Fundamentals Of Kundalini Meditation
Kundalini Meditation requires thorough knowledge of the psychic body and its structure as well as great purification of physical and psychic bodies.
Kundalini Shakti is primordial, cosmic power. Premature attempts to arouse it without proper preparation can cause great damage to the aspirant’s mental, physical and psychic balance.
In Kundalini meditation, the divine power that lies dormant in every human being is aroused and pulled upward through chakras, the psychic centres of the body.
At the top of the head, the seat of highest consciousness, the union of the individual and Absolute Consciousness takes place. This is expressed symbolically as the union of Shakti or Kundalini with Lord Shiva.
The masculine passive ground force, Shiva, resides in the Sahasrara, the seventh chakra, located in the crown of the head. Shakti, the feminine active power, lies coiled at the base of the spine. It is the manifestation of cosmic power in the body and is in a dormant potential state. It is the psychic and spiritual power that underlies all organic and inorganic matter. Because of its spiral-like upward motion when awakened, it is referred to as serpent power and is depicted as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine. The arousal of Kundalini leads to union with Lord Shiva. It is the state of supreme consciousness and spiritual enlightenment.
Hatha Yoga awakens the Kundalini by disciplining the body, purifying the nadis, the astral channels through which flows the prana, and controlling prana.
Through the physical postures of Hatha Yoga, the nervous system is toned, enabling it to withstand the experience of the rising energy. It regulates the flow of prana through body locks and seals, known as mudras and bandhas. Kriyas, special cleansing techniques, purify the inner organs of the physical body, and breath control readies the mind.
Vigorous pranayama, asanas, and meditation are not enough, however, Mental purification requires selfless service, without getting attached to fruits of work while doing work with full responsibility, leads to purification and one becomes free from attachments.
Kundalini and her channel for movement are not to be found in the physical body. Every portion of the physical body has its counterpart in the astral body, and both bodies are interdependent on the material plane. The seven psychic centres, or chakras, and Sushumna Nadi, the passage through which the kundalini rises, are in the astral body and correspond to the nerve plexuses and the spinal cord.
According to the yogic theory, there are approximately 72,000 nadis, astral nerve tubes, the most important of which is the Sushumna, the astral body’s counterpart to the spinal cord. On either side of it are two nadis known as Ida and Pingala, which correspond to the left and right sympathetic cords in the physical body.
The main purpose of Kundalini meditation with the support of Hatha Yoga is to balance Ida and Pingala and awaken the Sushumna. When Sushumna starts awakening through Kundalini Mediation practices, Kundalini starts rising from its dormant stage and move like a serpent through chakras (energy points) of the body and meet Lord Shiva at Sahasrara Chakra, which is considered the perfection of Kundalini Meditation.