Kundalini Awakening, Kundalini Awareness

Authors

  • Martin Lockley University of Colorado Denver

Abstract

The Kundalini Awakening is a type of spiritually transformative experience, also referred to as religious, spiritual, mystical or transcendental, that has traditionally been associated with eastern meditative / yogic practices, but recently in the west is often associated with spontaneous, enlightening shifts in consciousness. Subjects report such Kundalini experiences typically involve intense physical sensations associated with the spine and nervous system, and evidently occur most frequently in mid life (modal age ~30-35). They have also been referred to as ‘cosmic consciousness’ experiences inducing long-lasting, life-changing shifts in intellectual and spiritual sensibilities.  The experience may be more common than thought in the west because subjects often did not use the term Kundalini.  Nevertheless the term is becoming more often used in western reports.  Many consider the Kundalini awakening phenomenon, a natural, evolutionary, developmental phenomenon, not unrelated to the natural energetic dynamics of organic systems, especially the nervous system.  Vedantic and Tantric traditions have long recognized the Kundalini as a universal force (energy or prana) that manifests in humans with remarkable physical, psychological and spiritual effects.

Author Biography

Martin Lockley, University of Colorado Denver

Professor Emeritus, paleontology, evolutionary and consciousness studies

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2019-07-05

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