Kundalini Splendor

Here are some quotes from the "Song of Mahamuda":

Whoever clings to mind
sees not the truth of what's beyond the mind.

Whoever strives to practice dharma
finds not the truth of what's beyond-practice.



One should cut clearly through the root
of the mind and stare naked.
One should thus break away from all distinctions
and remain at ease.





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The path of no-practice
is the way of the Buddha.
One who treads that path
reaches Buddhahood.





******************





The practice of mantras and instructions,
Instructions in the sutras and precepts,
And teachings from the schools and scriptures
will not bring realization of the innate truth

All taken from "The Song of Mahamudra" attributed to Tilopa (988-1069) as sung to his pupil Naropa.





Mahamudra, literally "the Great Gesture," is looked upon within the tantric traditions of Tibet and Northern India as the highest manifestation of consciousness known. In "Yoga of the Mahamudra" Will Johnson explains that the body is the vehicle that brings the ecstatic energies of God to earth. To arrive at the entrance to higher consciousness, one must first establish a great gesture of the body--physical balance--which is best expressed through spontaneous movement and dance. By utilizing the mystical yoga of balance, once can create. . . .an embodiment of free flowing and unfettered life force--thereby opening the door to higher consciousness.


above from the back cover of "Yoga of the Mahamudra" by Will Johnson.


I am especially drawn to this philosophy, since it accords with my own approach. I do not "meditate" as a discipline, although for many years I did what he advocates--free movement and dance. Through the years, my movements have grown more subtle, just as the energies themselves have become progressively higher and more refined. On some days, I do not "practice" at all, but often I am "overtaken" by the inflow of bliss, frequently when I least expect it (as in the entry a few days ago, when I felt the sweet energies flow into my hands and chest simply by reading sacred writing on the computer. Similar energetic infusions can also awaken from reading e-mails from others who are themselves filled with sacred energy.)

I do not discourage others from seeking set practices or meditations in order to move ahead spiritually. But for me, such routines are apparently not needed. My awakening was sudden and unexpected, with little or no preliminary preparation, and my subsequent experience has
been derived from following the inner guide, wherever it may lead.

I also might add, that I do not think that Tilopa is advocating becoming totally "mindless" in all circumstances, but rather to follow feeling during those times when the divine energies are dancing in the cells. This is a felt experience, not an intellectual pursuit. Often, these experiences will last only as long as one does not think about what is happening.

And I believe that when he speaks of "balance," he does not refer to standing "in balance" in the usual sense, but rather to allow one's inner self to relax in order for the energies to flow freely.

And--"dharma" refers simply to the ancient religious teachings.

Some people, then and now, think there are prescribed rules and practices which will, over time, bring one to realization. Not so, says this form of tantra--everything will occur naturally and easily, once the mind is released and one has arrived at the proper stage of development. However, I personally believe one should follow one's own path, do what you love to do--whether mantra, ritual, formal practice, whatever. But some of us are too independent to follow such prescriptions. We follow the inner voice.

But--I may add--that once one has experienced Kundalini awakening, the rest follows much more easily. Otherwise, these states may not occur, no matter how much one longs for them. Kundalini offers no guarantee as a path to ecstasy (and pain). No one knows precisely why some receive this gift, others not.

And one final note: Many people today think that tantra refers merely to sexual practice. Not so. Tantra may include sex, but in its fullest sense it is simply the experience of the inner energies as (usually) bliss or ecstasy. No sex in any usual sense is involved.

Link TV (available on Direct TV at 375) will offer the following series of interviews of major spiritual teachers by Phil Cosineau:

April 12 The Spiritual Quest
April 19 In Search of Ecstasy
April 26 Earth Wisdom: For A World in Crisis
May 3 Forgiveness and Healing
May 10 Breaking Bows and Arrows
May 17 Music, Sound and the Sacred
May 24 At the Heart of the World: Elder Brother's Warning
May 31 Art and the Creative Spirit
June 6 Rumi, Poet of the Heart
June 14 The Journey Towards Oneness

The series includes interviews with Robert Thurman, Sobonfu Some, Ed Tick and Kate Dahstedt, Azim Khamisa, Alan Jones, Joanne Shenandoah. Andrew Harvey and others. If I find out more, I will let you know.

This promises to be a valuable series, though it is still quite "mainstream" for many of us. No mention is made of Kundalini, which is still considered a "far out" topic by the majority and which is, in my view, the underlying impetus for many of the various spiritual and artistic movements occurring now (of course, I am prejudiced in this respect.) Though Kundalini is still not widely known, those of us involved in its process are, in my view, in the vanguard of global spiritual awakening and hence very fortunate.

However, news of Kundalini is spreading. SoundsTrue, a major source for spiritual CD's and books for many years, is bringing out an anthology on Kundalini sometime this year. I was privileged to write a chapter for the book and I will let you know when it is published. I was thrilled that this topic is now finding a wider audience.

Many of us (most in fact) are not well known. We may not know why this transformation is occurring in our bodies and spirits, nor what exactly its ultimate goal is. But we have a deep sense of involvement in something of vast significance. And as to what we are supposed to "do" with it--I like what one friend said: "I think we are supposed to carry this vibration." And of course we do this each in her/his own way, giving back according to our own particular talents and abilities.

As I noted earlier (see March 15) certain leading edge scientists posit that everything that exists has a twin elsewhere and thus someone exactly like you may exist in another universe, or indeed many exact duplicates of you may exist in many universe. The theory also speculates that everything that has ever happened is also repeated elsewhere exactly or with surprise variations. Each event begets new events, as well as new versions of events. All history is simultaneous. Hence there may be dinosaurs in other universes, where our own "earlier eons" are still ongoing. And, since other universes occupy the same space as our own, there may be dinosaurs in our own living rooms, but since these exist in different “dimensions” we are unaware of them.(The above summary is what I gained from the presentation of Mikio Kuka, based on the notes I took. My account may not be entirely accurate.)

As I reflected on this notion, I came up with some further thoughts on the matter. If the theory of parallel universes is correct, it would explain many of the seemingly unexplainable "paranormal" events in our lives as well as similar accounts from history. Here are a few which come readily to mind:

1. Angels and Ghosts If dinosaurs from other "universes" can exist in our living rooms (though we are not aware of them), why not angels—or friendly spirits—or ancestors—or “ghosts” of the departed. Or all things which seem to come from “another realm”—another plane—another reality. We experience occasional breakthroughs or bleedthroughs—we get glimpses of the other side. Psychics can seemingly pick up these vibrations—feel or see or hear these “phantom realities” from other dimensions.

2. UFO's It has often been suggested that UFO's also may come from other dimensions and that they occasionally visit this planet. Usually we are unaware of them, but once in a while we encounter them in some form—their "other dimensional" origin explains their strange behavior, their ability to “vanish” or speed away or act in peculiar fashion (with sudden turns, incredible speeds).There are many unanswered questions about these unknown visitors: Why do they sometimes leave radiation scars on landscape and humans? Who mutilate the cows? Do they com here with purposeful intention and if so, what is it?

3. Bilocation. If protons can exists in more than one place at once, so can humans (according to this theory). Thus the stories of such ancient gurus as Padmasambhava, the renowned sage who brought Buddhism to Tibet and who taught many converts in different locations at the same time—as well as other such "wizards" of the yogic and magical traditions. Even Krishna (early Indian god) was able to make love with many milkmaids at once (to make love with the god was seen as engaging in devotional practice--likely related to the sense of the "Beloved Within" of many traditions).

And there are many accounts of less known persons who perform astral travel. In the Biology of Transcendence, Joseph Chilton Pearce (who also wrote The Crack in the Cosmic Egg years ago) describes visiting his sweetheart in out of body form. He saw her and she was aware of his presence at the exact time of his visit. Many other such stories exist and there are even workshops and centers where one can (presumably) learn to travel out of body.

4. Long Distance Seeing. Perhaps in the other universes, one can see objects much more remotely. Thus even today some subjects can tap into other states of consciousness to see extremely distant objects. There have been many experiments of remote viewing as well as other individual accounts of personal experience. At one of the earlier conferences of the Kundalini Research Network, I met a woman who could see extremely remote objects during the time of her Kundalini awakening. (Later, the ability vanished.) Similar accounts also occur in descriptions of ancient yogis, magicians, wizards, and Kundalini initiates.

I personally suspect that all of these capacities have to do with the arousal of the Kundalini energies, for these take us into realities which we were unaware of before. I am not at all sure how this is done, but this is my intuitive assessment. We use terms such as psychic, paranormal, extrasensory and such to describe these phenomena, which we do not fully understand. When we experience Kundalini, we step into a higher vibrational state. This allows us (sometimes) to tap into the "other dimensions" of the "parallel universes." And, in these states of vibrational intensity, we also may experience ecstasy (as well as pain, when the energy flow is blocked).

Perhaps "reality" has more to do with states of consciousness than states of matter. When science deals with material reality and calls it "the universe," it is ignoring many other levels of perception, from spiritual to aesthetic to emotional to subjective responses of all kinds. But science is gradually opening to a new vision, for the old theories simply do not hold up under today's discoveries.

(More to follow on parallel universes at a later date.)

I have been exploring the notion of "parallel universes," a concept which has come to the fore in recent physics (as well as science fiction). One night recently I watched a fascinating PBS presentation by Michio Kaku, who is a kind of Carl Sagan of our time. He has written Parallel Universes and The Physics of the Impossible, both of which sound very interesting. Some physicists now conclude there is evidence for the existence of several "parallel universes." These are worlds or realms which exist in the same space as our own, but we cannot see them because they occupy different dimensions. The theory is a based primarily on the fact the the proton can be in more than one place at once. (I assume this is derived from the familiar wave/particle experiment—where a proton is sent toward a barrier with two holes—and then passes through the two parallel exit holes at once, rejoining on the other side, this revealing that it is both a wave and a particle.)These leading edge scientists posit that therefore everything that exists has a twin elsewhere and thus someone exactly like you may exist in another universe, or indeed many exact duplicates of you may exist in many universes. The theory also speculates that everything that has ever happened is also repeated elsewhere exactly or with surprise variations. Each event begets new events, as well as new versions of events. All history is simultaneous. Hence there may be dinosaurs in other universes, where our own "earlier eons" are still ongoing.And, since other universes occupy the same space as our own, there may be dinosaurs in our own living rooms, but since these exist in different “dimensions” we are unaware of them.(The above summary is what I gained from the presentation. It may not be entirely accurate.)

As I reflected on this notion, I came up with some further thoughts on the matter. If the theory of parallel universes is correct, it would explain many of the seemingly unexplainable "paranormal" events in our lives as well as similar accounts from history. The following poem explores this theory as well as other ideas about theories in general, and goes on to list a few of the "paranormal" phenomena which would be explained if there were indeed alternate universes to our own. (Does Kundalini come from one of these alternative realities where, perhaps, it is the norm?)

Dorothy will return when her computer is acting nicely again!