Thursday, March 09, 2006
Kundalini, Enlightenment, a Cold Wind
Today it is extremely cold and windy in San Francisco. I poked my head outside briefly, and decided I would not attempt to travel by bus to my new apartment many blocks away, but would stay inside, finish my interminable packing, and ponder certain questions that have been posed recently by various friends.
Once more, the question has been asked, "What is the relationship of kundalini and enlightenment? Can one be enlightened without experiencing kundalini awakening? Is kundalini awakening in and of itself an indicator of enlightenment?"
I say, "once more," because this is a perennial question, one which has been discussed and debated in many circles over the years. Here is my (current) answer:
To begin with, I think we err when we think of only the two states, "enlightened" and "unenlightened." I believe there are degrees of each. One can sometimes, in peak moments, experience a taste or glimpse of the enlightened condition (though even that brief exposure may be incomplete.) And much the same holds true for kundalini. Some experience brief or incomplete kundalini awakenings, and these occasionally mistake these "samples" for the larger experience.
So--my conclusion (in brief) is that it is indeed possible to undergo some forms of kundalini awakening without entering into major or highly developed "enlightenment" states. True, one would know more than one did before about the possibilities of the human nervous system to experience the universal creative energies as blis (or perhaps pain.) But without a firm and well developed foundation, the experience might remain at a more superficial level (sensation, rather than comprehension.)Thus, an immature candidate might experience shaktipat at the hands of a "master," and yet fall far short of the spiritual transformation essential to the enlightened vision. By the same token, one might be fully developed as a compassionate and wise being, dedicated in service to the betterment of humanity, and yet remain oblivious to kundalini energies.
I suspect that comlete enlightenment requires a fusion of both modes--compassionate service and activated energies. But--and here is the rub--only those who have achieved such an exalted state can describe it accurately. And--in my view--such an advanced being would never claim "enlightenment" for her/him self. To do so would undermine the claim.
Here is a recent poem from Ivan Granger's poetry-chaikhana, from the incredible early mystic Hallaj. Like all great mystics, Hallaz experienced spiritual union with God He was not only denounced for his beliefs (which were interpreted literally, as if he thought of himself in his human capacity as God), he was executed for blasphemy. His words reveal the depth and intensity of feeling which can come with such "inner knowing." He is not trying to explain God, but rather to describe the experience of the divine union.
If They Only Knew
By Hallaj
(9th Century)
English version by Michael A. Sells
What earth is this
so in want of you
they rise up on high
to seek you in heaven?
Look at them staring
at you
right before their eyes,
unseeing, unseeing, blind.
. . .
I was patient,
but can the heart
be patient of
its heart?
My spirit and yours
blend together
whether we are near one another
or far away.
I am you,
you,
my being,
end of my desire.
The most intimate of secret thoughts
enveloped
and fixed along the horizon
in folds of light.
How? The "how" is known
along the outside,
while the interior of beyond
to and for the heart of being.
Creatures perish
in the darkened
blind of quest,
knowing intimations.
Guessing and dreaming
they pursue the real,
faces turned toward the sky
whispering secrets to the heavens.
While the lord remains among them
in every turn of time
abiding in their every condition
every instant.
Never without him, they,
not for the blink of an eye --
if only they knew!
nor he for a moment without them.
-- from Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Quran, Miraj, Poetic and Theological Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality), by Michael A. Sells
And here is Ivan's penetrating interpretation of the poem:
This is a great poem by the Sufi mystic and martyr, al-Hallaj.
A reminder to us all that, wherever we look, we are always staring at the face of God, "right before [our] eyes." Everyone, knowingly or unknowingly, is always searching for the Eternal, but too easily we become lost in our search. The idea of a search is already to be lost -- "a blind quest." We imagine that the Goal will be found elsewhere, somewhere that we are not, and so we rush about looking, looking. "Guessing and dreaming," looking for God in heaven instead of beneath our feet and between the span of our arms, we blindly have our "faces turned toward the sky." But doing that, we never recognize that "the lord remains among [us]" in our "every condition / every instant." We are never without the Divine Presence, "not for the blink of an eye!"
Hallaj says it very simply, speaking to God as the Beloved who is everywhere and, at the same time, the heart of the heart:
My spirit and yours
blend together
whether we are near one another
or far away.
I am you,
you,
my being,
end of my desire.
- Ivan
www.Poetry-Chaikhana.com sign on this site for the incredible daily poem e-mailed free of charge.
Once more, the question has been asked, "What is the relationship of kundalini and enlightenment? Can one be enlightened without experiencing kundalini awakening? Is kundalini awakening in and of itself an indicator of enlightenment?"
I say, "once more," because this is a perennial question, one which has been discussed and debated in many circles over the years. Here is my (current) answer:
To begin with, I think we err when we think of only the two states, "enlightened" and "unenlightened." I believe there are degrees of each. One can sometimes, in peak moments, experience a taste or glimpse of the enlightened condition (though even that brief exposure may be incomplete.) And much the same holds true for kundalini. Some experience brief or incomplete kundalini awakenings, and these occasionally mistake these "samples" for the larger experience.
So--my conclusion (in brief) is that it is indeed possible to undergo some forms of kundalini awakening without entering into major or highly developed "enlightenment" states. True, one would know more than one did before about the possibilities of the human nervous system to experience the universal creative energies as blis (or perhaps pain.) But without a firm and well developed foundation, the experience might remain at a more superficial level (sensation, rather than comprehension.)Thus, an immature candidate might experience shaktipat at the hands of a "master," and yet fall far short of the spiritual transformation essential to the enlightened vision. By the same token, one might be fully developed as a compassionate and wise being, dedicated in service to the betterment of humanity, and yet remain oblivious to kundalini energies.
I suspect that comlete enlightenment requires a fusion of both modes--compassionate service and activated energies. But--and here is the rub--only those who have achieved such an exalted state can describe it accurately. And--in my view--such an advanced being would never claim "enlightenment" for her/him self. To do so would undermine the claim.
Here is a recent poem from Ivan Granger's poetry-chaikhana, from the incredible early mystic Hallaj. Like all great mystics, Hallaz experienced spiritual union with God He was not only denounced for his beliefs (which were interpreted literally, as if he thought of himself in his human capacity as God), he was executed for blasphemy. His words reveal the depth and intensity of feeling which can come with such "inner knowing." He is not trying to explain God, but rather to describe the experience of the divine union.
If They Only Knew
By Hallaj
(9th Century)
English version by Michael A. Sells
What earth is this
so in want of you
they rise up on high
to seek you in heaven?
Look at them staring
at you
right before their eyes,
unseeing, unseeing, blind.
. . .
I was patient,
but can the heart
be patient of
its heart?
My spirit and yours
blend together
whether we are near one another
or far away.
I am you,
you,
my being,
end of my desire.
The most intimate of secret thoughts
enveloped
and fixed along the horizon
in folds of light.
How? The "how" is known
along the outside,
while the interior of beyond
to and for the heart of being.
Creatures perish
in the darkened
blind of quest,
knowing intimations.
Guessing and dreaming
they pursue the real,
faces turned toward the sky
whispering secrets to the heavens.
While the lord remains among them
in every turn of time
abiding in their every condition
every instant.
Never without him, they,
not for the blink of an eye --
if only they knew!
nor he for a moment without them.
-- from Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Quran, Miraj, Poetic and Theological Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality), by Michael A. Sells
And here is Ivan's penetrating interpretation of the poem:
This is a great poem by the Sufi mystic and martyr, al-Hallaj.
A reminder to us all that, wherever we look, we are always staring at the face of God, "right before [our] eyes." Everyone, knowingly or unknowingly, is always searching for the Eternal, but too easily we become lost in our search. The idea of a search is already to be lost -- "a blind quest." We imagine that the Goal will be found elsewhere, somewhere that we are not, and so we rush about looking, looking. "Guessing and dreaming," looking for God in heaven instead of beneath our feet and between the span of our arms, we blindly have our "faces turned toward the sky." But doing that, we never recognize that "the lord remains among [us]" in our "every condition / every instant." We are never without the Divine Presence, "not for the blink of an eye!"
Hallaj says it very simply, speaking to God as the Beloved who is everywhere and, at the same time, the heart of the heart:
My spirit and yours
blend together
whether we are near one another
or far away.
I am you,
you,
my being,
end of my desire.
- Ivan
www.Poetry-Chaikhana.com sign on this site for the incredible daily poem e-mailed free of charge.
