quote:

Originally posted by MaryAnn:
Right now not so much. I've tried various things including gluten-free, minimal caffeine, low sugar, etc.

Any suggestions?

No, it's just that some of the symptoms you describe could be caused by a deficiency of nutrients such as iron or vitamin B12. But if you're eating a standard American diet, it's virtually impossible to develop such a deficiency.

quote:

Originally posted by Mt:
then you'll have to read Washburn for both of us

I'll start a new thread.

Thank you MaryAnn and Pamela for sharing more about your experiences. You've both been through a lot, with a few similar twists and turns in the road.

One reasons I've made a distinction between kundalini and the Holy Spirit is that the HS is always loving and gentle, while the K process seems to be more impersonal, and can often feel very raw and painful. The HS and k processes can work in concert, but they are not the same. So in my own life, I've come to consider k stuff to be something of a "condition" that I have to live with -- not a pathology, mind you, but something I just can't take for granted, and that I have to treat with a certain respect (sort of like hormones, or allergies, but in its own unique way). So when the k stuff gets rough, I no longer consider it to be about God, but usually about some lifestyle issue -- stress, diet, and things like that. It sounds like you both have considerable lifestyle issues to cope with these days, and so you're bumping into k process quite a bit, and not always pleasantly.

It really helps to surrender the k process to God. It's part of God's creation, and so God can help us to learn from it and cope with it. On the whole, I believe it to be very good, with many wonderful gifts if we approach it the right way. But we do have to respect it, for our ordinary Ego powers are no match for its deep intensity and movements. Unconditional love and acceptance of oneself is imperative; the energy balances out nicely if we can hold to that perspective. And, of course, God wants this for us as well. Gentleness and respect for self . . . these attitudes are essential. That's good for anyone, k or not, but it's especially important for those who have k process and experience "instant karma" for every thought and desire.

Phil,
I appreciate your comments.
You have a wise and generous spirit.

You're welcome MaryAnn. I hope you're finding the exchanges here to be helpful.

quote:

Originally posted by Phil:
You're welcome MaryAnn. I hope you're finding the exchanges here to be helpful.

Phil,

Thanks. Yes. Derek had mentioned Tara Springett, so it got me started a couple days ago reading posts in the archives. You all have been in conversation for a long time and have covered many topics.

I guess the main thing was that I felt a deep need to communicate with another Christian who has gone through the k process (and not just someone new to it). Most of the people I have met who know about K, seem to associate it with sexual energy, a spirituality initiated by drug experimentation, or the human potential movement with their intellectual/psychological approach. Having a simple love of God makes a person an outlier among outliers.

Hi Phil, Your approach resonates well with me. I prefer to focus on God more so than kundalini. Was thinking perhaps I should be more 'proactive' but it appears that keeping the soil fertile by healthy physical, mental and spiritual lifestyle and then surrendering to God's way is best.
Have begun reading St Johns Dark Night and wow! Who would have guessed this could be so relevant and helpful right now. What I've been attributing to a brain injury is so close to what he describes in the dark night of the sense, the arridity and the fear that God has abandoned me and the lack of worldly pleasure and spiritual pleasure. It just brought me to tears.
I understand now what you are referring to as your contemplative stage. All that I seem to want to really do lately is walk or sit by the ocean. Meditation and prayer are dry. I'll go to some yoga classes where I'm comfortable being passively led and listening to gong vibrations when available.
I'm just so grateful for always being guided to what I need. Thank you for sharing your experiences and for your ministry. Blessings, Pam

Hi MaryAnn, We just posted around the same time. Love your comment: "an outlier among outliers". Sometimes I feel I could be leaving the human race so really have an appreciation for that

Hi Pamela,

Nice connecting with you. Maybe you could share a passage from St John of the Cross that especially resonates with you. (Maybe then I won't find him to be so unapproachable.)

A number of years ago, I read books by St. Teresa of Avila and an excellent biography about her. When I was in a high school history class, I saw an image of the Bernini statue and felt an immediate connection w/St. Teresa. In college during an abroad program, we visited a room in Avila where they said she and John had many conversations (her cell/room--could this be possible?). And when I visited Rome, I made a point to see the Bernini statue. But I've never felt drawn to St. John of the Cross.

Also, I don't know if you have searched in the archives here, but I have read some interesting threads re: kundalini (esp comments by Phil and Tara). Tara Springett's 5-Min Miracle (cheesy title chosen by publisher) looks promising.

quote:

I guess the main thing was that I felt a deep need to communicate with another Christian who has gone through the k process (and not just someone new to it).

They are out there, MaryAnn, though the process is usually not well understood in Christian circles. Most Christian spiritual directors would probably advise someone with K awakening to tone down their prayer for awhile, and let things settle down. Not bad advice, really. But the bottom line is that this is not a common experience, not even among yoga practitioners, and so pastoral guidance on how to understand/integrate k awakening is hard to find in Christianity.

I had a close friend (Jim Arraj) who was a theologian who had also studied Eastern mysticism and Jungian psychology. He wrote a piece on kundalini and theology that I've published on the forum.
- see https://shalomplace.org/eve/for.../25010765/m/87210765 and skip down to the section on "Kundalini as an integral form of enlightenment" if you don't want to read all the background reflection. It's one way that Christians might understand K process, and it has deeply resonated with my own experience.

Hi MaryAnn,

quote:

Maybe you could share a passage from St John of the Cross that especially resonates with you.

"...What they must do is merely to leave the soul free and disencumbered and at rest from all knowledge and thought, troubling not themselves, in that state, about what they shall think or meditate upon, but contenting themselves with merely a peaceful and loving attentiveness toward God, and in being without anxiety, without the ability and without desire to have experience of Him or to perceive Him."

I'm sure this is not the book I would have chosen, but was led to it for the needed reassurance that the dryness of my path currently is part of the process of returning to God.

I loved the earlier ecstatic experiences but as the Sufi's say, I was "hanging out in God's tavern". The heart led me away and into a place of no clear path for some years. The mind will tell me I'm being lazy and wasting the gifts I received but St. John's descriptions of spiritual pride etc. and some of the other pitfalls in the early stages ring true. It's now about "letting go and letting God", so to speak. I was attached to seeking the Bliss of spirit and kundalini and have experienced some grief in the realization that as I have grieved letting go of physical attachments so it also goes for spiritual attachments. I've come across other writers Paul Brunton is one, who suggest there is no going back to that ecstatic state

How amazing it must have been to visit that medieval cell of St. Theresa. I started to read Interior Castle but never stayed with it. Was led to St.John. But in the first pages of reading St. Theresa I had the same feeling I had last December when visiting a Mayan ruin:
A heartfelt sense of direct connection to these long passed humans rather than the experience being at distance and removed by time.

My path continually leads me to the edge of a precipice where I believe the need is to trust I will be held as I step off the edge. (In the physical realm I suffer from fear of heights as well) I've backed away from that edge each time and became quite involved in demands of the physical world. I think the comfort I receive from St. John is that all that is seemingly going wrong in the physical realm is actually part of God's plan and a gift bringing me to what I've asked for: Union with God. It's lovely to touch back to my Catholic roots and see that the goal there is the same as in Yoga (Union). Years ago I was told be careful what you ask for and now I see why that is so....

You and I share some similarities it appears. I studied Christian Science for a time, read Science and Health and took the two week course from a practitioner. The course didn't feel right but at the time I felt a lot of energy in Science and Health.

MaryAnn,

Here is a quote from Paul Brunton:

" The unfinished mystic who makes too much of his raptures or his darknesses alike, does so because he still identifies himself with his personal feelings-that is, with his Ego."

I came across Paul Brunton recently and found his writing helpful. He was an Englishman who traveled throughout India in the 1930's seeking a teacher. He landed eventually with Ramana Maharshi and was one of the first to introduce him to the West.

Hi Pamela and Phil,

Not having studied Thomistic thought (after a quick read of the section Phil suggested in his link), my impression is that this sort of thinking is more holistic and comprehensive than what is presented in popularized Hinduism and (IMO) Christian Science and other New Thoughts movements.

Maybe I'm wrong, but the T way seems to be like Pamela's St. John of the Cross quote which is agenda-less prayer to over time bring every aspect of being into resonance with God. Whereas, the others seem more like "we've opened the Cracker Jack, so where's the prize?"

But to be fair to CS, I never went deeply into it. For me, it felt like people were trying to stuff me into a small box. And the spirit-matter split is too confusing and I think short-sighted. That being said, I'm glad there is diversity and tolerance among religious philosophies. I'm not a big fan of burning times.

I like what a friend said, "If you take into consideration ALL of Christianity, then you have a tradition."

quote:

Originally posted by MaryAnn:
Hi Pamela,
Tara Springett's 5-Min Miracle (cheesy title chosen by publisher) looks promising.

Hi, MaryAnn, I've enjoyed all of Tara's books. She has another one, Enlightenment through the Path of Kundalini. It has a chapter on dealing with the challenges of a kundalini awakening. As I've mentioned before, Tara's basic idea is that distressing symptoms are caused by inner conflicts. I don't know if her book will help you or not. It's not specifically Christian, so you won't get to see k in a Christian context in the same way as you will from Phil.

quote:

Originally posted by Derek:
I've enjoyed all of Tara's books. She has another one, Enlightenment through the Path of Kundalini.

Wow, I just went and checked, and Tara has written two further books since I last looked:

• How to Find Your Soulmate (A NOVEL)
  
• Spiritual Joy: The Fastest Way to Reach Enlightenment