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Growing up as a Hindu, I was able to absorb the philosophy of Hinduism, but the “spiritual technology” in Hinduism was always mystifying to me.  Frequent attempts to understand this technology always ended up in frustration. Key part of this technology was the concept of “kundalini” and how it rose up the human spine activating the various “chakras”. Here is my latest attempt to understand these concepts.

From Wikipedia, “Kundalini stems from yogic philosophy as a form of shakti or ‘corporeal energy’. Kundalini is described within Eastern religious, or spiritual tradition as an indwelling spiritual energy that can be awakened in order to purify the subtle system and ultimately to bestow the state of Yoga, or divine union upon the seeker of truth.”

Kundalini is described as a sleeping serpent lying “coiled” at the base of the spine, waiting to be awakened. Normally we go through life as actors on some stage without knowing who is pulling our strings. Once in a while we get jarred into thinking, “Why does life seem so empty? What are we doing here? What is life all about?”

We may call this moment, the awakening of Kundalini. We start to feel that there must be something more to this life. Such an awakening may start us on a journey to understand life. Thus, here is my understanding of Kundalini,

Kundalini is the jarring awareness that there must be something more to life, which then starts one on a journey of discovery.

When awakened, Kundalini is said to rise up the spine through various chakras. The progress of Kundalini through the different chakras leads to different levels of awakening and mystical experience, until Kundalini finally reaches the top of the head. There it produces an extremely profound mystical experience.

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The chakras are like “whirlpools of energy,” or knots, in the energy channels of the subtle body through which the life force moves. The chakras seem to describe the major inconsistencies about life that needs to be resolved. Their resolution seems to form a bridge from ignorance to spiritual knowledge. The journey through chakras involves resolution of inconsistencies.

For resolution to occur one looks closely at inconsistencies at each chakra in as broad a context as possible.

There are seven major chakras, which are arranged vertically along the spine. More details may be obtained from Wikipedia. Below is a description of the seven chakras, followed by comments.

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1. Muladhara Chakra:
   Root Chakra… considered the foundation of the “energy body”… Kundalini awakening begins here… where the individual consciousness is sleeping or dormant… after you have done certain practices, this becomes so stimulated or agitated that the agitation continues up to Manipura chakra.

This chakra seems to represent the engrossing of attention on basic physical survival. Here the person is living as a body. Agitation of awakening takes place when the person starts to wonder about the futility of it all.

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2. Swadhisthana Chakra:
   “One’s own base”… It is closely related to the Muladhara in that Swadhishthana is where the different samskaras (potential karmas), lie dormant, and Muladhara is where these samskaras find expression… It contains unconscious desires, especially sexual desire.

The fixation of attention on body seems to boil down to the activities of eating and reproducing. If there is attention on health then one must review and fully resolve this chakra. The resolution requires closely looking at the inconsistencies associated with the obsessive impulses of the body.

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3. Manipura Chakra:
   Located at the navel… “jewel city”… this chakra is involved in self-esteem, warrior energy, and the power of transformation; it also governs digestion and metabolism. A healthy spirited third chakra helps overcome inertia and jump-starts a “get-up-and-go” attitude so it is easier to take risks, assert one’s will, and assume responsibility for one’s life. This chakra is also the location of deep belly laughter, warmth, ease, and the vitality received from performing selfless service.

Here the person’s attention is begun to free up from the fixation on body impulses. The next level of inconsistencies now shows up as fixation on self or individuality. The resolution requires closely looking at the inconsistencies associated with the ideas of self or individuality.

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4. Anahata Chakra:
   Located near the heart… “Unhurt, unstruck and unbeaten”… associated with a calm, serene sound devoid of violence… In Anahata one makes decisions (“follows one’s heart”) based on one’s higher self, not the unfulfilled emotions and desires of lower nature (based on karma)… It is also associated with love and compassion, charity to others and psychic healing.

At this level, the attention has been freed up from the individuality of body and self. The person is now operating with much less egoism. However, there is still attachment to relationships in life. The inconsistencies at this level have to do with relationships.

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5. Vishuddha Chakra:
   Located near the throat… “especially pure”… associated with higher discrimination, creativity and self-expression… negative experiences… feelings of guilt… are transformed into wisdom and learning…

At this level one focuses on freeing oneself from feelings of guilt. One has been unable to face certain areas of life, and has been withdrawing obsessively from various activities. Such inconsistencies are closely inspected and resolved.

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6. Ajna Chakra:
   Located between the eyes… “command”… eye of intuition and intellect… end of duality… trusting inner guidance… inner aspect relates to the access of intuition… deals with visual consciousness and clarity on an intuitive level… allows mind communication to occur between two people.

At this chakra one seems to be dealing with inconsistencies of understanding at the conceptual level. One looks closely at the concepts to do with spirit and matter until all inconsistencies are resolved. One inspects and cleans up residual inconsistencies from earlier chakras.

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7. Sahasrara Chakra:
   Located at the crown… “thousand-petaled”… symbolizes detachment from illusion; an essential element in obtaining higher consciousness of the truth that one is all and all is one… the state of pure consciousness, within which there is neither object nor subject… a state of liberating samadhi… it involves such issues as inner wisdom and the death of the body… deals with the release of karma, physical action with meditation, mental action with universal consciousness and unity, and emotional action with “beingness.”

This is the state achieved when no more inconsistencies remain and the attention is totally free to roam about. At this level one becomes the very reality looking at itself.

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Reference: Inconsistency in KHTK

The purpose of these exercises is to spot inconsistencies using the following steps.

1. Observe one’s attention and see where it is drawn naturally.
2. Look non-judgmentally at that area of interest.
3. Let the general purpose of that area sink in.
4. Let things come to notice that are not consistent with that purpose.
5. Continue until you spot exactly what is drawing your attention.

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Exercise 1

Move around in your living space. Let your attention roam freely to discover if there is anything hidden or suppressed. Apply the five steps listed above as necessary. Do this until there is nothing hidden or suppressed.

Exercise 2

Go for a walk in the neighborhood. Let your attention roam freely to discover if there is anything hidden or suppressed. Apply the five steps listed above as necessary. Do this until there is nothing hidden or suppressed.

Exercise 3

Go for a walk in a park. Look at things as far as your eye can see. Let your attention roam freely to discover if there is anything hidden or suppressed. Apply the five steps listed above as necessary. Do this until there is nothing hidden or suppressed.

Exercise 4

Go to a coffee shop. Observe the surroundings. Let your attention roam freely to discover if there is anything hidden or suppressed. Apply the five steps listed above as necessary. Do this until there is nothing hidden or suppressed.

Exercise 5

Go to crowded places like a market, bus station, or airport. Quietly observe the people and surroundings. Let your attention roam freely to discover if there is anything hidden or suppressed. Apply the five steps listed above as necessary. Do this until there is nothing hidden or suppressed.

Reference: Mindful Discussion

If you want to help somebody, you may apply the method of mindful discussion as follows:

(1) Encourage the person to do mindfulness exercises per The 12 Aspects of Mindfulness. Leave it to the person to do these exercises. Do not insist.

(2) In your conversations with the person, listen to his (or her) concerns carefully. Try to understand where he (or she) is coming from. The person may or may not know his (or her) unwanted condition.

(3) At first focus on the visible confusions the person has. He may even be aware of those confusions and want to discuss them with you. Or, he may indirectly indicate his confusions to you through

• The area where his attention dwells most of the time.
• The area when talked about, disperses his attention.
• The area when talked about, lessens his awareness.
• How the person thinks, behaves or dramatizes.
• How the person reacts to things in the environment.

(4) Be aware of such confusions. Discuss and help resolve them as and when the opportunity arises. Start by taking up the most obvious inconsistency. (See Inconsistency in KHTK).

(5) Discussion of one inconsistency may bring another consistency to view. Keep discussing such inconsistencies to make sense out of them. Do not continue with something that the person does not want to discuss. He is simply not ready for it.

(6) Simply take up another confusion related to his present concern and find an inconsistency that he is willing to discuss. In short, take up the inconsistency that the person is most willing to discuss at any time. The purpose of such discussion would be to make sense out of what is puzzling.

(7) When discussing, always apply The 12 Aspects of Mindfulness. Do not let the person talk endlessly. Spot the inconsistency in what he is saying and gently question him about it saying that you don’t understand it.

(8) When the person reacts to something you said and starts to dramatize, keep in mind that you are looking at some confusion. Gently follow up on the inconsistency that you now see. Just tell him what you don’t understand in a way that is acceptable to him.

(9) Many a times you may find that something is misunderstood by that person. You both can then consult a third party explanation in a dictionary, encyclopedia or on Internet to resolve that misunderstanding.

(10) All this time, always be aware of his basic concerns, and the possible unwanted condition. Whenever possible, get him to explain these things briefly, without going into lengthy explanations. Now and then you may ask him what his attention is on.

(11) When a specific unwanted condition becomes visible, see if you can help locate the source of that condition. You want to find out, “When did the unwanted condition start?” The source of his condition does not have to be a painful experience. It could be some fixed idea.

(12) If some incident comes up, have the person look over it thoroughly. No need for him to tell you the details. Just make sure that he looks at all possible data with nothing suppressed or resisted. See Cleaning up Traumas.

(13) If the incident contains pain and unconsciousness, have the person go through it many times until no new details are emerging. The person does not have to vocalize every detail.

(14) The unwanted condition could have started during this incident, or in some earlier similar incident. It could be an entirely different incident all together. Just make sure that the incident is looked at thoroughly.

(15) Keep discussing the unwanted condition and how it started. More incidents may come up. If the person cannot access the beginning, then other stuff may be stacked on it. Follow what comes up naturally. If more confusions come up then handle them as above. You may get to the exact point of beginning eventually.

(16) When the beginning of the unwanted condition is found, keep narrowing it down to an exact point. Get whatever is suppressed around the area of beginning Help purge the emotions, impulses, thoughts, etc. that are still lingering from that point. See Handling Unwanted Condition.

(17) Whether there is an exact beginning or not, we are targeting the resolution of circuits (logical associations among definitions) in the mind, which trigger more easily than rational associations.

(18) Keep going back to the basic concern and coming forward to understand some inconsistency. Follow the trail of inconsistencies and exhaust it as far as you can.

(19) After going back and forth many times, hopefully you’ll get to the bottom of the unwanted condition. The person will eventually thank you for all your work when his unwanted condition is gone.

(20) If the person is not able to participate in mindful discussion then work with him on the appropriate exercise per Mindfulness Therapy.

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