1997/03/23 20:04
kundalini-l-d Digest V97 #116
kundalini-l-d Digest Volume 97 : Issue 116
Today's Topics:
ego death, purification and kundalini driven emergence
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 02:55:52 +0000
From: Tom Aston <yogi.tomATnospamtantrictom.demon.co.uk>
To: kundalini-lATnospamexecpc.com
Subject: ego death, purification and kundalini driven emergence
Message-ID: <OJTeMJA40eNzEw9jATnospamtantrictom.demon.co.uk>
Dear yogis and spiritual travellers, First apologies for what is a mega-
post, but I felt it might be of interest to many of you in trying to
establish a basis for debate about kundalini meets science/handling
traumas of spiritual emergence in Western culture. Have spent a long
long time cogitating about these issues ......
What follows is an attempt to summarise and place in a more comforting
context the major aspects of the transitional apparent "disorders" that
can manifest themselves when kundalini gets to work in earnest on
hapless ego and what we Buddhists call the conditioned mind. Obviously,
not all yogis experience problems, but seems to be a major cause of
anxiety and misundertanding even so....
Depending on feedback here and movements of the planets and sheer
chance, am thinking of exploring possibilities of approaching
therapeutic profession and yogis and meditators with it to add a little
knowledge about kundalini and encourage tolerance, compassion,
empowerment and understanding of those undergoing such a process so that
everyone can be spared the drama, pain and complications that can result
from ignorance, intolerance, judgement and confusion.
Sorry about the length of the article, but it is the distilled
understanding of 14 years of inner turmoil and spiritual splendour. Feel
free to use for own purposes.
EGO DEATH, PURIFICATION AND KUNDALINI DRIVEN SPIRITUAL EMERGENCE
What follows is an introductory account of the spectrum of relatively
unusual mental, physical, psychic and spiritual phenomena that can cause
alarm to someone undergoing the kundalini experience. None of these
symptoms which can arise during the transitional purification of mind,
body and soul need necessarily occur if one is experiencing kundalini
awakening, but at least some of them are common at some stage in the
process and the more extreme symptoms can arise to a varying degree,
especially if one makes a serious practice of meditation after kundalini
awakening has occurred..
THE TRAUMAS OF SPIRITUAL BIRTH
If one experiences anything like the range of symptoms described below
at some time following the awakening of kundalini, the best policy may
well be simply to learn to sit them out and wait till they pass for this
transitional process from mundane ego consciousness to something
altogether purer is similar to the trauma of physical birth of a baby.
The drama and pain are all part of the process and it could not be
otherwise. Sometimes a little help is needed to facilitate a successful
delivery, but ultimately, nature must take its course irrespective of
the wills of others.
REASSURANCE AND TOLERANCE
The particular practical purpose of this account is to reassure those
undergoing such experiences that they are not going crazy as many people
often believe when encountering such experiences, and that those
observing such experiences in others should be careful not to judge or
label with the stigmatism of mental illness when there are indications
that kundalini could be at work instead of more mundane and common forms
of mental illness.
WHAT IS KUNDALINI ?
But first, the reader may not have heard of kundalini. It is a Sanskrit
term most often translated as the "serpent power" or "coiled up"
psychophysical energy that is the central esoteric engine of Tantric
yoga. Yogis regard it as a sacred spiritual energy that is crucial in
attaining spiritual liberation within a single lifetime.
While traditionally this energy was awakened at the foot of the spine
through the postures, breathing exercises, body locks and meditation
techniques of classical yoga, often with the help of a guru or lama, it
can also manifest spontaneously with no particular causal pattern
apparent, as seems to be happening increasingly among Westerners.
Even so, although more is becoming known about kundalini in the West, it
remains a fringe and often misconstrued topic even among many
practitioners of yoga and meditation.
JOURNEY TO GOD
The kundalini, known in Hinduism as the Shakti or goddess aspect of the
divine, rises up through the chakras or energy centres of the subtle
body which lie along the spine and purifies and empowers the whole
psychophysical body and makes it fit for spiritual experience - the
meeting with the Absolute in the form of Shiva - and the total
purification of the causal body which is the home of all one's karma.
THE MANY MANY FACES OF KUNDALINI AND SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
However, this is by no means the only model for kundalini awakening and
it can manifest in many other forms as all kinds of psychic, spiritual
and psychophysical phenomena which can both be sublime abd a cause of
confusion and bewilderment among those experiencing it, whom I shall
refer to as "yogi" from now on.
While it is hard to draw direct comparisons between different spiritual
traditions, there is evidence within the scriptures and commentaries of
mystical Christianity, the Qaballah, Taoism, Sufism, Sikhism, Tantric
BUddhism and the Hindu Tantra to suggest kundalini and the chakras are
used in various ways to deepen spiritual experience and insight.
SOME CENTRAL FEATURES OF THE KUNDALINI EXPERIENCE
Perhaps the central features of the kundalini experience, no matter
which model one subscribes to, is that of subtle energy awakening,
purification, transcendence, integration of all levels of experience and
dissolution of the ego or conditioned mind at the deepest levels.
One common phenomenon is that of resistance to this process by the ego -
often in very deep and subtle ways - which can complicate matters and
make a shortlived period of kundalini-inspired traumatic transition from
conditioned to unconditioned consciousness into a long and drawn out one
and so can easily mistaken for more mundane forms of mental illness,
particularly if the yogi him or herself is confused and alarmed at the
inner turmoil unfolding within and is unsure as to what is actually
happening.
PSYCHIC PHENOMENA
While the overall effects of kundalini awakening tend to be largely
positive and even spiritually sublime, many Western kundalini yogis have
reported moments of crisis when an old mundane conditioned identity has
to give way to something altogether more extraordinary and
unconditioned.
The most common symptoms of kundalini getting to work in earnest on the
mundane conditioned self are psychic phenomena which may simply be
harmless and enjoyable, as in seeing auras and experiencing profoundly
sensitive sense perception, but can often be rather disturbing and even
mistaken, in extreme cases, for chronic and longterm psychosis.
Here are the main categories of the kind of phenomena reported by
troubled yogis, as far as I am aware:
INNER LIGHT
This can arise spontaneously or be the result of meditation or/and
pranayama, the breath and subtle energy control method of classical
yoga. While inner light often manifests in yoga and spiritual practice,
and is usually beneficail in its effects, in this case it becomes harsh,
disturbing, even painful to the mind and tends not to be relieved no
matter what the yogi does. It can easily be mistaken simply for a
classic case of psychosis. Having said that, it tends to diminish over a
few days and may be totally forgotten in a relatively short time.
OUTER LIGHT
Kundalini can also mainfest as spiritual light outside the mind of the
yogi, and many famous scriptures and autobiographical accounts from East
and West report the spiritual splendour and power of such light. But
sometimes it can again, like the inner light, become harsh, painful,
sometimes burning and disturbing to the yogi who may be the only person
who can see it.
Whether or not science would dismiss this as a hallucination, it would
be simplistic simply to regard it as symptomatic of more mundane forms
of psychosis and chemical imbalance in the brain or religious hysteria.
INNER VOICES
Mystics, poets and artists through the ages have been guided by inner
voices and guides. Many therapists specialise in awakening the inner
guide, the child within and various sacred aspects of human nature that
can manifest as gentle words guiding someone through life.
However, sometimes inner voices can become extremely unpleasant and
apparently evil and when this occurs with a yogi experiencing kundalini
awakening it can rapidly lead to a lifelong diagnosis of schizophrenia
even if the voices soon pass.
INNER SOUNDS
Meditators and yogis often hear very beautiful inner sounds during the
course of their spiritual practice, but sometimes these inner sounds can
take the form of overwhelming roaring or non-stop buzzing, for instance,
which tends to pass in time as the kundalini purifies the mind, but can
be alarming to a yogi unacquainted with the ways of this force.
TASTES AND SMELLS
Yogis often enjoy the benefits of a sensitised palate and sense of smell
as they refine all aspects of their mind and body, but sometimes
kundalini can bring forth apparently imaginary smells and tastes, both
pleasant and unpleasant, which can confuse and even disturb the yogi.
TOUCH AND THE BODY
Kundalini is a primal force and as it surges through the body of the
yogi it can produce kriyas or sponataneous bodily movements designed to
purify the mind and body of old karma, which yoga believes conditions
the body at every moment of existence. These can be dramatic and quite
alarming if the yogi does not understand what is going on, although they
can also be very blissful at the same time. Sometimes they are of a
sexual nature.
The subtle energy liberated by the awakened kundalini can also burn away
areas of resistance or blockages in energy flow, often associated with a
pttern of disease or pain. When it meets resistance that is hard to burn
away it can be very painful for the yogi. It can also roduce what is
sometimes called a "clean burn" in which old karmic residues are burnt
up rather like the effect of the descent of the Holy Spirit in the New
Testament.
PURIFICATION OF THE SIXTH SENSE: THE BRAIN
In the Oriental scheme of things, after the five senses comes the brain,
which is simply a very sophisticated sixth sense rather than the home of
the human identity as Western science would have us believe.
Thus, kundalini may well bring about apparent chaos and turmoil for a
while in the brain and prevent its normal functioning, but this is no
more than the necessary price for spiritual development rather than a
symptom of a longterm chemical imbalance in the cerebral and
neurological functioning of the yogi as many psychiatrists would have us
believe.
Yogis experiencing kundalini awakening often report times when the mind
races, words or images pour through it in a great surge they cannot
control, they may feel an urge to speak in tongues, they may laugh
manically for no apparent reason, they may find their senses moving in
all directions, they may find their sense of self literally dissolving.
These symptoms all usually pass fairly rapidly, but can be very intense.
This process can go even deeper until the yogi becomes unable or
unwilling to relate to linear time and mundane notions of space and
causality in the normal way.
While psychiatry would assume that this is due to some kind
malfunctioning of the brain, it could be that the transcendental
experiences that kundalini often bestows have broken the illusion of the
senses and the ego as the root of human reality. This view may seem
unlikely, but modern physics postulates that the universe as perceived
by the mundane mind relying on the senses is ultimately deceptive.
Given that kundalini can reveal realities beyond the understanding of
the rational mundane mind, kundalini yogis can sometimes go through a
phase of losing all interest in food, drink, self-management in terms of
clothing and cleanliness and handling the logistics of life that
Westerners take for granted as part of what it is to be normal.
While exactly the same behaviour can manifest in cases of genuine mental
illnes, with the yogi exactly the same behaviour arises from direct
experience of a greater spiritual reality that transcends materialism.
Given time, it is likely the yogi will pick up his affairs when the
process of transcendence and purification is complete.
As these kind of transcendental experiences unfold, the yogi may display
no desire or ability to speak at all at times. He or she may assume an
otherworldly tranquility and detachment from normal events that strikes
observers as psychotic even though it is simply part of a transitional
process transforming mundane understanding to unconditioned
consciousness. The yogi may even slip into trances as various
transcendental and psychic phenomena unfold within.
Alternatively, the yogi may be troubled by the inner purification of old
experiences and karmic relationships and may become paranoid or agitated
about past events or people in his or her life. These will pass if
allowed to run their course.
As the old mundane mind begins to break up, the yogi may display
symptoms typical of delirium or psychosis whereby old interests and
experiences combine in bizarre and irrational ways which, if
communicated to others, will seem crazy. These are just the debris of
the old self breaking up in the light of spiritual reality.
Without a detailed personal history of the yogi it is impossible to
understand that these are not symptomatic of a disturbed mind, bizarre
belief system and confused identity, but symptomatic of a dying mind
that has served its purpose, burning up in the fires of enlightenemnt
which kundalini awakening inflames.The scientifdic observer attributes
the old identty to the yogi rather than going deeper and discovering the
first shoots of a new being emerging from beneath all this debris of the
past.
Kundalini awakening can also bring out of body experiences which may
further weaken the yogi's identification with his or her physical body
and be mistaken for some kind of psychosis or self-neglect.
THE EMERGENCE OF UNCONDITIONED CONSCIOUSNESS
Following the kind of purificatory processes listed above, the mind may
become clear enough of conditioned consciousnes to see into the nature
of primordial reality. This may demand the total attention of the yogi
in meditation or trances which, if not performed in private, can be
totally incomprehensible to observers whose minds are rooted in
conditioned reality.
This kind of insight can take the yogi off the map of Western ideas of
consciousness and the arising of spiritual understanding of a profound
nature can easily be seen as another aspect of psychotic episode due to
the extraordinary nature of bizarre and unpredictable behaviour (well
known to India, where some yogis are notorious for bizarre behaviour and
outbursts) in eyes of mundane mind.
What, in previous times, might have been be seen as God-given wisdom and
divinely inspired outbursts, is more likely to be a one-way ticket to a
psychiatric ward in West. If one compares the West's low tolerance of
this kind of behaviour with India, for instance, it raises the question
of the cultural relativity of notions of sanity....
LETTING GO OF ALL ATTACHMENTS
The transcendence experienced after kundalini awakening can rapidly take
the yogi beyond identification with the ego consciousness rooted in the
manipura or navel chakra, which is the cultural norm in Western culture,
and so that he or she lets go of all his or her old emotinal,
professional, intellectual and material attachments during the
transitional phase between conditioned and unconditioned
consciousness..the need to let go of everyone and everything.
This may offend others, be labelled "asocial" and can also lead to the
yogi following apparently inconsistent "out of character" behaviour,
words and actions as usual values and expectations no longer have any
meaning.
CATHARTIC "CRAZY WISDOM"
This letting go combined with the emergence of transcendental insight
can lead to eccentric and bizarre behaviour which fulfills all the
stereotypes of the psychotic, as the yogi becomes accustomed to this
newfound realm of unconditioned consciousness. In Tantra, this
phenmomenon is called "crazy wisodm".
INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE PSYCHE: FREUD, JUNG AND PURE FORMS
Having cleansed the six senses the kundalini can now move into the
basement of the mind which it may well have begun to work on in
anticipation of meeting up in earnest with the shadow of the psyche:
from the conscious everyday realms of the brain into the depths of the
subconscious, which I will use here to refer to the Freudian realms
concerned with sexuality, death, religion and childhood in particular.
This leads into the unconscious realms, best described by Jung in the
Western psychological tradition, which are concerned with pure
archetypal forms often of a spiritual or religious nature that
contribute to the individuation of the psyche and integration on all
levels.
Finally there is the collective realms of the unconscious which can be
both terrifying and wonderful to behold given they contain both the
limitless creative genius of humanity and its capacity for evil on a
massive scale.
WELCOME TO THE FREUDIAN NIGHTMARE
Given the purity of the kundalini shakti and the monsters of the
subconscious of the typical Western psyche, this aspect of the
purification process can be traumatic and most disturbing.
Repressed fear and taboo centred on the themes of sexuality, family
relationships, death and religion and all the guilt and paranoia that
arises from moralistic conditioning can manifest in the conscious realms
in all their rawness and again be mistaken by observers, and even the
yogi, for emergence of part of a disturbed personality rather than the
death throes of the old impure mind.
JUNGIAN NIRVANA EMERGES
As the subconscious is cleansed, one gains access to the pure archetypal
forms of the unconscious. These can take many forms and may first
emerge through dreams or meditation, but even these can liberate psychic
and subtle energy that can cause anxiety as the yogi struggles to get
acquainted with a purity and wholeness that seems extraordinary after
the impurity and fragmented qualities of the conditoned ego and its
shadow, the subconscious.
THE SPLENDOUR AND HORROR OF THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS
As the energies and forms of the unconscious are integrated into the
conscious realms of the yogi's mind, he or she is ready to touch the
collective realms of the unconscious. This can be a glorious experience
of cosmic and primordial unity, but can also reveal the true horror of
the karmic residue of the conditioned mind in all its stark capacity for
destruction, violence, greed, hatred and anger.
Once again, the initial shock of this revelation can lead a yogi
empowered with kundalini awakening to appear to be suffering from some
kind of psychotic episode, when in fact he or she is closer than ever to
breaking through to an extraordianry lucidity of mind and heart that is
irreversible for the rest of time and can easily become a boon to all
who encounter it.
THE ROAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT ?
Beyond this only Tantric Buddhism (and perhaps the deep paradoxical
nature of the Tao Te Ching) really has any hope of giving a coherent
account to satiate the Western intellect for labels and conceptual forms
for what is essentially beyond any explanation or understanding but can
only be experienced as it really is.
Buddhism uses the term "Emptiness" (sunyata) to describe the primordial
state that lies beyond all forms of consciousness, no matter how vast or
profound they may be. The yogi's mind becomes free of all karmic
residues and becomes rooted in a primordial reality unimaginable to the
mundane mind.
By now, the yogi can break or stick to spiritual rules according to his
or her needs and whims. The Tantric traditions of India and Tibet are
rich with eccentric yogis such as Milarepa who have gone beyond the more
mundane notions of religious purity and piety.
One of the archetypal images of India Tantric yoga is of the wild,
unkempt fearless naked yogi living in the cremation ground, both
literally and metaphorically, for it is through meditation and
experiencing the kundalini shakti that he or she burns up all traces of
the ego.
In the Buddhist tradition, enlighened beings always have an impenetrable
aspect to their nature, with, for instance, the Buddha being described
as a ghost, a child and a whale surfacing in the ocean in unexpected
ways.
POSSIBLE LONG TERM CHANGES IN BEHAVIOUR AND CONSCIOUSNESS ARISING FROM
KUNDALINI PURIFICATION PROCESS
The longer term symptoms of the yogi coming to terms with completion of
the kundalini ego purification process may well share some aspects of
the negative symptoms of schizophrenia such as otherworldly tranquility,
passivity, indifference to practical questions of life, seeming
indifference to worldly affairs.
This interpretation of such behaviour, however commonsensical it may be,
is rooted in reductive assumptions about the human mind and its
evolution, and may combine with linear thinking about brain chemistry
being at the root of the yogi's previous "problems" to provide a strong
psychiatric argument for a longterm diagnosis of instablity, inadequacy
and danger of relapse.
However, in reality what has been witnessed is a once in a lifetime
cleansing process that leaves a transformed being who may display
qualities not easily recognised by psychiatric profession or a Western
materialistic culture in which ego is king....
It inevitably takes time for the yogi to get acquainted with new terrain
in which most or all of the old conditioning has gone and the past no
longer binds one's destiny as it did before. This means there are a lack
of familiar reference points within and another problem may arise for a
while in that the yogi, in initial confusion, may internalise the
diagnosis and stigma of mental illness.
WHAT SHOULD THE YOGI DO ?
A few guidelines for the yogi experiencing any of these symptoms: many
of them pass in time given patience and non-intervention, but as one
heads down into the subconscious realms it can be extremely difficult
not to react to the emergence of all kinds of apparently demonic
phenomena. In some ways, your sense of conditioned self is the root of
the problem, so just let go as much as possible.
This is an inevitable part of the kundalini experience if one wants to
go the whole way and the best policy is probably to prepare very
carefully with the help of an appropriate spiritual tradition, martial
arts or yoga or bodywork and relaxation, and teacher so one has done all
one can to defuse the shadow of the waking mind.
One will have to make a choice between seeing this process through in
seclusion, perhaps in a spiritual community, or relying on familiar
surroundings and people to provide a friendly environment for what can
sometimes be a frightening process of transformation of consciousness.
Inevitably this risks a greater likelihood of inappropriate medical or
psychiatric intervention which can complicate matters for the yogi.
WHAT SHOULD A CONCERNED OBSERVER DO ?
A few guidelines for the concerned observer: inevitably, there may well
arise a situation in which one is concerned for the sanity and/or safety
of the yogi experiencing the kundalini experience to the very core of
his or her mind.
Good intentions are not enough here, but unfortunately there is too
little information easily availble to understand the nature of the forms
kundalini purification and transcendence can take and so one may feel
alarmed and without any reference points to know whether this is simply
a natural expression of a newly born mind or the dangerous and perhaps
suicidal or psychotic appearance of mental illness.
Probably the best policy is prevention as cure is almost impossible
except in the form of letting things run their course and perhaps laying
a few safety nets just in case. Encourage anyone you know experiencing
kundalini awakening to integrate it with their whole existence so there
is less chance of sudden crises developing, but rather a gradual process
of purification and integration and transcendence of the mundane self.
THE QUESTION OF PSYCHIATRIC INTERVENTION
In Western society, kundalini symptoms can sometimes be diagnosed as
indicative of a serious mental disorder such as manic depression or
schizophrenia. This inevitably leads to medication being prescribed for
the yogi and may even result, in more extreme cases, to voluntary or
even forcible detention in a psychiatric hospital, for the yogi's "best
interests", especially if he or she appears suicidal or has self-
destructive urges.
Given the prevalence of the mechanistic chemical model within Western
psychiatry in explaining "dysfuntional" behaviour such as schizophrenia
and depression, the yogi's insistence that this is simply a hiccup in
the process of the kundalini cleaning out his or her system may well be
used to reinforce a psychiatric diagnosis.
While unlikely to have any impact on the subtle and psychic energy
liberated by kundalini, the common forms of medication used for these
kinds of diagnoses may well poison the nervous system and damage the
autonomic functions which can make what was a transient but unpleasanbt
process of ego cleansing and dissolution into a physical nightmare that
continues long after the original dysfunctional symptoms have passed and
the kundalini process has begun to resolve itself.
It may come to the yogi being threatened with forcible medication in
extreme cases of apparent psychosis or self-destructive or suicidal
urges and this makes the nightmare scenario even more vivid in which the
yogi is seemingly assailed on both the subtle and mental and physical
fronts, on the one hand by karmic residue, on the other hand by toxic
chemicals that have some impact on more mundane forms of mental
disorder.
A PLACE OF SAFETY, YES, TOXIC MEDICATION, NO
Just as with the general population, there will always be a need for a
place of safety for the few yogis who experiecne such extreme
transitional kundalini effects that they are unable to handle themselves
for a while, but this should not be seen as an invitation to medicate
beings who are normally exceptionally sensitive to any chemicals at all
let alone ones specifically intended to take out certain aspects of the
cerebral neurological functions in a fairly indiscriminate way.
ENTERING A THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP
Perhaps the safest and most appropriate form of intervention, if any is
necessary at all, is that based on the more holistic and progressive
forms of psychological therapy such as the transpersonal and Jungian
approaches.
Even so, if the therapist applies mundane techniques and concepts to
what is essentially a process of adjustment to transcendental experience
permeating more and more of the yogi's being, then the therapy might
just confuse matters and complicate what can be an already complicated
process.
Holistic and Oriental forms of bodywork may also be helpful in
integrating the kundalini experience into one's being.
HOW TO DISTINGUISH TRAUMATIC KUNDALINI TRANSITIONAL STATES FROM COMMON
FORMS OF MENTAL ILLNESS
How to distinguish kundalini transitional states from both mundane and
chronic mundane forms of mental illness ? This is obviously a difficult
distinction to draw given the similarity of short-term symptoms between
the transitional state of spiritual emergence that kundalini can bring
on and more mundane forms of psychosis and depression, amongst others.
But signals that a subtle distinction is possible may emerge if one
draws together the history of the yogi, listens to his or her
interpretation of the experience, and notes the passing of apparently
"dysfunctional" phenomena which would normally be chronic and longer
term, together with the range of symptoms which with kundalini tend to
be exaggerated and dramatic, but short-lived.
Kundalini purification can be responsive to physical therapy, relaxation
techniques and good food in a way that mundane forms of mental illness
are less likely to be.
Furthermore, with detailed observation the observer may be able to
perceive a pattern of purification that results in a longterm
"stabilistion" and "catharsis" and remaking of the old personality in
the fires of spiritual revelation.
This, of course, raises the problem that many cases of psychosis and
classic cases of schizophrenia are rooted in religious delusion, so I
would suggest the development of a multi-dimensional matrix of
dysfunction in which the whole view of the yogi can be taken into
account, encompassing his or her whole belief system, positive and
negative symptoms and spiritual background, rather than isolating
individual symptoms that simply confirm an inappropriate diagnosis and
may lead to toxic medication that only complicates matters.
Furthermore, the yogi experiencing intense kundalini purification of the
brain and subconscious tends to move through the realms of the classical
positive symptoms of schizophrenia rapidly and often intensely, covering
an unusually broad spectrum of symptoms before returning to a relative
normal state of mind unlike the chronic schizophrenic whose symptoms are
longer term and tend to be less erratic.
Of course, the obvious danger here is in misapplying kundalini diagnosis
to inappropriate cases, where conventional treatment for disorders
rooted in mundane rather than emergent transcendental consciousness
might actually be beneficial in at least containing symptoms of
psychosis or depression.
Then there is the temptation to take the atypical case of the yogi who
encounters the psychiatric system with unfortunate consequences and
misapply the theory of the awakening of subtle energy in the head
chakras to the much more numerous cases diagnosed as schizophrenia. In
themselves, these embrace such diverse and varied symptoms that it is
hard to even justify the term schizophrenia, let alone reduce it simply
to a question of imbalance in the subtle energy or the chakras.
THE CLASH OF PARADIGMS: EMERGENT YOGI MEETS REDUCTIVE SCIENCE OF MIND
While this introduction to the apparent downside of the kundalini
experience recognises that this is a transitional phenomenon that
resolves itself rather than a long term source of instability and mental
illness, the gulf in the spiritual and psychiatric interpretations of
the "dysfunctional" yogi illustrate the clash of paradigms of
consciousness that anyone experiencing kundalini awakening in the West
is likely to perceive more clearly than anyone.
For it is not unusual at some stage for someone experiencing kundalini,
especially when it begins to cleanse the Freudian realms of the
subconscious or become channelled into transcendental insight, not to
worry that they are going mad or becoming divine, but only too aware
they may seem somewhat psychotic in the eyes of everyone else, or all
three at once.
For the mechanistic linear view of human experience posited by
psychiatry is an intensified and refined form of the prevalent antipathy
within Western materialistic culture towards the possibility of genuine
mystical experience and beliefs, rooted in direct mystical experience,
that one is on some kind of evolutionary spiritual journey even in the
most mundane of circumstances.
This clash of paradigms of human development can be portrayed in its
starkest terms as revealing the chasm between assumptions about sanity
that are either rooted in the ego or the heart and the transcendental
experience that reveals its true nature.
This in turn leads to the clash between a linear reductive and
behaviouralistic model of human development in which there is no room
for the organic crisis, despair and apparent disorder that is the root
of so much strength, wisdom and insight for those seeing human
experience as an organic process embracing both strengths and weaknesses
which, if isolated and analysed out of context of the overall momentum
of a life towards purpose and meaning, can be cruelly misleading.
Nowhere do these two polarised views of human experience reveal the
chasm between them than when the yogi experiencing intense purification
of the mind from kundalini awakening comes into contact with the medical
profession. In a world as short of convincing answers to global problems
ranging from the environment on so many levels to mass poverty, there is
undoubtedly a place for the traumas of spiritual birth to purify and
fire the soul in the hope it may give birth to something extraordinary.
On a technical level, the fact that there is so little tolerance, either
explicit or implicit, of such spiritual birth traumas points to the
fundamental clash of Oriental and Western views of the anatomy of the
mind: the Eastern systems embracing the chakras, nadis and meridians
which provide a theoretical framework for beginning to uderstand the
workings of kundalini, versus neurological and pharmacological
reductionism thqt is the lifeblood of psychiatric diagnosis and
intervention.
A PLEA FOR SANITY AND TOLERANCE
In some ways, the yogic view embodies all that progressive campaigners
in mental health stand for, only the yogi does so for technical reasons
as much as humanistic ones. To put it simply, psychiatric medication is
useless in the face of kundalini.
At best, it will postpone an inevitable purification of consciousness,
at worst it will complicate an already complicated and fragile process
and risk bringing all the stigma and taboo that is endemic in
psychiatric labelling and treatment to bear on a newly emerging
spiritual identity reluctant to engage in self-justification necessary
to put the rrecord straight about the nature of the kundalini
trransitional experience.
While there is a desperate need for greater empowerment, tolerance,
compassion and understanding throughout Western psychiatry (and Western
mainstream culture in general when faced with the apparently
dysfunctional yogi and mystic), in cases of crises involving kundalini
this is, in some ways at least, even more crucial, for the potential
gains and losses when such a divine force is at work are that much
greater than in more mundane cases of mental health problems.
SO, GIVEN ALL THE POSSIBLE "PROBLEMS", WHAT IS KUNDALINI FOR ?
So given that I seem to have found so many possible problems with the
transitional process of spiritual emergence that kundalini can bring,
just what is the value of the kundalini experience ?
Some say it is central to the mystical traditions of all the major world
religions. The kundalini can variously be described as the manifestation
of Gaia, the earth goddess, of Mother Earth, of the feminine archetype,
of the Yn principle, as the sublimated sexual life force manifesting as
means of spiritual transformation, and it appears again and again in
scriptures, mythology and paganism in symbolic forms such as the
serpent, snake and the dragon.
More specifically, some say that kundalini is the hidden engine of the
next stage of human evolution, only this is spiritual evolution that
relies on the purification, integration and expansion of the nervous
system and its capacities.
This may seem farfetched to the sceptical Western rational eye, but
pioneeers such as Dr Hiroshi Motoyama in Japan and Itzakh Bentov in the
USA have designed the first technical equipment capable of detecting the
flow of sutle energy through and around the body, so laying the first
foundtions of developing a scientific knowledge of kundalini and its
effects that may be more accessible to Western scientific method.
APPEARANCE AND REALITY: THE TABOO OF MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE
Given the gullibility and fanaticism of some people, it is easy to
sympathise with the general mistrust of the mystical outlook within
Western society and science. The Jonestown mass suicide in Guyana, the
ritual suicides of members of the Order of the Solar Temple and the
deadly Tokyo subway nerve gas attacks all seem to confirm reason's worst
fears about what people can do when they start believing and stop
thinking.
NEW PHYSICS SUGGESTS YOGIS ARE RIGHT
But the trouble is that science itself is no longer united in its view
of the universe as a fairly logical, predictable and familiar homely
place that can be mastered by the scientist relying on the evidence of
the senses, some mechanistic principles and the reasoning of the brain
backed by modern computers and technical equipment.
Modern physics shows that the universe is essentially one, that it is
full of paradox and non-dualistic logic, that even conventional notions
of causality cannot be taken for granted and that the scientist cannot
be isolated from the universe he or she is observing. Which all begins
to sound a lot like the kind of holistic, interconnected, universe-as-
consciousness and it is beyond all description view of existence that
many yogis and mystics, some of them - maybe all of them in various
mysterious ways - with the aid of kundalini, have handed down through
the ages.
HOLISTIC PARADIGMS EMERGING, REFINING KNOWLEDGE INTO WISDOM
Undoubtedly, we are not ready to abandon conventional rationality, but,
at the same time, it is becoming clearer that solely materialistic,
technical and piecemeal solutions to the global problems we face are not
going to do the job.
Information has given way to knowledge to some extent, and individuals
are becoming more and more part of networks and teams rather than
attempting to operate on their own.
In all kinds of fields, from international media and IT to grassroots
economic and social development, from company account auditing to
environemntal policy, more and more aspects of existence are being
included in the conceptual models on which decisions are taken, so again
nurturing the idea of holistic solutions and outlooks as more effective
and enduring than traditionally fragmented and narrower ones.
Thus, there is a gradual emergence of more refined information
technology and holistic paradigms of organisation, surely the next step
is to draw on both these developments to nurture a wisdom culture in
which the heart and transcendental vision of the mystic and yogi - fed
by kundalini - refreshes and integrates the technical precision of the
rational scientific mind.
As our technical prowess becomes ever more refined and concentrated,
like a laser beam penetrating reality deeper and deeper, so there is a
need that this ability to manipulate materials is controlled and
balanced by the understanding of the end goal of it all and the limits
to which one can push, poison and manipulate the natural order.
WITHIN AND WITHOUT, THE NATURE OF SELF
The yogi looks within for solutions to the dilemmas of existence, and so
discovers the fluid nature of the self, the scientist tends to look
without, regarding the self as largely fixed and constant. Both
approaches have their strengths, perhaps kundalini could provide a new
means to synthesising the two in one integrated outlook fired in the
certainty of trascendental insight and transformation of consciousness.
CUTTING THROUGH SCIENTIFIC PATHOLOGICAL DENIAL OF THE SPIRIT
To end, I would like to make a more general point about the phenomenon
of spiritual emergence in the West and how easily one can be deceived by
appearances that contradict, in strictly reductive logical terms, at
least, the underlying reality of the beneficial nature of the process at
work.
IS GOD REALLY DEAD ?
If I was a psychiatrist in search of a diagnosis I might say that the
rational scientific ego is almost pathological in its desire, not just
to ignore this kind of phenomenon, which has long been acknowledged by
several psychological methods, but to actively discredit it, make it
culturally abnormal and thus associate it with all the weakness,
inadequacy and taboo that causes so much misery to those who genuinely
discover new realms of consciousness whether through spiritual practice
or simply in the course of fairly ordinary existence or something
inbetween.
The resistance of the Western rational mind and conditioned self to the
possibility of other realities and states of being beyond the narrow
realms of its own experience flies in the face of other cultures around
the world and centuries which have been inspired and reshaped by those
who have heard inner voices, seen mystical light and visions and set
fire to the minds and hearts of others with the nobility of their lives
and the profound and pure, wise and uplifting nature of their words.
A PERVASIVE CONDITION ?
Given more time and space it would be interesting to see if one could
connect this repression of a healthy spiritual process of transition and
evolution could be found rooted in the same mentality and culture that
is causing so much harm to the environment and indigenous cultures of
the world....but that is another story.
EAST-WEST AND NORTH-SOUTH - BRIDGING THE DIVIDES
Suffice to say, a wider and deeper understanding of kundalini in the
West would no doubt be another step towards integrating and balancing
the scientific and spiritual outlooks and so help bridge the perennial
gulf between East and West....and perhaps in doing so, provide a source
of energy and wisdom capable of bridging the material inequity of the
North-South divide which must surely be te centre of any progressive
agenda for global development. - SILVER DAWN MEDIA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: With thanks to fellow Buddhist Shanti Parslow for some
positive feedback and encouragement in formulating this account, and to
the late psychiatrist Lee Sannella MD (author of The Kundalini
Experience) and fellow yogi Gopi Krishna (author of many books on
kundalini) for leading the way. Thanks especially to my root guru Shri
Vidwans, of Sevagram, central India, home of Gandhi's ashram, for giving
me the taste for reality that is never satisfied.
Copyright 1997 Yogi Tom/Silver Dawn Media All Rights Reserved
This article, in complete form only, may be reproduced and distributed
solely for non-profit educational and spiritual purposes anywhere in the
world given, and conditional on, the notification in advance of its use
for such purposes to Yogi Tom/Silver Dawn Media at email address
yogi.tomATnospamtantrictom.demon.co.uk. Any use of part of this article in
quotation for other publications in the public realm must be negotiated
in advance.
Silver Dawn Media is a spiritual enterprise aimed at enlightening the
public as to the nature of kundalini, Tantric Yoga, Integral Yoga and
the holistic nature of the spiritual universe. All profits go to
educational, health or/and social projects with a spiritual or/and
holistic philosophy. 23.3.97
ends
--
Tom Aston
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