Kundalini for Beginners: The Shortest Path to Self-Realization

Ravindra Kumar, Ph.D. has studied the religions of the world and believes there is "a common thread woven through all of them." He wrote Kundalini for Beginners to explore this common thread and "to show that Kundalini or Sleeping Serpent Power is the common denominator in most cases of awakening, irrespective of the religion or faith of the aspirant." Kundalini was awakened for Dr. Kumar in 1987. Later he retired from a long career as a mathematics professor and devoted himself to spiritual research. He has lived and worked in dozens of countries. He's written several books and conducts workshops internationally. Dr. Kumar defines Kundalini as a form of energy residing in every human. For many people, it remains dormant. In a few, it awakens spontaneously. He says that "the awakening of Kundalini causes a transformation and transcendence in life." Kundalini that is awakened prematurely or incorrectly can be frightening, and in some cases, damaging. He explains how people need to prepare themselves for Kundalini, then details how people can work to arouse their sleeping serpents in a safe manner. He calls his technique the "Integral Path," which he says is "the shortest path to God." As Kundalini is awakened, it rises through the chakras, which are energy centers located along the length of the spine. Dr. Kumar describes what people should expect as Kundalini continues its upward climb from the base of the spine to the crown of the head, which for most people, is a 12-year journey. He also discusses the roles of psychic senses, free will, and reincarnation in the journey to self-realization. As Kundalini progresses, people experience what Dr. Kumar calls the "twin pillars of God," which are Light and Sound. These are experienced on an inner level. People also achieve an inner balance between masculine and feminine aspects, and between instinct and intellectual powers. People for whom Kundalini is fully awakened discover an ability to heal themselves and others. Kundalini for Beginners is a useful reference for all those interested in learning "how to activate and assist the rise of Kundalini, and channel this energy in transcendent ways."

This book was the "right fit" for me - I found more in it that correlates to my own personal beliefs and experience than ever found before. I thought he did a good job of giving an overview of K and showed how the power and phenomenon of the emerging Kundalini spirit is also found in Christianity, Judasism & other religious traditions. Easy to read, and I liked the way he pulled the basic common truths from these alternate traditions without getting bogged down into belaboring points where they diverge. I also liked his descriptions of the awakening process in general. So many religious/spiritual teachings are very long on peddling the "Great Truths" they have gathered, but rarely prepare one for the direct experience of God or offer support and guidance to those who find themselves in the throes of awakening.

The title of this book is a bit misleading. It is not a "how to" book. While it is intended as in introduction to the use of Kundalini energy for spiritual awakening, the book deals more with the philosophy underlying the "shortest path to God" than the techniques involved in achieving the transcendent state. The author explains that his purpose in writing the book is to show how common beliefs in most religions of the world have Kundalini energy as their common denominator even though this energy is given different names. It emanates below the base of the spine and then moves upwards through the chakras. Dr. Kumar, who experienced his Kundalini awakening in 1987, frequently calls on scholars, seekers, seers, sages, swamis, saints, and saviors to confirm or illustrate his points. These include Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, Mohammed, Joan of Arc, Swami Muktananda, Saint Hildegard, Lord Krishna, Mary Baker Eddy, Arthur Conan Doyle, Swami Ramakrishna, Grace Cooke, R. M. Bucke, Edgar Cayce, Deepak Chopra, John of the Cross, Saint Paul, Emmanuel Swedenborg, Carl Jung, and many others, even boxer George Foreman. As I was not really looking for a "how to" book, I was very pleased to find out the book was much more than that. It hit on all of the four "I's" for me -- interesting, informative, intriguing, and inspiring.

Kundalini for Beginners is a decent introduction to the Hindu worldview but lacks the necessary illustrations or even line-drawings. It's written with an awareness that most of its readers will not come from the Hindu world, and shows where and how these very different religious conceptualizations of reality converge.It focuses on the ultimate purpose of the work with Kundalini being self-actualization and healing -- both of the Self and others. This study is related to the study of Tarot and Cabbalah. As a teacher of Tarot from a Cabbalistic perspective, I have worked with a wide variety of meditation techniques, and I find the kundalini/chakra model very effective and definitely worth learning. The Chakras are laid out along the human body in a pattern very close to the pattern used by the classical Tree of Life Glyph. For more on that see my review of Israel Regardie's "The Tree of Life, an Illustrated Study in Magic" here on .... Kundalini is defined in this book as spiritual energy that rises through the seven Centers called Chakras. Activating each chakra up the spine in turn energizes different parts of a person.For example, Kundalini rises from the First Chakra at the root of the spine, to the Third which awakens an awareness of the paranormal where one gains first hand knowledge of the higher realms through out of body experiences or nightly dreams. Between the 6th and 7th chakras, Kundalini triggers a flowing toward perfect health. Going higher than that, people may become so absorbed with the inner realms they leave the material world behind for Self-realization. This state of mind that can be created by the practices that raise Kundalini allows one to see the similarities underlying all religions. And you don't have to be Hindi to do this. This little book would be a good place to start learning about it -- but I would definitely advise you to explore much more widely before embarking on any practice involving Kundalini. It can be very dangerous to your psychological health, or it can heal ills that as yet modern science can't even define.