Kundalini yoga
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Kundalini yoga (kuṇḍalinī-yoga) derives from
History
Name
The Sanskrit adjective kuṇḍala means "circular, annular". It occurs as a noun for "a snake" (in the sense "coiled", as in "forming ringlets") in the 12th-century Rajatarangini chronicle (I.2). Kuṇḍa, a noun which means "bowl, water-pot", is found as the name of a Naga in Mahabharata 1.4828. The Sanskrit feminine noun kuṇḍalī means "ring, bracelet, coil (of a rope)", and is the name of a "serpent-like"
What has become known as "Kundalini yoga" in the 20th century, after a technical term particular to this tradition, is actually a synthesis of Bhakti Yoga (devotion and chanting), Raja Yoga (meditation) and Shakti Yoga (the expression of power and energy)."
Laya may mean either the techniques of yoga or (like
Hatha yoga
The
Other Sanskrit texts treat kundalini as a technical term in tantric yoga, such as the Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpana and the Pādukā-pañcaka. These were translated in 1919 by John Woodroffe as The Serpent Power: The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga. He identifies the process of involution and its techniques in these texts as a particular form of Tantrik Laya Yoga.[16]
The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad consists of three short chapters; it begins by stating that Chitta (consciousness) is controlled by Prana, and it is controlled by moderate food, postures and Shakti-Chala (I.1-2). Verses I.3-6 explain the concepts of moderate food and concept, and verse I.7 introduces Kundalini as the name of the Shakti under discussion:
- I.7. The Sakti (mentioned above) is only Kundalini. A wise man should take it up from its place (Viz., the navel, upwards) to the middle of the eyebrows. This is called Sakti-Chala.
- I.8. In practising it, two things are necessary, Sarasvati-Chalana and the restraint of Prana (breath). Then through practice, Kundalini (which is spiral) becomes straightened.[18]
Modern forms
Yogi Bhajan
In 1968,
Principles
Kundalini is the term for "a
Kundalini energy is technically explained as being sparked during yogic breathing when
Borrowing and integrating many different approaches, Kundalini Yoga can be understood as a tri-fold approach of
Practice
The practice of kriyas and meditations in Kundalini Yoga are designed to raise complete body awareness to prepare the body, nervous system, and mind to handle the energy of Kundalini rising. The majority of the physical postures focus on navel activity, activity of the spine, and selective pressurization of body points and meridians. Breath work and the application of bandhas (3 yogic locks) aid to release, direct, and control the flow of Kundalini energy from the lower centers to the higher energetic centers.[24]
Along with the many kriyas, meditations and practices of Kundalini Yoga, a simple breathing technique of alternate nostril breathing (left nostril, right nostril), are taught as a method to cleanse the nadis, or subtle channels and pathways, to help awaken Kundalini energy.[25]
Sovatsky (1998) adapts a developmental and evolutionary perspective in his interpretation of Kundalini Yoga. That is, he interprets Kundalini Yoga as a catalyst for psycho-spiritual growth and bodily maturation. According to this interpretation of yoga, the body bows itself into greater maturation [...], none of which should be considered mere stretching exercises.[26]
Controversy
There have been accusations that modern Kundalini Yoga practice and related groups including 3HO and Ra Ma are cult like[27] in practices, financial abuse,[28] and sexual abuse. The accusations include that Kundalini yoga as practiced in the US was invented by Yogi Bahjan that borrows from traditional practice but is not.[29] "Many traditional Sikhs insist that yoga has no place in their religion. Sikh Historian Trilochan Singh says Bhajan's synthesis of Sikhism and Tantrism is "a sacrilegious hodgepodge." Far more important, High Priest Jaswant Singh, a leader of the Sikhs in eastern India and comparable in status to Bhajan Backer Tohra, last week denounced Bhajan's claims. He and his council professed to be "shocked" at Bhajan's 'fantastic theories.' Yoga, Tantrism and the 'sexual practices' taught by Bhajan, the council declared, are 'forbidden and immoral.'"[30]
The practice includes crystals, wearing white, and restricted diets and is tied to medicine denial and encouraging practitioners to solve medical problems with costly retreats. "Norton said students were told that any problem they had — addiction, mental-health issues, procrastination — could be solved by investing more time and money into Ra Ma events and programming. . .Jagat's practitioners were told not to wear black because it shrinks their aura and not to wear rings on their middle fingers because it interferes with their connection to Saturn. A former student included footage of Jagat in a TikTok video in which Jagat appears to claim that COVID-19 lockdowns were linked to an 'alien war.'"[28]
See also
- John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon) wrote The Serpent Power – The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga in 1919
- Kriya Yoga
- Sahaja Yoga
- Guru Jagat
References
- ISBN 978-8185787152.
- ISBN 978-1-58761-225-1.
- ISBN 978-0-87542-592-4.
- ISBN 978-1-135-95522-9.
- ^ "Kundalini Yoga". www.dlshq.org.
- ^ "Spotlight on Kundalini Yoga". Yoga Journal. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
- ^ Swami Sivananda Radha, 2004, pp. 13, 15
- ^ André Padoux, Vāc: The Concept of the Word in Selected Hindu Tantras, SUNY Press, 1990, 124-136.
- ^ "What Is Kundalini Yoga". 19 March 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ Mallinson, James. "Dattātreya's Discourse on Yoga". 24 June 2013. accessed 25 October 2015. https://www.academia.edu/3773137/Translation_of_the_Datt%C4%81treyayoga%C5%9B%C4%81stra_the_earliest_text_to_teach_ha%E1%B9%ADhayoga . "The Yoga of Dissolution (layayoga) happens as a result of the dissolution of the mind by means of esoteric techniques (saṃketas). Ādinātha has taught eighty million esoteric techniques."
- ^ Woodroffe, John. 'The Serpent Power'. Illustrations, Tables, Highlights and Images by Veeraswamy Krishnara (PDF). pp. 88–89. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
YOGA is sometimes understood as meaning the result and not the process which leads to it. According to this meaning of the term, and from the standpoint of natural dualism, Yoga has been described to be the union of the individual spirit with god." and "the ecstatic condition in which the 'equality' that is identity of Jīvātmā and Paramātma is realized. The experience is achieved after the absorption (Laya) of Prāṇa and Manas and the cessation of all ideation (Saṁkalpa)
- ^ Mallinson, James (24 June 2013). Dattātreya's Discourse on Yoga. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
Yoga has many forms, o brahmin. I shall explain all that to you: the Yoga of Mantras (mantrayoga), the Yoga of Dissolution (layayoga) and the Yoga of Force (haṭhayoga). The fourth is the Royal Yoga (rājayoga); it is the best of yogas
- ^ Feuerstein, Georg (11 September 2013). The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice (Kindle Locations 14031-14032 and others) (Kindle ed.). Hohm Press.
It speaks (line 28) of Mantra- Yoga as a lower (adhama) form of Yoga and praises (line 29) Laya-Yoga as a means of achieving complete absorption (laya) of the mind
- ^ Mallinson, James (1 January 2007). The Shiva Samhita: A Critical Edition and an English Translation (Kindle Locations 100-101) and (Kindle Locations 799-825) (Kindle ed.). YogaVidya.com.
As Hatha Yoga, originally the preserve of the unorthodox Nathas, grew in popularity in the medieval period, the orthodox Shaivas sought to incorporate it within their soteriology, and thus the Shiva Samhita may be an example of this appropriation." and "He is sure to achieve perfection in three years. He is entitled to practice all Yogas. In this there is no doubt.
- ISBN 978-81-208-3349-4, p. 476, 615-617
- ^ Woodroffe, John. "The Serpent Power". Illustrations, Tables, Highlights and Images by Veeraswamy Krishnara. p. 11. Accessed 25 October 2015. http://www.bhagavadgitausa.com/Serpent%20Power%20Complete.pdf "when dealing with the practice of Yoga, the rule is that things dissolve into that from which they originate, and the Yoga process here described is such dissolution (Laya)"
- OCLC 928480104.
- ^ trans. K. Narayanasvami Aiyar Astrojyoti.com, based on a translation first published in 1891 in The Theosophist, Volume 12.
- ^ Deslippe, Philip Roland (14 March 2013). "From Maharaj to Mahan Tantric: The Construction of Yogi Bhajan's Kundalini Yoga". Sikh Formations. 8 (3) – via escholarship.org.
- ^ Swami Sivananda (4th ed. 2007) page 12
- ^ Yogi Bhajan (2007). The Aquarian Teacher, KRI International Teacher Training in Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan (4th ed.). Kundalini Research Institute. pp. 176–179.
- ^ Yogi Bhajan (2007). The Aquarian Teacher, KRI International Teacher Training in Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan (4th ed.). Kundalini Research Institute. p. 20.
- ^ ISBN 81-7052-052-5.
- ^ Yogi Bhajan, The Aquarian Teacher, KRI International Teacher Training in Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan, Kundalini Research Institute, 4th Edition, 2007, page 177
- ^ Swami Sivananda (4th ed. 2007) page 23
- ^ Sovatsky, Stuart (1998) Words from the Soul: Time, East/West Spirituality, and Psychotherapeutic Narrative, Suny Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology, New York: State University of New York Press, p. 142
- ^ "The Second Coming of Guru Jagat". Vanity Fair. 1 December 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ a b Orecchio-Egresitz, Haven. "Before the sudden death of its leader, Ra Ma Yoga Institute was accused by some former members of being a cult. What happens now?". Insider. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "Sikhism and Tantric Yoga - The Gurumukh Yoga Forum". www.gurmukhyoga.com. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
Further reading
- Arambula, P; Peper, E; Kawakami, M; Gibney, KH (2001). "The Physiological Correlates of Kundalini Yoga Meditation: A Study of a Yoga Master". Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 26 (2): 147–53. S2CID 18448634.
- Cromie, William J. (2002) Research: Meditation Changes Temperatures: Mind Controls Body in Extreme Experiments. Harvard University Gazette, 18 April 2002.
- Eastman, David T. "Kundalini Demystified", Yoga Journal, September 1985, pp. 7–43, California Yoga Teachers Association.
- Laue, Thorsten: Tantra im Westen. Eine religionswissenschaftliche Studie über „Weißes Tantra Yoga“, „Kundalini Yoga“ und „Sikh Dharma“ in Yogi Bhajans „Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization“ (3HO) unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der „3H Organisation Deutschland e. V.“, Münster: LIT, 2012, zugl.: Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 2011, ISBN 978-3-643-11447-1[in German]
- Laue, Thorsten: Kundalini Yoga, Yogi Tee und das Wassermannzeitalter. Bibliografische Einblicke in die Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization (3HO) des Yogi Bhajan. Tübingen: 2008. Online at "TOBIAS-lib - Zugang zum Dokument - Kundalini Yoga, Yogi Tee und das Wassermannzeitalter: Bibliografische Einblicke in die Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization (3HO) des Yogi Bhajan - Laue, Thorsten". Tobias-lib.ub.uni-tuebingen.de. 31 October 2008. Archived from the original on 10 June 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2011. [in German].
- Laue, Thorsten: Kundalini Yoga, Yogi Tee und das Wassermannzeitalter. Religionswissenschaftliche Einblicke in die Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization (3HO) des Yogi Bhajan, Münster: LIT, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8258-0140-3[in German].
- Narayan, R; Kamat, A; Khanolkar, M; Kamat, S; Desai, SR; Dhume, RA (October 1990). "Quantitative evaluation of muscle relaxation induced by Kundalini yoga with the help of EMG integrator". Indian J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 34 (4): 279–81. PMID 2100290.
- Peng, CK; Mietus, JE; Liu, Y; et al. (July 1999). "Exaggerated heart rate oscillations during two meditation techniques". Int. J. Cardiol. 70 (2): 101–7. PMID 10454297.
- Swami Sivananda, Kundalini Yoga (1935).
- Sivananda Radha Saraswati, Kundalini Yoga for the West (1979; 2nd ed. 1996)
- The Aquarian Teacher, KRI International Teacher Training in Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan, Kundalini Research Institute, 4th Edition, 2007.
- Turner, Robert P.; Lukoff, David; Barnhouse, Ruth Tiffany; Lu, Francis G. (1995). "Religious or Spiritual Problem. A Culturally Sensitive Diagnostic Category in the DSM-IV". Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 183 (7): 435–444. PMID 7623015.