Kundalini Splendor

Winged Energy of Delight

As once the winged energy of delight
carried you over childhood's dark abysses,
now beyond your own life build the great
arch of unimagined bridges.

Wonders happen if we can succeed
in passing through the harshest danger;
but only in a bright and purely granted
achievement can we realize the wonder.

To work with Things in the indescribable
relationship is not too hard for us;
the pattern grows more intricate and subtle,
and being swept along is not enough.

Take your practiced powers and stretch them out
until they span the chasm between two
contradictions ... For the god
wants to know himself in you.

    - Rainer Maria Rilke
    (translated by Steven Mitchell)

Often, for reasons that are not clear, the "connection" with the divine beloved within seems to be broken.  Than, again as a surprise, that connection is restored.  Here is a beautiful account of one woman's reconnection  which came about as she was swimming in the ocean.  (This is the same person I have quoted before on other issues.)

After a long, LONG absence, I feel His "touch" again, his "nearness".  My senses are ALIVE and each breathtaking moment especially when I am out in a natural setting, the communion with "That One" is heightened till I think I will faint from so much inner Joy.

Today, I went for a dip in the Ocean.  It was a scorcher outside, yet by the seashore there was this delicious breeze playing with my skin and the whole experience began to unfurl.  I almost ran, like a Lover into the arms of her Beloved, close to the shoreline where my toes began to feel, to experience, to imbibe the play of the gentle waves as I sank my toes into the wet sand.  Each and every cell exploded into some mysterious "hummmmm" that was palpable and captivating. The Beach was somewhat empty during the workweek, yet there were some swimmers around.  I wondered if they could sense somehow what was unfolding within for me, it was that intense.  I let go of that thought and returned to the rhythmic movement happening between my Divine Beloved, Mother Nature and this bundle of ecstatic flesh.  Coming out of a long, LONG dry spell in some barren inner landscape, this was a feast of pure delight and pure Oneness, both!  As I continued to move further into the water, the experience just intensified and the mind wondered, "who" was directing this choreography or was the dance doing "me"?  Immersed in the wetness, "I"  disappeared for a moment (or was it an Eternity?) and there was just differing frequencies of Energies merging in and out of form and formlessness.  My eyes were open, "Something" behind them was peering at the Beauty of its Creation and at the same time there was just the "Something".  Almost impossible to put into words the pure bliss pulsating through the body...and simultaneously the Silence beyond the body.  The Divine Paradox was everywhere and nowhere.

I cannot tell you how long I was enfolded in that Grace, except when I began to
"return", every atom in this two-legged animal was smiling and the sweetness lingered throughout the evening.  These days have been different versions of similar experiences.  Senses highly aroused, the promise of the "kiss" from my Divine Beloved always nearby as I sink deeper and deeper into this Wonder.

I know, from past experiences, that these gifts arrive and at times "seem to" depart, and the desert returns.  Yet, for now, I am in the midst of a lush, verdant rainforest and I just breathe, give thanks, and walk around drenched
some wild Love.  My Beloved has come Home.  The fruits ripen on the vine and the scent of the night blooming Jasmine is intoxicating.  I drink from His cup that Holy Wine and, for now, my thirst is fully quenched.  It feels so personal, so intimate and so impersonal and all-encompassing.

One day your heart
will take you to your lover.
One day your soul
will carry you to the Beloved.
Don't get lost in your pain,
know that one day
your pain will become your cure.

- Rumi translated by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi, Rumi

As you may have noticed, just a few days ago I posted a lovely poem by Joy Harjo. Then I was moved to write a "response" poem, based on my imaginary reading of her face as depicted in her accompanying picture.  And then--two days ago--I learned that she was reading in my city from her new book, "Crazy Brave," and of course I attended.

I discovered that  in person she is quite different from what I had supposed from this particular picture.  She is, in fact, quite relaxed, charming, full of wit and humor.  I also realized (again) that we had some experiences in common.  Like Joy, I was born in and grew up in Oklahoma.  Like her, I, as a child, was chosen to sit on the quilts atop the hand cranked ice cream freezer that was packed with ice.  However, although I grew up in Oklahoma, where many of the tribes were then located, I had little or no contact with Native Americans in my home town or elsewhere, and, to be frank, although the state contained many towns named for particular tribes (Shawnee, Pawnee, Chickasha, Choctaw), most of the (white) citizens had little awareness of the connections between those names and their derivations, much less of the terrible circumstances that brought these original inhabitants of this country into our state when they were forcibly relocated from the eastern part of the country.  The early white settlers had come there seeking land, and it did not occur to them that great injustice had occurred to make those lands available to them, when treaties were broken and even more land was taken forcibly from the natives.

Joy attended a special school in New Mexico as a teenager.  This school (which was created for native Americans) stressed the arts, and she attributes her career as a musician and writer to this part of her background.   Later she attended the Iowa Writers' program for further training as a poet and prose writer.  Like many, she believes that inspiration for creative work comes from "elsewhere,' not from the presumed originator/author.

She read many fascinating stories from "Crazy Brave," which has just been published.  Many deal with the traumas she suffered growing up, and the writing of this volume was doubtless quite cathartic for her.  It is extremely well written, with much humor and charm--a delightful compendium of descriptions of what it was like to grow up as a daughter of native tribes in Oklahoma and elsewhere during a time when "native American" was not a term of endearment.

Joy has become well known for her poetry in especial, but "Crazy Brave" is a well crafted and fascinating book.  I recommend it highly.

(image from google--"poems outloud)

Unbreakable, O Lord
By Mirabai
(1498 - 1565?)
English version by Jane Hirshfield

Unbreakable, O Lord,
Is the love
That binds me to You:
Like a diamond,
It breaks the hammer that strikes it.

My heart goes into You
As the polish goes into the gold.
As the lotus lives in its water,
I live in You.

Like the bird
That gazes all night
At the passing moon,
I have lost myself dwelling in You.

O my Beloved --
Return.

(Photo from internet)

WHEN "DRY SPELLS" OCCUR:
I think that all of us, no matter how advanced we may be as students of divine reality,
sometimes encounter "dry spells," times when we feel cut off from Source,
as if we ourselves have done something wrong and thus have lost our sacred
connection.  At such times, it is as though we must begin all over,
seeking ways to reconnect, to restore the slender thread that connects ]
us to what is "highest" in ourselves.

At such times, we must do what we did at the beginning--seek ways to
redefine our search and once more enter the realm of sacred reality.  We
do this by seeking out sacred reminders, such as music, poetry, deep
devotional practices, the company of other awakened beings.

Evelyn Underhill, the great authority on the mystical path, says that
such shadow times are even worse than the first dark night, for now we have
tasted the sweet nectar of union, and thus experience even greater
pain for knowing what we have lost.

But if we are patient, if we wait and do not try to rush back to prior
experiences, we inevitably will return to that state of union that was so
fulfilling previously.

Awakening is not a straight line process, but consists of many swings up
and down, progression and regression, as we move ahead towards
permanent union

Her Eyes
(Joy Harjo)

Her eyes tell us
she had a very hard childhood.
As if growing up, bad things happened—
maybe rape, beating,
too many hard drugs.
Betrayal again and again.

Now she looks at us
with eyes of steel.
Her gaze pierces
all the gauze and armor
we have collected
to shield our lives.
It says, I know you,
every bit and particle,
everything that happened,
all that you thought,
did.

I know because I have been there,
walked this dark path,
struggled and fought.
Survived.

Now I am a sphinx,
waiting in silence.
I will judge you harshly,
make you accountable.

I will know what you most fear.
I will know who you are.

Only then
will I give you
my love.

Dorothy Walters
July 19, 2012

dorothywalters72@yahoo.com;
www.kundalinisplendor.blogspot.com
(poems and reflections
on the spiritual journey)


Quite recently, I posted one of Joy Harjo's poems on this blog, and included this photo of her that I found on the internet.  As I studied her countenance, a poem "wrote itself" about her, it being a fantasy based on what I felt when I looked at her and her all seeing eyes.  She is a powerful woman and a gifted poet.
Then, just today, I discovered that she will be appearing at the Boulder Bookstore tomorrow night (July 25) at 7:30 p.m.  (bookstore is located on Pearl Street near Broadway on the Mall).  I urge you to attend if you live in this area.
Another reason I am interested in her is that she was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is a descendent of one (or more?) of the native tribes.  I was also born (and grew up) in Oklahoma, but I had no connection with the native tribes.

There is no place for place!
By Hakim Sanai
(1044? - 1150?)
English version by Ivan M. Granger

There is no place for place!
How can a place
house the maker of all space,
or the vast sky enclose
          the maker of heaven?

He told me:
"I am a homeless treasure.
The world was made
to give you a place to stand
          and see me."

Tell me, if the one you seek
is placeless,
why put your shoes on?
The real road
is found by polishing, polishing
          the mirror of your heart.


-- from Real Thirst

Eagle Poem

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can't see, can't hear
Can't know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren't always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River.  Circles in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon, within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.


~ Joy Harjo ~

(How We Become Human: New and Selected Poems 1975-2001)

(image from freewebs.com)










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STUBBORN DONKEY

Silence is a stubborn donkey
whose master turns toward
home again and again
and the ass has his own
destination that even his
god doesn't know.

Do not try to tame the donkey
or the silence
or the master...
turn towards home
and bow to what god
arrives at the well.

- Lizbeth Hamlin

"Buddha at the Gas Pump" is a very interesting site containing interviews with "ordinary people" who are spiritually awakened.   A friend recommended the following to me, and I am posting it here, even though I have not had time to listen to it yet.  She says that the first hour of the interview contains much material about the speaker's kundalini awakening.  I think it is vitally important to share such information with one another, for this is how we learn about the process we are involved in.

The "Batgap" site also includes several useful resources pertaining to spiritual awakening.

http://batgap.com/ellie-roozdar/

The following excerpt appeared on "Body Divine Yoga) by  DANIELLE PROHOM OLSON.  This is a very interesting website and I recommend it highly.

Dr. Andrew Newberg is a neuroscientist currently conducting a brain imaging study on Kundalini Yoga. Though the results of the yoga studies are yet unpublished, Newberg states the preliminary findings demonstrate that after only eights weeks of practise of Kirtan Kriya (a yogic meditation) blood flow to the frontal lobes of the brain was dramatically increased.

This echoes Newberg earlier MRI studies on Tibetan Buddhist mediators, which found that during deep meditation the pre-frontal cortex was highly activated. His scans revealed that blood flow to the brains orientation association area, (responsible for drawing the line between the physical self and the rest of existence – was dramatically reduced). The line between the self and the world out there were melded in the mystical state of oneness so often described by mystics.

This not only sharpened the monk’s intelligence, thinking skills, creativity and memory, it quieted the amygdala (centre of fear and anxiety in the brain) increasing feelings of joy and peacefulness. Other studies have since supported Newberg, showing that meditation increases activity in the left-prefrontal lobe in particular. Activity in this lobe is associated with feelings of happiness and contentment.

But most startling, recent studies by both Harvard and Yale universities have demonstrated that regular meditators not only increased function in their frontal lobes, they had literally increased its size and volume!

Neuroscientists like to say, ‘Neurons that fire together, wire together” meaning when you think and do certain things repeatedly, you create neural pathways that get deeper and deeper over time. Where we direct our attention defines us on a neurological level. What we repeatedly think about and where we focus our attention, is what we neurologically become.

image found on internet

Some quotes from various spiritual writers:


The summer's grass!
all that's left
of ancient warriors' dreams.

- Matsuo Basho



The true student of the Way clings neither to Buddha, nor to Bodhisattvas, nor to Arhats; he clings not to anything that passes as supreme in the Three Worlds. He keeps his distance, stands alone and free, and is not bothered by things. Though heaven and earth be turned upside down, he will not be bewildered. Though all the Buddhas of the ten directions appear before him, he will not care. And if the three deepest hells47 suddenly gape before him, he will not be afraid.

Why not? Because he sees everything as empty.

If there is change, there is also existence. Without change, there is nothing. "The Three Worlds are the heart only; The ten thousand things are but its differentiation." This is why it is said: "Dreams and phantoms, flowers in the empty sky; why trouble yourself to seize them?"

Followers of the Way, the one right here before your eyes and listening to the Dharma is he who "enters fire without being burnt, goes into water without being drowned, and plays about in the three deepest hells, as if in a fairground; he enters the world of Pretas and dumb animals without being molested by them." Why is this so? Because there is nothing he dislikes. If you love the sacred and dislike the worldly, you will go on floating and sinking in the ocean of birth and death. The passions arise depending on the heart. If the heart is stilled, where then do you seize the passions? Do not tire yourselves by making up discriminations, and quite naturally, of itself, you will find the Way.

- excerpt from The Zen Teaching of Rinzai, translated by Irmgard Schloegl.



True person manifest throughout the ten quarters of the world

The true person is
Not anyone in particular;
But, like the deep blue color
Of the limitless sky,
It is everyone, everywhere in the world.

- Eihei Dogen, English version by Steven Heine



It seems to be such a great task -- it is not, but it appears to be a great task -- to transform your blindness into clear perceptive eyes; to transform your darkness into beautiful morning light. It is a simple thing, the simplest in the world, but just because it is simple, it does not appeal to the mind. Mind is interested in doing great things. The desire behind every ambition of the mind is to be special. And you can be special only with special achievements.

The problem with Zen is that it wants you to be utterly simple, not special. It goes against the very desire of the mind, which is not a small phenomenon -- it is a four-million-yearsold desire, which everybody is carrying in different lives. Mind cannot understand why you should be simple when you could be special, why you should be humble when you could be powerful. And mind is heavy, it has the great weight of the past. The moment the mind sees anyone humble, simple, natural, a buddha, it immediately condemns him, because such a man goes against the whole makeup of the human mind. And in a way the mind is right. To be a buddha you will have to drop the mind completely, you will have to become an empty mirror.

- Osho, from Ma Tzu: The Empty Mirror - Talks on Zen



It has to be understood that buddhahood cannot be attained, it is already your nature. If you try to attain it, you will miss it. You have just to relax and see within yourself, and the buddha is already there in its absolute splendor.

The use of the word `attain' means that something has to be done, you have to go somewhere. There is a possibility of failure - you may succeed, you may not succeed. And attainment is always of the outside world, of the objective world - riches, or fame, or power...

But buddhahood is not an attainment. It is simply a remembrance, as if you had forgotten something, and suddenly in a silent relaxed state you remember it.

- Osho, from Ma Tzu: The Empty Mirror - Talks on Zen

(image of statue of Matsuo Basho found on wikipedia)

Soul And The Old Woman

What is the soul? Consciousness. The more awareness,
the deeper the soul, and when

such essence overflows, you feel a sacredness around. It’s
so simple to tell one who

puts on a robe and pretends to be a dervish from
the real thing. We know the taste

of pure water. Words can sound like a poem but not have
any juice, no flavor to

relish. How long do you look at pictures on a latrine
wall? Soul is what draws

you away from those pictures to talk with the old woman
who sits outside by the door

in the sun. She’s half blind, but she has what soul loves
to flow into. She’s kind, she weeps.

She makes quick personal decisions and laughs so easily.

           
- Jellaludin Rumi
( translated by Coleman Barks)

poem by Geneen Marie Haugen

The Return                              

Some day, if you are lucky,
you'll return from a thunderous journey
trailing snake scales, wing fragments
and the musk of Earth and moon.

Eyes will examine you for signs
of damage, or change
and you, too, will wonder
if your skin shows traces

of fur, or leaves,
if thrushes have built a nest
of your hair, if Andromeda
burns from your eyes.

Do not be surprised by prickly questions
from those who barely inhabit
their own fleeting lives, who barely taste
their own possibility, who barely dream.

If your hands are empty, treasureless,
if your toes have not grown claws,
if your obedient voice has not
become a wild cry, a howl,

you will reassure them. We warned you,
they might declare, there is nothing else,
no point, no meaning, no mystery at all,
just this frantic waiting to die.

And yet, they tremble, mute,
afraid you've returned without sweet
elixir for unspeakable thirst, without
a fluent dance or holy language
to teach them, without a compass
bearing to a forgotten border where
no one crosses without weeping
for the terrible beauty of galaxies

and granite and bone. They tremble,
hoping your lips hold a secret,
that the song your body now sings
will redeem them, yet they fear

your secret is dangerous, shattering,
and once it flies from your astonished
mouth, they-like you-must disintegrate
before unfolding tremulous wings.

        Geneen Marie Haugen

(picture from internet)

This new book by Carter Phipps focuses on one of the key themes of our time--that we are in fact in a time of transition to a new level of human consciousness, as part of the ongoing process of human evolution.  Most of us who have gone through kundalini transformation will readily agree with this assertion, since we feel that we are experiencing such evolution in our own bodies.
Carter Phipps is a major spokesperson for the notion of evolution of consciousness, a topic that should interest us all.  Here are some of the responses to his book:


“This beautifully written book is not only a splendid survey of evolutionary thought and its spiritual implications. It is also a significant contribution to the increasingly important conversation between the natural sciences and our spiritual traditions. Enthusiastically recommended.” (JOHN F. HAUGHT, Senior Fellow at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center and Former Chair and Professor of the Department of Theology at Georgetown University )

“No one has their head and heart around the full range of evolutionary worldviews like Carter Phipps.” (Reverend MICHAEL DOWD, author of Thank God for Evolution )

“A profound and profoundly important new work. With clarity and deep understanding, Carter Phipps walks us through the great evolutionary pioneers and their ideas in this extraordinary philosophy, making the book absolutely indispensable for lay and professional alike. The very highest recommendation!” (KEN WILBER, author of A Brief History of Everything and The Integral Vision )

“We live in one of those rare historical moments when the deepest metaphysical questions are being turned over and examined as we search for a new orientation for the next millennium. It would be hard to find a better guide into this fascinating conversation than Carter Phipps’s Evolutionaries.” (BRIAN SWIMME, Ph.D, Director of the Center for the Story of the Universe and Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies )

“Brilliantly expands our understanding of evolution. Evolutionaries is going to help create a worldview that will influence our understanding of the future direction of evolution and also our role in consciously participating in it.” (DEEPAK CHOPRA )

“Phipps offers a challenging reexamination of the connection between the ‘evolutionary dynamics of the universe and the very being of the divine.’ ... Thoughtful and provocative.” (Kirkus Reviews )
Carter Phipps is a writer and speaker and the former executive editor of Enlighten-Next magazine. He lives in Lenox, Massachusetts.

What follows is an excerpt from "Be Who You Are: An Interview with Jean Klein," by Stephan Bodian in Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology

Jean, I find you and your teaching interesting for a number of reasons. For one thing, you are a Westerner who went to India long before such journeys were common and ended up attaining a high degree of realization. What prompted you to go to India?

I was hoping to find a society where people lived without conflict. Also, I think, I was hoping to find a center in myself that was free from conflict – the kind of forefeeling or foretaste of truth.

While in India, you found a teacher with whom you studied for a number of years. What is the value of a teacher for the spiritual life?

A teacher is one who lives free from the idea or image of being somebody. There is only function; there's no one who functions. It's a loving relationship; the teacher is like a friend.

Why is that important for someone on the spiritual path?

Because generally the relationship with other people involves asking or demanding - sex, money, psychological or biological security. Then suddenly you meet someone who doesn't ask or demand anything of you; there is only giving. A true teacher doesn't take himself for a teacher, and he doesn't take his pupil for a pupil. When neither one takes himself to be something, there is a coming together, a oneness. And in this oneness, transmission takes place. Otherwise the teacher will remain a teacher through the pupil, and the pupil will always remain a pupil.  When the image of being something is absent, one is completely in the world but not of the world; completely in society, but at the same time free from society. We are truly a creative element when we can be in society in this way.

What did your teacher teach you?

The teacher brings clarity of mind. That's very important. There comes a moment when the mind has no reference and just stops, naturally, simply. There's a silence which you more and more live knowingly.

And the teacher shows you how to do that. Did you learn any meditation or yoga techniques from your teacher?

No. Because what you really are is never achieved through technique. You go away from what you are when you use technique.

What about the whole notion of the spiritual path - the idea that you enter a path, follow a certain prescribed way of practice, and eventually achieve some goal?

It belongs to psychology, to the realm of the mind. These are sweets for the mind.

What about the argument that if you don't practice, you can't attain anything?

You must first see that in all practice you project the goal, a result. And in projecting a result you remain constantly in the representation of what you project. What you are fundamentally is a natural giving up. The mind becomes clear, there is a giving up, a stillness, fulfilled with a current of love. As long as there is a meditator, there's no meditation. When the meditator disappears, there is meditation.

So by practicing some meditation technique, you're somehow interfering with that giving up.

Absolutely.

How?


You interfere because you think there is something to attain. But in reality what you are fundamentally is nothing to obtain, nothing to achieve. You can only achieve something that remains in the mind, knowledge. You must see the difference. Being yourself has nothing to do with accumulating knowledge. In certain traditions - Zen, for one - you have to meditate in order to exhaust the mind; through meditating the mind eventually wears itself out and comes to rest. Then a kind of opening takes place.

But you're suggesting that the process of meditating somehow gets in the way of this opening.

Yes. This practicing is still produced by will. For me, the point of meditation is only to look for the meditator. When we find out that the meditator, the one who looks for God, for beauty, for peace, is only a product of the brain and that there is nothing to find, there is a giving up. What remains is a current of silence. You can never come to this silence through practice, through achievement. Enlightenment - being understanding - is instantaneous.


You've often called what you teach the direct way, and you contrast it with what you call progressive teachings, including the classical yoga tradition and most forms of Buddhism. What is the danger of progressive teachings, why do you think the direct way is closer to the truth?

In the progressive way, you use various techniques and gradually attain higher and higher states but you remain constantly in the mind, the subject - object relationship. Even when you give up the last object, we still remain in the duality of subject and object. You're still in a kind of blank state, and this blank state itself becomes an extremely subtle object. In this state, it is very difficult to give up the subject - object relationship. Once you've attained it, you're locked into it, fixed to it. There's a kind of quietness, but there's no flavor, no taste. To bring it to the point where the object vanishes and you abide in the beingness, a tremendous teacher or exceptional circumstances are necessary. In the direct approach, you face the ultimate directly, and the conditioning gradually loses its impact. That takes time.


The path you are describing is often called the "high path with no railing" which is the most difficult path of all. The average person would not know where to begin to do what you're talking about. Most could probably be attentive to their inattention, but after that, what? There's nothing to grasp onto.

No, there's nothing to grasp, nothing to find. But it is only apparently a difficult path; actually, I would say it is the easiest path.


NOTE:    Although Jean is here not talking about Kundalini, it seems to me that much of what she says would apply to the 'direct path" (inner rather than outer directed) rather than a prescribed practice.  Certainly, one can incorporate "practices" from various traditions into one's own "sadhana (practice, but one follows a free form approach, "the pathless path to the gateless gate."

Bosons

Satyendra Nath Bose, born l894
in British Calcutta,
was an ordinary looking man.
He could have been
a shopkeeper
dispensing sweets,
or worked for the railroads
as a clerk or under engineer,
the way his father did.

Even his eyes do not
yield his secret,
his hidden seeing.

Without a Ph. D.,
he entered
the world of science
and came up
with conclusions
startling for their novelty.

At first his ideas
were derided,
his notions of skewed statistics
seen as absurd
(everyone knows that if you
flip a coin, one side
is bound to come up
exactly fifty percent of the time,
not two-thirds as he claimed
for the subatomic realm).
Predictably,
the journals turned him down,
and not until Einstein lent his name
to the discovery
did he see print for
his mind boggling notion
(later further verified
through Heisenberg’s
uncertainly principle.)
His approach was later
known by both their names,
Bose-Einstein statistics.

In physics, he is remembered
as the namesake of “bosons,”
indescribably minute subatomic particles
which exist at the quantum level
and are hard to pin down.
Many made reputations for
research based
on his findings,
but he never was given
the Nobel Prize,
though his now is ranked
among the most
significant scientific contributions
of our time.

The most famous boson
is called the Higgs Boson or the God particle,
the one that will explain everything,
the one we claim to have found.
Presumably it will tell us
how matter obtains mass,
but will it explain how
thought becomes thing?

Dorothy Walters
June 8, 2011

Note: The HIggs Boson or God Particle is much in the news these days, for it has apparently been spotted through CERN,  the great "atom smasher" in Switzerland.
I have long been interested in quantum physics where long standing assumptions have been challenged and overturned.  I wrote and published the above poem about a year ago.

The boson is apparently the tiniest component of the atom, and, as I get it, perhaps the tiniest known component of the universe.  It takes us to the very edge of our scientific knowledge of how the universe is made, but, as I suggest in this poem, it does not explain how "thought becomes thing," as many Eastern philosophies suggest (Cosmic Consciousness (Brahma) precedes manifestation).

I wonder if somehow bosons are connected to kundalini, for which science as yet to provide explanations.  Perhaps in rapture things go on not only at the cellular but also the sub-cellular level, and perhaps these processes are produced by bosons, the key component of the ecstatic cosmic dance.  Perhaps the universe is composed of pure energy which exists as endless ecstasy, and, when we are in alignment, we too experience such overwhelming delight.

When the Heart Chakra Opens in Ecstasy

Here are some further comments from the reader who wrote about matriarchal vs. patriarchal approaches:


There was this one time.....during which I was taking a workshop on Yoga maybe about 20 years ago which was very well attended.  There must have been over 150
people in the room.  We were asked to partner with another person of our same sex (have no clue why) and I partnered with another lady.  We were asked to get into the Cobra Pose while the other assistant gently held our hand behind us so that we could open more through the chest in the pose.  Well....lo and behold....as I entered the pose in a slow and meditative way (as we were encouraged to do) I began to feel the rapture, the bliss, the ecstasy mounting all over my body, but especially concentrated in my first, second and third Chakras.   Every cell of my body felt throbbing and so ALIVE!  The feelings of deep pleasure were intense and then......something felt like it exploded in my first Chakra and for a split second, I truly thought I was going to have to get up and leave the pose.  Yet, before the thought finished forming in my mind, the Energy shot up from the first to the fourth chakra and the orgasm happened in that fourth chakra.  My whole body shook,  I let out a rather loud scream from the pleasure being felt in every atom of my Being.  The "me" dissolved for just a few seconds (it felt longer) and I was ONE with all Life.  Nothing quite like that has happened since, and certainly not in a public arena!  The facilitator of the program came running (the poor lady partnering with me kept repeating that she was feeling a waterfall of Energy pouring from my body to hers) asking if I was okay.  I was so immersed in the bliss I wanted to be left alone and not talk.  He kept insisting for me to answer him as I lowered myself back on the mat.  I think I told him to be quiet and that I was alright.  Then he looked at me and realized I was in some other state, put a blanket tenderly over my body, and left me there til the end of the session.  I was just drunk with the wine of the Beloved.  Then when the session ended, they asked if anyone wanted to share.  I just wanted to run to my room and be in Silence with the bliss.  So I kept quiet until someone pointed at me and asked why I had screamed.  So I got up in front of the group and reluctantly shared the experience with whatever language I could come up with to describe what happened and what I was feeling still.  You could hear a pin drop in the room.   After the session ended, I just literally ran out because I did not want to talk about it further at that moment when I was still feeling so utterly open, vulnerable and ecstatic.  So I just went to my room for a long time and then went for a walk in Nature.  What Grace.  In spite of the public situation....the experience was so profound that its perfume still lingers as I share it with you.

Yes, I too feel at  times delicious pleasure in my legs arms, ears, neck, cheeks....all divinely exquisite.  I wholeheartedly agree as you say in your remarkable book that "anywhere can be a point of entry, a place of exquisite pleasure".  Also, in the past (not so much recently) I too felt almost overwhelming bliss when given a massage....this was puzzling at the beginning of my journey.  I also believe with every fiber of my Being that this process unfolding for so many of us now, in differing levels, yet all the Same Divine Energy, is the transformational "shift in consciousness" that is being felt so intensely on this Planet.  I also truly believe that it is the Feminine Face of the Divine leading the way and it will be through the feminine in both women and men that we will move into a new Earth.  The way things are now cannot remain, old structures and archaic programs must dissolve and give way to something new and ever more balanced and harmonious.

(from Dorothy:  I had an experience many years ago similar to that which she describes here.  It was an opening of the heart chakra (which had never fully opened before) so exquisite I thought I would expire from the rapture.  I was alone, seated on the floor with legs crossed, feeling the bliss energies move here and there as I listened to a bit of music and rotated my upper body. I was astonished to discover that such indescribable feelings of ecstasy could emanate from the fourth chakra--but indeed this was the case.  I never really repeated that experience thereafter, but it told me what was possible.


And--of course--my thoughts about the "shift in consciousness" are the same as hers.  I think many writers and teachers presenting on this topic today miss the primary point--that the shift will (and does) involve experiences of rapturous feeling beyond what any of us might have imagined.  And--this "shift" will be available to all who are open to it, as the "morphogenetic field" increases.  Those teachers who insist that such is not possible or at least not desirable are in for a surprise.)

Here is the second installment of the reflections on the feminine approach to Kundalini, sent to me by a reader.   The writer is 62 years old and has been practicing yoga for many years.  She has obviously accumulated great knowledge and wisdom on her journey--she is herself clearly one of the "wise women elders" she speaks of.

Yes, the Feminine way is relational, receptive, intuitive, circular or spiral.  Its Essence is LOVE. In a book entitled "Coming Home to Myself" by the Jungian author Marion Woodman and Jill Mellick,  Jill says the following:  "Catherine Bateson, in Composing a Life, remarks that women's outer lives are rarely led along trajectories toward unchanging goals.  They are complex patterns of tasks, passions, and responsibilities that INTENTIONALLY LIVE IN RESPONSE TO changing demands.  To evaluate the achievements of such lives by objective linear measure is to miss the truth of how we women really experience our lives and what we really value."  .......

Although the book is written from a Jungian psyhological perspective and is not about Mother Kundalini and its awakening, it points to the fact that our feminine Energies (whether inner or outer) move in delicious circular patterns and they shift, evolve, thrust, receive, retreat, RESPOND to the "changing demands" of our Divine Beloved (the Kundalini Energy).  They cannot, in my humble opinion and experience, be evaluated by "objective linear measures" and put into a book with a linear, logical, rational "map" so that we all can follow.  Maybe if you are NOT dealing with the Kundalini Energy in its stronger apparition, you can follow some set of prescribed exercises in a particular pattern to begin your spiritual journey.  Totally a good idea for most.....however, ONCE THE ENERGY COMES ALIVE, then DANCE with the Great Mother, with the Divine Beloved however one may "visualize" Him or Her, and let HIM/HER lead.  Be receptive and open to its promptings.....LISTEN, FEEL, LET GO, FOLLOW, SURRENDER.  If things get too intense, talk to someone, read accounts (like your stunning book) written by Females of their Journey with this Divine Energy.  Talk to a therapist if needed to work through difficult issues that may come up....and make sure the therapist has a spiritual bend and is familiar with the word Kundalini.  However, at this point in time in our history(herstory), we need one another to share stories, experiences as you so correctly pointed out in your last email. . .  Naturally a wholesome diet (whatever that may mean to each person) and some form of moderate exercise (walking is great) greatly benefit the journey.

Right now, at this moment, The Energy is becoming very "fiery" in my senior body once again.  Psychologically, lots of anger/rage, fear, despair, grief....all very strong... coming up yet again from childhood issues to be met with mercy and healed.  The work moved down to the first three Chakras once more.  Yet, at moments it surges to the 4th and I am lost in LOVE and ECSTASY beyond my ability to describe in words.  The Energy feels so ALIVE.  I really want to just be alone to "dance" with It.  Interesting to note that my husband, who is a wonderful man and NOT on any formal spiritual Path, is just astonished with the details I choose to share with him.  He is supportive and yet, this is not his lifetime to explore within.

Lately,  I have been reading mystical Poetry outloud during the beginning of my practices or listening to Rumi, Hafiz, Lalla from my CD.....it is such magnificent fuel for the Fire.  Then maybe some music (each day I just allow the Energy to tell me what She wants) and the movements become spontaneous (mudras, gestures, asanas, Mantras) that just flow forth without "me" doing anything.  The Energy "does" it all.  Sometimes it is quiet and still, other times the "practices" are fiery and strong.  I never know what is coming...I just sit, lay, sing, dance until the Energy takes over and then.......Ahhhh, the suprises of my Inner Lover!!!  I do take time to do something grounding before I come out of my practices....if I do not, I tend to be a bit spacy, unfocused and "just a little bit drunk" from the Wine of the Beloved, so my responsibilities during my day get "out of whack" (and if I'm "tipsy", who cares!).

....we all need....Wise Women Elders well versed in the art of Sacred Lovemaking with the Divine Beloved.

MORE ON MALE VS. FEMALE APPROACHES

NOTE: RECENTLY I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING BEAUTIFUL LETTER FROM A READER.  I WISH TO SHARE WITH YOU, FOR IT CONTAINS MUCH FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

..I have found that IN A WOMAN"S BODY, the map that we have which has been recorded by men for men through these patriarchal ages, does not necessarily match AT ALL certain stages of my journey, which has put me through great confusion.  This has been and at times, still is a surprise to me.  And this especially refers to ecstatic states and blissful states and it also refers to the Kundalini Energy when it happens to be opening what it needs to open in the 2nd Chakra and the sexual energies felt are INTENSE at least for me, especially in the past.  There IS some kind of bias against experiencing the Energy, as SACRED, no matter how it moves and unfolds and purifies and purges the body/mind/emotions on each and every level. . . 
 Men need to "conserve" their energies in order to have the Energy move up the "spine" and do its dance.  I believe our Energy as women moves and circulates in a different pattern....and if at times, during our spiritual practices, an orgasm occurs in any Chakra through the embrace of the Divine Beloved, it is NOT wasted energy and it will not stop or paralyze its Divine Spiral Flow through our Feminine bodies.  That is just my opinion based on my experience and that of other ladies I have been privileged to share the subject with.  Many woman Teachers today follow the tried and true, patriarchally prescribed path to the Divine.  Nothing wrong with that if it feels comfortable and right for them.  However, The Divine Mother took me on a different Journey and I am allowing Her to do Her dance within me.  I spent many years "sweating blood", thinking there was something "wrong with me" in the way the Energies were presenting themselves.  Sitting still on a mat, watching my breath was NOT FOR ME.

I "know" with every fiber of my Being, that the path to the Divine, although ultimately arriving to the same summit, is slightly different for each person AND different for men than for women.  That is my experience and the experience of a few women I have met or corresponded with around the awakening of the Kundalini Mother.  So, over time, I have just decided to listen to my Teachers, one always learns a lot from those who have walked the path longer than oneself....however, when I close the door to my bedroom where my Altar is....that is just between me and my precious Divine Beloved.  This was a tough, decision to come by since just about every book or Teacher (both male and female) that I personally have met assure me the original maps are the ones to follow no matter if you are male or female.

 I humbly disagree and truly believe we, the modern-day Gopis of the Divine Beloved, are in the present carving our new maps for future generations of women to not have to endure the "blood, sweat and tears" of having to either choose the prescribed methods (which sometimes just do not fit...like the old, too tight girdles of our past!) or follow the Divine into the transformative Fiery Furnace of His/Her Love, allowing Him/Her to lead the way. . .

Although I might not reach the "highest" in this incarnation, Mother Kundalini has me enfolded in Her exquisite blanket of Love's purifying warmth, so I'm on the way.   It is all GRACE....and that was the call of my Divine Beloved into His/Her everlasting arms.

NOTE FROM DOROTHY: ALTHOUGH MY EXPERIENCE IS IN SOME WAYS DIFFERENT FROM THIS WRITER'S, YET IT CERTAINLY AGREES WITH HER IN THAT I HAVE FROM THE BEGINNING PREFERRED TO FOLLOW MY OWN PATH, AND ALLOW THE ENERGIES THEMSELVES TO DIRECT THE COURSE OF THIS PROCESS.  I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT MY RECENT INVESTIGATIONS INTO AROMA THERAPY, WITH MY MAGIC POTION FROM AUSTRALIA.  TODAY YET ANOTHER VARIATION ON THIS EXPERIENCE OCCURRED.

ONCE AGAIN, I HAD DELIGHTFUL SENSATIONS JUST BY MOVING THE VIAL AROUND MY BODY AT A DISTANCE OF A FEW INCHES.  AT THE END OF THIS PRACTICE, I MOVED INTO MY LIVING ROOM, AND, AS I AM WONT TO DO, BOWED BEFORE MY BELOVED TONGKA (BUDDHA) AND--TO MY SURPRISE--FELT LOVELY SENSATIONS IN MY HEAD AND UPPER BODY.  I HAD REMARKED TO MYSELF EARLIER THAT IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR ME TO REACH MY LOWER LEGS AND FEET, SINCE I DO MY MOVING PRACTICE STANDING.  WELL, TODAY IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT PERHAPS I COULD SIMPLY DIRECT ENERGIES MENTALLY TO THESE LOWER REGIONS--AND SURE ENOUGH, BY DOING SHOULDER ROLLS AND DIRECTING MY THOUGHTS DOWNWARD (HANDS POINTED TO FEET) I DID INDEED FEEL EXQUISITE SENSATIONS IN MY CALVES AND FEET.

ALWAYS, THERE IS SOMETHING NEW TO DISCOVER.  THE EXPERIENCE IS EVER FRESH.

Male and Female approaches to Kundalini

I have from the beginning followed my own path, which involved following the inner energies, rather than trying to direct them in certain paths.  Actually, when we do the latter, we are in fact simply copying the prescribed models handed down from the ancient past, and of course these were designed by and created for males, whose aim (frequently) was to arouse the sexual energies, then "bring the sperm up to the head."  This method,, though useful in certain circumstances, really does not accurately describe nor serve the natural purpose of the female, especially in the contemporary world.

The typical "male" approach is to control, direct, and use for his own purposes the world about him. This approach does not, of course, include all men, some of whom are quite "feminine" in their responses.  And we know now that the term "feminine" involves the receptive, intuitive, feeling way, wherever it is expressed.  Thus when we "follow" the energies, we are in fact incorporating a "feminine" approach into our practice.

While many (including both men and women) prefer to have a prescribed "container" for their sadhana, others discover the delights of a free flowing, ever fluid experience, allowing the Kundalini herself to direct and lead.  Trouble arises when we try to follow a prescriptive method when it is not suited to our nature.  I experienced extreme difficulties early on when I was persuaded to switch from a natural energetic practice to mantra, which I was not ready for at the time.  As someone said, it was like putting a lid on a boiling pot.  One recent correspondent said that she herself suffered agonies when she kept experiencing ecstatic states during what was supposed to be a quiet, still meditation practice.

Each person is unique and needs to discover the right practice for them.  Some will want to sit quietly on a cushion, others will need to dance or move or listen to music, exploring ever more subtle realms. There is no "one size fits all" approach to Kundalini.  It is a transaction between the self and the divine source, and must be discovered by each practitioner for her/him self.

(image found on google)