About PKYC

The approach used by Patanjali Kundalini Yoga Care™ (PKYC)

is based on the traditional teachings of a five hundred year old lineage of Kundalini specialists in India. The English name given to these teachings, which are described in the book Kundalini Vidya, is Traditional Kundalini Science™ (TKS). Traditional Kundalini Science is a comprehensive, universal system for understanding and improving spiritual life. Based in scripture, oral tradition, individual guidance, expert training, case study, and direct spiritual experience, Traditional Kundalini Science has a timeless inner lineage. It provides a thorough model for understanding and guiding spiritual development and dealing with related phenomena. Traditional Kundalini Science is the investigation of ways to describe and facilitate the phases and facets of spiritual development and to deal with their various phenomena and relevant obstacles with effective methods aimed at attaining the spiritual goal. TKS is Vedic in origin and universal in perspective. It is the study of human spirituality and encompasses many different orientations and methodologies. Thus, a spiritually transformative process can be explained through this model regardless of a person’s religious orientation, theoretical philosophy, or method of approach. In addition, one can benefit from the wisdom of this model while maintaining the integrity of one’s chosen religious affiliation or spiritual path. Based on TKS, PKYC utilizes various methods from many spiritual traditions, selecting those that are relevant to the particular individual being guided. It is ecumenical and does not seek to alter the individual’s spiritual orientation or lineage but rather to build on and deepen it. Its focus is spiritual.

Kundalini science is a sacred, complex, and not generally understood topic that has been systematically studied, refined, and preserved in the sacred traditions of the world. Teachings on the topic of Kundalini science have been cherished for millennia in all the world’s spiritual traditions, each having their own special approach and format. Protected in metaphor and symbol so it will endure and not be misused, elements of this universal system of spiritual development are subtly conveyed in the sacred scriptures, art, and oral lineages of every spiritual tradition. This refined teaching is preserved in the esoteric or mystical heritage of each spiritual tradition. No particular tradition is the sole steward of this universal wisdom that is the birthright of every human soul. All the great spiritual traditions are custodians of this spiritual science, and each has adepts who are capable of imparting the essential teachings according to their particular way. The scriptures, spiritual adepts, and holy places of the world are the repositories of this sacred treasure.

Because Kundalini Shakti, the Divine within, is the essential common factor operant in all spiritual experiences, the study of Kundalini, by whatever name, is the study of spirituality itself. Ultimately, the source for Kundalini science is the One. It is an inner lineage. This ageless spiritual science is the understanding of how to properly support and manage our spiritual capacity in order to safely accelerate our spiritual advancement and reach the spiritual goal. All the world’s great spiritual traditions provide practices that are designed to release the spiritual power within (here called Kundalini Shakti) and safely support its fulfillment to complete spiritual realization. They provide many different ways of describing this most blessed of human abilities. Centuries of saints in the world’s spiritual traditions have experienced and recorded transformational stages of spiritual advancement and described means to attain it. These mystical treatises and revealed scriptures are the “Kundalini” literature of that particular spiritual lineage, although each system has its own vocabulary. Referred to by a unique name in each tradition, “Kundalini” is the name used for this field of study and practice in the ancient Vedic spiritual tradition of India. Impressive in its breadth, technical precision, variety of methods, vocabulary, and inclusivity, is the Vedic model of Kundalini science. Traditional Kundalini Science springs from this source.

The Vedic outlook is remarkably universal and open. It is called the Wisdom of the Ancient Ones, Sanatana Dharma. It is not a religion but a spiritual system. It is not eclectic, but it is inclusive. For this reason, it is especially useful for conveying the underlying matrix shared by all spiritual traditions. The Vedic term for this underlying matrix is Kundalini Vidya, the science or way of understanding the spiritual power within the human being. There is an extensive body of literature regarding this science scattered throughout the Vedic texts. In addition to these specific sources, there are primary scriptures of the Vedic teachings upon which Kundalini science is generally based. These are the Upanisads, source for Vedanta, the Yoga Sutras, source for Raja Yoga, and the Bhagavad Gita, source for Sanatana Dharma. The Tantric and Puranic literature also convey teachings of Kundalini science. There are many lineages of Kundalini experts in the Vedic and other spiritual traditions.

The specialty of our lineage is Kundalini Vidya with an entirely spiritual purpose. The lineage’s oral commentary heritage serves to gather the scriptural references to Kundalini process from among their many sources and to provide explication of their inner meaning. The orientation of our lineage is Raja Yoga and Advaita Vedanta. By mastering an understanding of the Vedic system of spiritual development through study, instruction, observation, and experience, the lineage also gains understanding of the inner teachings and methods of other spiritual traditions, graciously provided by their scriptures, exemplars, and adepts. Thus, it also incorporates understanding and interventions from the sacred reservoirs of other spiritual traditions. Therefore, an aspirant from any lineage can benefit from consultation with PKYC while maintaining connection with their own valid tradition.

The lineage of Kundalini experts represented by the teachings of Traditional Kundalini Science through Patanjali Kundalini Yoga Care claims both an internal and an external heritage. The internal heritage is timeless, with its source in the One and its preservation through the ageless spiritual adepts of India and the world. The external flows through a teacher/disciple stream over five hundred years old, starting with the lineage founder Gomatagiri, a Vedic monk in the Saraswati order founded by Adi Shankaracharya. TKS is maintained by this small, intact lineage of Kundalini specialists that updates itself with each new generation. The knowledge of the lineage is preserved and enriched by the current teacher’s protecting the integrity of the teachings, adding to them, and giving initiation and direct training to a qualified heir. This designated disciple also engages in scripture study, the observation of people in spiritual process, instruction from other spiritual experts, and their own inner learning from experiences bestowed spiritually. To provide individual spiritual guidance to qualified seekers through TKS, a trained expert in this lineage must be approved and authorized by the lineage. Only one heir is prepared to hold the teachings, which are also held intact inwardly.

The name “Traditional Kundalini Science” distinguishes this system from other models that use the term “Kundalini.” We view Kundalini as Shakti, the divine power within. The word “traditional” acknowledges TKS’s source in the tradition of Vedic and other authentic spiritual scriptures and teachings. The term “science” is a translation of the Sanskrit “vidya”, and here indicates experiential wisdom, understanding, and knowledge rather than the Western empirical model of scientific research. The word “science” is used here in its broadest sense to indicate the extensive database and systematic investigation involved in this ancient discipline. TKS is a system of spiritual direction. It includes a model for understanding spiritual process, for assessing a person’s spiritual development, and for determining appropriate recommendations to support a person’s spiritual progress. These teachings are implemented through PKYC.

Traditional Kundalini Science offers a wide range of techniques for beginning, correcting, and completing a spiritual process. The subtle body anatomy and physiology (energy dynamics) described in TKS provide a way to understand the many varieties of experience in people with Kundalini risings. TKS utilizes an exact technical vocabulary for accurately describing subtle phenomena and spiritual experience. It precisely identifies the functions of the subtle energies (vayus), subtle energy currents (nadis), and subtle energy centers (chakras) to explain the causes and dynamics of the various kinds of Kundalini risings and subtle body experiences. Kundalini science also explains the effectiveness of spiritual methods and the reasons for maintaining a spiritual lifestyle.

After determining the kind of rising an individual has, appropriate practices are recommended from a repertoire of methods in order to rectify the limitations and difficulties in the individual’s Kundalini process. Practices include specific physical postures, breathing methods, meditation/prayer techniques, dietary practices, dietary supplements, spiritual study, and lifestyle considerations to support the subtle body’s well being and to create in it the particular conditions essential for spiritual progress. Relevant non-spiritual phenomena are also explained by the Kundalini model, because such experiences may need to be identified and addressed in order to correct an incomplete spiritual process.

Each seeker is dealt with as unique, and guidance is offered on a one-to-one basis, not in groups. Recommendations are practiced by the seeker to help the subtle body support and direct an improvement in their Kundalini rising. Progress is attained by the individual’s sincere correct effort and Divine grace and not by any healing intervention by the spiritual guide. Spiritual fulfillment is the ultimate goal of any rising, and this will eventually occur if the individual correctly cooperates with the spiritual purpose by following correct spiritual practices and living a healthy, ethical, spiritual lifestyle.