I am a 39 year old Catholic who has been very active in my church. I have taught both the RCIA program as well as children's liturgy. For the last 2 years I have been experiencing a spiritual awakening (kundalini rising).

This has of course had me question every aspect of my life and faith, a few of which I would hope to discuss in this forum.

1. Why no mention of kundalini in the catechism? This is a huge, life changing, spiritual experience. I feel that the Catholic Church must address this in some way. Catholics shouldn't need to turn to hinduism, buddhism, yoga, and other philosphies (like Kaballah) to understand.

2. Gnostics claim that Jesus had esoteric teachings that he taught the original 12 behind closed doors. He had a public ministry and a private one. Could his provate teachings have been about kundalini and consciousness? Tjhis would certainly explain why they still did not understand him even after so much one on one interaction.

3. In the early church, the initiation period was 3 years. That's a very standard amount of time to experience an awakening. The last phase of initiation in the church (even today) is called purifcation and enlightenment which is a deeply introspective time. This jives very well with a spiritual awakening. Coincedance?

Hi solo. Good to hear from another kundalini Christian.

One response to the questions you ask is that k awakenings are not very common, even among people who have contemplative experiences. The Catechism deals more with doctrinal issues than spiritual transformation process, so that's why we don't find it there. It would be great if it were spelled out a little more clearly in our own mystical writers; you have to sort of read between the lines to find it.

I've read most of the gnostic literature and haven't run across anything about Jesus providing secret teachings to the Apostles. Can you provide a reference? The early Christians were quite open about Jesus sending the Holy Spirit, who worked signs and wonders and effected an amazing transformation of consciousness. Hard to top that!

I'd also like to hear more about that 3 year initiation process you mention. The Acts of the Apostles makes no mention; people hear the word, believe, and are seemingly baptized on the spot. Was this a particular community? It's not a bad idea, especially if the 3 years included mystagogia, the period after baptism.

Hi Phil.

Here are 2 gnostic website references.

http://www.gnosticjudas.com/gnostics.php

http://www.gnosticchristianity.com/frameset_CH1.htm

The 3 year initial initiation period is a "factoid" I got from our churches deacon. He and I taught RCIA together for 2 years. I will email him and see if he can't supply a reference.

Phil, take a look at the following website. It references the 3 year period that my deacon mentioned. The early church fathers also spoke of consciosness, a term I had never heard of until my awakwening. Very interesting. Below is an excerpt. Below that, the link.


Gregory of Nazianzen (c. 330-390) borrowed the idea of initiation when he defended the baptism of infants in danger of death, but recommended a delay for others.

It is better to be sanctified without consciousness than to die without the seal and initiation. . . . Concerning the rest, I advise this way, that after waiting three years, or a little shorter or longer space of time (for then they are able to hear and respond to something about the sacrament, and though they may understand less fully and exactly, they may still be initiated and instructed). Then they finally sanctify their souls and their bodies in the great sacrament of perfection.

http://www.paulturner.org/initiation.htm

Solo, thanks for all the links. The ones on gnosticism seem to take for granted some historical basis for the teachings they attribute to Jesus, and that's questionable. Many of those works came long after the canonical gospels were written, which do note that Jesus explained the parables to his disciples in private. That's hardly the same as him teaching consciousness-raising methods, however. The New Testament does emphasize a Christian "gnosis," but it's very different in many ways from the kind of mysticism the gnostics taught -- more incarnational, sacramental, and ecclesial. Check out 1 Cor. 2, where Paul goes on at some length about Christian gnosis, even stating in vs. 16 that "we have the mind of Christ." That's what the Holy Spirit does -- enables us to participate in God's own knowing and loving. Apostolic (orthodox) Christianity is by no means negligent in providing for a deep, mystical experience.

I wasn't familiar with St. Gregory's teaching on initiation, and have not studied the history of the church's practice in this regard. 3 years seems a long time to ask someone to wait to become baptized and receive the Sacraments, but I'm sure they're well-prepared if they do so. I just did a quick search and found this site. I don't think the catechumenate was widely observed in the Tridentine Church; that certainly wasn't my experience growing up.

Good information Phil.

I must say that the initiation practices of the early church seem superior to ours today.