Vol.

1 – The Awareness Issue

Kundalini as Potential Energy

By Sharon Bauer, MSN Tues, Feb 15, 2011

Edited by Mimi Malfitano
In the Dzogchen tradition, the energy of the field of awarenss is described as
manifest emerging from the un-manifest. In the Hindu tradition she is described
as the Shakti emerging from Shiva. In the Chinese tradition she is the Chi, the
power of the Tao. She is the active, dynamic energetic aspect of the primordial
awareness… the mother of all. Her names are many: the kundalini, the devi, the
shakti, the spanda, the chi, the ki. Each tradition describes her personally, for
she inspires devotion in all her devotees. She is known as Mary, Kuan Yin,
Lakshmi, Parvati, as Sophia, as Kali, the Maha Devi, as Durga, as Tara, as
Mother Nature. In the Rig Veda she is described as the energetic force which
brings forth the daily coming of the light into the world. She sets all things in
motion. She sends people to their duties. She is said also to be “the eye of the
Gods,” for she illuminates us all. She is described as “the root of the world,” as
“pervading all,” as “the life force in all beings.” She is the mother, the Divine
Prana, which courses through our bodies.

Today we will focus on the awakening and movement of energy through the
body. In the Hindu Shavite system, kundalini is described as potential energy or
prana. It is said to lie at the base of the spine in its dormant state. Once
awakened, it enters the central channel (which corresponds to the spinal column)
in the subtle body, and begins to rise up, piercing each of the major chakras in
the body. Awakened kundalini is called shakti. As the shakti passes through the
chakras, there is an intensification of energy. The centers may feel as if there is
a throbbing, pulsing or spinning as the kundalini rises. As the energy opens a
particular center, the qualities of that center may be experienced. The chakras
are themselves knots of nadis, like overlapping freeway systems where there are
entrances and exits into a central location. The energy moves through the nadis
to purify the energy center.

Abhinavagupta, the 10th century Shavite master, recommends practicing with

great love, affection and devotion in the first stage of practice. Initially, as we
focus on the breath, the breath may become very fine and subtle, and then a kind
of giddiness takes over. The meditator may feel he is entering another world. His
or her body may not move. It may take great effort to open the eyes. It is as if the
mind is very alert, but the body is asleep. Sometimes the meditator may even
experience fear or see scary images. One might even see the archetypal image
of a snake rising up the spine. The advice given by the yogis at this point is to
simply witness whatever is happening and not get frightened. Simply hold a
relaxed state of awareness. It is suggested to anchor one’s self in the breath or a
mantra. If you like, you can use the mantra aham-ah…” I am becoming who I am”

It should be noted that these experiences vary according to the capacity of the
meditator. The kundalini is aroused in the muladhara chakra at the base of the
spine, the “root center.” As the energy is aroused, one may feel a pain or
crawling sensation in this center. The energy is then sipped into the central
channel. As this happens, a great bliss may arise. The breath may even
stop. If you like you can focus on the mantra “aham-ah.” As the energy moves
through the sexual center, one may feel intense desire. Let the desire be there in
awareness. Do not go into fantasy. Just hold a steady state of awareness. Now
the energy begins to rise up though the abdomen, sometimes call the “city of the
jewel.” As this center is purified, fear and treachery drop away, digestion
becomes strong and one becomes free of disease. As the energy continues to
move, it may open the heart center, which is sometimes called the center of the
pairs of opposites – “the place where heaven and earth meet” in the body. There
are many opposites: love/hate, good/bad, success/failure, and the list goes
on. As the shakti permeates this center, one becomes steadfast in the inner
feeling, in the “awareness of awarenss.” One gains the ability to sustain
compassion and receives the power to heal.

As the kundalini enters the 16 petalled lotus in the throat, eight of the petals give
the power of speech and expression. For most of us these powers are naturally
open. The other eight petals must be opened though right virtue and
practice. When the throat is opened, intuition becomes very strong and
information can be received directly from the primordial field. The power of direct
perception increases and one can now bypass the cognitive mind and know past,
present and future. When this center is pierced by the kundalini, the ears are
opened. Sometimes one hears divine sound called nada. Muktananda describes
this experience of nada in his autobiography, “The Play of Consciousness.”
There are many kinds of nada resembling such things as the beating of the
waves of the sea, the roll of thunder, the rippling of a stream, the rattle of a
speeding train, the sound of an airplane in the distance, the crackle of a funeral
pyre. Sometimes I would hear the chanting of the divine name, sometimes the
sounds of the mridang and kettledrum, sometimes the solemn and sacred sound
of the conch, sometimes the mighty peal of huge bells suggesting the chanting of
OM., sometimes the sweet sing of the veena and other string instruments. I also
heard the sounds of honey bees, bumble bees, and other insects, the calling of
the peacock and cries of the peacock and other birds. I became immersed in a
new ecstasy which came with these sounds.”

Then as the shakti moves through the eyes, the eyes are purified and one may
be able to see the light of consciousness. The blue pearl or tigle is pierced. As
the shakti moves through the nose, one may begin to experience divine
fragrance. Muktananda describes “There is no fragrance in the world equal to
these fragrances, I floated in ecstasy, they were so divine. A special breathing
would take place spontaneously, and I would feel the most sweet and beautiful
love.”

As this energy moves into the 3rd eye, the meditator enters a “special void.” The
yogi enters the thought-free state. In this space, the meditator begins to pour his
subjectivity into the universal consciousness, into oneness…

As energy moves into the crown center, a kind of mystical whirling takes
place. This whirling does not belong to ordinary experience and is describes as
“a vibration moving in all directions, so intense as to defy the imagination.” As
each petal of the thousand-petalled lotus is opened, one may experience this
awakening of kundalini at its highest level. This center is known as the seat of
the primordial teacher. One may access archetypal beings in the crown center,
as in, the Christ, the Buddha and the Divine Mother, angelic form.

And when the intensity of the vibration is one with the primordial awareness, one
enters oneness permanently. All objective phenomena have been digested by
the light. As this happens, one is lifted into universal consciousness and the yogi
recognizes his identity with the whole world. “The bliss of samadhi is now the
bliss of the world.” As this happens, the yogi is then able to be of real service to
all of humanity for it is through the power of that yogi’s light that the kundalini may
be awakened in many people.

For most meditators, the stages previously described may span many years of
meditation practice.

In the Tantraloka, Abhinavagupta explains the phenomena of the seven stages of

self. He says consciousness is made to double back on itself. It’s made to face
itself directly. As we become aware of our own awareness, it’s as if a beam of
light looks back at its own radiance. As this happens, there is a release of
energy in the muladhara chakra. This vibratory current is generated by the
“colliding of consciousness” itself. This intensified flow is called the Kundalini
Shakti. This awakened Shakti then purifies each chakra leading us ultimately to
the state of oneness with the self.

The Chandogya Upanishad describes the conclusion of this process in this

way: “When the senses are purified, the heart is purified. When the heart is
purified, there is a constant and unceasing remembrance of the self. When there
is a constant and unceasing remembrance of the self, all bonds are loosened and
freedom is attained.”