Kundalini Splendor

Yesterday, I virtually vibrated all day, from the effects of the morning's experience. Today I expected merely to do a few stretches and continue with other activities, but then I decided to play yesterday's CD to see what might arise in consciousness. But almost immediately, my inner spirit began to protest: "I don't want to die that death again," So I moved silently, and the energies were clear--another experience like light moving over and through the body with very subtle movement. And at that point I seemed to remember more of yesterday's tale, although this time it was not as obvious as to whether this was an actual memory or my own imagination supplying the details. This is what came up:

I had arrived at the monastery before dawn--the monks were performing their morning rituals, so I was kept waiting in the ante room. Then, since I had walked a long distance and was wearing mud-caked clothes, I was sent to sleep in a separate area, lest I had brought along some unwelcome travelers (fleas or lice) with me. Later I was allowed to take a bath and given a fresh robe to wear. My head was shaved and my old clothes were burned. I was fed and then allowed to rest again (I was exhausted). For three days I was permitted to witness the chanting ceremonies but of course could not participate in the rituals.

Then I was sent for an interview with the Abbott of the monastery. He was a serious but not unkind man in his fifties. Again, I was quite tense during the interview. He asked me such questions as what was my name, how old was I,where had I come from, did I know my numbers, could I read or write, and why had I come. I told him that I could recognize only a few Sanskrit letters but knew my numbers up to 40 or 50. He asked what kind of work I did before, and I explained that I had served a master who had me help with caring for the horses, milking the goats, and other such tasks. I said that I had come because an inner voice had urged me to find this monastery and live there.

Then he asked if there had been some kind of trouble at home, and I had to confess that there had been. My first master had been kind to me--he gave me food to eat, clothes to wear, and a place to sleep. But he had died and his cousin, who took over, was quite harsh. He did not beat me, but he did others in his service, and I was very troubled by this. A traveling lama had once come through and perfomed puja and described the monastery as a wonderful place, so I had decided to seek it out and become a monk

The abbott seemed satisfied and sent me to the kitchen so I could be assigned my duties. I think my original assignment was emptying and cleaning the slop buckets from the various rooms. I was grateful to have this job and determined to do it as best I could.

This morning, after these musings, I played part of the second CD, which contained chanting to a background of horns, drums, and cymbals. I think I never became such a musician in this "former life," but had in fact learned to be a dancer, and at this point I even performed a few heavy turns on my own rug. Somehow I can't resist movement, once those wild horns begin to sound along with that strange but fascinating clang and bang of cymbal and drums.

NASA reported that the massive Chilean earthquake had thrown the earth slightly off its axis (but by an amount too small to measure). Someone suggested that this event may have in fact done something to "shake up" our own energetic force field, so that some of us have been opened to unusual experience. This is how it feels--as if the portals have swung open ever so slightly, giving us glimpses of other realms.

One wonders what will come next as we go forward into this time of radical change on all levels. I think we will have to surrender many of our assumptions and expectations as to what is possible, how our universe operates, and who we are as we are being thrust up to new levels of awareness. Part of the challenge will be to stay open to the unfamiliar inner shifts while maintaining as much balance as possible--it is indeed as if we are walking a tightrope over a chasm, but fortunately we have guidance to protect and lead us as we ascend (metaphorically) together. Indeed, this is the time we have waited for, the moment of all moments in human history.

See thou everything
as thine own dwelling place:
the mist of pleasure and pain
can never spread there.
There Brahma is revealed
day and night: there light
is His garment,
light is His seat,
light rests on thine head.
Kabir says, "The Master,
who is true,
He is all light."

from "Songs of Kabir" (tr. Tagore)

(Image found on Wikipedia)