My new book on kundalini is now published and available for sale as a paperback or in digital format. A free PDF sample includes the introduction and first chapter.

See http://shalomplace.com/view/k-process.html for purchase options.

If you shared an experience or helped to preview but did not receive your PDF copy of the book, please contact me.

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Special gratitude goes out to participating members of this forum, who have shared so much through the years. You all come and go, but you know who you are and I do, too.

Hi I began to read Phillips book Kundalini Process a Christian perspective and am really impressed with the insight and the way Phil gets the dialogue going between East and West.
I have been doing Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan for about 11 years. I was born and raised a Christian and at the age of 19 went into a Seminary. I left after completing college and drifted from being a part of a church. I started going to an episcopal church about 20 years ago and about 12 years began meditating via pranayama.
My daily practice now includes some Kundalini Yoga meditation and Christian meditation.
I began to read Phillips book Kundalini Process a Christian perspective and am really impressed with the insight and the way Phil gets the dialogue going between East and West.
I appreciate your inclusion of ego as part of peoples interaction with self , world and God. I have had experience with ego bashing philosophies and theology and have had an instinctual rejection of them as being unnatural.
On page 18 you reference how higher consciousness resides on the human side of reality and is not the same as divine consciousness. Would you equate higher consciousness with your description of spirit level intensified pneuma , psyche level and organism level?
On page 5- and elsewhere you speak of the apex as the origin of the Kundalini from Jim Arraj’s philosophy. You do not specifically locate this in the root chakra? I have read the Kundalini begins in Chakra 1 and I also read it is located in chakra 3. Table 1 seems to suggest it is located more in the higher chakra’s . Could you clarify this?
On page 67 you state Kundalini is a more intensified form of bios and earlier you state it is dynamically oriented towards the Apex. In classical eastern philosophy Kundalini is activated and moves up the spine to the crown. This also suggests the Apex is the crown but the Kundalini being an intensified form of bios it would have its origin the lower chakra’s? You do not directly draw out any of these implications
In your book you also speak about Kundalini activation and problems that arise
Yogi Bajan and others who use meditations state that his meditations are safe suggesting that the problems you speak about do not occur when done with his meditations. I have experience some of the phenomena you describe but have not had any negative side effects
I am interested in your thoughts about my comments and questions.
I have also been reading your book God and I. I have been working through it via the exercises but it is taking time
I like the approach and the distinction between the Christ God self and the false self caught up in approval needs. It is unique and I have found it helpful.

Hi Tony, and welcome to the forum. I'm glad you find the book helpful, and your questions can help to clarify a few topics taken up in the book.

quote:

On page 18 you reference how higher consciousness resides on the human side of reality and is not the same as divine consciousness. Would you equate higher consciousness with your description of spirit level intensified pneuma , psyche level and organism level?

Yes, that would be a good way of putting it, though it seems some people experience higher consciousness sporadically without much energy going on. Sustaining higher consciousness does entail energetic reconfigurations.

quote:

Table 1 seems to suggest it is located more in the higher chakra’s . Could you clarify this?

That Table doesn't say anything about kundalini, but it does indicate a parallel between the Apex and the Yogic Causal Body. See the discussions of the Apex on p. 50 and 63 for more info.

quote:

On page 67 you state Kundalini is a more intensified form of bios and earlier you state it is dynamically oriented towards the Apex. In classical eastern philosophy Kundalini is activated and moves up the spine to the crown. This also suggests the Apex is the crown but the Kundalini being an intensified form of bios it would have its origin the lower chakra’s? You do not directly draw out any of these implications

Figure 4 associates the chakras with the three levels of human functioning, and so the higher chakras are more associated with spiritual consciousness. Of course, that is never completely separate from psychic and organismic functioning.
One way we might understand these chakras is as a way of indicating levels of consciousness. When one becomes more established in a higher chakra, the lower become more aligned in support of its functioning. When the consciousness associated with chakra 6/7 becomes more established, the bios produced by the body will need to be transformed to support the demands of this spiritual consciousness. Chakra 1 would be a good "zone" to locate the origins of bios production, and of its intensified flow upwards.

I'm glad to hear you're getting along with Yogi Bajan's meditations. I have a couple of his books but have never used his meditations. I remember one in particular that he claimed the early Christians did, and I doubt that to be the case, but I don't know where he got that info.

God and I is a good companion work to the kundalini book. I allude to k briefly in chapter 8 when writing about experiences in the Self-God zone of consciousness. We've been having a "spirited" discussion of the book on another thread.

thanks for the clarification.
They have a meditation called the christ meditation. I could find if you are interested. I read someplace in their literature that they believe Christ traveled through India in his earlier years and returned to the Middle East to begin his ministry. They say he learned the meditation and practiced it... I would have to check but they also state the Buddha practiced it as well.
the issue I have with this is Why would he not have talked about this practice In the New Testament there are only a few lines about how to pray. the lords prayer and others.
One would have thought meditative practices would have been suggested in some way....


I am going to browse through the forums. there is a lot there

Hi Tony,

I'm thinking that you're referring to Yogi Bhajan's group, and I've come across his teaching about Jesus in India. Other teachers from the East say the same, but there's little evidence for it. The Jesus we meet in the Gospels is thoroughly Jewish, and, as you note, there's no evidence in early Christian history of Jesus having taught any kind of yogic meditation techniques to his disciples.

People who teach about Jesus and India might really be sincere in their beliefs about this, but I suspect that some say this to lure Christians into their own religious perspective. There can also be a kind of mystical snobbery at work -- like advanced teachers could only come from India, and not from Judaism or other religions.

So you'll have to evaluate those kinds of practices on their own merits rather than in terms of any connection with Jesus. Let us know what you think.

I am very excited to read about a new book! I've been googling about info on Kundalini. It just reminded me to come here and ask! I had 4gotten, can u believe it? (Face palm).

Does Kundalini involve a kind of blissful heat in the heart, almost intoxicating, and sometimes in the ear? Mine shows us when I'm yielding my pride, either by praying or following my heart with simplicity. The only examples I've seen seem to refer to a phenomenon that could be mistaken for hot flashes.

The examples you give can be kundalini process, but also maybe energy stirred up in prayer or meditation.

Let us know what you think of the book.

Oh, is it available already? Where can I get it? Amazon?

Oops! Sorry! Just seen the link in the first post. I got the impression the book was being written now, I guess from the email asking for stories. Looking forward to reading it!

Dear Sir,
I am a Portuguese clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist, and a Kundalini Yoga (Hindu tradition) practitioner since 1988. Recently, some journals asked me to write some scientific articles about kundalini. I have books that mention kundalini in Hindu tantra, yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Chi Kung, martial arts, etc. I have tried to find kundalini references on Christianity but I have "crashed in a wall of silence". So I am very interested in understanding how you found this link between Chistianity and kundalini.

Welcome, Somar.

I have written two books on this topic, which you can find listed at the top of the kundalini forum index page.
https://shalomplace.org/eve/forums/a/frm/f/25010765

The Kundalini Process book has a short preview that you can examine immediately.

Basically, the connection between Christianity and kundalini is phenomenal moreso than mythical or through practice. Some Christians (especially contemplatives) have experiences that match up with characteristics of kundalini described in the literature. That's why I have used the term in reference to my own experiences, and have come across other Christians who have similar. An Appendix in the Process book describes the experiences of several.

I think what we are observing in kundalini is a shift in the flow of bios (chi, prana, etc.) in the body that accompanies a radical shift in consciousness to a more contemplative kind of awareness. Kundalini is the process that integrates and embodies this shift.

As I mentioned on Facebook the other day, beginning at 32’44” in this video, Pentecostal Bible teacher Derek Prince describes the day a fire in the belly began to ascend within him:

https://youtu.be/mB5H-umGaVc?t=32m44s

Thanks for pointing this out, Derek. I've read some of his works on deliverance ministry through the years, but it's been awhile.

I do note in my book a strong relationship between pentecostal spirituality and kundalini. It's certainly true in my own case that glossalalia both stirs up the energy and helps to integrates it. Also, when the energy flow is all out of balance, glossalalia helps to set it straight. I have quite a bit about that in one chapter.

Having said that, I'm not sure that what Prince is describing is kundalini arousal or awakening. There are all kinds of somatic energy phenomena that can arise in the spiritual life, which is not surprising, as everything that happens to us happens in the state of embodiment. Prince's fire in the belly and his experience with speaking in tongues could be understood in terms of the Spirit working to open the throat chakra. Maybe. Also, the kind of tongues he describes sounds more like xenoglossia rather than glossalalia, which isn't an actual language. But, who knows? I'm thinking he probably experienced the latter as well as he stayed close to pentecostal spirituality through the years.

If you search youtube for "kundalini pentecostalism" you'll come across some strange things and lots of strong opinions. Of course, few bother to try to understand what kundalini is, just assuming it's either the HS or the devil. Toronto blessing would be another phenomenon to look up. Jim Arraj had some good reflections on this.
- see https://www.innerexplorations....theomortext/lack.htm and scroll down to the section on Toronto Blessing.

If we consider kundalini to be a phenomenon arising from the unconscious -- a powerful activation of the self archetype, for example, then Arraj's explanations make a lot of sense.

If I'm understanding you correctly, you see kundalini as a fundamental feature of human nature. Like any other natural capacity -- the ability to think, for example -- it could be divinely inspired or it could be diabolically inspired. People who jump to the conclusion that k is the work of the devil are just as illogical as people who jump to the conclusion that k is the work of the Holy Spirit.

From Jim's thoughts on "The Toronto Blessing":

quote:

When Catholic Pentecostals, for example, are exposed to these things, do red flags go up in their minds? Or do they see them as perhaps extreme examples, but nonetheless still within a certain continuity with the phenomena that takes place within their own circles?

That, for me, is too subjective a criterion.

I much prefer the criterion of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), who somewhere, if I recall correctly, asks: "Do we see evidence of lives and characters changed for the better?"

quote:

If I'm understanding you correctly, you see kundalini as a fundamental feature of human nature. Like any other natural capacity -- the ability to think, for example -- it could be divinely inspired or it could be diabolically inspired. People who jump to the conclusion that k is the work of the devil are just as illogical as people who jump to the conclusion that k is the work of the Holy Spirit.

I go into quite a bit of discussion about this in the book, but, yes, that's the line of thinking.

Hi Philip, I just got your 2nd book on Kundalini - The Kundalini Process. Would it be any point buying your 1st book after reading the 2nd book? Or would you recommend that I read the 1st before the 2nd book?

What would be the differences between the two? Thanks.

PS: I do have some questions for you about Kundalini and Christianity but I thought of reading your book first before asking.