The Right Understanding of the Kundalini – The Path to Enlightenment or Insanity

What’s referred to as the kundalini energy of the body, often symbolized as being dormant until awakened, is a primal electric force that gives life to all of Nature. It’s the power that generates an inner light in those who meditate and concentrate on their spiritual and moral development. This natural force is the cosmic electricity that fills and animates form, commonly referred to as the Fohat or Fohatic Energy in Esoteric Sciences. It’s the fiery-electrical force which underlies everything visible and invisible, also referred to as World’s Mother, or Mother of the World, symbolized as the Vesica Pisces (Dyad) or the Womb of the Universe in Sacred Geometry, through which all life emerges as a birthing process. It’s the Universal Life Principle that works to animate the Universal Logos and brings life to all material forms.

The Kundalini is a power that moves in a circular, spiraling motion, symbolized by a serpent, which is often shown wrapped around and egg (thought in it’s potential state). This Universal Life Principle is a single force that’s comprised of two polar forces of attraction and repulsion, and manifests as electricity and magnetism, which are two aspects that perform opposing functions of the same force, and is what generates movement as expansion and contraction. What we call electromagnetism is a manifestation of this power, much like the aura of the body is but an emanation of the subtle body, yet is not the subtle body itself. While it’s usually thought of as an electric force, it’s actually electro-magnetic in nature, and as it expands, it simultaneously magnetizes with an attractive force. It resides in a dormant state until it’s stimulated and rises in an active state to fill and vitalize an astral form (imaginary thought) of some kind shaped in the higher faculties of the mind.

Kundalini is the active principle of the Universal Logos, and is what fills and brings life to universal archetypes that manifest throughout Nature, forming the various kingdoms and the species of conscious beings that populate them. In the mind of man this force is what gives life to our thoughts. It’s the Universal Life Power, symbolized by the element of Fire as the electrical force that enters into and animates ideas, causing them to expand and manifest as a three-dimensional reality. This power is natural to man, who is bestowed with the higher capacities of thought in creating reality, and is NOT worked with through calculated methods or as mechanical processes. There’s really no such thing as engaging in a supposed process of attempting to raise the kundalini power from the lower self of the body to the higher centers of the mind through a meditative process of visualization. This idea is born out of a misunderstanding of the Universal Principles involved and an incorrect conception of how the spiritual centers (chakras) of the subtle body function as a cohesive whole. Most attempts to do this are formed for selfish reasons out of the desire to somehow attain special psychic abilities, achieve elevated levels of consciousness through a form of shortcut, or to experience inner sensations of bliss, which are the promises used to lure people in. All true spiritual development only comes by way of consistent effort put forth in learning how to develop skill in mastering our own mind-body system.

This is the reason why kundalini is hardly ever mentioned in most ancient spiritual doctrines or texts on occult sciences, outside of the modern New Age movement. Like all great truths that are misunderstood by those who lack true knowledge which is only attained through years of devotional study of higher spiritual principles, practices are developed and promoted that can be outright dangerous in the development of the soul, and usually only lead to spiritual degradation, and oft times even various forms of mental illness. I’m sure that most who have taken the time to thoroughly investigate the idea of raising the kundalini from the sacral chakra to the crown or third-eye, have also been warned or heard stories of people who experience intense anxiety, hard to control emotional outpourings, disturbing hallucinations, and an almost overwhelming intensity of passions, emotions, and sexual arousal. This is due to the fact that they are working by completely artificial means to raise the energy of the lower, animal instincts through the lower chakras where it culminates in the higher mind and fuels our thoughts and imagination. As animal instincts begin animating and controlling our thoughts with an addictive intensity, they simultaneously govern our behavior through emotional impulses that we find overwhelming and difficult to retain, and ultimately result in psychotic behaviors that are destructive in nature.

Understanding and Working by Way of Universal Principles

If we contemplate this idea through the spiritual principles at work in the relationship formed between the mind and body as our higher and lower nature, we can gain great insights into how this process actually works. This idea, like so many others that result from a fairly significant misunderstanding of the Universal Principles involved, came about largely through the New Age Movement which attempted to infiltrate Eastern religions with Western ones as a means of forming a new one that encompassed them both into a single idea, and through the Principles of Yoga being introduced into western society which was primarily conditioned through various forms of Christianity, which of course are based on entirely different paradigms and models of behavior. They tried to interpret occult philosophy through a profane model born out of ignorance of Universal concepts, and the results were often disastrous, if not outright dangerous.

I came into true knowledge around this idea through an adverse intuitive reaction I formed when studying the psychological process involved, and through contemplating the controversy that was generated around the symbol of the caduceus as being mistakenly used to represent healing and medicine, as opposed to the single serpent staff of Asclepius, along with the realization that the original images of the caduceus was always shown as 3 (thrice great) revolutions around the rod that began (with loose ends) in the fourth chakra and ended at the crown, represented by the winged sphere of the higher intellect and rational mind. The modern day depictions of the caduceus have been redesigned to reflect the belief formed by those who only possess an elementary understanding of the chakra system and how it functions. Many don’t realize that in symbolic representations used as a concept for understanding universal principles numbers have a significant meaning. Modern depictions have a tendency to show the dual serpents passing through all 7 of the chakras, starting at the root, which significantly changes it’s meaning.

While the staff of Asclepius may be seen as representing medicine of a physical nature, and actually isn’t related to the chakras at all, the caduceus represents transformation of the Soul by subduing our lower nature and bringing it under the full command of our higher nature, and the spiritual regeneration that results from it. Mercury, as I’m sure many realize, is the archetypal symbol of the higher mind of intellect (rational thought) and will (imagination), referred to as universal wisdom that works through deep forms of concentration, and is the aspect of the mind used to program the subconscious with visual thoughts as seeded suggestions, which it then produces (gestates and births) as a corresponding outer reality that allows us to experience our thoughts, and then translate them into memories, which are internal representations of a metaphorical nature that are used by the subconscious to produce more experiences of a similar kind. My intuition on this idea was then verified and confirmed when I took up a thorough study of the principles taught in the Bhagavad Gita, the Qabalah Tree of Life, and Patanjali (Raja) Yoga (which is the only form of ancient yoga that forms a correspondence with all the other scientific systems of Universal Laws).

While many have been taught that there’s only one kundalini, which lies dormant in the root chakra, associated with the sexual organs of the body, there is in fact two kundalini energy centers within the subtle body, with the other having it’s residence in the heart center. As human beings we are essentially dual in nature while in the lower planes of physical reality, and have within us both a higher, divine nature, and a lower, instinctual nature that’s driven almost exclusively by passions and the emotions that naturally rise out of them. When we allow passions and intense emotions to run our thoughts, delusions result that we mistake for truth, because they appear to us as a coherent reality. The 7 primary spiritual centers of the body (chakras) are represented by the 7 colors of the light spectrum (3 primary and 4 complementary) which vibrate at different frequencies (wavelengths) and represent different modes of consciousness that perform different functions of the greater whole, represented as an octave (8).

The mind is represented on the higher planes from which it originates as Triads, which are symbolized as triangles. A Triad is formed by two complementary forces (2 lower points that form a straight line as the base) which are combined through synthesis to produce an exalted state as a functional third, represented by the central point that resides at an equal distance above them. When this same principle is represented as a vertical movement between higher and lower planes, it’s symbolized as three interlaced spheres, where the upper sphere is is brought into near proximity with the lower sphere through the medium of the middle sphere which acts to combine and bring them into balance through a process of equilibrium. All physical manifestation results from combining two complementary (polar) aspects to form a working third as it’s offspring. This is a fundamental principle referred to as the Three in One Law, also known as the Trinity, which contains all other laws in their potential state, each of which naturally propagate out of it as it’s offspring through a natural growth process. This process of creation born out of thoughts shaped into images in the imagination operates on every level of consciousness to form the substrata as an energetic matrix out of which all physical reality naturally arises as an emanation or reflection. The physical body is formed by the blueprint of the etheric-double (subtle body), which is comprised of both the instinctual and intellectual aspects of the mind, commonly referred to in psychology as the subconscious.

The Seven Main Spiritual Centers of the Subtle Body

One of the ways we can gain new insights into an existing idea is by changing the model we’re using to conceptualize it. The seven spiritual centers of the subtle body can be organized in a couple of different ways as the means of understanding the principles involved and how they work as a dynamic relationship. We can view the top 3 (crown, third-eye, and throat) as a triad, and the lower four as a Quaternary or square, which when the triad is placed on top of the square, it forms a house, representing the temple or dwelling place of the spirit; or we can see them as a higher triad and a lower triad (root, sexual, emotions) joined at the heart center, which serves to harmonize them. This merging of the higher and lower triads is represented symbolically by the Merkabah (the light body we use to ascend to higher dimensions), and by the Hexad, formed in the shape of a star (Star of David), which represent the merging and blending of the higher with the lower as the harmonious marriage of the conscious with the subconscious, represented in the Tarot by the Lovers (6), as the alchemical marriage of the masculine and feminine aspects to form a whole, orchestrated and overseen by the Holy Guardian Angel, which represents our Higher Self or Soul.

When we work to create by way of Law, everything in the physical world comes in a completely natural way. We don’t have to try and force anything or engage in some type of mechanical process or strategic method for commanding and directing natural forces, but instead create the conditions in which a desired manifestation naturally occurs. All manifestation is a result of how we use our mind and imagination, what ideas we embody and become one with in spirit, and what mental state we naturally cultivate as a result. Our mental state at any given moment is what works to naturally direct and regulate the energy of our body. When we try to command a force of Nature through a visualization process that performs an operation that’s not occurring naturally of its own volition, we work against law, which usually simply doesn’t work, or if it does, it produces unexpected, and often destructive results.

When we try to make something happen that’s not occurring naturally as a result of our mental state, we engage in a form of black magic which works by drawing up the energy of our lower instinctual nature and merging it with the higher centers of our mind as its motivating force. It’s not the images or what’s being visualized that’s the creative factor in manifesting material effects, they simply serve as the vehicle through which the motivating force works. Creation doesn’t come necessarily as the outer appearance something takes on, because the manifestation itself is simply the means through which our soul acquires a feeling. What we act to create in any situation is the expression of what’s motivating our actions, and not the actions themselves, which merely produce an equivalent effect as the reality of our motives. So before you engage in any form of process or attempt to create in a direct manner, it would be wise to stop and self-reflect on what it is that’s motivating your decision to do so. Always become clear on what your intentions are going into any situation or before engaging in a creative process of some kind. Selfish desires for personal gain never result in anything valuable or meaningful, and ultimately cause extensive set-backs in the evolution of our Higher Soul.

Our lower nature is what contains the effects of our conditioning in terms of issues and complexes repressed before being resolved through reasoning, our sexual energy which arouses and excites, and our emotions and passions, all of which are memories stored in the body due to the fact that they haven’t been balanced and resolved using the rational aspect of our higher mind. When this energy is combined with our higher capacities of thought, discretion, and imagination, which is our will in creating, we can become overwhelmed with the fantasies of our emotions, causing hallucinations that are commonly associated with schizophrenia and hysteria. When you hear of people going mad and becoming anxiety ridden due to this process, it’s true, and this is why. It causes the lower, instinctual nature of emotions to merge into our rational intellect, where they begin running our thoughts and polluting it with anxiety stricken illusions formed out of the unresolved issues of our formative conditioning.

As a spiritual psychologist I have dealt with many who have undergone this process with unfortunate success, and it transformed their consciousness in ways that ultimately destroyed their life. Others, failing to be able to actually do it, formed a fantasy around having done it, and began imaging themselves as enlightened spiritual beings who resided in a constant state of bliss as a form of low grade sexual arousal that lent their mind to fantasies of a similar nature. The unfortunate thing that many don’t realize before they began experimenting with many magical practices, is that once a door is opened, and the Elements are allowed in with free reign over our mind, it may be difficult, if not impossible to close it. Once we invite the elementals of our lower nature to set up house within the higher levels of our intellect, they become a natural part of our thoughts and aspirations, often leading to insatiable sexual appetites, self-grandization, lust for power and pleasure, uncontrollable fantasies that are delusional, excessive greed and selfishness, highly intensified and unruly emotions, and dark or perverted thoughts that lead us into the hellish lower rungs of society.

Our Two Selves and the Nature of the Heart Kundalini

Once we understand the Universal Principles we can realize that just as we have two-selves, which are distinctly different from each other in terms of their essential nature and how they function together in the natural sense, we can equally realize that we actually have two centers of Kundalini energy within the body, the second of which resides in the inner chamber of our heart. While many perceive the heart as being a muscle that pumps blood, it’s actually a generator for electromagnetic energy, and produces the largest electromagnetic field of any organ within the body, including the brain, which produces the second largest. The heart represents feelings as sensations, and love as the principle that connects us in spirit with what we love. The desire born out of love, serves to draw together and harmoniously merge polar opposites (two halves) to form a coherent whole. It’s the mediator between the upper and lower, and the inner and outer. When we experience a love for something, we form a desire for it, and desire is a gravitational force that brings us together with what we love. Whatever we love we naturally seek union with. Love and desire are a gravitational force that works to unite spirit and matter in a harmonious state of matrimony as a functional third, or fully conscious being.

The Life-force in the heart center is naturally aroused and drawn up through concentrative study of Spiritual Principles that invoke a magical feeling of excitement, wonder, and awe. When we form an internal representation (thought-forms) of spiritual ideas in a way that naturally elicits feelings of reverence, admiration, adoration, respect, honor, and benevolence for the miraculous nature of life and creation, we awaken the heart by falling in love with them. As we feel a deep love in response to our own thoughts, we draw up the heart’s energy, merging it with our thoughts as the representations molded in our imagination, filling them with life by electrifying them with a dynamic power that awakens and vitalizes the other spiritual centers located within the brain (which had been semi-dormant), bringing them into full function. As we energize our third-eye with the dynamic power love which connects us to those same ideals in the greater field of consciousness, we begin cultivating the power of spiritual clairvoyance. On the higher planes of pure consciousness all ideas exist in their perfect and ideal state (archetypes), and we only connect to the higher realms by creating correlating thought-forms as representations that are powered by natural feelings of reverence for our own creations. Higher Truth can only be known through beauty. Once we vitalize our higher spiritual centers through beautiful thoughts that naturally invoke a feeling of love and euphoria in response to them, they act to subdue and bring the lower centers of our body under the control of the higher mind.

Raising the Heart Kundalini

The true process of raising our kundalini is not achieved through a mechanical-visualization process, but through meditating on an idea in a single-minded fashion as concentration. When we concentrate on an idea, we penetrate the outer appearance and connect with the inner, hidden nature (soul) of the idea, and it begins unfolding and expanding in our imagination forming a sensational reality, where we’re no longer on the outside looking in, but inside as one with it, where we gain true knowledge of it. We enter into a magnetic current as a flow of correlated ideas expanded to form a whole reality, and lose all sense of ourselves as being outside and separate from it. We create a sense of our self through it and begin identifying with it. When we experience ourself as a whole reality (instead of just a body) we connect with and enter into our true identity as a Higher Soul. As we concentrate on and fill our mind with spiritual ideals (archetypes) formed as representations in our imagination, we feel a deep love for them, and shape our identity around and out of them as a result.

Once we begin using our intellect as our rational, discriminating, and willful mind, instead of our emotions, to operate our imagination, and we begin skillfully converting profane ideas into spiritual ideals that naturally give rise to feelings of love and devotion, we’re able to bring our lower nature (body consciousness) under the direction of our spiritual soul. We use the higher powers inherent in spiritual principles and our ability to reason and make intelligent decisions regarding how we create ourselves based on what we blend and merge with in mind and spirit, and faithfully employ our will in directing the instinctual passions of our lower nature. If we unknowingly contaminate our higher mind with the vulgarities of our conditioned issues and unresolved complexes and the impulses they produce that prompt unconscious and destructive behaviors, then we use the creative power of thought and imagination (will) to create the reality of our animal instincts, and we delude and degrade our Higher Soul as a result.

Summary

When we begin the process of creating by first connecting with higher spiritual ideals through concentrative studies where we build internal representations that invoke natural feelings of love and admiration, we work through law and use our mind to facilitate natural processes that come in an effortless and automatic way. We don’t contaminate our mind and imagination with lower energies that act to run our thought processes and cause us to engage unconsciously in instinctual behaviors driven by erratic emotions. Whatever it is we blend with in mind and construct with sensation, we become like in nature. The whole purpose of the soul is to use the higher powers of the mind as thought to direct and command the forces of Nature, instead of allowing them to direct and command us by becoming the motivational force that drives our thoughts. This Principle is also illustrated in the Tetragrammaton (4 Letter name of God) as choosing an ideal (perfected idea), that’s conceived and developed into an internal representation as a thought-form, that naturally gives rise to feelings of love (sensations) as natural response to the representation constructed, and manifests as the outer reality of our thoughts. We are always constructing and projecting the reality of our thoughts as the means of experiencing them as a whole (inner and outer) reality, that we then associate and identify with, and shape ourselves by way of them. It’s the higher mind that works to stimulate and call forth equivalent natural forces as a response to our thoughts, and not the other way around.

What’s referred to as the New Age Movement, which originated as an attempt to reinvent spirituality through a fundamental form of ignorance as to the true nature and function of Spiritual Laws, is designed to satisfy those who who never engage in any formal study of spiritual doctrine, and instead look for other people’s interpretations and ideas about things to adopt as their own, and mistake opinion for fact as a result. Many of the practices being professed by what seems like well-meaning people, have rendered powerful methods inept and ineffectual, and led it’s followers to engage willingly in what usually amounts to elaborate fantasies born out of an excited imagination. Our entire reality and self (which are the same thing on different scales and planes) is created and maintained out of our thoughts and how we form representations of ideas in the faculty of our imagination that serve to naturally call forth and give rise to correlated forces of Nature. We don’t work with our mind and reality by trying to act directly on these forces by guiding them through imaginary mechanical processes, but by using our mind and imagination in a masterful way that naturally calls them forth in creating the reality of our thoughts. This process naturally occurs through devoted study of spiritual principles and the contemplation of archetypal ideals as a natural way of thinking.

Dr. Linda Gadbois