Kundalini yoga is particular path of yoga, which amongst other things can offer a seeker tremendous occult power. Kundalini yoga seeks to open up the different charkas or energy centers. If an aspirant is successful he will be able to have access to these yogic powers.
The first danger of awakening the Kundalini powers is that they can be easily misused. If we open our third eye it is possible to read others thoughts and have a glimpse into the future. However this power can be easily misused, we may start to look at what people are thinking about, rather than using it for divine purposes we will use it for our own egoist uses. If we do not have purity and genuine aspiration, gaining occult powers, may just give us a tremendous sense of pride. We would enjoy showing off to other people. By doing this we do not gain any divine qualities of peace and inner happiness. When we feed the ego we become proud and this can easily lead to our downfall.
With Kundalini powers we may get distracted from our most important task of self-realisation. Outer miracles and occult powers, which come from Kundalini yoga, do not help in anyway in our spiritual path of self-discovery. To achieve lasting peace, joy and inner happiness we need to conquer the ego and learn to communicate with God, our own soul. If we only desire occult powers it will slowdown and possibly hamper our spiritual growth. For a real spiritual Master who has realised the highest consciousness the Kundalini powers often come spontaneously. However they rarely use them outwardly because they know they have little capacity to effect the transformation of man’s nature. To inspire aspirants to pursue a more spiritual life what is needed is inner spiritual realisation and not outer shows of miraculous powers.
As Sri Chinmoy says:
“Even if we use Kundalini powers for the right purpose, we won’t be able to offer infinite Peace, infinite Bliss, infinite Light that way. No matter how many miracles we show, the person who sees them will be pleased for only five minutes and then he will be jealous because he does not have this power.”
There is a danger in Kundalini yoga we will waste our time. There is a good traditional Indian story, which helps illustrate this point. There were 2 brothers who were practicing the spiritual life. One brother decided he would go away to practice severe austerities so he may be able to gain his Kundalini powers. After 12 years of intense practice he came back to his village. He wanted to show his brother his newly gained powers so he walked across the water on a river. His brother simply paid a boatman 1 rupee and joined his brother on the other side. On getting to the other bank the brother said. “Why have you wasted 12 years to do something which I can do for just 1 rupee.?” The other brother realised he had been foolish and not made any real spiritual progress in seeking after occult powers.
To practice kundalini yoga we need to have purity in our mind and vital. If we still cherish worldly thoughts and try to open up our energy centers it will cause tremendous confusion and our efforts will be wasted, as our energy will be directed downwards rather than upwards. If we really want to practice Kundalini yoga the best approach is to meditate and concentrate on the heart. It is in the heart where we will feel purity in abundant measure. Sri Chinmoy suggests:
“If you wish to follow the path of kundalini, my humble advice to you is to first try to awaken the heart center. The heart center is considerably pure. The vital or disturbing emotions will be purified by the opening of this center.”
We should also follow the path of Kundalini yoga under the guidance of a qualified spiritual teacher. When studying Kundalini yoga we should maintain an attitude of genuine sincerity and reverence.
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Richard is a meditation student of Sri Chinmoy who lives in Oxford and writes on spirituality and yoga. http://www.yogaofsrichinmoy.com/
