possible, or have a cold shower. Drink cold drinks. 9. Massage, acupressure, healing, with or without bodily contact and such things have helped some, but here, too, a warning must be issued since most people got worse. 10. Kundalini arousal and hypersensitivity to electricity walk hand in hand. Do not sit for hours in front of a computer or TV. Some cannot stand neon lights. Avoid microwave ovens and the clock radio. Use a high factor of sun protection when you sit in front of a computer or TV and the like. 11. A Kundalini arousal can generate wandering pains throughout the body. Remember that you can simultaneously have a disease, which causes pain, and which absolutely needs treatment. For instance pains in the spine, which many experience, can be caused by a slipped disc. See to it, then, to have a thorough examination by a doctor. See the doctor also if there are other symptoms as, for example, dizziness and disturbed vision or digestive problems. And forget the old myth that you cannot get cancer if you have a Kundalini arousal. It is not true! 12. Avoid meditation, yoga, fasting, breathing exercises and other exercises, whose goal it is to reach higher consciousness. They can increase the process. It is a fact that many that meditate or do something spiritual in general, get worse. This includes reading of spiritual books and participating in spiritual workshops. Some can do it but others should be moderate. Prayer gives comfort and strength.

Susanne Williams 2006

13. It is a good thing to work with the unconscious material that comes up, but in the acute stage many are very susceptible. There is already much to deal with, so it is wise to wait with psychotherapy until the conditions are more stable. But if the need is acute, it is best to seek help. 14. In the acute stage, when you experience extreme tiredness, it is nice to have support from a person you can trust. To feel totally safe and leave the daily work in another person's hands for a while can be a comfort when you feel miserable. If you lack the ability to focus, this other person can help you remember and follow the advice in this list. 15. It can be hard for families, friends and social workers, if any, to understand what is going on. To avoid total isolation, use the contact list and talk about your problems with others in the same situation. 16. Give time a chance. It happens to quite a lot of people who have had painful experiences that the process completely stops by itself.

Susanne Williams 2006