The Primordial Power
कुण्डलिनी शक्ति (Kuṇḍalinī Śakti)
Kuṇḍala = Coiled, spiral
Śakti = Power, energy, divine feminine
The coiled serpent power
Kuṇḍalinī śakti refers to the dormant spiritual energy believed to rest at the base of the spine, coiled three and a half times like a sleeping serpent. When awakened, this power rises through the central channel, activating and purifying the chakras, ultimately leading to spiritual realization and union of individual consciousness with cosmic consciousness.
The Philosophy
Śakti - The Divine Feminine
In Tantric philosophy:
Śiva and Śakti:
- Śiva = Pure consciousness, unchanging awareness, masculine principle
- Śakti = Creative power, dynamic energy, feminine principle
- Two aspects of one reality
- Śiva without Śakti = corpse (śava)
- Śakti without Śiva = blind force
Kuṇḍalinī as Śakti:
The kuṇḍalinī is the individualized form of the cosmic Śakti, the Mother Goddess (Devī) residing in the human body. Her awakening is the beginning of the journey back to union with Śiva, consciousness itself.
The Microcosm-Macrocosm
As above, so below:
The human body is a microcosm of the universe:
- The spine is the axis mundi (world axis)
- Chakras are planets/realms
- Nāḍīs (energy channels) are rivers
- Prāṇa (life force) is cosmic energy
When kuṇḍalinī rises, you’re not just affecting your personal energy—you’re participating in the cosmic dance of creation and dissolution.
The Anatomy: Channels and Centers
Three Primary Nāḍīs
The energy channels:
1. Iḍā Nāḍī (Left Channel)
- Associated with: Moon, feminine, cooling
- Element: Water
- Qualities: Receptive, intuitive, passive
- Nostril: Left
- Governs: Parasympathetic nervous system
- When dominant: Calm, introverted, mental activity
2. Piṅgalā Nāḍī (Right Channel)
- Associated with: Sun, masculine, heating
- Element: Fire
- Qualities: Active, logical, dynamic
- Nostril: Right
- Governs: Sympathetic nervous system
- When dominant: Active, extroverted, physical activity
3. Suṣumnā Nāḍī (Central Channel)
- Associated with: Neutrality, balance
- Element: Space/ether
- Path of kuṇḍalinī: Rises through this channel
- Normally: Closed or minimally active
- When kuṇḍalinī rises: Opens and becomes primary channel
The Goal:
Balance iḍā and piṅgalā so kuṇḍalinī naturally enters suṣumnā and rises toward the crown.
The Seven Chakras
चक्र (Cakra) = Wheel, circle, vortex
Chakras are:
- Energy centers along the spine
- Junctions where nāḍīs meet
- Levels of consciousness
- Planes of existence within us
1. Mūlādhāra Chakra (Root)
Location: Base of spine, perineum
Element: Earth (pṛthvī)
Color: Red
Petals: Four
Bīja Mantra: LAṂ
Governs:
- Survival instinct
- Physical body
- Security and stability
- Connection to earth
When balanced: Grounded, secure, healthy body
When blocked: Fear, insecurity, physical ailments
Kuṇḍalinī’s home: She sleeps here, coiled around the liṅga (Śiva symbol)
2. Svādhiṣṭhāna Chakra (Sacral)
Location: Lower abdomen, sacrum
Element: Water (jala)
Color: Orange
Petals: Six
Bīja Mantra: VAṂ
Governs:
- Sexuality and creativity
- Emotions and pleasure
- Relationships
- Fluidity and change
When balanced: Creative, emotionally stable, healthy sexuality
When blocked: Emotional instability, addiction, creative blocks
3. Maṇipūra Chakra (Solar Plexus)
Location: Navel area
Element: Fire (agni)
Color: Yellow
Petals: Ten
Bīja Mantra: RAṂ
Governs:
- Personal power
- Will and determination
- Self-esteem
- Digestion (physical and mental)
When balanced: Confident, empowered, good digestion
When blocked: Low self-esteem, control issues, digestive problems
4. Anāhata Chakra (Heart)
Location: Center of chest
Element: Air (vāyu)
Color: Green (or pink)
Petals: Twelve
Bīja Mantra: YAṂ
Governs:
- Love and compassion
- Relationships and connection
- Devotion (bhakti)
- Bridge between lower and upper chakras
When balanced: Loving, compassionate, open-hearted
When blocked: Closed, bitter, lonely, heart problems
Significance: Major transition point—from material to spiritual focus
5. Viśuddha Chakra (Throat)
Location: Throat
Element: Space/ether (ākāśa)
Color: Blue
Petals: Sixteen
Bīja Mantra: HAṂ
Governs:
- Communication and expression
- Truth and authenticity
- Purification
- Creative expression through sound
When balanced: Clear communication, authentic expression
When blocked: Communication issues, lying, throat problems
6. Ājñā Chakra (Third Eye)
Location: Between eyebrows
Element: Mind/light (manas)
Color: Indigo
Petals: Two (iḍā and piṅgalā meeting)
Bīja Mantra: OṂ
Governs:
- Intuition and insight
- Vision (inner and outer)
- Command center
- Transcendence of duality
When balanced: Clear intuition, wisdom, psychic abilities
When blocked: Confusion, illusion, headaches
Significance: When kuṇḍalinī pierces ājñā, individual consciousness merges with universal
7. Sahasrāra Chakra (Crown)
Location: Top of head (or above)
Element: Beyond elements
Color: Violet (or white/gold)
Petals: Thousand (infinity)
Bīja Mantra: None (or silent OṂ)
Governs:
- Pure consciousness
- Unity with all
- Enlightenment
- Connection to the divine
When balanced: Liberation, bliss, unity consciousness
When blocked: Spiritual disconnection, meaninglessness
The Union: When kuṇḍalinī reaches sahasrāra, Śakti (energy) unites with Śiva (consciousness)—liberation occurs
The Awakening
What Triggers Awakening?
Intentional causes:
- Intense yoga practice (especially haṭha)
- Prāṇāyāma (breath work)
- Meditation and concentration
- Mantra repetition
- Guru’s touch or transmission (śaktipāt)
- Tantric practices
Spontaneous causes:
- Near-death experiences
- Intense emotional events
- Childbirth
- Profound spiritual experiences
- Sometimes apparently random
Prerequisites for safe awakening:
- Purified body and mind
- Balanced lifestyle
- Strong foundation in ethical living
- Ideally, guidance from experienced teacher
Signs of Awakening
Physical sensations:
- Heat or cold moving up spine
- Tingling, vibrations throughout body
- Spontaneous movements (kriyas)
- Changes in breath patterns
- Unusual postures occurring spontaneously
- Feeling of snake or energy moving upward
Emotional:
- Intense emotions surfacing
- Old traumas releasing
- Sudden crying or laughing
- Mood swings
- Deep compassion or bliss
Mental:
- Rapid thoughts or mental silence
- Psychic experiences
- Visions of lights or beings
- Understanding of past lives
- Spontaneous insights
Spiritual:
- Sense of divine presence
- Experiences of unity
- Profound peace
- Devotional feelings
- Understanding of spiritual truths
Caution: These experiences can be overwhelming. Not everyone experiences all of these, and intensity varies greatly.
The Journey: Rising Through Chakras
The Ascent
As kuṇḍalinī rises:
Each chakra that kuṇḍalinī pierces undergoes:
- Activation - The chakra “wakes up”
- Purification - Old patterns, blockages release
- Transformation - New capacities emerge
- Integration - Changes stabilize
The process is often:
- Non-linear (kuṇḍalinī may rise and fall repeatedly)
- Gradual (taking months or years)
- Challenging (releasing old patterns can be difficult)
- Transformative (permanent changes in consciousness)
Obstacles and Blockages
Granthis (Knots):
Three major blockages where kuṇḍalinī may get stuck:
1. Brahma Granthi (at Mūlādhāra)
- Blockage: Material attachment, survival fears
- Theme: Security, body identification
- Transcendence: Letting go of excessive materialism
2. Viṣṇu Granthi (at Anāhata)
- Blockage: Emotional attachments
- Theme: Personal relationships, sentimentality
- Transcendence: Universal love beyond personal
3. Rudra Granthi (at Ājñā)
- Blockage: Spiritual ego, psychic powers
- Theme: Attachment to siddhis, spiritual experiences
- Transcendence: Letting go even of spiritual attainments
Each granthi represents a major shift in identity and must be dissolved for kuṇḍalinī to proceed.
Challenges and Krises
Kuṇḍalinī Crisis:
When awakening is:
- Too sudden
- Without proper foundation
- Without guidance
- In unprepared body/mind
Symptoms may include:
- Overwhelming energy
- Inability to sleep
- Extreme heat
- Uncontrollable movements
- Psychological disturbance
- Difficulty functioning normally
Support needed:
- Understanding teacher or therapist
- Grounding practices
- Gentle yoga
- Proper diet
- Time in nature
- Patience with process
Important: Not all strange experiences are kuṇḍalinī awakening. Rule out medical/psychological conditions first.
The Union: Kuṇḍalinī and Liberation
The Final Rising
When kuṇḍalinī reaches sahasrāra:
शिवशक्त्योः अभेदः (Śiva-śaktyoḥ abhedaḥ)
Non-difference between Śiva and Śakti
What happens:
- Individual energy (śakti) merges with cosmic consciousness (Śiva)
- Duality dissolves
- Subject and object become one
- This is called samādhi in yoga, mokṣa in Vedānta
Types of union:
Temporary Union
- Kuṇḍalinī rises, reaches crown
- Profound experience of bliss and unity
- Eventually kuṇḍalinī descends
- Person returns to ordinary consciousness (but transformed)
Permanent Union
- Kuṇḍalinī fully awakens and stabilizes
- No more descent
- Continuous awareness of unity
- This is sahaja samādhi - natural state of liberation
Siddh is (Powers)
As kuṇḍalinī rises, various powers may manifest:
- Telepathy - Reading thoughts
- Clairvoyance - Seeing at distance
- Healing abilities - Channeling energy
- Levitation - Transcending gravity
- Knowledge of past/future - Time transcendence
- Control over body - Extreme endurance
Warning from tradition:
- Don’t get attached to siddhis
- They’re byproducts, not goals
- Can become major obstacles
- Can inflate ego
- True goal is liberation, not powers
Practices for Awakening
Foundation Practices
Essential preparation:
1. Ethical Living
- Yamas and niyamas
- Purifying lifestyle
- Reducing agitation
2. Physical Preparation
- Haṭha yoga āsanas
- Making body strong and flexible
- Opening energy channels
3. Prāṇāyāma
- Nāḍī Śodhana (alternate nostril breathing)
- Balances iḍā and piṅgalā
- Purifies channels
4. Bandhas (Energy Locks)
- Mūla bandha - Root lock (at perineum)
- Uḍḍiyāna bandha - Abdominal lock
- Jālandhara bandha - Throat lock
- Control and direct prāṇa
Advanced Practices
Direct kuṇḍalinī practices (require teacher):
Śaktipāt
- Transmission from guru
- Direct energy transfer
- Can cause immediate awakening
- Requires guru who has awakened kuṇḍalinī
Kuṇḍalinī Meditation
- Focus awareness at mūlādhāra
- Visualize coiled serpent
- Feel energy beginning to stir
- Invite awakening with devotion
Tantric Practices
- Working with subtle body
- Sexual energy transformation
- Rituals and visualizations
- Mantra and yantra
Gentle Approach
For most modern practitioners:
Focus on:
- Steady yoga practice
- Regular meditation
- Prāṇāyāma
- Devotional practices
- Self-inquiry
- Letting awakening happen naturally
Rather than:
- Forcing awakening
- Doing intense practices without guidance
- Expecting dramatic experiences
- Comparing with others
The gentle path:
May take longer but is safer. Kuṇḍalinī will awaken when body, mind, and spirit are ready.
Integration and Embodiment
After Awakening
The work doesn’t end with awakening:
Integration requires:
- Living from the understanding
- Balancing spiritual and worldly
- Embodying the changes
- Serving from overflow
Common challenges:
- Feeling alienated from “normal” life
- Difficulty relating to others
- Hypersensitivity to energy
- Need for lots of alone time
- Uncertainty about life direction
Support:
- Community of fellow practitioners
- Continued spiritual practice
- Grounding activities
- Creative expression
- Time in nature
The Balanced Life
True awakening includes:
- Functioning well in world
- Healthy relationships
- Meaningful work
- Creative expression
- Natural compassion
Not:
- Otherworldly detachment
- Inability to function
- Superiority complex
- Avoiding normal life
The ideal:
लोकसङ्ग्रहम् (Loka-saṅgraham)
For the welfare of the world
Living in the world but not of it, serving others from the fullness of realization.
Contemplation
*At the base of being,
The Goddess sleeps—
Not waiting to be awakened
But revealing herself when ready.
She is your own energy,
Your own creative power,
Temporarily imagining itself
As separate from consciousness.
Her awakening is Her choice,
Her rising is Her return
To the Beloved she never left—
Union that was never broken.
Don’t force the serpent—
Prepare the ground,
Purify the channels,
Invite with devotion.
When She rises,
Everything changes.
When She reaches the Crown,
Nothing remains but Love.
This power sleeping in you
Is the power that creates universes.
Handle Her with reverence,
Welcome Her with humility.
She knows the way home.*
May the sleeping serpent awaken gently in you, may Her rise be smooth, and may Her union with consciousness bring you to the realization of your true nature. 🐍🙏
Note: Kuṇḍalinī practices should ideally be done under the guidance of an experienced teacher. This teaching is for understanding, not necessarily for unsupervised practice.