I picked up A Chakra and Kundalini Workbook by John Mumford several months ago but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I was just wondering if any one out there is familiar with this book and if so what do you think about it
I thiink its better than most books out there. Other books tend to be full of errors. Mainly written by second/third etc hand information. Which of course can lead to problems.
I sort of got lost in this website after I started looking into it.
I was wondering if anyone here could give me some feedback on this site, if they have time to check it out. There's a lot of stuff there.
Weird thing is the Light Bulbs section. I had streetlights go out when I walked by for about 4 years and slowly stopped once I became involved in my current relationship, which I think helped "ground" me, without use of an actual grounding meditation. I was able to freak people out by telling them before we went out to watch the streetlights as we walk by. Inevitably, 1 or 2 lights would go out during my 7 minute walk to or from the subway while walking by/under them.
If this is part of Kundalini awakening and this can't be reversed, I am a tad bit concerned about such things as acting like a freak, contorting into poses and speaking in sanskrit while I'm at work or something. Not afraid or worrying, just concerned and wondering how likely such things are or what to do about it.
Also, I find it interesting that this website shows many aspects of Western Magick as dangers to be ignored rather than spirits to be entertained or sought.
Something else interesting that you just have to "trust" about Kundalini awakening... this person advises to ignore ghosts and voices because they are spirits feeding off your energy... but, that you can't fight Kundalini. This is interesting because an energy that invades your body and would contort you into bizarre yoga postures while chanting a dead language you don't know is what average people would see as "demon possession." You don't KNOW that this is really "God-Spirit" any more than you KNOW not to listen to voices or disembodied spirits. At least voices and disembodied spirits aren't taking over your body, right? Who knows? Maybe these voices and disembodied spirits are the very same ones that move in and take over your body.
Inadvertent releases of Kundalini energy can be VERY dangerous at times. But I don't think your's are.
Usually, if you have used Kundalini before, it is more of a "hello, one of your chakras is blocked here" kind of notice. I wouldn't worry about it while at work (as there isn't much you can really do without someone calling for a padded room), but when you get home, perhaps doing some chakra meditations and seeing if there is a block or not. It can also be caused by something causing you extreme stress, so you may want to look into that aspect through meditation or introspection as well.
I don't agree with the "Kundalini awakening" as this person describes. It may have happened for some, but generally, from my experience and others' experiences I have read about, something like that came about because they weren't entirely ready for it. I don't see that when you are awakened you will always start pulling a contortionist's act or start speaking in tongues. I don't see it as a "possession" type of energy, in the technical sense, though, either. It's more of a "joining" if that makes any sense.
[QUOTE=doh]Inadvertent releases of Kundalini energy can be VERY dangerous at times. But I don't think your's are.
Usually, if you have used Kundalini before, it is more of a "hello, one of your chakras is blocked here" kind of notice. I wouldn't worry about it while at work (as there isn't much you can really do without someone calling for a padded room), but when you get home, perhaps doing some chakra meditations and seeing if there is a block or not. It can also be caused by something causing you extreme stress, so you may want to look into that aspect through meditation or introspection as well.
I don't agree with the "Kundalini awakening" as this person describes. It may have happened for some, but generally, from my experience and others' experiences I have read about, something like that came about because they weren't entirely ready for it. I don't see that when you are awakened you will always start pulling a contortionist's act or start speaking in tongues. I don't see it as a "possession" type of energy, in the technical sense, though, either. It's more of a "joining" if that makes any sense.[/QUOTE]
I didn't mean to give the impression that the website made these extreme experiences seem standard. It was more of reluctant warnings about what could *possibly* happen.
Thanks for your input! Everytime I get the urge to research Kundalini, I read that bad experiences like this are rare, but I always take that with a grain of salt and concentrate on the warning. :lol: Mainly because I'm solo and plan on staying that way.
I'll trust that the spontaneous spastic stuff is rare, but what about the reset of this stuff? Is this all rare? I hope...
* Muscle twitches, cramps or spasms.
* Energy rushes or immense electricity circulating the body
* Itching, vibrating, prickling, tingling, stinging or crawling sensations
* Intense heat or cold
* Involuntary bodily movements (occur more often during meditation, rest or sleep): jerking, tremors, shaking; feeling an inner force pushing one into postures or moving one's body in unusual ways.* (May be misdiagnosed as epilepsy, restless legs syndrome, or PLMD
* Alterations in eating and sleeping patterns
* Episodes of extreme hyperactivity or, conversely, overwhelming fatigue
* Intensified or diminished sexual desires
* Headaches, pressures within the skull
* Racing heartbeat, pains in the chest
* Digestive system problems
* Numbness or pain in the limbs (particularly the left foot and leg)
* Pains and blockages anywhere; often in the back and neck
* Emotional outbursts; rapid mood shifts; seemingly unprovoked or excessive episodes of grief, fear, rage, depression
* Spontaneous vocalizations (including laughing and weeping) -- are as unintentional and uncontrollable as hiccoughs
* Hearing an inner sound or sounds, classically described as a flute, drum, waterfall, birds singing, bees buzzing but which may also sound like roaring, whooshing, or thunderous noises or like ringing in the ears.
* Mental confusion; difficulty concentrating
* Altered states of consciousness: heightened awareness; spontaneous trance states; mystical experiences (if the individual's prior belief system is too threatened by these, they can lead to bouts of psychosis or self-grandiosity)
* Heat, strange activity, and/or blissful sensations in the head, particularly in the crown area.
* Ecstasy, bliss and intervals of tremendous joy, love, peace and compassion
* Psychic experiences: extrasensory perception; out-of-body experiences; pastlife memories; astral travel; direct awareness of auras and chakras; contact with spirit guides through inner voices, dreams or visions; healing powers
* Increased creativity: new interests in self-expression and spiritual communication through music, art, poetry, etc.
* Intensified understanding and sensitivity: insight into one's own essence; deeper understanding of spiritual truths; exquisite awareness of one's environment (including "vibes" from others)
* Enlightenment experiences: direct Knowing of a more expansive reality; transcendent awareness
i have worked with kundalini before and i got a kundalini awaking..
i felt a huge amount of energi flooding within my body.. there was just one problem, my body wasn't ready for it.. so i experincet some of the sympthons you list above..
it happend about 4 years ago and i thinking to try working with it again, but i'm not sure
I think as long as you have kundalini awakening, you're "awoken," aren't you? Either that, or your kundalini is stuck where you last left it, I guess? There's supposedly no turning back.
One book I've had my eye on is "How To Meditate Using Chakras, Mantras and Breath" by Dennis Chernin published by the Himalayan Institute Press. It comes with 2 cds of 4 guided meditations that go through the 7 steps of meditation and seem to nicely compliment the book material.
Other than this, the only book I've found that looks remotely decent is "Wheels of Life," but I don't like the way it has New Aged up Kundalini Shakti and melded the west and east. Also, there are practically no in-depth meditations.
Any all-time classics I can't find that I could look into before I plunk down $30 on that first book I mentioned? (I'll peruse "Wheels of Life" a bit more at my local Barnes & Noble, but I think it's only good for theory which in this case looks a little convoluted).
Once you have one you can very much revert back but it will leave an indelible mark on yourself. It's like the alchemical process, if interrupted it must be started over again. I think many people are ignorant of the dangers of an all out kundalini experience. A full out awakening can be a very long, VERY intense, and VERY weird experience. Weird stuff does happen... when it happened to me I experienced much of the symptoms listed on that site. I was not aware of what was happening at the time and continued to practice magick as I saw fit. But when dealing with energy like this, one easily attracts all mannor of weirdness, especially if still doing magick work. Almost any half assed effort seems to infallibly work - for good or ill... whether one was developed to the point of doing X-thing before the awakening or not. This too fades I'm afraid. It also can go away if you are not ready for it.
That Layayoga book looks good, but I'm not so sure I want to start at the crown and move down, since that is probably the most dangerous approach. The Serpent Power looks good, too. Maybe I'll get that instead of this other rather slim volume I was thinking about.
I agree with Horus. If you don't use it, you will lose it and if you're not ready for it, it won't stick around.
But I would add that 99% of the symptoms they mention also apply to the "non-awakened" state. Problems with your chakras and such. They were, for me, usually what is telling you to look farther. I didn't get most of those problems, except the hyperactivity and feeling of a surge of power and a little shaking. I might now. It's been quite a while since I've done any Kundalini work, much to my embarrassment and dismay.
Doh, that's a really good point! I've had almost all of those symptoms before thanks to heavy LSD use about 10 years ago. But, now after all these years of experience, I've opened myself up to tons of new people in regular settings, I realize I'm totally normal, if not more "thinking" then your average shlub. Meditation, exercise, no drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc. has made me rather relaxed. I notice weird coincidence sometimes, but doesn't everyone? In my experience, yes they do. Maybe it's a New York thing (people are pretty free around these parts), but occult ideas are things that regular straightlaced professional people talk about everyday with ease. They don't contort and speak in tongues, but they'll tell you about a ghost they saw.
Anything else, like jitters or strange mood swings, I easily can attribute to stress which passes in a few hours or days depending on if I pay attention to the problem and fix it, rather than ignore it.
If you ask me, panic attacks and other average disorders treated with Prozac these days sound a lot like those Kundalini symptoms... and I don't have those kinds of problems.
Quite a number of teachers warn about teh dangers of untrained kundalini awakening. The Tengu has mention Glenn Morrison's book. I have read it it. He does breifly talk about it. Another book I would recomend is "Kundalini" by Gopi Krishna (sp?)
Theres a few other books that give warnings but I cant remember off the top of my head right now.
(Another thing one should do is to make sure their vertibrae (sp?) are align properly. You might want to check with a chiropractor. Teh energy can get locked if the alighnment is correct.)
I personally had some bad experience with some chi kung on another thread (use the search feature to find it).
*Its usually safer if you get a good techer who can guide you properly or if a problem does occur.
[QUOTE=Jenfucius]
I personally had some bad experience with some chi kung on another thread (use the search feature to find it).
[/QUOTE]
"Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms." the only post that showed up when I search chi kung by Jenfucius was this one. I tried Qigong, Chigong, chikung and chigong just to be sure but nothing.
Yeah, the very first book I bought about Kundalini warned about it, so I gave up the idea, not wanting to risk it. Since Mr. Gordo mentioned it in relation to Qigong, I have gotten more interested in learning about it for some reason. (Nothing bad is happening, just got curious and wanted to be prepared just in case).
The website I linked kind of frowns on Gopi's books because he warns too much (according to them) and he is paranoid about it because he forced Kundalini awakening due to improper overexercise (according to them). I just have one book by Swami someone and another Yoga book that briefly mentions Kundalini, the nadis, Chakras. breathing and meditation, without getting into dangers of it. It's mostly just an asana book, but it covers diet and everything, too.
Thanks, Mr. Gordo. I'm going to check out those sites over the weekend. I'm still not into the instructor thing. I'm just not into paying $70 and experiencing personal growth under the scrutiny of a stranger or group of strangers. Do you know any good books on Kundalini and chakra meditation?
I'm not very knowledgable on the kundalini tradition, however I do have the book "A Chakra and Kundalini Workbook" by Dr. John Mumford. I used one of his exercises to assist me with my insomnia, and it worked wonders. As for the rest of the exercises, I did not continue (only because I bought it for my insomnia! :-D ) There were some reviews on amazon saying he showed too much that could be dangerous for a novice, but he really is a genuine kriya yoga practitioner. His Magical Tattwa Cards cards are supposed to be incredible for beginners to start with.
You know I'm pretty much a control freak when it comes to active meditation, but I really respect the work done by Mumford.
I was told this is a hidden gem that few know about regarding kundalini yoga. The author, Norman Paulsen gives an extremely powerful active meditation in this book:
Here's the thing, ignore his obvious Christian slant in the book....the active meditation is authentic in the tradition of Yogananda....he was one of his top students.
I'm not very knowledgable on the kundalini tradition, however I do have the book "A Chakra and Kundalini Workbook" by Dr. John Mumford...You know I'm pretty much a control freak when it comes to active meditation, but I really respect the work done by Mumford.[/QUOTE]
Wow, that's cool. I looked at this book in the store and saw pictures of a man piercing his tongue and the people just looked like crazy drug-crazed hippies... something about it felt a little "wrong" and so I put it back. It just felt like "black magicky" for some reason. It's cool to hear you recommend it. I'll go back and give it another look over. From the Amazon.com reviews, I like the idea that it's not about yoga poses, but meditation on chakra centers.
