In the early hours of one morning this week, I received a text from a
woman distressed about the effects of rising energy that occurred while she
was on a Buddhist meditation retreat. She asked if I could help her. As it was too early for me to do anything constructive, I drifted back
to sleep.
On waking again, my first thought was of this woman and I immediately thought (more of a sudden insight than a thought, really) that what had happened to this woman was a shift of consciousness from the left brain or not-Self to the right brain or Self. Her experience resonated with me because it was exactly what happened to me when I was on a Vipassana meditation retreat in England during 1999. However, I had almost 1o years of Buddhist training and philosophy to support me when the energy rose; this woman was not as fortunate.
In the past, intense spiritual practices might be undertaken, but, contrary to today and to the despair of
the practitioners, those practices usually didn't result in profound spiritual
experiences. This has changed. Today intense meditation like Goenka can be done relatively
safely with the knowledge that the effects of energy work bear much quicker results now than before. This shifts responsibility for informing students about the dormant energy and its effects on to the teachers of spiritual practices so that students are aware of its power and risks before undertaking it. Is this information given to students at their first meditation evening
or yoga class? I don't think so. Pity, because students need to gird up their loins. The spiritual path is not a path for the fearful.
When Kundalini rises in those who are tentative the result is often fear and confusion. The shift that happens must be put in a context if it's to have a chance of not overwhelming or terrifying practitioners.
How did I learn about the emotional and psychic shocks associated with rising Kundalini? In the laboratory of my own body, of course. My conclusions are based on a combination of my own experience and intuition.
Consider that the left brain is the ego or not-Self and the right brain is the Self. Kundalini creates a shift from left to right and then acts to bring left and right into balance. If the student knows this, he/she then realizes the energy is evolutionary and needs to be co-operated with, not resisted or fought against.
Having a context in which to put spiritual experience is very important to understanding, accepting, and co-operating with the process, as well as to allowing the energy to do its healing and transformative work. Without this context, spiritual practice can be a bewildering, scary experience that happens unexpectedly without the subject even being aware this energy exists, much less how its arousal will change the Being — physically, mentally and spiritually in the weeks and months and, indeed, the years to come.
If practitioners use the shift of consciousness from the left to the right as a model for understanding the "benign intentions" of the Kundalini experience, it will permit them to allay their fears and celebrate the moment of shifting consciousness.
On waking again, my first thought was of this woman and I immediately thought (more of a sudden insight than a thought, really) that what had happened to this woman was a shift of consciousness from the left brain or not-Self to the right brain or Self. Her experience resonated with me because it was exactly what happened to me when I was on a Vipassana meditation retreat in England during 1999. However, I had almost 1o years of Buddhist training and philosophy to support me when the energy rose; this woman was not as fortunate.
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| Ask and it Shall Be Given Unto You |
When Kundalini rises in those who are tentative the result is often fear and confusion. The shift that happens must be put in a context if it's to have a chance of not overwhelming or terrifying practitioners.
How did I learn about the emotional and psychic shocks associated with rising Kundalini? In the laboratory of my own body, of course. My conclusions are based on a combination of my own experience and intuition.
Consider that the left brain is the ego or not-Self and the right brain is the Self. Kundalini creates a shift from left to right and then acts to bring left and right into balance. If the student knows this, he/she then realizes the energy is evolutionary and needs to be co-operated with, not resisted or fought against.
Having a context in which to put spiritual experience is very important to understanding, accepting, and co-operating with the process, as well as to allowing the energy to do its healing and transformative work. Without this context, spiritual practice can be a bewildering, scary experience that happens unexpectedly without the subject even being aware this energy exists, much less how its arousal will change the Being — physically, mentally and spiritually in the weeks and months and, indeed, the years to come.
If practitioners use the shift of consciousness from the left to the right as a model for understanding the "benign intentions" of the Kundalini experience, it will permit them to allay their fears and celebrate the moment of shifting consciousness.
