How Do Christians Deal With Kundalini Awakening?

[parvati9]

quote:Originally posted by kembolini

As a Christian I will answer in the same way as I did this weekend in answer to how I reconcile being a yoga teacher and a Christian... With Love.
"Kundalini awakening is a psychological process as well as a spiritual one." Precisely and without love it is, imo, an unfulfilling and I would suggest a pointless experience.

Hi Kembolini

Thanks for the post, great reply.  Was the question asked by yoga practitioners?
         


love
parvati

[parvati9]

"Kundalini arising is an invitation, truly a doorway, into knowing what you are, and realizing or remembering the true nature of existence.  This is why the energy is called divine.  It is the energy of the source of life that enabled you to exist as part of creation, and when it activates it is possible for consciousness to shift in such a way that it recognizes its true nature.  It shows you that you are not the thoughts in your head, and patterns in your life that you previously identified with".

Bonnie Greenwell is a Transpersonal Therapist who received dharma transmission in 2004 from Zen master Adyashanti.  She is author of the book Energies of Transformation:  A Guide to the Kundalini Process.  The above is an excerpt from the latest entry in her beautiful kundalini blog.  Highly recommended.

http://kundaliniguide.blogspot.com

[parvati9]

Here is possibly some evidence supporting the Update post above.  An Annual Conference of the European Transpersonal Psychology Association based in Geneva, Switzerland.  Conference title - The Awakening to Life, to Sexuality, to Death.  It was held a year ago, September 7-9, 2012.   Some of the presentations:

- Vladislav Matrenitski (Ukraine):  The Shamanic Overtone Throat Singing as the Tool to Activate the Sexual Energy

- Anca Munteanu (Romania):  Sexuality, as an Opening Towards Transpersonal Experiences

- Lucien Alfille (France):  The Everyday Life Spiritualized by the Awakening

- Karina Minda (Romania):  Psychological and Spiritual Effects of Meditation


The Annual Conference this year titled Transcendence and Cosmic Consciousness, will be held October 19-20.

www.etpa.co/conferences.html



love
parvati

[parvati9]

Here is another European transpersonal psychology conference, this one sponsored and organized by Eurotas.  The group ostensibly advocates interdisciplinary discussion among various professionals including scientists, psychologists, psychotherapists, doctors, teachers and philosophers.  They state that professionals from more than 30 countries will take part in the next conference.

Eurotas 2013 Moldova is a meeting place for global thinking professionals, who would like to represent the latest trends of human mind science, evolution of consciousness, new educational vision and inner potential unlocking.

Conference Mission:  To share the knowledge we have gained about human potential and consciousness evolution from years of practice and research in Transpersonal Studies to encourage individual and social transformation for future generations.  Emphasis on human potential, education, consciousness evolution, global knowledge sharing.  The conference to be held in Moldova Sept 19-22, 2013.

A disclaimer was discovered on the website indicating that the group is definitely not New Age, and I could find no indication that k awakening will be formally presented or discussed.  Many topics were mentioned, but k awakening omitted, no matter what name it is going by.  Unless it is covered under the topic of consciousness evolution.  However I didn't find any scheduled program topics dealing with consciousness evolution either.  This particular group may be overtly distancing themselves from anything associated with New Age, including k awakening.

I have also found that when and if k awakening is covered in these conferences, it is usually presented by some other name.  Most religiously connotated references seem to be deliberately avoided.  

www.eurotas.org


love
parvati

[parvati9]

*Important Post*


For those needing a little assistance with their k awakening, please check out the following book.  It has received rave reviews from people experiencing k awakening.  Even though it was published in 1989, it is still relevant and extremely helpful - going by the reviews it has gotten on Amazon.  There have been nine reviews in the last three years...  "spiritual masterpiece" and "a life saver" were two of the comments.  Essays on the transformative experience.

*******
Stanislav Grof and Christina Grof (editors), Spiritual Emergency:  When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis.

*******


love
parvati

 

 

[parvati9]

quote:
Essays on the transformative experience

Stanislav Grof and Christina Grof (editors), Spiritual Emergency:  When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis.

This is a very good book for those experiencing spontaneous kundalini awakening.  I read all the essays and would overall rate it 4.5 stars.  

Some readers may find it helpful in establishing an anchor, platform or support for their k awakening.  The book assists in putting one's k experience in sensible accurate perspective.  It will be a great resource for viewing one's experience in a wholesome light and persuading others to do so as well (like family and friends).

While some of the essays are rather dry and boring, others are chock full of insight and truly excellent.  I learned something valuable and beneficial from nearly every essay in the book.

There may be a few resources out there that are more useful for understanding the kundalini process, but this one is definitely a good place to start.  It offers a wide and positive perspective on spiritual transformation from the standpoint of various cultural and intellectual traditions.

I think it will help sort the confusion and give the reader greater confidence in addressing the difficulties often associated with a spontaneous k awakening.


love
parvati

[jonesboy]

Thank you Parvati9. Really good stuff.

[BillinL.A.]

Thanks Parvati I'll add it to my book list.

So satisfying throughout your thread to see you put esoteric spiritual stuff in the context of mainstream Christian tradition.

Having attended thousands of Catholic services over the decades in my younger years(but rarely now)I always had a gnawing feeling that a lot was missing.  Its fun to hear you fill in the missing pieces and trumpet the need for the modern Church to get ready for its members spiritual awakening.

[Ramahlbuddha]

Hello I am new to AYP and I have recently undergone a spontaneous K awakening that was an extreme experience for me. I also have been researching information about K awakening mainly because (that is my personality and my professional background - I research).  I would consider myself agnostic when it comes to religion although have always believed in collective consciousness and a greater consciousness in general. Some may call this 'god'. I am from a Christian culture and like you when in stages of profound Kundalini experience found myself finding help from Eastern religions and philosophies. I just couldn't find any documents that were of help coming from Christian understanding, except a little from Eastern Orthodox Christianity which appears to have more of a acceptance of the 'mystery' side of Christianity in General and then the Christian Gnostics. I find this to be very interesting and maybe could be the start of a thesis on some of the 'ills' of western society in general. The fact that the Christian churches of today so adamantly separate the body and spirit of man is a disservice to individuals and society as a whole. When you have been through a K awakening the first major understanding that you have is that body and spirit are so intimately connected.
Thanks for the links to documents. I will read them with much interest.

[parvati9]

Thanks for the comments Jonesboy and BillinL.A.

love
parvati

[parvati9]

Hi Ramahlbuddha

Welcome to the AYP forums, where you can find accurate information on kundalini, and thanks very much for your comment.  I have discovered the field of Transpersonal Psychology in general to be another good resource  for accurate k information.    But it still takes someone good at research, such as yourself, to get at the essential facts.  From my perspective, it is vitally important to have current up-to-date facts derived primarily from contemporary personal accounts.  I think many of the Transpersonal Psychologists are drawing from both their own k awakening experience as well as those of their clients.  Hope to hear more from you.

love
parvati

[parvati9]

COMMUNICATING WITH ONE'S SUBCONSCIOUS AWARENESS
Symbols and Metaphors



It was through online research - attempting to discover more resources for accurate kundalini information - that eventually the field of Transpersonal Psychology was encountered.  If it hadn't been for recently engaging in extensive online research, related to the topic of this OP, I may not have realized the valuable contribution that (primarily Western) psychologists, philosophers, sociologists and therapists are making to the accurate perception of spontaneous kundalini awakening.  Throughout the majority of my own k awakening, either I was clueless or the emphasis has been on making sense of the experience via Eastern oriented religious context.  It has been slowly dawning on me that the religious context is no longer necessary.   (Usually) helpful yes, necessary no.

In light of this newly developed understanding, I now see how it may be more beneficial for some individuals to approach their k awakening from a religion-free perspective.  With the emphasis on guiding the experience towards healthy authentic personal, emotional and psychological transformation.  

It may therefore be both viable and sensible to discuss one's k awakening in completely non-religious terms.  In view of the OP question - How do Christians Deal w/Kundalini Awakening? - it may be helpful to remember that the general discussion may take place on the psychological level, as opposed to bringing in references and concepts sourced in Eastern religions and practices.

Several years ago I came across a basically unknown book that has been simply sitting on my bookshelf unused - in spite of the fact that it is a very valuable resource for understanding subconscious mind dynamics.  At this point it will only be mentioned.  However time permitting, later there will be more discussion on the book and how it is especially relevant to k awakening.

The subconscious mind, or subconscious awareness, powerfully affects every realm of our lives.  To a certain extent, it dominates and controls our lives, although by definition in a hidden way.  Once kundalini awakens, we usually achieve greater access to these unconscious reservoirs.  The language of the unconscious mind is SYMBOL and METAPHOR.  Dream symbols are often very instructive in understanding what is going on in our subconscious awareness.  So are metaphors.  Any metaphor we spontaneously use to describe our perception, experience or behavior may be analyzed for the symbolically coded information it reveals to us.

_________

The book is by James Lawley and Penny Tompkins.
METAPHORS IN MIND:  Transformation Through Symbolic Modelling
_________


love
parvati      

[parvati9]

Some highlights from Stephen Dinan's outstanding Consciousness Timeline.  Goes up to 1999.  For me this was helpful and interesting.  So it is being included here b/c others may also find it useful.  However it is much more complete, this is only a sample, link below.  


1900 ..  Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams
1912 ..  Carl Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious
1934 ..  Carl Jung, Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious
1946 ..  Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi
1957 ..  P.D. Ouspensky, The Fourth Way
1961 ..  Thomas Szasz, The Myth of Mental Illness
1965 ..  R. D. Laing, The Divided Self
1967 ..  R. D. Laing, The Politics of Experience
1968 ..  Carlos Casteneda, The Teachings of Don Juan
1969 ..  Fritz Perls, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim
1971 ..  Gopi Krishna, Kundalini - The Evolutionary Energy in Man
1973 ..  Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
1975 ..  Stanislav Grof, Realms of the Human Unconscious
1975 ..  Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness* (see note below)
1976 ..  Lee Sanella, Kundalini:  Psychosis or Transcendence?
1989 ..  Deepak Chopra, Quantum Healing
1998 ..  Stanislav Grof, The Cosmic Game


[*I substituted The Miracle of Mindfulness which wasn't found in Dinan's Consciousness Timeline for "1966 Thich Nhat Hanh arrives in U.S...]


www.enlightenment.com/media/essays/consciousnesstimeline.html



love
parvati

(edit/ typos)

 

[jonesboy]

Parvati,

Have you ever thought of writing the book? I have no doubt that you are capable of it

[parvati9]

Hi Jonesboy

My research skills are halfway decent.  At least better than writing.  Thanks for the comment though[]

love
parvati