Kundalini Splendor

Recently I was in a conversation with friends who were interested in how we perceive and are perceived by others.  They pointed out that for another, we are merely this--a perception that may or not tally with the essence of the other person.

This observation made me think back to a time when I was much younger when I was fascinated by what I then called "simultaneous reality."  By this I meant that each of us lives in our own world of perceptions, each observer defined and limited by what we are able to notice and integrate into our personal vision of the world.  Thus the fellow fixing your car may indeed live in a very different "world" than that of the librarian who checks out your books for you or the musician who directs the symphonic orchestra.

And then I started drawing overlapping circles to illustrate just how much each of us might share with the another's world view.  Thus, if two circles (representing separate visions of "reality") are placed side by side, they may overlap to some degree.  In this middle space, each participant will get a glimpse of the other's special way of seeing and interpreting the universe and individual experience.  Each will be comfortable with sharing some of that personal vision.  Sometimes a great deal will be revealed.  But outside this shared space, there will be a region (the rest of the circle, the private inner self) that will be "invisible" and indeed totally unknown to the other.

But if one of them has an encounter so far outside the other's own experience that he/she can make little or nothing of it--what then?  Suspicions of all sorts may arise.  Someone may be seen as  "a weirdo," "off their rocker," even sent to an institution.  Often the visionary may realize that he/she must not reveal their inner discoveries to others and shut down any real communication.

Something of this sort often happens when people undergo intense Kundalini awakening.  Close friends and family, unable to interpret these descriptions of unfamiliar states, may become disturbed and even angry at such claims which they consider false or signs of mental disturbance.  One side of the circle expands as new experience provides an expansion of how one now defines "reality."  The middle section which once reflected a kind of mutual agreement between the two, shrinks significantly.  The awakened one has discovered new realms of being and knowing, regions invisible to the other.

And so the awakening of Kundalini can come with many challenges.  How can we reconcile the new world of insight with the old familiar notions?  How can we live in the two realms (the familiar and the new) simultaneously?

How do we survive when we no longer conform to "consensus reality" and indeed violate  the accepted norms of society?

I knew one woman who said that after her awakening she went home, threw out all her old clothes and started anew.  We too are called on to throw out all of our "old clothes"--thoughts and mental patterns and notions of how the world "is"--and begin again as we reshape our lives into new configurations.

This process may be difficult and last for a long time, but in our heart of hearts we are grateful to have been thrust to this new level of awareness, for we know that we are meant to be explorers of these unfamiliar realms, and that we will meet others who share a similar journey and so validate our own.