Q. How long does it take for the Kundalini to awaken fully?
Ans: It differs from one individual to another. In the majority of cases, it takes years of work only to get it moving. But again, don’t assume anything. I’ll share an open secret with you – the fastest and safest way to raise Kundalini. Learn to relax.
Spend as much time as possible in deep relaxation. Unfortunately, most people find it hard. We are so used to the idea of work and effort, and it seems counterintuitive that something as simple as relaxation can raise energy.
Relaxation is being comfortable with one’s mind. A meditative mind is a relaxed mind. A meditative mind means “no mind” – the absence of the one meditating. Don’t worry if this is hard to grasp. By the end of this series, you’ll have a clear understanding of what I’m pointing at.
Q. Can you tell us a little more about your spiritual journey?
Ans: While I tell people that my spiritual journey began after my father’s death, in reality, I had been a seeker since childhood.
I used to spend a lot of time thinking about life, death, and time. I started meditating after my father’s death. It was not that I was trying to overcome the trauma of his death. Meditation just happened to me. It was like the energy was waiting for the right moment.
Before I go further, I humbly request all the readers not to emulate what I did under any circumstances. I was crazy and ignorant (I still am), and was experimenting on myself without understanding the implications. Call it grace, luck, or whatever you want that I survived.
In August 2014, two things happened: I lost my father, and I lost my job. Subsequently, there were three deaths in the family, shortly one after the other. All of it happened so suddenly that I didn’t know for whom to grieve.
My whole family was in shock. It intensified my search for learning about life’s mysteries. Why are we here? Why is there pain and suffering? What’s the purpose of life? What is God? Is there really a God out there somewhere, or we’re victims of our own imagination?
My mind was racing faster than the speed of light. I became depressed. Therapy did provide temporary relief, but it didn’t help much.
I was experiencing extreme outbursts with mixed emotions. I often hit myself in the face or bang my head on the wall in anger. Day by day, I was becoming difficult, and this was adversity affecting my relationship with my wife and kids.
I decided to isolate myself and spend time in self-reflection. I know it sounds selfish, but there was no other option cause my condition was getting worse. I was scared that I might harm people around me with my aggressive behavior.
I shifted to a tiny room on my house terrace and spent hours entirely alone – no entertainment, no phone, no watching news – only a handful of books. I would come down only for food, sleep, and spend some time with my wife and kids. Think of it as self-imposed solitary confinement.
I would watch my mind for hours and go through all the monsters of my imagination. At times it was so bad that I used to bury my head in the pillow and scream out my lungs. The pain was unbearable. I rarely went out of the house and did not meet anyone for a long time.
It continued for almost four years, till 2019. People called me crazy, depressed, selfish, and all kinds of things. I did not meet friends and other relatives. While the onset of the pandemic was traumatic for most people, for me, it was regular.
Over the years, my mind had started settling down, and I had become a lot calmer. To me, the realization didn’t happen suddenly. It was a gradual process with moments of awakening. At that time, I didn’t even know anything about Kundalini Yoga.
I had heard the term, but I didn’t know what it meant. I had multiple experiences over the years, like sleep paralysis, nightmares, swirling sensations in my stomach, pulsating sensations on my forehead, tingling sensations on the top of my head, and so and on and so forth.
At times, these sensations were so intense that I felt that I’d be thrown out of my body. The nightmares kept me awake most nights. I used to encounter dark entities in my dreams that used to overpower me.
But it all stopped affecting me after some time. I knew that I was not the limited mind-body complex I thought of myself to be. I used to go so deep into meditation that there were no sensations of mind or body. There were no thoughts.
I saw myself as this “conscious presence.” The closest feeling I can associate with it is peace—something like we experience in a deep sleep. There was no individual “me” anywhere.
It transformed my relationship with the world, and especially with my wife and kids. The notions of duality broke down, and there was an unconditional acceptance of “what is.” I did not become a better person, but there was complete self-acceptance.
I feel comfortable with myself. I’m still introverted, reclusive, and have my likes, dislikes, and preferences like others, but I have lost my ability to hate people. I do react emotionally sometimes, but I’m aware of my reactions, which dissipate their intensity.
So anger does not lead to rage or hate. Sadness does not lead to depression. Satisfaction does not lead to pride. And pain does not lead to suffering.
Q. Let’s talk about Shaktipat (direct energy transmission). Reading your articles, I gather that you’re not particularly in favor of energy transmission. It is said that realized spiritual gurus can directly transmit energy and activate chakras through touch and other mechanisms. What are your views?
Ans: U. G. Krishnamurti went to meet Ramana Maharishi and asked without hesitation, “Can you give me what you have?” The gentle Master remained silent. So Krishnamurti repeated the request. And finally, Maharishi replied, “I can give you, but can you take it?”
This is the big question. Can you take it? How do you know you are ready for it? What Krishnamurthy was asking for was moksha – liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The Buddhists call it Nirvana or Nibbāna.
In Eastern cultures, people believe that the soul transmigrates, leaving the old disintegrating body and acquiring a new one, and that death is merely a transition.
The individual entity dissolves and merges with the divine consciousness and rests in eternal peace on attaining moksha. Therefore, the idea of liberation or freedom is appealing.
But the question is, to whom is it appealing? And the answer is “ego.” The mind wants liberation from itself. Do you think the ego will allow this to happen? Will it help in its own dissolution?
The ego likes the idea of liberation or freedom, but subconsciously its very nature is to perpetuate itself in every possible manner. How can one be free of something that they don’t know?
Therefore, the idea of taking a shortcut to achieve liberation is a ploy of the ego. It is a cunning strategy, the result of which is entirely predictable.
And it’s easy to manipulate people because they don’t know (in most cases) what they’re looking for. They think they know, but they don’t have a clue.
So when someone comes along and tells them miraculous tales of a realized master who has what they want, it’s appealing to the ego. They start craving what the Master has. They want it at any cost.
And this is precisely the reason why Kundalini Yoga has a bad name. There have been many instances of physical and psychological abuse by phony people who claimed themselves to be self-realized.
Many women have reported years of sexual abuse, harassment, and inappropriate touching leading to physical and psychological trauma. These self-proclaimed gurus build cult-like organizations for manipulating vulnerable people.
I’m speaking from first-hand experience, as I have lived in many Indian holy cities during childhood. Many of these so-called gurus used to approach my father for favors, a highly placed government official at that time.
Now I’m not saying that it’s all fake and fraud. Many people have reported instant awakening in the presence of realized masters. But these people had spent a lot of time in self-reflection – years or even decades. It was predestined for them, and they were able to absorb the energy.
Their clear channels facilitated a smooth flow. It didn’t happen because they asked it to happen, but seeing a clear path, the energy traversed it. A real master will give it to you without you asking. And it is the energy manifesting itself through the Master and not the Master’s will.
Latest book release: Bitten By The Energy Serpent – A New Perspective on Kundalini Awakening
