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Western Interpretation

Kundalini is a popular concept that is is widely quoted among various disciplines of yoga and New Age beliefs. Stuart Sovatsky, a Yoga researcher, warns that the recent popularization of the term within new religious movements has not contributed to promote a mature understanding of the concept.

One of the first people to bring Kundalini to the West was Sir John Woodroffe (in his pen name Arthur Avalon), a High Court Judge in Calcutta. He became interested in Shaktism, a part of Hindu Tantra. His translation and commentary of 2 rare books was published as "The Serpent Power", now considered a classic. He invented the word "Serpent Power" as that was the closest to the concept of the Kundalini, which Hindus believe lies as a snake curved 3 and a half times at the base of the spine.

Two early western interpretations of Kundalini were supplied by C.W. Leadbeater (1847-1934), of the Theosophical Society, and psychologist Carl Jung (1875-1961). Jung's seminar on Kundalini yoga, presented to the Psychological Club in Zurich in 1932, has been widely regarded as a milestone in the psychological understanding of the symbolic transformations of inner peace, and of Eastern thought by the west. Kundalini yoga presented Jung with a model for the developmental phases of higher consciousness, and he interpreted its symbols in terms of the process of individuation.

A few western translators interpret the energetic phenomena as a form of psychic or paranormal energy, although the western parapsychological understanding of psychic energy, separated from its cultural-hermeneutic matrix, is probably not the same as the yogic understanding. Yogic philosophy understands this concept as a maturing energy that expresses the individual's soteriological longings. Viewed in a mythological context it is sometimes believed to be an aspect of Parvati, the goddess and consort of Shiva.

Some Western versions refer to "pranic awakening". Prana is interpreted as the vital, life-sustaining force in the body. Uplifted, or intensified life-energy is called pranotthana and is supposed to originate from an apparent reservoir of subtle bio-energy at the base of the spine. This energy is also interpreted as a vibrational phenomena that initiates a period, or a process of vibrational spiritual development.

According to Sovatsky, the concept of Kundalini comes from yogic philosophy of ancient India and refers to the mothering intelligence behind yogic awakening and spiritual maturation, where it is also known as Kundalini Shakti. It might be regarded by yogis as a sort of deity, hence the occasional capitalization of the term. Within a western frame of understanding it is often associated with the practice of contemplative or religious practices that might induce an altered state of consciousness, either brought about spontaneously or through yoga, psychedelic drugs, or a near-death experience.

Kundalini | Sources |Western interpretation | Kundalini Yoga | development | physiology