The Spiritual Journey:
Kundalini, Creation and Enlightenment

by Rev. Keith Hall, Director of Jade Garden Tantra

More and more people are beginning to inquire into Kundalini practices such as Tantra and Kundalini Yoga as paths to Spiritual Evolution and Enlightenment. As the pace of technological innovation and life in general seems to be increasing exponentially, there is a desire among those seeking to balance their worldly and spiritual lives for increasingly efficient tools to achieve that all too elusive balance. Studying and practicing the Kundalini arts holds such a promise.

What is Kundalini?
Physicists recognize that the universe is constructed of energy bundles known as "quanta". We laypersons can think of these in one sense as particles with an electrical charge. Particles can be either positive, negative, or neutral . All energy or material phenomena observed by our senses are based on the interplay of these particles. In the esoteric traditions the positively charged energies are known as Shiva (solar, male, heavenly); the negatively charged energies are called Shakti (lunar, female, earthly); and the neutral is Kundalini. In the Tantric cosmology, all the myriad forms in the universe are created through the union and interplay of the god Shiva and the goddess Shakti. With the balance achieved in their unity, Kundalini is freed.

In the human realm Kundalini can be thought of as the primal energy of the body. We all have some degree of Kundalini activation or we wouldn't be alive. However, the degrees of activation and the consciousness of this energy can vary widely. Kundalini practitioners are seeking to consciously connect with and amplify their basic life force for the purposes of improving physical health, strengthening the body, and achieving enlightenment through transcending Karma or self-limiting patterns.

What is Karma and enlightenment?
In Physics it is well known that for every action there is an equal reaction. This is the basic precept of Karma: what goes around, comes around. Our actions, thoughts, and emotions create effects within and around us. Sometimes these effects are dramatic, sometimes subtle. They can be manifested immediately, or sometimes take many years to make their appearance known. Lets look at an example of this on one level. You become angry with someone. The energy of this anger may at first affect you thoughts and emotions, then rapidly it creates physiologic effects. Your body produces adrenaline, your heart rate and blood pressure increase, your stomach begins to churn. If you "stuff" these feelings the energy is driven deeply into your core, creating emotional and physical illness. If you seek to vent this emotion indiscriminately, other people around you begin to take effect from this energy which creates reactions within them. In a chain reaction this "karmic event" can be spread far and wide from its source, affecting many peoples, thoughts, emotions, physiologic response, perceptions, and actions.

In considering a larger cosmological view of this process, consider that all functions with a connection to the physical body (including thoughts and emotions) have an electrochemical aspect. Associated with these electrochemical processes are electromagnetic waves (such as radio frequencies, etc.) These waves produced by our bodies' travel without limit, at the speed of light through the entire universe. Modern physics acknowledges that in actuality our very material bodies are composed of structured energy. We are dense focused energy interacting with and exchanging energy with this cosmic energy "soup" we call the universe. Each thought, each emotion, each bout of indigestion creates it own particular frequency of electromagnetism which will travel the entire universe for all eternity! It is not too difficult, from this perspective, to recognize the link between the individual and the universal. In our own way, great or small, for good or ill, we are Creators.

Enlightenment is sometimes regarded as the goal of the spiritual path. In actuality, it is a process, an evolution towards increasing awareness of our awesome responsibility for our actions, thoughts, and emotions. This is in contrast to the prevalent social consensual reality, where we attempt to externalize and project responsibility on to others. We do others and ourselves a disservice by adopting this view in that we perceive that the external world controls our lives. While it may, at first, feel comfortable to blame others for our circumstances, we are de facto abdicating our empowerment, our very control over our own lives. Conversely, by bringing our unconscious mental, emotional and behavioral patterns into the light of full awareness and responsibility, we reclaim our power as co creators of our world. Once we own the tremendous power of self-responsibility, we can begin to create what we want rather than what we fear.

In Tantra it is often said that if we want to invite ecstasy into our lives, we must be willing to abandon the security and comfort of our pain and fear.

OK, I want enlightenment, empowerment and ecstasy in my life, how do I get there? Enlightenment is not so much a final destination as a continual exercise in cleaning up our perceptual filters and the resultant judgements and actions that derive from assumptions based on our perceptions. It is more like routine maintenance. One cannot expect to clean one's house once and have it remain clean forever, dirt will eventually seep back in. The tricky part is that our perceptions are based on our senses, nervous system, and past experience, including social conditioning. Our experiences are received by our perceptions. A neat cosmic Catch-22, eh?

Tantra and Kundalini Yoga
These are sciences which use various exercises, breathing patterns, and visualizations to activate, balance, and transmute our primal energies. As the polar energies (Shiva/Shakti, heavenly/earthly) come into balance, Kundalini begins to flow much more powerfully. Typically visualized as a coiled serpent residing at the base of the spine, this energy begins to rise and activate each Chakra in turn. There is a tendency for this energy to be attracted to whatever needs to be healed emotionally and physically. As we heal our fear, pain, and anger, we begin to experience more abundance, pleasure, and empowerment. Our bodies become stronger, our minds live in more peace and bliss. As Tantra enrolls the enormous power of our senses and sexuality in this process, this requires some delicacy in fine tuning the practices for the individual. Too much energy too fast can emotionally and physically unbalance the practitioner. I have even seen some teachers of these arts, particularly those who adopt aggressive cathartic techniques, damage their bodies, emotions, and relationships permanently. On the other hand, with judicious and sensitive energy management, these traditions remain among the most effective technologies for transformation that we have