The Divine Within Us All: Kundalini Shakti

The Divine Within Us All: Kundalini Shakti

Within the deepest core of our being radiates a Divine presence that is our own source. All human beings, regardless of era, religion, or culture, are vessels of this Light of all Lights. This divine inner presence gives us awareness and talent and drive. The fountain of our well-being and our own personal spiritual director, this sacred indweller is revered in the great spiritual traditions as light, love, and life itself. In the Vedic tradition of India, this Holy Spirit is called Kundalini Shakti, the living spiritual power within that illumines each of us and guides us to union with the One.

Feeling separate from this sacred presence causes us to feel a restless lonely frustration. Spiritual texts state that merging with divine source is the only solution to our deep human yearning and dissatisfaction and that this union is the very purpose of life and our ultimate destiny. Shakti, the divine within, empowers our striving for this holy union and relentlessly urges, guides, and helps us to reach full spiritual realization.

Every seeker’s pressing need is to find out how best to cooperate with the Divine’s efforts on our behalf so that we can properly support its enlightenment agenda. The study of the spiritual quest is the study of Kundalini, for Kundalini Shakti is the essential common factor operant in all spiritual experiences, practices, and progress, regardless of one’s spiritual tradition or path. To this end, Indian philosophy provides the profound spiritual paradigm of Yoga/Vedanta and the sacred science of its application to the individual, called Kundalini Vidya, knowledge of the divine within.

Kundalini Vidya explains that within the human soul, Kundalini Shakti can reside in either a contained or a released and active state. When this great spiritual power is active, the individual is said to have a Kundalini rising.

– a deep yearning or restlessness for something unknown,

– a searching for something to fulfill this inner need,

– a feeling of being different or not fitting in, elevated sensitivities,

– a heightened or expanded inner awareness, special talents,

– an interest in self-development or spiritual growth,

– living in the mental, feeling, or dream realm,

– empathic compassion with a desire to serve others,

– an interest in the esoteric or metaphysical or spiritual,

– feelings of energy flowing or vibrating within, spontaneous jerks or body movements,

– inner sensations of light, sound, or heat, glimpses of bliss, revealing insights,

– a sense that something non-ordinary, transformative, or holy is happening within.

A Kundalini rising is a blessed responsibility that urges the individual’s spiritual development onward, but it requires correct spiritual practice and living to comfortably advance the process. If a person does not know how to correctly support their process or engages in unhealthy and unspiritual lifestyle behaviors, the resulting dissipation or misdirection of vital energy can thwart Kundalini Shakti’s efforts toward spiritual progress. It may also stress the subtle body and possibly yield eventual uncomfortable consequences, precipitating a spiritual crisis. But with correct guidance, a seeker can properly support Kundalini Shakti’s efforts for spiritual advancement, and progress can be safely improved, yielding personal transformation and spiritual realization.

Traditional Kundalini Science is an ancient, scripture based, comprehensive system for understanding and improving spiritual life that is preserved by a 500 year old lineage of Kundalini specialists. The focus and goal of this safe and holy knowledge are entirely spiritual. It is described in Kundalini Vidya, The Science of Spiritual Transformation by Joan Shivarpita Harrigan, Ph.D., director of Patanjali Kundalini Yoga-Care in Knoxville, TN. She is the apprentice of Swami Chandrasekharanand Saraswati of Rishikesh, India, the holder of the lineage.

PKYC provides individualized spiritual practices, guidance, and instruction to qualified sincere spiritual seekers of all paths. PKYC offers assessments of spiritual process that make it possible to customize a set of gentle spiritual practices (including specifically chosen postures, breathing patterns, meditation/contemplation techniques, and Ayurvedic recommendations) designed to improve spiritual process. Practices are taught during small two-week retreats that educate and support each participant in a safe spiritual container. Follow up is provided through regular spiritual direction sessions and returnee retreats.