Kundalini

In Man's base or root chakra lies a reservoir of etheric life energy, and under certain conditions this energy can be awakened, causing it to shoot through Man's spine upto the crown chakra. This happens when the two main nadi channels ida and pingala are balanced, and the chakras have been opened so this burst of energy can then happen through the central sushumna channel.

For a visualisation of the above, see oa Schema FMC00.463 below and other Schemas on Development of the chakras, combined with the further descriptions below, eg by Titus Burckhardt and James Morgan Pryce.

This is referred to as enlightenment, self-realization, illumination, and this experience of bliss is also called God consciousness or God experience.

The term Kundalini is used for both the life energy, as the process or experience.

The purpose of the many various systems of initiation is to attain this balance and God experience. In most systems this will follow naturally from disciplined practice of initiation exercises, such as Franz Bardon's IIH (re comments by Rawn Clark below). The balancing of the nadis stands central in the system of Kriya yoga, which is probably most well known today through teachings such as those by Yogananda and Sri M. However the principles may even be coded in the Book of Revelation, see James Morgan Pryce below.

Aspects

• The term Kundalini has become popular in new age writings through the book 'The Serpent Power' by John Woodroffe (or Arthur Avalon) in the context of 'kundalini awakening', where the term 'spontaneous kundalini awakening' may be used for all kinds of non-understood spiritual and bodily experiences.
• chakra between the solar plexus (third, Mars) and heart (fourth, Venus) chakras (see description by Shelly Trimmer on 'stopping time'), and drawing by Rudolf Steiner (Schema FMC00.326) where it is annotated as 'the source of kundalini fire' (see also Note [1] in the Discussion section)
• In the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and Helena Blavatsky:
  • Kundalini corresponds to the budhi or refined etheric body, a stage in the process of Man's transformation and spiritualization. It can mean both the etheric energy, as in kundalini fire and kundalini light (see 'Discussion area' below), as the corresponding life-spirit bodily principle. The latter, once achieved, requires a refined astral body transformed into spirit-self, and developed lotus flowers with corresponding clairvoyant faculties.
  • According to Blavatsky (see below), kundalini corresponds to budhi, and the awakening of kundalini is the result of the activation of buddhi which takes place in the heart. This awakening of spiritual consciousness in the heart leads to the opening of the third eye.
• related:
  • The above statements are to be combined with an understanding of the process of the Etherization of blood as part of the process of Man's transformation and spiritualization.

Inspirational quotes

Rudolf Steiner (in 1908-01-07-GA266/1)

When a person meditates, this awakens forces in and develops the hypophysis (pituitary gland), it begins to to shine brighter and brighter, sends forth rays, and gradually with its rays it encompasses the pineal gland lying in front of it, and stimulates it. This process organizes the organic formation of the astral body, from the chaos of feelings and sensations, into spirit-self or manas. When the pituitary gland causes golden threads to flow around the pineal gland, then the time has come when [the transformation of the astral body into spirit-self, into manas], has progressed far enough ... for the etheric body to be transformed into buddhi.

Illustrations

Schema FMC00.326 depicts a most relevant Rudolf Steiner notebook entry, see references below.

FMC00.463 shows the regular process of cosmic or fine breathing through the nadis or energy channels ida and pingala (see Schema FMC00.096), and through the reservoir of life energy in Man's base or root chakra (see also kundalini, eg Schema FMC00.353 on that page). Compare with the flow of the higher ethers ('life energy') on FMC00.015A on the Human breath page, showing how the organs and subsystems take up these energies as part of the fine breathing process. Diagram contents based on Shelly Trimmer.

The chandra chakra (moon) is also called 'mouth of God' and is like an antenna through which we draw in the life energy from the universe.

See also Etherization of blood for the two sun and moon chakras, (referenced by Rudolf Steiner through the pineal and pituitary glands), and The two etheric streams for the polarity of Moon and Sun influences.

Schema FMC00.353 is a study schema on Man's new organ, that positions the physiological process underlying the study of spiritual science and initiation exercises, through the use of the newly developing organ in the brain called the pituitary gland and the process working on the etheric and astral bodies.

Regarding the drawing with arrows on the lower left, see the quotes by Blavatsky who writes that (freely rephrased) "once kundalini is active in the heart, that power rises to the sixth region in the brain and the place between the eyes, this is the opening of the third eye".

Compare with Schema FMC00.044 on Etherization of blood.

Schema FMC00.354 is a meta study schema, using other schemas as infographics to show a broader scope and the relationship between related aspects. Not all schema or lecture references are given, these can be found on the various pages such as Etherization of blood, Ganganda Greida, and related pages. Central theme is the symbolism of the Holy Grail, with on the one hand the grail cup and the bloody lance, and on the other hand the pituitary and pineal gland. The diagram relates the physiological and spiritual processes taking place in Man, with the central role of the blood as the carrier of the Human 'I', and the human heart.

Schema FMC00.461 is taken from James Morgan Pryce's 'The apocalypse unsealed' (1910), and shows - on the left - the gnostic chart concealed in the Book of Revelation, with - on the right - the numbers of the names. On the right is depicted the pathway to the arousal of the kundalini force or dormant serpent power - see also description in reference extract on this page.

Whereas mostly all interpreters and commentaries of the Book of Revelation describe the contents as visions for the future evolution of mankind, Pryce discovered that the writer also embedded or hid a 'coded' manual for initiation and spiritual development, leading to enlightenment. The correspondences and deep esoteric knowledge appear to make an 'hinein-interpretierung' (fitting something to one's own interpretation) very unlikely to nearly impossible. Pryce's book thereby provides a unique complementary 'reading' of the contents, with well documented explanations and an extensive commentary. Note Rudolf Steiner pointed to the fact that the Book of Revelation is an inexhaustible source of ever deeper study which has not just one but several or many meanings (oa 1904-10-24-GA090A).

Lecture coverage and references

Helena Blavatsky

in 'The Voice of Silence'

Kundalini is called the 'serpentine' or the annular power on account on its spiral-like working or progress in the body of the ascetic developing the power in himself.

...

Let not thy 'Heaven-born', merged in the sea of maya, break from the Universal Parent (soul), but let the fiery power retire into the inmost chamber, the chamber of the heart and the abode of the World's Mother.

...

Then [once kundalini is active in the heart] from the heart that power shall rise into the sixth, the middle region, the place between thine eyes, when it becomes the breath of the One-Soul, the voice which filleth all, thy Master’s voice.

In a footnote on the second extract above, she adds:

The 'power' and 'world-mother' are names given to kundalini, one of the mystic yogi powers. It is Buddhi considered as an active instead of a passive principle (which it is generally, when regarded only as the vehicle, or casket of the supreme spirit atma). It is an electro-spiritual force, a creative power which when aroused into action can as easily kill as it can create.

Helena Blavatsky in 'Collected Writings Vol. XII' (1980 edition, p 694-697)

The heart is the centre of the spiritual consciousness, as the brain is the centre of intellectual consciousness. But this spiritual consciousness cannot be guided by a person, nor can its energy be directed by him, until he is completely united with buddhi-manas.

...

If the heart could, in its turn, become positive and impress the brain, the spiritual consciousness would reach the lower consciousness. . . This is the 'memory of the heart' and the capacity to impress it on the brain, so that it becomes part of its consciousness, is the 'opening of the third eye'.

...

There are seven cavities in the Brain. ...

The sixth cavity is the pineal gland, also hollow and empty during life; the granules are precipitated after death. The pineal gland corresponds with manas until it is touched by the vibrating light of kundalini, which proceeds from buddhi, and then it becomes buddhi-manas. ...

The fires are always playing round the pineal gland; but when kundalini illuminates them for a brief instant, the whole universe is seen.

1903-12-29-GA088

describes the fine thread that connects the astral body with the physical body, without using the language of the higher ethers.

what connects the astral body with the physical body and its organs, and what leads them back together again?

There exists a kind of band, a connection that is an in-between-matter be­tween astral and physical matter. This is called kundalini fire. If you observe a sleeping person, then you can always follow the astral body in astral space. There is a luminous band leading to where the astral body is. The location can always be found. When the astral body separates, then to the same extent the kundalini fire becomes thinner and thinner. It becomes an increasingly thin track; it becomes more and more a thin mist. Now when you look carefully at this kundalini fire you will see that it does not always have the same form. In some places it is brighter and thicker; those are the places that lead the astral back again to the physical body. The optic nerve is therefore connected to an astral nerve through a thicker kundalini fire.

... The astral body with its kundalini fire cannot be completely lifted out of the physical body. Should it happen that someone actually decides not to return, the kundalini fire would continually draw him back to the body. It is as if he still belonged to the physical body. Such a per­son would follow the track of the kundalini fire. When the life forces are not yet exhausted, it is very difficult to lift the astral body out of the physical body. It is very difficult when someone is attached to a physical body that he can no longer make use of.

In this sense the destiny of a suicide and that of an accident victim are not that very different from one another.

...

The physical body is permeated by the nervous system. Every nerve center is connected to an astral center; for example, the optic nerve is surrounded by, is enveloped by an astral optic nerve, by an astral substance belonging to the optic nerve.

1908-01-07-GA266/1

is also on the Human 'I' topic page

.

record A

When a soul begins to meditate this way

-         an organ in the physical body begins to develop: the mucous gland.

The mucous gland is

-         in an average person, an organ behind the pineal gland hardly as large as a cherry pit

-         However, it contains disproportionately powerful forces.

-         It regulates the proper composition of the body with respect to size.

When a [person] begins to work on him- or herself,

-         forces in the mucous gland are awakened.

The organic forma­tion of the astral body out of the chaos of feelings and sensations .. takes place from out of the mucous gland.

When the mucous gland causes golden threads to flow around the pineal gland,

then the time has come

when [the transformation of the astral body into spirit-self, into manas], has progressed far enough for the etheric body to be transformed into buddhi.

record B

And as our astral body is ordered and organized

-         it has a special effect on the mucous gland or brain hypophysis (a small organ hardly the size of a cherry pit, which is, to begin with, associated with the growth of the body)

Through such organization of the astral body

-         the mucous gland begins to shine brighter and brighter.

-         It sends forth rays

-         .. and grad­ually with its rays it encompasses the pineal gland lying in front of it and stimulates it.

As a result the effects spread to the astral body and begin to impress and reorganize it.

Rephrased from both records A and B:

When a person meditates, this awakens forces in and develops the hypophysis, it “begins to to shine brighter and brighter, sends forth rays, and gradually with its rays it encompasses the pineal gland lying in front of it, and stimulates it.”

This process organizes the organic formation of the astral body, from the chaos of feelings and sensations, into spirit-self or manas.

When the hypophysis causes golden threads to flow around the pineal gland,

then the time has come

when [the transformation of the astral body into spirit-self, into manas], has progressed far enough ... for the etheric body to be transformed into buddhi.

1908-07-04-GA266/1

The etheric body is loosened, lifted out of the physical body through the Christ Impulse.

The etheric body is permeated by the Holy Spirit through the Christ Impulse.

And the Holy Spirit - our higher 'I' - causes forces to stream to us from outside.

NB105

see Schema FMC00.326 above, has a transcript contained in GA267 (published in 1997, EN in 2014)

In the astral body itself we have to distinguish a second half: [see Schema FMC00.326] .. like the other pole in a magnet.

In Man the second astral body is feminine, in woman it is masculine, in other words: the astral body is hermaphrodite.

The kundalini fire is the activity stimulated in the second astral body, which is initially warmth and light.

As long as the kundalini fire is not stimulated, we feel our way between objects and beings of the higher world, as in the night between physical objects. Once the kundaline fire is present, we ourselves illumine these objects.

James Morgan Pryce in 'The apocalypse unsealed' (1910)

[pineal gland]

Of these [principal ganglia corresponding to the chakras] only the seventh, the conarium or pineal body, need be considered here with particularity. It is a small conical, dark-grey body situated in the brain immediately behind the extremity of the third ventricle, in a groove be­tween the nates, and above a cavity filled with sabulous matter composed of phosphate and of carbo­nate of lime. It is supposed by modern anatomists to be the vestige of an atrophied eye, and hence is termed by them "the unpaired eye." Though atro­phied physically, it is still the organ of spiritual vision when its higher function is restored by the vivifying force of the speirema, or paraklete, and it is therefore called esoterically 'the third eye', the eye of the seer.

[kundalini]

When through the action of man's spiritual will, whether by his conscious effort or unconsciously so far as his phrenic mind is concerned, the latent kundalini (speirema) , which in the Upanishads is poeti­cally said to lie coiled up like a slumbering serpent, is aroused to activity, it displaces the slow-moving nervous force or neuricity and becomes the agent of the telestic or perfecting work. As it passes from one ganglion to another its voltage is raised, the ganglia being like so many electric cells coupled for intensity; and moreover in each ganglion, or chakra, it liberates and partakes of the quality peculiar to that centre, and it is then said to "conquer" the chakra. In Sanskrit mystical literature very great stress is laid upon this "conquering of the chakras."

[Nadis or kundalini channels, pipes or tubes]

The currents of the kundalini, as also the channels they pursue, are called Weals, "pipes" or "tubes," and the three principal ones are:

• (1) sushumna, which passes from the terminus of the spinal cord to the top of the cranium, at a point termed the brahma-randra, or "door of Brahma" (in early Christian mysticism, thura Iesou, "door of lesous" ) ;
• (2) pingala, which corresponds to the right sympa­thetic; and
• (3) idd, which corresponds to the left sympathetic.

[Zodiac - twelve as seven (lunar) ‘breaths’ and five (solar) ‘winds’]

The force, as specialized in the gan­glionic system, becomes the seven tattvas, which in the Apocalypse are called the seven pneumata, "breaths," since they are differentiations of the Great Breath, the "World-Mother," symbolized by the moon.

Concurrent with these seven lunar forces are five solar forces pertaining to the cerebro­spinal system, called the five pranas, "vital airs," or "life-winds," which in the Apocalypse are termed "winds" (anemoi) .

The Apocalypse represents these twelve forces, the seven "breaths" and the five "winds," as corresponding to the twelve signs of the zodiac, of which, therefore, a brief description will here be appropriate.

[The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac]

The zodiac is a belt of the celestial sphere, about seventeen degrees in breadth, containing the twelve constellations which the sun traverses during the year in passing around the ecliptic. Within this zone are confined the apparent motions of the moon and major planets. The zodiacal circle was divided by the ancients into twelve equal portions called signs, which were designated by the names of the constellations then adjacent to them in.the following order: Aries, the Ram; Taurus, the Bull; Gemini,the Twins; Cancer, the Crab; Leo, the Lion; Virgo, the Virgin; Libra, the Balance; Scorpio, the Scor­pion; Sagittarius, the Bowman; Capricornus, the Goat; Aquarius, the Water-bearer; and Pisces, the Fishes.

Owing to the precession of the equinoxes, the signs of the ecliptic are now about one place ahead of the corresponding zodiacal constellations, which constitute the fixed zodiac. Aside from its astronomical utility, the scheme of the zodiac was employed to symbolize the relations between the macrocosm and the microcosm, each of the twelve signs being made to correspond to one of the twelve greater gods of the ancient pantheon and assigned as the "house" of one of the seven sacred planets; each sign, moreover, being said to govern a particu­lar portion of the human body, as shown in the familiar exoteric chart here reproduced.

[preparation - initiation exercises]

The foregoing covers the topics which must nec­essarily be referred to in elucidating the recondite meaning of the Apocalypse; but to convey a clearer conception of its practical and psychological appli­cation, further explanation will now be given of the action of the "serpent force" (speirema) in the telestic or perfective work.

This work has to be preceded by the most rigid purificatory discipline, which includes strict celibacy and abstemiousness, and it is possible only for the man or woman who has attained a very high state of mental and physi­cal purity. To the Man who is gross and sensual, or whose mind is sullied by evil thoughts or con­stricted by bigotry, the holy paraklete does not come; the unpurified person who rashly attempts to invade the adytum of his inner God can arouse only the lower psychic forces of his animal nature, forces which are cruelly destructive and never regenerative. The neophyte who has acquired the "purifying vir­tues" before entering upon the systematic course of introspective meditation by which the spiritual forces are awakened, must also as a necessary pre­liminary gain almost complete mastery of his thoughts, with the ability to focus his mind undeviatingly upon a single detached idea or abstract concept, excluding from the mental field all asso­ciated ideas and irrelevant notions. If successful in this mystic meditation, he eventually obtains the power of arousing the speirema, or paraklete, and can thereby at will enter into the state of manteia, the sacred trance of seership. The four mantic states are not psychic trances or somnambulic con­ditions; they pertain to the noetic, spiritual nature; and in every stage of the manteia complete con­sciousness and self-command are retained, whereas the psychic trances rarely transcend the animalistic phrenic nature, and are usually accompanied by un­consciousness or semi-consciousness.

Proficiency in the noetic contemplation, with the arousing of the speirema and the conquest of the life-centres, leads to knowledge of spiritual realities (the science of which constitutes the Gnosis) , and the acquirement of certain mystic powers, and it culminates in emancipation from physical existence through the "birth from above" when the deathless solar body has been fully formed. This telestic work requires the unremitting effort of many years, not in one life only but carried on through a series of incarnations until the final result is achieved. But almost in its initial stages the consciousness of the aspirant becomes disengaged from the mortal phrenic mind and centred in the immortal noetic mind, so that from incarnation to incarnation his memory carries over, more or less clearly according to the degree he has attained, the knowledge ac­quired; and with this unbroken memory and cer­tainty of knowledge he is in truth immortal even before his final liberation from the cycle of reincar­nation.

[arousing the kundalini serpent force]

In arousing the kundalini by conscious effort in meditation, the sushumna, though it is the all-im­portant force, is ignored, and the mind is concen­trated upon the two side-currents; for the sushumna can not be energized alone, and it does not start into activity until the Ida and the pingala have preceded it, forming a positive and a negative current along the spinal cord.

These two currents, on reaching the sixth chakra, situated back of the nasal pas­sages, radiate to the right and left, along the line of the eyebrows ; then the sushumna, starting at the base of the spinal cord, proceeds along the spinal marrow, its passage through each section thereof corresponding to a sympathetic ganglion being ac­companied by a violent shock, or rushing sensation, due to the accession of force—increased "voltage" —until it reaches the conarium, and thence passes outward through the brahmarandra, the three cur­rents thus forming a cross in the brain.

• In the ini­tial stage the seven psychic colors are seen, and
• when the sushumna impinges upon the brain there follows the lofty consciousness of the seer, whose mystic "third eye" now becomes, as it has been poetically expressed, "a window into space". [editor: see 'imagination']
• In the next stage, as the brain-centres are successively "raised from the dead" by the serpent-force, the seven "spiritual sounds" are heard in the tense and vibrant aura of the seer. [editor: see 'inspiration'
• In the succeeding stage, sight and hearing become blended into a single sense, by which colors are heard, and sounds are seen—or, to word it differently, color and sound be­come one, and are perceived by a sense that is neither sight nor hearing but both. Similarly, the psychic senses of taste and smell become unified; and next the two senses thus reduced from the four are merged in the interior, intimate sense of touch, which in turn vanishes into the epistemonic faculty. [editor: see 'intuition', the highest level of clairvoyance, see Stages of clairvoyance]

... This is the sacred trance called in Sanskrit samadhi, and in Greek manteia; and in the ancient literature of both these languages four such trances are spoken of. These stages of seership, however, are but the beginning of the telestic labor, the culmination of which is, as already explained, rebirth in the im­perishable solar body. As the Apocalypse [editor: Book of Revelation] has for its sole theme this spiritual rebirth, it should now be apparent why that book has ever been unintelli­gible to the conventional theologian, and has never yielded its secrets to the mere man of letters.

for another quote, see Twelve as seven and five#James Morgan Pryce in .27The apocalypse unsealed.27 .281910.29

Titus Burckhardt

also describes the process of Kundalini in 'Alchemy: science of the cosmos, science of the soul' (1960), describing the equivalences with alchemical terminology and processes:

When the immutable divine act,which governs the cos­mos, is symbolically represented by a motionless vertical axis, the 'course' of nature, in relation to it, is like a spiral, which winds itself around this axis, so that with each encirclement it realizes a new plane or degree of existence. This is the primordial symbol of the serpent or dragon, which winds itself round the axis of the tree of the world.

Almost all the symbols of nature proceed from the spiral or the circle. The rhythm of the successive 'unrollings' and 'rollings' of nature, of the alchemical solve et coagula is represented by the double spiral: whose form also lies at the basis of the zoomorphic representations of the Shakti. Also related to this is the representation of two serpents or dragons winding themselves in contrary directions round a staff or tree. These correspond to the two complementary phases of nature or the two funda­mental forces.

In lava yoga, a spiritual method belonging to the realm of tantrism, whose name signifies union (yoga) achieved through solution (laya), the awakening of the Shakti within the human microcosm is compared with the awakening of a serpent (kundalini), which until then had remained coiled up in the subtle centre known as muladhara.

According to a certain correspondence between the subtle and corporeal orders this centre is located at the lower end of the vertebral column. Kundalini is awakened by certain exercises in spiritual concentration, by means of which it gradually ascends, in spiral fashion, the spiritual axis of Man, bringing into play even wider and higher states of consciousness, until it finally restores the plenitude of consciousness in the supraformal spirit.

In this repre­sentation, which must not be conceived literally, but as a symbolical - though logical and consequential - descrip­tion of inward processes, one will again recognize the image of nature or Shakti twining round the world-axis. That the developing power should come 'from below' is in keeping with the fact that potency (potentia) - like materia prima - in its passivity represents the 'base' of the cosmos, and not the summit.

In the Hermetic tradition, universal nature in her latent condition is likewise represented as a coiled up reptile. This is the dragon uroboros which, curling into a circle, bites its own tail. Nature in her dynamic phase, on the other hand, is portrayed by means of the two serpents or dragons, which, in the form of the well-known model of the staff of Hermes or caduceus, wind themselves round an axis - that of the world or of man - in opposing directions. This duplication of the primordial serpent has also its counterpart in laya-yoga, for Kundalini is likewise divided into two subtle forces, Ida and Pingala, which in opposite directions wind themselves round Merudanda, the microcosmic prolonga­tion of the world-axis.

At the beginning of the spiritual work, the Shakti is present in this divided form, and only after the two forces are activated alternately by means of a form of concentration based on breathing, does Kundalini awake from its sleep and start to ascend. As soon as it has reached the highest threshold of I-consciousness, the two opposing forces become completely dissolved in it.

For alchemy the two forces represented as serpents or dragons are sulphur and quicksilver. Their macrocosmic prototype is the two phases - increasing and decreasing ­of the sun's annual course, separated from one another by the winter and summer solstices.

The connection between the tantric and alchemical symbolisms is obvious: of the two forces Pingala and Ida, which wind themselves round the Merudanda,

• the first [Pingala] is described as being hot and dry, characterized by the colour red, and, like alchemical Sulphur, compared with the sun.
• the second force, Ida, is regarded as being cold and humid, and in its silvery pallor is associated with the moon.

In his book On the Hieroglyphic Figures Nicolas Flamel writes of the mutual relationship of Sulphur and Quick­silver: . . . these are the two serpents which are fixed around the caduceus, or Staff of Mercury, and by means of which Mercury wields his great power and transforms himself as he wills.

See also: The two etheric streams and Alchemy

.

Manly P. Hall

Manly P. Hall is an author who seems to put or hide hints in his huge volume of work, and not always where one would look for them. In full chapters on Kundalini and Pineal Gland in 'Man: grand symbol of the mysteries' (1932) not much of great interest is said on this, but then for example in The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928), in 'The Hiramic Legend'

Sufficient similarity exists between the Masonic CHiram and the Kundalini of Hindu mysticism to warrant the assumption that CHiram may be considered a symbol also of the Spirit Fire moving through the sixth ventricle of the spinal column. The exact science of human regeneration is the Lost Key of Masonry, for when the Spirit Fire is lifted up through the thirty-three degrees, or segments of the spinal column, and enters into the domed chamber of the human skull, it finally passes into the pituitary body (Isis), where it invokes Ra (the pineal gland) and demands the Sacred Name.

Operative Masonry, in the fullest meaning of that term, signifies the process by which the Eye of Horus is opened. E. A. Wallis Budge has noted that in some of the papyri illustrating the entrance of the souls of the dead into the judgment hall of Osiris the deceased person has a pine cone attached to the crown of his head. The Greek mystics also carried a symbolic staff, the upper end being in the form of a pine cone, which was called the thyrsus of Bacchus.

In the human brain there is a tiny gland called the pineal body, which is the sacred eye of the ancients, and corresponds to the third eye of the Cyclops. Little is known concerning the function of the pineal body, which Descartes suggested (more wisely than he knew) might be the abode of the spirit of man. As its name signifies, the pineal gland is the sacred pine cone in Man - the eye single, which cannot be opened until CHiram (the Spirit Fire) is raised through the sacred seals which are called the Seven Churches in Asia.

which we can rewrite into a condensed statement (SWCC) to see the parallels with Blavatsky's statements:

when the Spirit Fire (which moves through the sixth ventricle of the spinal column) is lifted up through the thirty-three segments of the spinal column, and enters into the domed chamber of the human skull, it finally passes into the pituitary body (Isis), where it invokes Ra (the pineal gland) and demands the Sacred Name. Operative Masonry, in the fullest meaning of that term, signifies the process by which the Eye of Horus is opened.

Daskalos

in HTS on Kundalini experience – sacred fire and serpent (SWCC)

.. when the initiate advances further he enters into a state of ecstasy at which point the third eye chakra [disc in front of the eyes] plays hardly any role. It is the crown chakra [disc on top of the head] which takes over completely. In ecstasy a person becomes one with the divine, with the higher spheres. One experiences a form of clairvoyance.

Some mystics who, in such a state, perceive the divine and eternal light assume that the third eye chakra must be playing some role. That is not the case. Another clairvoyant who can see a person in a state of ecstasy notices that the sacred disc over the head [crown chakra] moves fast and beautifully while the movement of [third eye chakra or] the disc in front of the eyes slows down.

This happens as the entire energy from the center moves upward and this occurs when the sacred fire is awakened and, through the spine, rushes upward. After reaching the center in the brain it proceeds towards the lotus over the head, absorbing at the same time the surplus energy from the disc in front of the eyes. The extra energy results from the intense concentration that precedes the ecstatic rapture.

The state of ecstasy lasts only briefly and only while the present self-conscious personality in coordination and oneness with the permanent personality is focused on the higher spheres. There are more functions of these centers within the head that we will examine later.

The sacred fire is what the Indians call Kundalini. We sometimes call it the sacred serpent because it looks like a serpent. Its tail touches the sacred center of the sacrum right at the base of the spine. Like a serpent the sacred fire revolves upward around the spine in a sevenfold spiral and its luminosity energizes the genitals and, to an extent, via the bone marrow, all the organs of the body.

...

the Sacred Serpent has the color of dark red which symbolizes fire and heat. At the center of the sacrum is a great charge of energy controlled by the Holy Spirit and other entities or laws. In the orthodox religion the Sacred Fire is symbolized by the rotating fiery sword of archangel Michael, the master of fire.

Once the individual becomes master of the Kundalini, once he 'moves' the Serpent, he will be able to accomplish feats that appear miraculous or extraordinary from the perspective of ordinary consciousness. The myth of Hercules strangling the serpents is a cryptic symbol of this great truth.

Shelly Trimmer

in 1977-78, as quoted by Ray Grasse in 'An Infinity of Gods' (SWCC)

There is a chakra that exists between the third chakra and fourth chakras, between Mars and Venus. That chakra is the one which could be called the "all of you."

For instance, Christ had twelve disciples, and he himself was the thirteenth one; Hercules had twelve labors, but there was also Hercules himself, who was the thirteenth factor. That point is where your self-conscious awareness resides, and it's the sum total of you, it's the all of your parts of your horoscope, and the center of your awareness.

You are moving from the third chakra to the fourth, and now you are somewhat aware of more things than are just upon the Earth. Right now your awareness is controlled by the lower three chakras - Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars - so you have very little awareness of the others above that, symbolized by Mercury, Sun, and the Moon.

But when you do get higher and closer in your meditation towards the heart chakra, at some point it's like shutting off the five sensory centers, like pulling the cords out of a telephone switchboard. And then you are no longer functioning with Earth's state of awareness at all.

But when you are going up through the Sushumnic channel of awareness (in the middle of the spine), and you go back down between the third and fourth chakra, you can pull out those cords and plug them back in by going up and down. ... and the last thing to go when you pull out the plugs is sound.

[stopping time, or removing yourself from the astral time experience]

And as you pull them out, things begin to stand dead still in the world. You begin to enter into zero time, where nothing is moving. A clock will stand still. Like I mentioned earlier, a child jumping rope will stand still. This whole world begins to freeze as you go up there.

Rawn Clark Q&A 2004-01-29

answers a question on IIH

Does Bardon's system (IIH) raise the Kundalini in the initiate, and if so at what stage?

It's not a matter of raising the Kundalini. It's a matter of the kundalini rising 'of its own accord' as a natural consequence of the initiate's mago-mystical advancement. When initiation is 'balanced', the chakras unfold and the kundalini rises without any ill effects. This is because in a balanced Hermetic initiation, the kundalini and the chakra system are not forced. In fact, they are not focused upon at all.

The chakras are reflective of the initiate's inner state of maturity. They flower 'of their own accord' when the initiate reaches the stage of maturity to which they correspond. The kundalini force 'of its own accord' naturally rises to fill the flowering chakra. When this natural process is left to its own wisdom, instead of being interfered with and forced before its time, there are no ill effects. Instead, it is empowering and immediately carries the initiate forward.

Ill effects on the other hand, are experienced 'because' the individual has not reached the stage of maturity which naturally unfolds the chakras and the kundalini. In such a case, the kundalini meets resistance in the form of "impurities" (i.e., a lack of maturity) and, as is its nature when faced with this sort of resistance, the kundalini burns away at the impurities and at the surrounding area in the individual's emotional energy structure. From an Hermetic perspective this is ultimately destructive because, even if the 'energetic manifestation' of those blocking impurities are effectively burned away, the level of maturity remains relatively unchanged and those *energetic* impurities inevitably re-manifest.

There are very complex eastern methods by which one can safely work 'with' the kundalini, but, contrary to what most westerners surmise, they involve intensive focus upon one's level of maturity and its growth. In other words, these methods involve a great deal more than just trying to move the kundalini. Really, they are about using the kundalini (very carefully and precisely) to encourage one's maturation -- the goal being 'maturation' and not the mere movement of the kundalini.

Bardon's IIH system sidesteps all of these issues by focusing upon developing the initiate's mago-mystical maturity directly. In Bardon's system, the kundalini is left in nature's hands and its rate of rising is left to nature's wisdom based upon the initiate's own rate of maturation.

When someone is suffering the discomforting consequences of having forced their chakras open and their kundalini to rise unnaturally, the remedy is to focus upon the work of character transformation. Only in this way is the individual's level of maturity raised to par with their unnaturally elevated or active kundalini.

Discussion

[1] - Commentary on Schema FMC00.326

First please take a closer look (enlarge by clicking a few times) at Schema FMC00.326 above.

1/ The transcript of this drawing in the English volume of GA267 is not complete. The original text in German, though some words are hardly readable, also says that the Kundalini fire contains two streams:

• one stream from 4, 6 and 10 petalled lotus flowers up to the heart
• another stream from the heart

.. and between the two lies something that is also not part of the transcript. At the height of the heart chakra, behind it, lies what is annotated as 'here lies the source to the kundalini fire'. As if an extra chakra (maybe related with what is sometimes mentioned as the fifth chamber of the heart).

Read about this the quote by Shelly Trimmer on this page:

There is a chakra that exists between the third chakra and fourth chakras, between Mars and Venus. That chakra is the one which could be called the "all of you." For instance, Christ had twelve disciples, and he himself was the thirteenth one. ... That point is where your self-conscious awareness resides, and it's the sum total of you, it's the all of your parts of your horoscope, and the center of your awareness.

Note

Not much information can be found, but some sources describe the 'secret' hrit chakra or sacred heart.

An extensive scholarly coverage of ancient eastern sources can be found in 'Laya Yoga: the definitive guide to the chakras and kundalini' by Shyam Sundar Goswamni, from on p 212 onwards. From the conclusion (p 216-217):

• The hrit chakra, though not included in the six-chakra group, is the fourth chakra, it is situated in the heart region above the manipura (navel) and just below the anahata (which is also in the heart region). The hrit chakra is in fact part of the anahata, forming its inferior aspect, but should be considered as an individual chakra.

• The hrit chakra lies in the chitrini which is within the sushumna, within the vertebral column. It is that part of the vertebral column which corresponds to the heart region.
• The hrit chakra is mostly described as having eight petals, and lying with its face downwards (and is then closely connected with the anahata)

...

and from one source 'it has been stated that Atman is within the golden lotus' .. which is eight-petalled.

2/ The drawing sketches that the auric egg or the Human aura of the Human astral body consists of two parts, like poles of a magnet.

The kundalini fire is the activity stimulated in the second astral body, which is initially warmth and light.

The drawing does not directly correspond to FMC00.134 on Human astral body, which was however made from a description that could also be drawn in the same way.

Regarding 'warmth and light' also see also Schema FMC00.051 on The two etheric streams

3/ Regarding Schema .. and the illumination of the pineal gland, the Blavatsky quote below

The pineal gland corresponds with manas until it is touched by the vibrating light of kundalini, which proceeds from buddhi, and then it becomes buddhi-manas. ... The fires are always playing round the pineal gland; but when kundalini illuminates them for a brief instant, the whole universe is seen.

[2] - Links regarding the third eye and pituitary gland

• See 1905-05-05-GA266 on Christ Module 15 - Study of Spiritual Science and the Mystery of Golgotha, it points to the development of a new organ for spiritual science to affect the etheric body in the Michael age. An organ newly developed in Man's brain by archangel Gabriel. The organ will deteriorate and degenerate when not used.
• See also 1908-08-09-GA266 on Ahrimanic influence on Man also states that when Man does not stimulate the newly acquired organ, that degenerates and Man falls prey to Mammon (or Ahriman).
• this can be coupled to what is described under Commentary [1] in the Discussion area on Contemporary worldview war

[3] - The process of illumination

This is yet another trail to make clear the insight that comes from connecting a number of elements or threads, it may therefore well overlap with ao [1] above or other pages.

The goal is to gain an understanding of what is meant by Christ Impulse, by developing insight about a reality described in different languages from different perspectives. The first three sections (3.1 to 3.3) are an introduction based on what is above on this page already, the main section 3.4 is where more links are offered.

3.1 - Esoteric Christianity terminology

See the lecture extract of 1908-05-31-GA103 on: Q00.007 - How to understand 'the ether body draws out of the cosmic I'. Please read it there first.

This describes how, when purified astral body (also called 'virgin Sophia'), the result of initiation exercices (such as meditation and concentration) can, at a certain moment, 'encounter' or 'be approached' by a 'power which in esoteric Christianity is called the Holy Spirit'. Specifically the process is described as 'surrounded by light, by spiritual light'

When the Virgin Sophia encounters the Cosmic Universal I which causes illumination, the pupil is surrounded by light, spiritual light. This second power that approaches the Virgin Sophia, is called in esoteric Christianity, the 'Holy Spirit.

Another extract from an esoteric lesson on 1908-07-04-GA266/1

The etheric body is loosened, lifted out of the physical body through the Christ Impulse. The etheric body is permeated by the Holy Spirit through the Christ Impulse. And the Holy Spirit - our higher 'I' - causes forces to stream to us from outside.

Also it is described in the first lecture that once the Holy Spirit descends, that one speaks in another way .. one speaks the truth at a level above voices of opinions or languages.

Other lectures describe this in another way, as clairvoyant capabilities and seeing Christ in the etheric.

3.2 - Theosophical terminology

The references on this page by Blavatsky describe the same process 'from manas to budhi', that is: the moment when the spark crosses over and the life-spirit principle in Man starts to be activated and developed consciously (currently Man is working the spirit-self manas bodily principle).

According to Blavatsky, kundalini corresponds to budhi, and the awakening of kundalini is the result of the activation of buddhi which takes place in the heart, and this awakening of spiritual consciousness in the heart leads to the opening of the third eye. The link with clairvoyant capabilities is explained. Again to quote Blavatsky quote

The pineal gland corresponds with manas until it is touched by the vibrating light of kundalini, which proceeds from buddhi, and then it becomes buddhi-manas. ... The fires are always playing round the pineal gland; but when kundalini illuminates them for a brief instant, the whole universe is seen.

and what preceedes this, is the quote that refers to what Steiner describes as the Etherization of blood, the process between the heart and brain.

Then [,once kundalini is active in the heart, then] from the heart that power shall rise into the sixth [chakra, in] the middle region,[in] the place between thine eyes, when it becomes the breath of the One-Soul, the voice which filleth all, thy Master’s voice.

3.3 - Rudolf Steiner's more physiological descriptions

There are two eye-opening quotes:

• The second sentence in the quote from the esoteric lesson 1908-01-07-GA266/1

When a person meditates, this awakens forces in and develops the pituitary gland, it begins to to shine brighter and brighter, sends forth rays, and gradually with its rays it encompasses the pineal gland lying in front of it, and stimulates it. This process organizes the organic formation of the astral body, from the chaos of feelings and sensations, into spirit-self or manas. When the pituitary gland causes golden threads to flow around the pineal gland, then the time has come when [the transformation of the astral body into spirit-self, into manas], has progressed far enough ... for the etheric body to be transformed into buddhi.

• the information in Schema FMC00.326 explained above, points to the process by which all this happens. It describes two etheric-astral streams that meet up in the heart.

Kundalini fire contains two streams:

• one stream from 4, 6 and 10 petalled lotus flowers up to the heart
• another stream from the heart

Then the drawing sketching the human aura shows two parts, and reads

The kundalini fire is the activity stimulated in the second astral body, which is initially warmth and light.

3.4 - Putting things together

Consider some pieces of a puzzle. At first one doesn't see the image they contain. They have to be put together. In a certain way. And one or two pieces may be missing for the image to appear and be completed.

This is also the process that is followed here. The aim being to convey an 'insight', by letting the image appear as you have done the soul work as part of this study and meditation and contemplating, feeling yourself into the contents or information offered.

So the last quote (in 3.3 above, about Schema FMC00.326) mentions 'two astral bodies' (see FMC00.134 on Human astral body), and 'warmth and light'.

Now see Schema FMC00.084 on Spectrum of elements and ethers. Warm and light ethers work on Earth. The two higher ethers left with the Separation of Sun in the Hyperborean epoch. (see 1909-09-21-GA114 on Christ Module 11 - A new physics#The fall and the blinders on).

The Christ brought back these higher ethers to Earth and with the MoG connected them to mankind by becoming the spirit of the Earth.

Here too, see Christ Module 11 - A new physics#The forces of the higher ethers and for background to that: Schema FMC00.090 on Christ Module 2 - Nature of the Christ being.

Now see the right part of Schema FMC00.051 on The two etheric streams. The warmth and light is one stream, the other stream from the Earth upwards are the chemical and life ethers. This page explains the process of materialization (from etheric astral streams), in other words: what is underlying the world of maya we perceive, our physical body, our heart, etc. The opposite of this is the etherization, the working of the lower bodies into the higher spiritual bodies. In the future Man will leave his lower bodies behind and become a spiritual being again.

Now go to the Etherization of blood page, and what is mentioned as 'key paragraph' in the 1910-10-01-GA130 lecture extract. A 'pointer' has been added to facilitate the ease of reference of this important key: FMCR00.001 for CI-EB, Christ Impulse and Etherization of Blood).

This section explains that the Christ works through the higher ethers and combines with the regular processes that are taking place, but now this stream of budhi, which corresponds - as a principle - to selfless love .. is flowing all the time, for all people on Earth. And these people have a seed in them, the life-spirit budhi principle, see Man's higher triad.

What is meant with 'not me, but the Christ in me'? The first 'me' is the lower self, the reflection we believe or take for our 'I'. The second is the true spiritual 'I'. And that seed we have inside is waiting to be fructified by the higher etheric streams that carry this divine impulse, so the seed can blossom and open up to a flower.

This fructification, like the sunlight that gently strokes the bud of the flower, is the 'subterranean' current of the Christ Impulse .. subterranean literally as it works from Earth, but also because Man is unconscious of it all, as it requires spiritual vision and understanding of the higher ethers to realize what is it all about.

On the image of the flower fructifcation, see: Schema FMC00.468

So what happened with the Mystery of Golgotha, see upper right (blue) picture on Schema FMC00.190

Now see Schema FMC00.190 in Epochs in Earth physical round. This picture also shows an included picture below, because it includes the deeper reasons underlying Schema FMC00.185 on that same page, which falls into place (but it would carry us too far here to go into this).

This is just one aspect regarding MoG, one can continue, with this subject there 'always more'. Again back to the two etheric streams. They meet in the heart. But there is not just the physical heart, also the etheric and astral heart. Consider the heart's two blood circuits, as in Schema FMC00.034 on The heart's two blood circuits. What do these two circuits carry? The lower one the metabolic system en what takes place, see Transmutation. The higher one contains all our thoughts and sense impressions, our soul work. Now read and study the Ganganda Greida page.

The link is made here with the holy grail, see eg Schema FMC00.116

Man breathes in his 'I' in terms of finer breathing of the higher ethers (see eg FMC00.015 on Human breath, and with that added to the above it becomes clear that "the Christ mystery is the revelation of the miracle that takes place between the heart and the lungs, and the secret of the MoG lives in Man between the heart and the lungs", for the original see RS 1925 quote on Between heart and brain

But why is there always this talking about the importance of the blood of Christ? one can also go into the true nature of the blood

• first to understand that Blood is a special fluid#Mineral blood fluid is Luciferic.2C the pure blood is spiritual
• how it contains the different kingdoms, and how Man's work with initation exercises and the spiritualization of the bodies starts with the I, see FMC00.285 on Blood is a special fluid

and this connects to statements on the blood of Francis of Assisi or Christ at the cross, Wagner's statements about the link between blood and suffering, and much more see eg Christ Module 4 - Mystery of the Blood

The above till does not explain many things, like .. why Christ Jesus had to become Man, or .. how to understand that the Earth began to shine and the astral atmosphere changed at the moment of the MoG. These two questions too can be answered in a way similar as above.

Related pages

• Human 'I'
• Etherization of blood
• Man's transformation and spiritualization
• Development of the chakras
• The two etheric streams

References and further reading

• Kundalini page on theosophy.wiki
• John Woodroffe or Arthur Avalon: 'The Serpent Power' (the secrets of tantric and shaktic yoga) (1918)
• Dietrich Boie: 'Das erste Auge: ein Bild des Zirbelorgans aus Naturwissenschaft, Anthroposophie, Geschichte und Medizin' (1968)