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It does occur as a noun for "a snake" in the sense "coiled", as in "forming ringlets" in the 12th-century Rajatarangini chronicle I. Since this canon was fixed in the year , it is known that the Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad was compiled in the first half of the 17th century at the latest.
Kundalini-FAQ: Praxis-Fragen und Antworten zum Thema Kundalini on Kundalini-FAQ (German Edition) and millions of other books are available for Amazon. 6 Results Kindle Edition. Kundalini-FAQ (German Edition). Rs Kindle Edition. Satsang mit OWK. Fragen und Antworten zur spirituellen Praxis (German.
The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga. He identifies the process of involution and its techniques in these texts as a particular form of Tantrik Laya Yoga. The Yogakundali and the Yogatattva are yoga texts related to the school of Hatha yoga and Mantra yoga. The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad itself consists of three short chapters; it begins by stating that Chitta consciousness is controlled by Prana, and it's controlled by moderate food, postures and Shakti-Chala I. Although kundalini developed as a part of tantra side-by-side with hatha yoga through a process of syncretism, Swami Nigamananda d.
Swami Sivananda introduced many readers to "Kundalini Yoga" with his book on the subject in This book has in-depth details about Kundalini Yoga [17] Swami Sivananda's book combines laya teachings from older sources including the Hathapradipika and Satcakranirupdepth details about Kundalini Yogaana. Yogi Bhajan took yogic postures and techniques, attached them to Tantric theories and Sikh mantras, synthesizing a new form of 'Kundalini' yoga. Yoga was not a part of the Gobind Sadan spiritual path.
And a power struggle ensued over who would win control of the new American followers. Traditional Sikhs use quotations by Bhai Gurdas, whose "Vaaraa," or "Ballads," were considered by Guru Arjan as a key to understanding the concepts of the Guru Granth as saying, wherever Guru Nanak went and debated the futility of yoga, the yogis gave up their yogic paths.
The yogis of "Gorakhmata," meaning "Wisdom of Gorakhnatha," the founder of Hatha yoga, converted to the path of Guru Nanak, and also changed the name of their ancient center to "Nanakmata," meaning "Wisdom of Guru Nanak," known today as Gurdwara Sri Nanakmata Sahib. Guru Nanak never practiced yoga, and neither did any of the following Gurus, their Sikhs or the Khalsa.
Yoga is unmistakably refuted in the Guru Granth. Disciples of Harbhajan Singh Yogi Bhajan claim that while Yoga practice and philosophy are generally considered a part of Hindu culture, Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan is founded on the principles of Sikh Dharma. While adhering to the three pillars of Patanjali 's kriya yoga system: He encouraged his students to marry, establish businesses, and be fully engaged in society. Rather than worshiping God, Yogi Bhajan's teachings encourage students to train their mind to experience God.
Yogi Bhajan 's version of Kundalini Yoga has continued to grow in influence and popularity largely in the Americas, Europe, South Africa, Togo, Australia, and East Asia, with the training of many thousands of teachers.
Kundalini is the term for "a spiritual energy or life force located at the base of the spine", conceptualized as a coiled-up serpent. The practice of Kundalini yoga is supposed to arouse the sleeping Kundalini Shakti from its coiled base through the 6 chakras , and penetrate the 7th chakra, or crown. This energy is said to travel along the ida left , pingala right and central, or sushumna nadi - the main channels of pranic energy in the body. Kundalini energy is technically explained as being sparked during yogic breathing when prana and apana blends at the 3rd chakra navel center at which point it initially drops down to the 1st and 2nd chakras before traveling up to the spine to the higher centers of the brain to activate the golden cord - the connection between the pituitary and pineal glands - and penetrate the 7 chakras.
Borrowing and integrating the highest forms from many different approaches, Kundalini Yoga can be understood as a tri-fold approach of Bhakti yoga for devotion, Shakti yoga for power, and Raja yoga for mental power and control. Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography. Learn more at Author Central. Popularity Popularity Featured Price: Low to High Price: High to Low Avg.
Thought Forms and Psychogons: Available for download now. About Kundalini Nov 28, States inside the Body Jun 19, Kundalini German Edition Oct 14, Depression German Edition Jan 31, Die Lehre des Tantra: In bandha traya this is accomplished by phases of expiration and retention and adding muscular control to force the winds together in the abdominal region. Intuitively there also seems to be something of a vacuum effect in bandha traya which is aiming to create a vacuum in which a suction force will be used to arouse the kundalini.
Some will be drawn to try to practice these techniques but I believe that to do so the guidance of a teacher is necessary. If a teacher is unavailable one might simply try to become more aware of the prana and apana winds. To become aware of the prana wind just pay attention to the inspiration phase of an ordinary breath.
Sensitivity to the apana wind can be developed by paying attention to the muscles and their sensations during evacuation. If you were raised in Western culture this itself may prove plenty of challenge! To unite rajas and retas inside the body requires causing the winds or energies to enter the central channel. Ultimately this achieves the same end as the process of uniting prana and apana but the emphasis is a little different.
To cause the winds to enter the central channel there are a continuum of approaches ranging from very gentle to very forceful. In the very gentle approaches one attempts to bring the winds into the central channel by imagination or concentration alone. One visualizes an image, such as a deity or a seed-syllable in the central channel and lets mind become absorbed in that. It is a common tenet of yogic lore that where the mind goes the winds will follow. So if the mind can be kept steadily focused on inside of the central channel then the winds will enter there.
When the winds enter there the knots holding the rajas and retas loosen and the two are allowed to flow together.
Apana is the downward-voiding energy associated with defecation. It is a beautiful practice that will surely enrich your life and develop fitness of mind, body and spirit. Rather than worshiping God, Yogi Bhajan's teachings encourage students to train their mind to experience God. Can I have a free sample? I am aware that each of these teachers has published numerous works: Sovatsky adapts a developmental and evolutionary perspective in his interpretation of Kundalini Yoga. There are 78 artfully designed and thoughtfully presented classes to choose from - over hours of world-class instruction, yoga practice and meditation - offering you an opportunity to expand your consciousness, align your body, elevate your mind and balance your emotions.
So even very gentle methods can lead to imbalances. In the more forceful practices the visualizations described above are complemented by breathing practices such as the vase-breath practice described earlier. If upon reading these descriptions one would like to try to practice them then a teacher is necessary.
If one lacks a teacher but has a surplus of curiosity one might simply try to become familiar with the central channel. Take an ordinary breath. How does the spine feel when inhaling? How does the spine feel upon exhaling? Are these really all the techniques for awakening kundalini by effort? There are a wide variety of techniques that serve to awaken kundalini through either uniting prana and apana or uniting rajas and retas.
Most of these bear some similarity to those described above. There are a few radically different methods. Some of these are extremely forceful. Some yogins, take literally the meaning of rajas and retas and seek a literal uniting of these constituents. Others take the slumber of the kundalini very literally and attempt to very forcefully wake her up by dropping on the floor while seated in the lotus position. At the other extreme, in many other approaches no attempt whatsoever is made to awaken the kundalini directly.
In these practices all of the effort is placed on purifying the nerve channels through physical, mental and breathing exercises. In this way it is expected that the kundalini will be drawn into the central channel. If we take the psychological perspective and view kundalini as the power latent in our unconscious then it is easy to understand that awakening this force is going to bring a greater amount of unconscious material into our consciousness.
Even in the best of circumstances this is likely to be uncomfortable and if an individual is barely coping with his unconscious even under normal circumstances then awakening kundalini may push the individual over into psychosis. This phenomenon has been documented many times. Forceful methods of awakening kundalini pose additional dangers.
As has been mentioned, the breath or prana is strongly interdependent on the mind. If one begins to actively control the breath then the mind will be affected. Many kundalini yogas rely on this connection. Unfortunately, with incorrect practice rather than bringing the mind to a greater state of equanimity the breath control practices can also create even greater imbalances in the mind. Typical signs of this are extreme agitation and anxiety. In the panorama of human suffering there is probably no greater suffering than that of a mentally unbalanced individual and no sadder example of this than someone who has actually brought a state of mental imbalance onto himself through improper practice of kundalini yoga.
As an example an individual named Gopi Krishna awakened his kundalini by doing unguided meditation on his crown cakra. His life after awakening was both blessed by ecstatic bliss and tormented by physical and mental discomfort. Eventually his experience stabilized. Some gurus and students of kundalini yoga seem to feel that such warnings regarding kundalini practice are overblown, but there is simply no doubt that improper application of breath control practices can lead to mental imbalance. Breath control practices which typically do not use breath retention are much safer.
Finally, the role of a fully qualified guru cannot be estimated here.
It is not just that the guru has traversed the path but a fully qualified guru of kundalini yoga has the ability to intervene in the mind and body of the student to correct imbalances. First of all it may be useful to observe that there is no technique currently known on earth that appears to be rapidly catapulting large number of individuals toward enlightenment. Many people begin kundalini yogas, have strong initial experiences and then become frightened.
Many who persevere through this initial phase become distracted by the energy and focus on temporal and phenomenal applications of the energy. Hatha, laya and kriya yoga all trace their origins back to the era of the Indian Mahasiddhas. This era spanned the 8th and 12th centuries in Northern India, Nepal and Tibet.
Gorakshanath and Matsyendranath are venerated as the originators of the Natha lineage. Jalandhara is commemorated in the practice of the Jalandhara mudra but he and his student Krishnacarya are also deeply venerated for their roles in the early years of Tantric Buddhism. In fact each of these great yogins is venerated both in Hindu Tantric and in Buddhist Tantric schools.
Of these individuals there are several works attributed to Jalandhara and Krishanacarya in the canon of Indian Buddhist Tantric literature which has survived in Tibetan translation. The classical works of hatha, kriya and laya yoga include: References to translations of these works will be given in the answer to the question Where can I learn more?
Anyone interested in kundalini yoga can benefit from taking the time to read these classical works but to actually practice the techniques described in these works a teacher is required. This is reiterated within the text of these works themselves. What is the precise role of the teacher in kundalini yoga? Can I learn kundalini yoga through books?
The teacher is highly revered in kundalini yoga, just as in other schools of yoga. A recurrent theme in the texts of kundalini yoga is that if one needs a teacher to learn everyday skills such as reading and writing how much more one needs a teacher to master the practice of kundalini yoga.
The first role of the teacher in kundalini yoga is as an instructor in the practices of kundalini yoga. The classical works of kundalini yoga repeat again and again that only those practices learnt from the guru will bear fruit and all other attempts to practice will only bring misery.
This may seem a bit melodramatic but the point is that these practices are sufficiently subtle that they can only be properly conveyed through personal instruction by an individual who has himself been properly instructed. The second role of a teacher in kundalini yoga is in monitoring the progress of the student. A tremendous variety of positive and negative experiences can manifest on the path of kundalini yoga.
A true kundalini teacher will not only have encountered a wide range of these experiences but will have a subtle sensitivity to the students nervous system and will be able to intuit when practice is leading to imbalance. Ultimately, whether following the path of effort or the path of grace, the true guru is the guru-tattva or guru-principle — this is the kundalini-shakti herself. For those individuals that have not been able to find a teacher there are a few published materials that are apparently intended for beginning self study.
There are a number of manuals available from Yogi Bhajan and his students. These are referred to in the section immediately below. Swami Chetanananda has a guided meditation that serves as an introduction to the practice of kundalini yoga. It is available from Rudra Press. Yogic practices aimed at raising the kundalini through effort are taught in a number of ashrams and centers in India, the US and around the world. The following is a list of known centers around the world. My own exposure to these kundalini yogas are primarily through from within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and as a result I have little first hand information on the centers sited below.
The precise lineage of Yogi Bhajan has been impossible for me to determine. Equally difficult has been to understand at what point in time the hatha yoga teachings taught by the founder of the Naths, Gorakshanath, became intertwined with the Sikh teachings tracing from Guru Nanak. Over the hundreds of years in India these two groups must have often come in contact but the precise time at which the yogic teaching passed into the Sikh lineage is unclear.
A number of introductory yoga manuals and videotapes have been published by 3HO and should be available via the number above. In addition, Yogi Bhajan has been liberal in his training of teachers to pass on his lineage and a few are quite active. We will mention only one, Ravi Singh. Note that I do not know the nature of the relationship between Ravi Singh and his teacher. New York, New York Iyengar Iyengar Yoga Web Page. Iyengar is a teacher in the hatha yoga tradition that passed from Shri Ramamohan Brahmacarya to Tirumalai Krishnamacharya and then onto B.
For quite some time I was under the impression that B. I do not know how one can receive teachings on kundalini yoga from Iyengar or his teachers. Although the Bihar School of Yoga regularly conducts 6 month training courses in Kriya Yoga I am not aware of many teachers from this tradition. The one teacher that I am aware of is Swami Janakakanda. Swami Janakananda has been a disciple of Swami Satyananda since and has founded the Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School with branches throughout Scandinavia and northern Germany.