Kundalini Splendor

Here are some passages from Lex Hixon's "Great Swan" which seemed to me to bear special relevance for those undergoing the Kundalini process. Obviously, Ramakrishna (like certain other great saints) was in the state of bliss or ecstasy at all times. He is a major example of that state of consciousness that most of us can experience only intermittently, if at all.

1. Ramakrishna: My dear friends, when you hear one of the glorious Divine Names--be it Allah, Tara, Krishna, or whichever revealed Name is closest to your heart--if tears of ecstasy come spontaneously to your eyes or if the sensation of weeping springs forth secretly in your heart, if your skin tingles and your breath catches, this is authentic confirmationthat you are awakening. Then you no longer need to emphasize religious ceremonies or contemplative exercises, because what they exist to generate will remain constantly vibrant in the depth of your awareness. You will not have to renounce the formalities of religion. Formality of every kind will simply disappear from your being....Even the Divine Name...most intimate to you will eventually disappear, and you will commune directly with the One Reality...You will experience then only a subtle resonance or a delicate radiance.

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Hixon on Ramakrishna: (He has) a body so tender that it can be cut by a sharp piece of bread, a body so sensitive that it manifests the pain of someone being beaten or even of new grass being trampled, a body so refined that it experiences a strange burning sensation at the touch of conventional objects such as coins ornewspapers, a body so pure that it cannot even drink water drawn by someone of negative character. . .

(Many of us who undergo Kundalini awakening become so sensitive to outer stimuli that it becomes almost impossible to live in the "ordinary" world. Sound, light, confusion, and above all negativity of all kinds are intolerable to the senses. At the same time, one's connection to the subtle realms of thought and feeling becomes ever more refined.)

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Hixon: ...his original woman teacher. . . opened to him the full range of mystical relationships between the soul and its Lord--as Divine Friend, Divine Child, and Divine Lover.

(When Kundalini awakens, it is indeed often as if the "Divine Lover Within" manifests and literally woos and embraces the subtle body in inexplicable ways. At other times, the Mystery acts more like a friend, who nourishes and supports the human subject. And the devotee may display a divine innocence, quite childlike in its expression.)

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Hixon: "When sacramental wine is passed around, “the wine bowl never touches his lips...(he simply says the word for wine) ,and this throws him into sublime absorption.”

(Many with awakened Kundalini possess similar powers. For example, some can simply hold a medicine or herbal preparation and know instantly if that is right for them. And most cannot tolerate alcohol or other stimulants--even coffee is taboo for many. It is very difficult to persuade doctors that one operates at that level of sensitivity. For this reason, initiates often simply cut the pill in two or take less than the prescribed amount of the remedy, lest they "overdose".)

Hixon: Ramakrishna needs simply to envision within his own subtle body the blissful unio of Shiva and Shakti, the masculine and feminine energies of transcendence and immanence, in order to enter samadhi, thre total absorption of body, mind, heart, soul,and spirit in the One Reality that he calls akhanda satchidananda--indivisible Being, Consciousness,and Bliss. When anyone asks R. to become his or her religious guide, or guru, he invariably replies: “Satchidananda is the one and only guru.”

(Envisioning the god and goddess (Shiva and Shakti) in union is a traditional Tantric practice for awakening and raising the Kundalini to the crown. I am familiar with this exercise, since this is how my Kundalini originally opened, on the first try. However, I can no longer replicate these early results. And in truth, I have no desire to follow Ramakrishna's example. I feel that my assignment is to be in the world in order to be of service, rather than secluding myself in a state of perpetual rapture--should that even be possible. He lived in a different time and culture, when other choices were appropriate.)

(picture of Ramakrishna is from Google)