Awakening kundalini energy is the ultimate goal of many Eastern disciplines, including yoga, vedanta and tantra. It is a feeling associated with the spiritual advancement you can achieve after regularly meditating, praying or otherwise connecting with a deeper part of your consciousness, the SwamiJ website explains.
Definition
The word "kundalini" is a derivative of the Sanskrit word "kundal," Kurt Keutzer explains on his University of California-Berkeley website, and literally means to coil like a snake. It is meant to represent intense potential energy, such as that lying in a coiled spring. Kundalini is a source of creative, untapped energy that stems from your sacrum --- a bone at the bottom of the spine --- and is the foundation of all your chakras, or force centers. Thus, to awaken your kundalini is to tap into a higher power source.
History
The sacrum has been connected to sacred powers for centuries. The Sol Design explains that ancient Greeks gave it special attention during cremations, making sure it was burned last, and that the ancient Egyptians considered the sacrum to be a valuable asset and the seat of special powers. Throughout history, saints and sages from various backgrounds often considered those with awareness of kundalini's presence in the human body to be of the highest knowledge. In addition, many ancient pictures, including the Greek figure used to represent modern medicine, symbolize kundalini by depicting a serpent coiled around a staff.
Types
There are three manifestations of kundalini. Literature from Kashmir Shaivism describes the universal energy of para-kundalini, the body-mind consciousness of prana-kundalini and the connecting intermediary of shakti-kundalini, Keutzer notes. In addition, SwamiJ explains that the simplest way to understand the entire kundalini process is to break it into three stages: opening, awakening and arising to all seven chakras, ending with the crown.
Shiva and Shakti Energy
Kundalini relies on the relationship between shiva and shakti energy. According to SwamiJ, although separate, these energies cannot survive without each other. Whereas shiva energy is static and steady, shakti represents a dynamic flow of creative energy. This concept can be found in science, as well. Modern physicists could describe shiva and shakti energy as potential and kinetic energy, respectively.
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