How to Awaken the Kundalini Energy for Reaching Enlightenment

Image source: http://in5d.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/kundalini-1111.jpg

There is an experience called the Kundalini that occurs when you reach a higher level of spiritual discipline, although, sometimes it occurs spontaneously. Its an awakening of the energy that lies at the base of the spine and means snake in Sanskrit. Those that experience this awakening find the phenomena indescribable and sometimes a bit unpleasant if they arent adequately prepared for the experience.

The Kundalini has existed for thousands of years by other names, in other societies. In the Bible, the Kundalini is the solar principal in man. The Chinese, Egyptians, Tibetans, Native Americans and Greeks wrote of the experience but called it by a different name. In famous works like those of Plato, the Rosicrucian Order, the Kabala and the Masonic writings it appears but under different names.

In every individual, there is an innate ability for greatness, the ability to create supernatural phenomena. The term supernatural is a misnomer since the acts themselves are quite natural. Since few people tap into the power that they already possess, most of society views it as the extraordinary. Tapping into the power, however, is not without its dangers. For the uninitiated or those without a guide, it can create problems that affect both the physical and psychological.

The first step is to understand what the Kundalini is and how it occurs. There is a reservoir of energy coiled at the root charka at the base of the spine, much like a serpent. It is a female energy. When it releases upward, it travels to the crown charka where the Shiva, the male energy, exists and unites. Taken in smaller steps, the advanced yoga attempts to bring it down again to a lower charka but not one below the heart or it inflates the ego. He then raises and lowers the energy repeatedly to develop the area so it can remain there. This is much like bodybuilding. Since the energy creates new pathways for the nervous system, a sudden surge of the energy might create an overload and burnout. This is much like the advanced bodybuilder or weight lifter working up to a heavy lift so their muscles are prepared.

The experience of the awakening can be sudden and quite jolting or occur in smaller steps. Some describe it as a heat that forms at the base of the spine and travels upward. It also has such phenomena as pain, bright lights, intense lucidity, increased physical power, ecstasy, clairaudience, shuddering, uncontrolled movement, visions and a transcendence of ones self. Sometimes the experience is unexpected and people believe they are going mad.

The Kundalini is not without danger for the unaccompanied. Most practitioners of yoga and qigong learn to control it with guidance and practice. Uncontrolled unleashing of the power can result in many things, which include insanity and death. Using the weightlifter as an example, without training to exercise and build the muscles, lifting extreme amounts of weight can shred the muscles to a point of uselessness. The surge of power from Kundalini in an uncontrolled manner has the ability to shred the nervous system because its not developed enough for the increased load. The novice must beware of the snake that sits at the base of the tree of knowledge. While its as natural as lifting heavy weight, it requires training and guidance for success.

Handling conflict the most important conflict handling skill

Image source: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/9c/1a/12/9c1a1293b5c88b1bdfba28fc8a763eb2--conflict-management-anger-management.jpg

When it comes to handling conflicts, I personally have a sense of belief that there exists a single skill that can be said to be the most important. Even so, the idea of having the most important skill is still mind boggling. Naturally, the ability to handle conflicts-whether to resolve or manage them-is a combination of many skills, so we expect that there isnt one which can be said to the most important. In a way, it's like asking what the most important ingredient of a cake is. If you've ever baked one you know that there isn't such an ingredient as a good cake requires flour, sugar, eggs, etc. and not just the right ingredient but also the right amount of each. Without the required list and in the right amount we'll get a tasteless cake.

Applying the same analogy of baking a good cake, conflict handling will have a slight difference in that there is an ingredient on top of which all others are built. As a matter of fact, this ingredient is quite essential in any process involving change. In that light, conflict resolution is a specific situation of change creation, as one needs to convert conflict patterns - whether before they've become apparent or after they have reached the surface - into a more constructive pattern.

This brings me to the most important conflict handling skill, reflection.

Reflection is one's ability to truly contemplate oneself.

Conflicts are the result of egoic patterns patterns that come from the mind and which compel us to behave in what I refer to as conflict prone behavior. For instance, the egoic bias of relativism, the tendency to compare one's situation, possession or whatever is currently perceived under scarcity with another persons situation, is prone to make one regard the situation at hand as a 'Me vs. You' situation. As you can easily deduce, no collaborative endeavor is possible when such a perception reigns. With that in mind, if you find yourself frowning with the thought "of course it's a Me vs. You situation, after all it IS a conflict we're talking about here..." then you are a perfect proof of the idea I have put forward above. We are so engrossed to the egoic mind patterns to an extent that they literally govern the way we regard, and to a deeper extent, react to conflicts.

Within a pattern, no critical thinking is ever possible. This feature is the essence of any pattern. It serves as a minimal thinking unit and hence does not enable any thinking within it. In one hand, patterns serve as major time savers-we tend to act in a predetermined way without getting entangled in unnecessary thinking. A good example is your ability to drive without having to think of our next action, a phenomena thats quite beneficial. On the other hand, the supposed blessing is in itself a curse since without conscious awareness; the driver will be acting as an auto pilot. Thus, in order to create a change in ones course of action, a light must be switched on-the conscience should be awoken. Such a light can only be switched on only in the presence of reflection. Only when you truly envisage yourself will you be able to make notice of the pattern and be able to contain it.