# Kundalini Waking 1) **The final section of the third chapter of the Yoga of the Sun and Moon talks about raising kundalini within the body. What are some different ways of describing how the serpent power or inner fire rises; and from what authority do we hear these signs?**  Je Tsongkapa (1357-1419), the esteemed teacher of His Holiness the First Dalai Lama, has given a wonderful and authoritative description of the feeling of inner heat in his Book of Three Beliefs, a commentary upon the Six Yogas of Naropa. Here is what he says:  Inner heat within the channel of vibration, burning first at the navel and the secret place; as opposed to ordinary inner heat, burning outside the channel of vibration.  A distinction in how the warmth burns; that is, whether it burns from the very depths of the body, or just "on the surface," meaning in the skin and the flesh beneath the skin.  Whether the initial warmth burns at a particular spot or in a more generalized area.  Whether the heat invades the body upwards in a very slow way, or more suddenly.  Whether the warmth is a very deep experience or a more shallow one.  The way in which the bliss comes to you follows from details such as these, and there are many different stages that you might go through; as such, you will have to learn about differences such getting extraordinary inner heat to burn and getting ordinary warmth to burn; experiencing bliss which is brought on by winds alone and experiencing bliss which is brought on by the meltdown of the inner element; and so on.  In general, as well, one would notice (as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika itself notes) a distinct tendency towards the back being very straight—sitting up very straight all the time, walking with a very erect posture, and the like. 2) **What are some changes in our personality that we might expect as we begin to raise the inner fire of kundalini?**  As the text notes, a person who is capable of raising kundalini would first of all be someone who was able to focus well, able to focus single-pointedly. This in itself would tell us something about their lifestyle. They would be watching their food intake, and more generally their stimulus intake; for example, living simply without a lot of possessions, and avoiding excess stimulation such as newspapers, magazines, constant talk.  They would be the kind of person who tried to keep to a lesser number of focused activities, someone who was not shy about (politely) turning down extra things to do, places to go—even those only slightly less important than this practice.  They would (as the text also notes later on) be maintaining a careful and healthy level of an ethical code, being careful with what they say to others—that it was positive and truthful; what they did around others—not harming or stealing, no kinds of sexual misconduct; keeping their finances simple but clean and responsible; and things of the like. They would be watching their own mind, keeping a quiet mind, with a modest and very regular daily meditation practice.  And as the kundalini began to rise within them over weeks and months, they would be enjoying special experiences of the people and places around them. Even without having received any special instructions to do so, they would be seeing people as especially kind or holy; and these people, even in their everyday actions, would be imparting special lessons to them constantly. They would be enjoying frequent insights into the very nature of reality; they would feel happy, quiet, contented, focused, ordered, empathetic towards others.  All this is a result of the physical process of winds entering the central channel during the process of kundalini awakening, and it’s important to watch out for these signs. If we feel differently than this—if we feel angry, jealous, unhappy, competitive, and so on, generally unkind and unthoughtful to others—then it’s a sign that no matter how many physical yoga practices we are engaged in, we are not really reaching the attainments they bring. 3) **Master Svatmarama says that “when the Lady Serpent has fled into the mouth” of the central channel, then “the inner winds” flow into this same channel “all on their own accord.” What would be some experiences that we could expect as this happens, both during and between our formal sessions?**  Remember that the experience of kundalini rising in this physical sense relates to the blazing of the red element within the lower part of the body. As this element begins to burn and its heat rises up through the central channel, the white element at the tip of the head begins to descend. And then as we’ve noted we would go through the four stages or avastha of bliss.  We can think of the descent (and subsequent ascent) of the white element as triggering this bliss, but remember that we can look at it from the other way around as well. That is, the four kinds of bliss that we are experiencing are a kind of feeling: a state of the mind. As mental events, we can deduce that they are accompanied by inner winds.  The increasing amount of bliss (and associated understanding of emptiness) that we experience indicates that increasing amounts of inner wind are entering and staying within the middle channel. That is, we can learn to judge for ourselves—at any particular point, even as we stand in the kitchen and make dinner—what amount of prana is hanging around our central channel: how calm do we feel, how kind do we feel, how do we feel physically, how erect is our bearing, how happy and contented do we feel? 4) **Master Svatmarama revisits two practices presented earlier on in our text, saying that a yogi or yogini who undertakes practices of kundalini with these two can expect important attainments within a brief amount of time. Name these two in Sanskrit, with roots and cognates, and then describe them, stating also why they should assist in the raising of kundalini. Then speak briefly about a possible confusion here with the description of how speedily we can expect our attainments.**  The Master first states a “yogi who undertakes to raise Her serpent power” can expect “attainments to rise” if first of all they “delight in sexual purity.” We’ll remember that the Sanskrit word for “sexual purity” here is brahmacharya, which in the Tibetan is tsang chu. The word brahma refers to the worldly god named Brahma, whose name means The Pure One, as reflected in tsang {TSANGS,}, or pure one, in Tibetan. In fact, the English pure and purge may be related, through the Latin purgare, to cleanse.  The charya part of the word (chu in the Tibetan) means to act, and derives from the roots √car {car} and √cal {cal}, both again related to moving and stirring. We’ve seen the English cognates here, including car, chariot, and course. Together then the two parts mean to act with purity.  Again, the classical meaning of this term is complete sexual celibacy; and it then extends to purity in ones sexual behavior, primarily referring to honoring other people’s relationships, never even coming close to being a cause for others to break up; and constantly finding ways to help them stay together.  If we were to think about it, the karma to succeed at a practice which required intimacy between two partners, and thus raise kundalini, would be exactly this: to keep our own sexual behavior pure, never allowing it to be a cause for harm to others, and moreover just for ourselves observing moderation and wisdom even with proper forms of sexual behavior.  The second practice that the Master advises for succeeding in raising Her serpent power is to rely on a wholesome and moderate diet. The principles for this we learned in the earlier chapters. As far as what is wholesome, this is from one point of view a very personal matter. Different yogi’s bodies react quite differently to different foods.  We can say in general though that one’s diet should certainly be free of any meat, as it is obtained by committing the highest sacrilege against other living beings. You will very likely find that your yogic practices will also improve greatly if you avoid dairy products in countries where these are obtained through cruel and inhumane methods, along with slaughter of both older cows and unwanted babies.  In compensation we will need to be careful to have a high intake of protein from vegetable sources such as almond milk, lentils, and bean sprouts. Most yogis will also find themselves developing a craving for dark greens such as spinach. Junk food with processed sugar, excessive carbohydrates, wheat gluten, and caffeine will gradually become things that a yogi with a good daily practice just doesn’t really consider edible any more.  Food has an immediate effect on the inner winds and thus on the mind: very typically, untrained people in the world eat too much of the wrong foods and find their minds dull or overly stimulated by artificial means, which then leads to a crash. It is infinitely easier to do all yogic practices, including the partner practices, with a lean and healthy body.  The karma of eating in a non-violent way is that our bodies and channels are healthier and stronger; and not eating mindless quantities of food can add even more good karma, if we consciously think that we are preserving the world’s resources and food for all those in need.  The Sanskrit text here says that the yogi can expect “attainments to rise from the world of the mandala.” Students should be aware that a primary Indian commentator upon the text, Swami Brahmananda, interprets this same phrase to mean “within the length of 40 days.” We haven’t yet found any other reference to this use of the Sanskrit word here, but it is certainly possible. 5) **The Master, in discussing how we raise Her serpent power, says that we would “never need to fear death” if we followed the practice of the Bellows, in addition to another, additional practice. Name this second practice, listing its five classical components, describing them briefly, and describing why they could have any effect on our very mortality.**  This second practice is of course following the yamas, or ethical guidelines, carefully in our life. Although they are listed with more components in our present text, the classic reference to these is of course the Yoga Sutra, which numbers the yamas as five:  (1) Ahinsa, honoring life.  (2) Satya, speaking truthfully and kindly.  (3) Asteya, respecting the property of others.  (4) Brahmacharya, respecting others’ relationships, encouraging purity in sexual behavior.  (5) Aparigraha, living simply, respecting the planet’s resources.  We have been born into a human body, and we have found the yogic practices, because of thousands upon thousands of good karmas—deeds of kindness—which we performed in our previous lives. As we go through life, we consume the fruits of these labors, which by its very nature means that we age, as every single deed wears out.  If we were mindful of this process as we did our yogic practices, then naturally we would seek to do powerful good deeds; for example, we would throw ourselves into the Infinite Four practices found in the Yoga Sutra, since because these are focused upon limitless beings they allow us to collect karma so massive and self-perpetuating that we collect new “life” karma faster than we use up the old: net immortality, eternal youth. 6) **In the verse where the Master assures us that we need never fear death, he makes a very meaningful pun. Explain.**  The verse itself, in the English translation, says “What need is there to ever fear death if you continue this very practice, and follow as well an ethical life?” The word that the Master uses for “death” here is Yama {yama}, which in the Tibetan is translated as chidak {‘CHI BDAG}, the “Lord of Death.” This name, as we remember, comes from a root √yam {yam}, meaning to reach.  This came to be related to reaching for the two reins of a horse, and to the general idea of controlling something (as in pranayama, control of the breath). The idea of the pair came to be reflected in the names of Yama, the Lord of Death, and his sister Yami.  We see the same root though in the words yama and niyama, where the idea is of controlling oneself. And so what the Master is really saying here in the Sanskrit is that we will never need fear Yama, the Lord of Death, if we are careful to be yamin, meaning “someone who keeps to the rules of ethical behavior.”  Again, simply with the idea of the yama of ahinsa or refusing to harm other living beings, when we learn to work on this practice with a motivation of aiding countless living beings the resulting karma is that we no longer have to fear death.]  7) **In a verse in this reading, the Master says that “There is no earth without royal yoga; there is no night without royal yoga; there is no seal without royal yoga.” Explain.**  On this we get a lot of help from Swami Brahmananda, the ancient commentator upon the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. He says that the verse here should be interpreted on two different levels. On a more mundane level, the “earth” in the sense of a country or land needs a good king (raja, with a long first a). And the night does not shine without a moon (which Swami Brahmananda says is sometimes also called raja, with both a’s long). Finally, the royal seal—which imparts the stamp which marks any document or directive as authentic and coming from the head of the government in ancient times— needs a king to wield it. So first of all the Master has given us three cases where a raja is needed for something to work the way it should.  Master Brahmananda says that the metaphor then extends to the practices of hatha or physical yoga with reference to raja or royal yoga. He says that the word “earth” here is a reference to the asanas or yoga poses, seated (asana) as they are in the earth.  The “night” here is a reference to the capsule or kumbhaka practices which we have learned—since the nighttime is a time of absolute quiet, and we seek to make our kumbhaka practices times of absolute inner quiet, to the point of dissolution and the journey into the clear light.  The “seal” finally is of course a reference to the ten different seals or mudras which we have just been through here in the third chapter; they do act to compress the winds within the central channel, but to work to take us into further, into the clear light, they are much more effective if we combine them with the practices of royal yoga: the intellectual and meditative understanding of the void. 8) **What important bridge is being made in the final verses of the third chapter of our work, and what most important element does Master Svatmarama say must be present to make the bridge work?**  We gain a lot of faith in the entire book and its author by seeing how he bridges from the subject matter of the first three chapters into that of the fourth. Remember that the subject of these first three chapters is the physical practices of yoga—what we call “hatha” yoga—including asanas (poses), proper diet, pranayama (breath control), kriyas (treatments), kumbhakas (capsules), and mudras (seals).  In the normal course of the text (not the way we’ve done it in these courses, inserting a bit of the fourth chapter into each of the four courses), we would next be going on to raja or royal yoga. Here our yoga will be a mental yoga, concentrating on two great practices: meditation and the worldview of karma and emptiness which we focus this meditation upon.  How Master Svatmarama bridges between these two great types of yoga—which in fact we can consider a “yoga” or “union” in itself, the combination of outer and inner methods —is an eloquent statement upon his total mastery of yoga in general. He says that “when we are granted” personal instruction on the final steps of hatha yoga from our Teacher, then we will in that moment come to realize that we have found “our Teacher of shining glory, our Master, the God who sits at our side.”  This phrase in itself is eloquence personified: your own immediate yoga teacher (your “teacher of shining glory”) is a “Master” who is an embodiment or emanation of the Divine in the form of someone who can “sit at our side.” As we master hatha yoga, as we bring more energy into our middle channel through these practices, then we begin to perceive that indeed our own immediate Teacher is a divine being.  And well they should be, for now we travel the bridge from physical to mental: from the first three to the fourth chapter. It’s one thing to have the karma to possess a physical human form complete with all the necessary elements and winds, and then to manipulate this body with the different methods of hatha yoga in order to move the winds.  But it’s quite another matter to go into the mind itself, directly, with learning and contemplation, followed by deep meditation and personal experience. This journey is more subtle, more difficult, and will absolutely require, as the Master himself says it, “the advices of our Teacher,” to which we need to “listen carefully.” We don’t go from the third chapter of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika to the fourth by turning a page: we are carried from one to the other in the loving arms of our Guru. Coffeeshop assignment: Please meet with one other member of the class (preferably someone you didn’t know before the course started) to talk a bit about this class, before the next one.  Meditation assignment: 15 minutes per day, reviewing the practice of the four stages of bliss. Meditation times and dates (homework without this section completed will not be accepted):