O.K. I had a lot of beautiful experiences. The rough stuff came many years later and I had to work it out on my own how to handle it. It was really spontaneous and not triggered directly by meditation but other events, but clearly related to all I had practiced in the past. It was as if a block had been dissolved, and all the dark was free to surface and flee. I never however thought of it as "kundalini" as that word never really had much impact on my thought processes as concerned what was happening. There was a point where it seemed I knew a few things others did not know, but fortunately that passed. It is hard to talk about unusual experiences, especially if the word "enlightenment" is involved, without being a kind of jerk. Sometimes I think there should be a rule -- wait ten years or so after a cool experience before you blab about it to give time to assimilate it properly and give perspective.
From: "'My Enlightenment Delusion' myenlightenmentdelus...@gmail.com [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2017 9:46 PM Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] My Enlightenment Delusion - new book To me, a kundalini crisis is an overwhelming mind-body experience caused by spiritual practices. Many spiritual movements speak of the kundalini energy center and its role in enlightenment. It is a fairly common conception that a huge burst of energy from the kundalini center can create an overwhelming experience akin to mania. I don’t think I ever heard Maharishi speak of kundalini, but I had conversations with other TM teachers about kundalini over the years. Here is a link to a transcript of Maharishi speaking about kundalini in 1968 http://institutespiritualsciences.org/blog_mmy/mmykundalini.php Here is an excerpt from my book:The most scientific description of kundalini crises that I have found is in the 1992 book, The Kundalini Experience by Lee Sannella, M.D. Sannella interviewed people who had come through kundalini crises. He came up with 4 categories of experience: motor, sensory, non-physiological, and interpretive. As motor phenomena, Sannella listed kriyas and unusual breathing patterns. Under sensory phenomena, he listed tickling sensations, heat and cold sensations, inner light, inner sounds, and pain in the eyes, head, spine, or elsewhere. Under non-physiological phenomena, Sannella listed out-of-body experiences and psychic perceptions.As interpretive phenomena, Sannella listed both positive and negative feelings that could be experienced with much greater intensity than usual such as ecstasy, love, cosmic harmony, fear and confusion. He stated that the thinking process could be speeded up or inhibited. The mental experience could be detachment, hysteria, a state akin to schizophrenia, or the delusion of having been divinely chosen.Here are my symptoms which match Sannella’s descriptions: ● When my kundalini crisis began, I had tingling all over my body. It felt like a continuous, small electric shock sensation which was pleasant and exciting. ● I had extreme feelings of joy and thankfulness that seemed to be related to my thoughts that I was enlightened. When I had delusions about achieving even higher states of consciousness, I would subsequently be so ecstatic and so thankful that I would start to cry. ● All of my feelings were experienced with greater intensity than usual. When I spoke, I spoke like a fire-brand preacher. My voice almost became raspy as if I had been yelling at a sporting event. ● I thought I had earned a special relationship with God and nature. From: Archer Angel archonan...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife] Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2017 2:36 PMTo: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] My Enlightenment Delusion - new book I am rather curious about this. What is a kundalini crisis? Some people do have trouble with TM's effects, everyone has a different nervous system, and some have problems, and the movement does not always handle these things well. Unlike some systems TM does not have any real qualifications for starting. For example to study Vedanta you might be required at the outset to have: - an open mind - a reasonable mind - a discriminating mind - a dispassionate mind - a disciplined, observant mind - a sense of self duty - forbearance, motivation, and devotion to the goal - a certain level of critical thinking but not overly critical - a temperament for overcoming obstacles - a proper teacher and good fortune to have and find these TM lets in all kinds of people with few restraints, but as a result a lot of crazies get by who are not prepared for what can happen. The path to enlightenment is not all bliss. It can get very very gritty. I think a lot of people get in who have a lot of strange beliefs and propensities that then go off the rails when they start having unusual experiences, or begin to experience heavy unstressing. TM, while it talks of unstressing, it does not really prepare people for how intense it can be, and you need to have mental tools to handle what comes up. I do not think most people really realize how screwed up they are before they start to meditate, especially if they get it in their bonnet that they are now on the fast track to enlightenment, they then presume too much about their progress. A lot of meditators are still just close to being qualified by the criteria above after meditating for half a century. That TM is easy to practice is deceptive in the sense that it alone cannot prepare one for some very strange experiences. That ease of practice does allow a lot of people to be taught, but a lot of concerns that can come up get swept under the rug, and TM teachers are not trained to deal with this. TM as a whole package is not customized enough to do this. If you are fortunate you get through relatively unscathed, but if not I guess they end up like you!From: "'My Enlightenment Delusion' myenlightenmentdelus...@gmail.com [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2017 2:08 AM Subject: [FairfieldLife] My Enlightenment Delusion - new book I just finished writing a book entitled, My Enlightenment Delusion: experiences and musings of a former Transcendental Meditation teacher. It is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XS55JKC/ for $2.99. The first 3 chapters can be viewed on Amazon by clicking on “Look inside”. A large part of the book is about my kundalini crisis and also contains my conjecture about kundalini crises. I recount some humorous ups and downs in my life as a TM teacher. I explain why the similarities between grandiose delusions, psychotic mania, and kundalini crises are more than a coincidence. --Matt Landing #yiv9893629224 -- #yiv9893629224ygrp-mkp {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;font-family:Arial;margin:10px 0;padding:0 10px;}#yiv9893629224 #yiv9893629224ygrp-mkp hr {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;}#yiv9893629224 #yiv9893629224ygrp-mkp #yiv9893629224hd {color:#628c2a;font-size:85%;font-weight:700;line-height:122%;margin:10px 0;}#yiv9893629224 #yiv9893629224ygrp-mkp #yiv9893629224ads {margin-bottom:10px;}#yiv9893629224 #yiv9893629224ygrp-mkp .yiv9893629224ad {padding:0 0;}#yiv9893629224 #yiv9893629224ygrp-mkp .yiv9893629224ad p {margin:0;}#yiv9893629224 #yiv9893629224ygrp-mkp .yiv9893629224ad a {color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;}#yiv9893629224 #yiv9893629224ygrp-sponsor #yiv9893629224ygrp-lc {font-family:Arial;}#yiv9893629224 #yiv9893629224ygrp-sponsor #yiv9893629224ygrp-lc #yiv9893629224hd {margin:10px 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