Kundalini yoga is the most archaic form of spiritual sadhana practiced by Indian sages and seers to achieve oneness with God. Kundalini, the serpent power or mystic fire, is the primordial energy that lies in a dormant state within the human body at the base of the spinal chord. It is also the cosmic power in individual bodies but has no form.
The mind follows a particular pattern in its initial stage, from which one can easily understand the subtle formless kundalini. Prana (life), ahankar (ego), buddhi (knowledge), indriya (senses) and the nerves are the five gross elements which are products of the kundalini. The kundalini becomes active when awakened, which can be either through pranayama, asanas, mediation, but according to the author, the safest way is to awaken it through the siddha-guru (an enlightened master) who can arouse the kundalini without causing any harm. Complete fulfilment is possible when the kundalini-shatkti gets aroused and the backbone moves towards Lord Shiva to get initiated till the jiva (living being) gets liberated from all attachments of the world. As the kundlaini-shakti is much too powerful, none else other than Lord Shiva can control it when awakened. After Shiva, it is under the guidance of a guru that the movement of the kundalini can be controlled, the spiritual centres pierced, the nervous system cleansed so that the individual undergoes a complete transformation. He realises his own self at the sahasrara, the seventh spiritual center, to become one with Lord Shiva.
The main principle behind this is that once aroused, the kundalini-shakti ceases to be a static power but sustains world consciousness. The power is drawn to its other static centres in the thousand-petalled lotus (sahasrara) by merging herself and the jiva with Shiva consciousness or the consciousness of eternal ecstasy.
The first part of the book contains discourses by Siddheshwar Baba given at meditation camps held at Siddheshwar Ashram. In this part, the guru explains the guru-shakti (the power of the guru, master, to put a person back on the path of God after the initial disillusionment so that he may taste the fruits of his existence), the meaning of guru-tattwa (in times of crises, a person goes to a guru for help, so that the guru-shakti gets active and solves his problems), physiological and psychological cleansing through the kundalini [the ?impurification? of consciousness caused by kama (sensuality), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (attachment) are removed by activating the kundalini which purifies the person at the physiological and psychological levels].
The second part contains questions from the devotees and answers about kundalini-shakti from Shri Siddheshwar Baba.
The book ends with salutations offered to the guru who has reached an enlightened state and who grants both worldly prosperity and liberation before making it possible to realise that it is due to the supernatural force that this world?animate and inanimate?moves. In short, this book gives advice on the spiritual practices that help the aspirants in the upward flow of energy through the backbone, thus automatically cleansing some of the mental upheavals and secondly, sharpening the process of clear observation and introspection on the path of enquiry. The book may provide some solace to spiritual seekers and psychic sufferers.
(Sterling Paperbacks, A-59 Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-II, New Delhi-110020.)
?M.G.
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