Saturday, September 16, 2006
Kundalini and Christian Mysticism
The experience of the kundalini energies, though primarily associated with Eastern religions, has been reported in various traditions throughout the world. Some interpret the deep mystical experience of certain early Christian saints as stemming in part from kundalini arousal, since the descriptions reveal many parallels.
This morning I looked up "kundalini Christian mysticism" on google, and was pleased to find several entries, including some intriguing forum discussions. Some of the these focused on the possible negative effects of kundalini arousal (and these can be quite serious), and others saw the process in a more positive light. Here is one comment I discovered on one such discussion site, by an author unknown. It seemed to offer a particularly sensitive and intelligent approach to the question. (The writer is responding to a comment on the subject by a previous writer).
Just read your description of Kundalini from a Christian perspective. Aquinas was certainly as full of wonder for life as he was intellectually endowed!
I've had some helpful, personal contacts with Philip St. Romain (writer on Christianity and kundalini) over the past 9 months. I've also had an active kundalini (or kundalini's had me) for about 12 years, mostly a sane, gradual unfolding of the nondual awareness you describe, as well as an increasing inner space in which to receive God's transcendental grace. Maybe you allude to it in your distinction between the soul's direct apprehension of itself/existence and the intuition of being in its multiplicity of forms, but one aspect of that distinction includes what the affective dimension of Christian contemplative prayer reveals . . . the way we are known by God, the wholly Other, without knowing how we are known/cherished so intimately and personally at the same time.
I guess what I'm saying is that the "Otherness" aspect of God doesn't seem accidental, or simply the byproduct of a lack of abiding permanently in nondual reality . . . but since I'm in no way permanenty situated as such, still an ego being in easily recognizable ways, I'm resting on speculation here. I guess this is where you and others have taken up the discussion on transcendental divine reality and nonduality.
One possible neglected aspect of the kundalini process, as encountered in more mechanical styles of yoga, or through traumatic arousals, is just how intimate and nurturing the holy space of the body is, which Jung seems to know of and respect. I've read very little, outside of Gendlin's Focusing, that treats the body in its subjectivity, always wanting us to learn its language and beingness rather than being treated as a solid inert container, or simply as an impersonal domain of primitive forces. To become as a little child holds whatever meaning people want to put into it, but for me it is the secret of the body in a most intimate way that both apprehends the exquisite order of existence and opens out/in so docilely to the surrendered will.
I think this writer has a profound and comprehensive grasp of what the kundalini experience can bring into the life of the dedicated seeker. Although not all awakenings are as gentle and soft as his seemingly is, they certainly can reveal "how intimate and nurturing the holy space of the body is." I am frequently reminded of that observation that "kundalini is god/goddess moving through your body." Thus the experience itself becomes a form of prayer, of worship, of intimate union not available through any other means. Lover/Beloved in holy union--such is the nature of kundalini when it is approached with respect and reverance. Words and definitions are no longer needed. The experience itself is sufficient "proof."
By the way, Philip St. Romain's "Kundalini and Christian Spirituality" is a useful book on this topic. It also offers a helpful description of the kundalini process itself for those beginning to explore the subject.
This morning I looked up "kundalini Christian mysticism" on google, and was pleased to find several entries, including some intriguing forum discussions. Some of the these focused on the possible negative effects of kundalini arousal (and these can be quite serious), and others saw the process in a more positive light. Here is one comment I discovered on one such discussion site, by an author unknown. It seemed to offer a particularly sensitive and intelligent approach to the question. (The writer is responding to a comment on the subject by a previous writer).
Just read your description of Kundalini from a Christian perspective. Aquinas was certainly as full of wonder for life as he was intellectually endowed!
I've had some helpful, personal contacts with Philip St. Romain (writer on Christianity and kundalini) over the past 9 months. I've also had an active kundalini (or kundalini's had me) for about 12 years, mostly a sane, gradual unfolding of the nondual awareness you describe, as well as an increasing inner space in which to receive God's transcendental grace. Maybe you allude to it in your distinction between the soul's direct apprehension of itself/existence and the intuition of being in its multiplicity of forms, but one aspect of that distinction includes what the affective dimension of Christian contemplative prayer reveals . . . the way we are known by God, the wholly Other, without knowing how we are known/cherished so intimately and personally at the same time.
I guess what I'm saying is that the "Otherness" aspect of God doesn't seem accidental, or simply the byproduct of a lack of abiding permanently in nondual reality . . . but since I'm in no way permanenty situated as such, still an ego being in easily recognizable ways, I'm resting on speculation here. I guess this is where you and others have taken up the discussion on transcendental divine reality and nonduality.
One possible neglected aspect of the kundalini process, as encountered in more mechanical styles of yoga, or through traumatic arousals, is just how intimate and nurturing the holy space of the body is, which Jung seems to know of and respect. I've read very little, outside of Gendlin's Focusing, that treats the body in its subjectivity, always wanting us to learn its language and beingness rather than being treated as a solid inert container, or simply as an impersonal domain of primitive forces. To become as a little child holds whatever meaning people want to put into it, but for me it is the secret of the body in a most intimate way that both apprehends the exquisite order of existence and opens out/in so docilely to the surrendered will.
I think this writer has a profound and comprehensive grasp of what the kundalini experience can bring into the life of the dedicated seeker. Although not all awakenings are as gentle and soft as his seemingly is, they certainly can reveal "how intimate and nurturing the holy space of the body is." I am frequently reminded of that observation that "kundalini is god/goddess moving through your body." Thus the experience itself becomes a form of prayer, of worship, of intimate union not available through any other means. Lover/Beloved in holy union--such is the nature of kundalini when it is approached with respect and reverance. Words and definitions are no longer needed. The experience itself is sufficient "proof."
By the way, Philip St. Romain's "Kundalini and Christian Spirituality" is a useful book on this topic. It also offers a helpful description of the kundalini process itself for those beginning to explore the subject.
