Kundalini Splendor

Kundalini is one "brand name" for the generic Energy that can be found in many if not all religions. Other brand names include: The Holy Spirit, Great Spirit, and Ruach ha Kadosh.


The ancient yogic texts described a life energy present in all living beings called prana; corollary energies have been identified in many other cultures, such as huo and chi of Tibetan yogis, quaumaneq of Eskimo shamans, incendium amoris and photismos of Christian mystics, Henri Bergson’s élan vital, and the more recent terms ‘bioenergy,’ ‘bioplasma,’ and ‘orgone energy.’ So there are many brand names for this generic energy that is in all living things. One of the main objectives of our research network is to learn from each other and educate the medical community on how this fits in to our process of optimal health. *(from the KRN website)


Barbara Harris Whitfield is a noted authority on Kundalini and Near Death Experiences. These two phenomenon share many features. Here is an excerpt from her book "Spiritual Awakenings."

Kundalini 101:
The Energy and How It Works
Barbara Harris Whitfield
From her book
Spiritual Awakenings

WHAT CHANGES US IN A SPIRITUAL AWAKENING? One thing to consider is that we may have had a powerful energy force activated within us. One name that has been given to that energy is Kundalini. Scientists from the Kundalini Research Network (KRN) have begun to define Kundalini as "the evolutionary energy/consciousness force. . . . [Its] awakening effects a transformative process in the psycho-physiological and spiritual realms and results, ultimately, in the realization of the oneness of the individual and universal consciousness."

Transpersonal psychotherapist Bonnie Greenwell, physicist Paul Pond and others of KRN[i] hypothesize that Kundalini is associated with and may be the cause of mystical experiences, psychic ability, creativity and genius. Some observers note that Kundalini may be linked to some forms of mental illness. One of KRN's goals to is make Kundalini known to the Western world, especially the scientific and medical communities, therapists, health care workers and those who have had Kundalini experiences but may not realize it.

Phenomena associated with the rising or arousal of Kundalini energy is occurring with increasing frequency to Westerners who have never heard of it and have done nothing consciously to arouse it. The term "rising" is often used in this way to describe the arousal of the Kundalini energy to an undetermined level that may or may not complete itself as a sustained evolution of consciousness. Felt as vast rushes of energy through the body, Kundalini-rising can create profound changes in the structure of people's physical, mental, emotional and spiritual lives.

Western Research

Bonnie Greenwell addressed some of the problems and joys of Kundalini-rising in her doctoral dissertation, which she has published as Energies of Transformation: A Guide to the Kundalini Process. This book summarizes her six years of research and experience working with individuals who have awakened Kundalini.
After centuries of hiding in nearly every culture on the globe under the guise of a secret esoteric truth, the Kundalini experience is reported more and more frequently among modern spiritual seekers, and it appears to be occurring even among people who are not pursuing disciplined or esoteric spiritual practices. When this happens to those who have no understanding of the profound correlations between the physical and mystical experiences, it can leave them bewildered and frightened, even psychologically fragmented. When they turn to traditional physicians, psychotherapists or church advisors, their anxiety is compounded by the general lack of understanding in Western culture regarding the potentiality in the human psyche for profound spiritual emergence and its relationship to energy.[ii]

How Kundalini manifests itself in experiencers is called the physio-Kundalini syndrome.[iii] Researcher Bruce Greyson did a scientific study of the physio-Kundalini hypothesis. He reported those results at the 1992 KRN conference.
As a group, near-death experiencers reported experiencing almost twice as many physio-Kundalini items as did people who had close brushes with death but no NDE, and people who had never come close to death. As a check on whether the physio-Kundalini questionnaire might be measuring nonspecific strange experiences, I threw into the analysis the responses of a group of hospitalized psychiatric patients. They reported the same number of physio-Kundalini [index] items as did the non-NDE control group. There were two unexpected and ambiguous "control" groups in my studies: people who claimed to have had NDEs but described experiences with virtually no typical NDE features; and people who denied having had NDEs but then went on to describe prototypical near-death experiences. In their responses to the physio-Kundalini questionnaire, the group that made unsupported claims of NDEs were comparable to the non-NDE control group, while the group that denied having NDEs (but according to their responses on the NDE scale, did) were comparable to the group of NDErs. In regard to awakening Kundalini, then, having an experience mattered, but thinking you had one didn't.

(to be continued)