Sunday, June 15, 2008
Karate and Kundalini
They came trooping onto the bus by the dozens. They were little kids, mostly from about 4-8, all giggling and squirming as little kids do. One of them plopped himself beside me on my seat (I was seated parallel to the side of the bus) and his teacher stood in front of me to keep an eye on this rambunctious little boy, who kept wanting to stand up and pull the "stop requested" strap.
I asked her where they were going, and she told me they were headed to a karate school, where, apparently, they were all students. (Karate at age 4? When I was little, we learned to tap dance or play the piano at this age.) She was an attractive young woman, clearly in good shape. I asked if she could do karate, and she explained that she was in fact a karate teacher. So--after a brief inner reflection--I decided to find our if she knew anything about kundalini.
I first asked her if she felt the energies when she practiced, and, if so, how they felt. She said that they made her feel stronger. I then asked if they might be described as hot, or cold, or even blissful. She answered that she sometimes felt some heat. And so I went ahead and told her--that I could often feel the energies as bliss, and sometimes could even move them internally by rotating my eyeballs. She looked at me questioningly, as if I were perhaps just another weirdo of the kind who frequent the streets of any large city. So I quickly asked whether or not she believed me, and, when she hesitated, I said, never mind, I probably wouldn't believe it myself if this had not been my experience. She seemed quite relieved at that.
Once again, I found a seeming lack of awareness of what some of us experience, even by those who are experts in the general field of martial arts, which depend in large part on summoning and using inner energies as defense. Yet another time, I feel I belong to a very exclusive club, where only other initiates understand what I describe.
But today, I did it (rapture) again, just by listening to Diana Rogers, a magical singer of kirtan. Mostly I stood quite still, moving my body only a fraction of an inch one way or another at times. I also did some ecstatic mudras (sacred hand positions), as always following the inner guide. And each simple hand position brought up the bliss (I did things like pressing thumb and forefinger together, then adding other fingers one by one--how simple can you get?) And I thought of those who attempt to do mudra practice out of a book, trying imitate the illustrations (many of which I could never repeat). Once at an ashram workshop on mudras, I questioned the teacher, asking if different hand positions aroused bliss in different parts of the body. She look quite confused and had no answer. My advice, as always, "Listen to your inner guide. She (he, whoever) will show you the way if you just hold still and ask."
But I did think of a new way to explain how one can feel one's energies, even without touching the body. Since we can feel heat without putting our hand in the fire, we can feel the electromagnetic sheathe of the body without touching our skin. And just as we can move our hands back and forth near the flame, we can move them over (and through) our energy field. It just takes practice (think 25 years or so.) Actually, we can do this from the first, if our awakening is sufficiently intense.
Whatever else may be said about kundalini, it is indeed a subject of continuing fascination. I am ready for the predicted exponential increase in awakening and humanity reaching critical mass, when we will all go into bliss together and become the new human. Why not?
I asked her where they were going, and she told me they were headed to a karate school, where, apparently, they were all students. (Karate at age 4? When I was little, we learned to tap dance or play the piano at this age.) She was an attractive young woman, clearly in good shape. I asked if she could do karate, and she explained that she was in fact a karate teacher. So--after a brief inner reflection--I decided to find our if she knew anything about kundalini.
I first asked her if she felt the energies when she practiced, and, if so, how they felt. She said that they made her feel stronger. I then asked if they might be described as hot, or cold, or even blissful. She answered that she sometimes felt some heat. And so I went ahead and told her--that I could often feel the energies as bliss, and sometimes could even move them internally by rotating my eyeballs. She looked at me questioningly, as if I were perhaps just another weirdo of the kind who frequent the streets of any large city. So I quickly asked whether or not she believed me, and, when she hesitated, I said, never mind, I probably wouldn't believe it myself if this had not been my experience. She seemed quite relieved at that.
Once again, I found a seeming lack of awareness of what some of us experience, even by those who are experts in the general field of martial arts, which depend in large part on summoning and using inner energies as defense. Yet another time, I feel I belong to a very exclusive club, where only other initiates understand what I describe.
But today, I did it (rapture) again, just by listening to Diana Rogers, a magical singer of kirtan. Mostly I stood quite still, moving my body only a fraction of an inch one way or another at times. I also did some ecstatic mudras (sacred hand positions), as always following the inner guide. And each simple hand position brought up the bliss (I did things like pressing thumb and forefinger together, then adding other fingers one by one--how simple can you get?) And I thought of those who attempt to do mudra practice out of a book, trying imitate the illustrations (many of which I could never repeat). Once at an ashram workshop on mudras, I questioned the teacher, asking if different hand positions aroused bliss in different parts of the body. She look quite confused and had no answer. My advice, as always, "Listen to your inner guide. She (he, whoever) will show you the way if you just hold still and ask."
But I did think of a new way to explain how one can feel one's energies, even without touching the body. Since we can feel heat without putting our hand in the fire, we can feel the electromagnetic sheathe of the body without touching our skin. And just as we can move our hands back and forth near the flame, we can move them over (and through) our energy field. It just takes practice (think 25 years or so.) Actually, we can do this from the first, if our awakening is sufficiently intense.
Whatever else may be said about kundalini, it is indeed a subject of continuing fascination. I am ready for the predicted exponential increase in awakening and humanity reaching critical mass, when we will all go into bliss together and become the new human. Why not?
