What follows is further information on the phenomenology of spontaneously awakening kundalini. This is my translation of an article from the website of Bonnie Greenwell—a psychotherapist in the tradition of transpersonal psychotherapy, co-founder and director of the Kundalini Research Network, which brings together health professionals, scientists, and public figures. Bonnie Greenwell is also the author of one of the most popular books on awakening kundalini—Energies of Transformation: A Guide to the Kundalini Process (published in 1995), as well as The Kundalini Guide: A Companion for the Inward Journey (published more recently, in April 2014). Both books serve as guides to understanding and managing the processes of awakened spiritual energy in the human body, summarizing her twenty-five years of experience in this field and her conversations with more than 2,000 people who have undergone similar experiences.
In the brief presentation of her second book, it reads:
“The eruption of kundalini energy from its secret nest at the base of the spine has been revered by some as bringing ecstasy and enlightenment, and dismissed by others as merely disabling, terrifying, and dangerous. Mystics may call it a method of transformation. Skeptics view it as imagination. Anyone who has experienced it knows that it is a mystery and an experience that profoundly changes one’s life.”
The main focus of this book is the seven categories of phenomena that accompany kundalini awakening. Below is a brief description of these categories, as presented by the author herself on her website:
1. Prana activities or kriyas.
These are intense involuntary bodily movements such as tremors, vibrations, shaking, sensations of electricity, tingling, or sudden surges of energy flooding the body.
2. Yoga phenomena.
The body involuntarily performs yoga postures (asanas) or hand movements (mudras) that the person has never even seen before. The psyche may produce symbolic images or chanting sounds, Sanskrit words, tones, or various sounds such as the buzzing of bees or percussion instruments. Some people spontaneously create and enter into ritual activities.
3. Physiological problems.
Activation of a latent illness or pseudo-illness, apparent cardiac problems, gastrointestinal disturbances, dramatic surges of heat and cold, pain in the back, head, stomach, or big toes. These and other difficulties are atypical and usually difficult to diagnose and treat, because they do not correspond to well-known diseases and because they come and go spontaneously.
4. Psychological and emotional upheavals.
Intensification of unresolved psychological issues, fear of death or insanity, sudden mood swings, overwhelming waves of anxiety, anger, guilt, or depression that may appear unrelated to any personal problems; waves of compassion, unconditional love, or heightened sensitivity to the moods of others.
5. Extrasensory experiences.
Visual (for example, lights, symbols, images of beings, scenes from past lives, visions); auditory (such as hearing voices, music, or phrases); or olfactory (such as smelling sandalwood, perfumes, or incense).
6. Parapsychological experiences.
Receiving information extrasensorily, unusual synchronicities, healing abilities, seeing or sensing auras, electrical sensitivity, and psychokinesis are among the most commonly reported occult phenomena. Sometimes there is a dramatic awakening of creativity.
7. Samadhi or satori experiences.
Absorption of consciousness into mystical states of unity, peace, light, or energy, sometimes accompanied by a clear perception of existential truths; or a deep sense of “I am this or That pure and open consciousness,” without a sense of identity of who one actually is. Less intense trance states may also occur, bringing peace, joy, and waves of bliss. This may happen during meditation, after meditation, or spontaneously at any other time.
Please note: Any of these phenomena may occur independently of kundalini awakening for a variety of other reasons. Especially if there are intense physiological problems, a medical examination should be conducted to rule out illness or neurological disorder. However, if a person has already had dramatic initial energy experiences and these are followed over time by one or more of the above categories, it is most likely a kundalini process.
7 Categories of Phenomena Experienced in the Kundalini Process © Bonnie Greenwell, Ph.D., 1997
Derived from Energies of Transformation: A Guide to the Kundalini Process.
You can probably imagine how a person feels when experiencing phenomena like those described above without knowing their cause, while medical examinations and physicians are also unable to offer much help. You can also imagine my relief, as a psychotherapist, when I made the connection between the symptoms of spontaneously awakened kundalini and the symptoms that troubled or distressed a significant number of my clients. Experiences that had raised many questions and much uncertainty for me began to make sense through an understanding of their causes, as well as through ideas for coping with them.
This was the main reason I initiated the translation of Branded by the Spirit by El Collie, devoted to this topic. I still ask myself to what extent the spontaneous awakening of kundalini is a mass phenomenon, but even if only a few people recognize themselves in it, I know it will mean a great deal to them. The fear and confusion accompanying such phenomena are indeed immense.
Although the number of studies and books exploring the relationship between mind, body, and spirit is growing rapidly, traditional medicine and psychotherapy remain too materially oriented to adequately acknowledge the energetic aspect of illness. Spirit is still absent from the dominant paradigm in the sciences of human health—both bodily and psychological. Some people, however, go to the opposite extreme and completely reject the achievements of modern science. As Bonnie Greenwell warns, it is necessary first to use the tools of traditional medicine and psychotherapy for examination and diagnosis. Only when these do not indicate pathology can one assume that the symptoms are related to an awakening kundalini.
Bonnie Greenwell views activated kundalini energy as a process of painful clearing of blockages from the past and the dissolution of our old identity. She calls it a “process of deconstruction.” For her, therefore, kundalini awakening is a phenomenon accompanying spiritual awakening, not a goal in itself. I fully agree. Spiritual development is not an energetic phenomenon, nor a display of extrasensory abilities or transpersonal experiences. It is a long and arduous process of embodying, in the world of matter, the fundamental spiritual values—love, responsibility, awareness, wholeness, freedom, and truth.
Thus, kundalini awakening is a symptom of spiritual awakening, but before we become spiritually awakened, we walk a long road. Knowledge of the symptoms of awakened spiritual energy in our body can be an invaluable companion along this path.
Kameliya Hadzhiyska
Note: The quotations are translated from Bulgarian and are not presented as verbatim citations.
