Chapter 35 - Following Two Paths

The Buddha's first sermon after his Enlightenment

centered on the Four Noble Truths. These Noble Truths, the foundation of Buddhism, are:
1. The truth of suffering (dukkha)
2. The truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya)
3. The truth of the end of suffering (nirhodha)
4. The truth of the path that frees us from suffering (magga)

Janet, a ten year old girl, asked her Sunday school teacher: “Why do we call the Friday before Easter Good Friday?” Considering what happened that day, it doesn't seem "very good".

Her teacher answered: Look at the crucifix. What do you

see? How does it make you feel? When you look at the cross, you see Jesus, loving you, like no other person ever has. It’s a love that surpasses any that we are able to give ourselves. It’s a love that humbles our heart, and gives us strength to bare all that comes our way. It’s a love that saves us, and brings us into relationship with God which leads us to eternal life. That’s why it is called Good Friday.

One of the principal differences between Christianity and the Eastern religions is found in the cross. Christians believe they have been saved through God’s intervention into their lives through Christ. To be a disciple of Christ, one has to pick up

their cross and follow Him. The action of being “saved” has nothing to do with oneself, but only with Grace that comes through faith, and the actions of Christ. God reaches down to fallen humanity, and through Grace, provides the means by which one is saved, which means; “to be made whole”. Through Grace, self-centeredness is transcended. Through the taking up of one’s cross in response to Grace, ego consciousness is transformed into Christ’s consciousness.

“Going a little farther, Jesus fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

In the Christian faith, God reaches down to fallen humanity. In the Eastern religions, disciplines and practices are used to discover that which already exists but is hidden from view; the Divine within. The main obstacle to seeing this "Divine

Presence" is the illusion of the self-constructed ego which gives the appearance of something existing which in fact does not exist, or at least, not in the way it is interpreted by the mind. The Eastern Religions acknowledge that the cross exists, but the path that frees one from the cross is different.

The truth of suffering (dukkha)
The truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya)
The truth of the end of suffering (nirhodha)
The truth of the path that frees us from suffering (magga) 

Where the Christian looks to Christ for the Grace of healing

 and forbearance, to surrender and accept all of life’s circumstances, the Buddhist follows the discipline of the path that leads to enlightenment, beyond ignorance and illusion, to

the truth that sets one free. Yoga, its discipline and practice, is referred to as the Royal Road to Freedom.

It’s not much wonder that the Kundalini experience is very confusing to Christian teaching, and to the Christian who has not experienced it. And for the Christian who has experienced Kundalini Rising, this phenomena can only be understood and integrated into ones life by referring to the rich traditions and teaching of the Eastern Religions.

The Christian, in order to remain faithful to Christ’s teachings, cannot abandon the rich symbol of the cross and what it

represents. Christian meditation, which is similar to the meditation connected with Yoga and Buddhism, is still a prayer of surrender to the Christ who dwells within, and a surrender to Grace which sustains and transforms. This is part of the long-standing tradition of the Christian Church as evidenced by John Cassian and the early fathers and mothers Christian monastic communities.

Yet the Christian who has experienced Kundalini must admit that within the human person there is an energy lying at the base of the spine that, when mobilized, has the ability to

renovate and restore the subtle body to bring about a spiritual transformation that will dismantle the ego and its illusions, and place one in the presence of the Divine. And there are practices that enhance the movement of this energy enabling it to accelerate its transforming activity of raising consciousness to higher levels towards Divine Union and experiences of monism. 

The Christian experience of surrendering to Christ by Grace through the power of the Holy Spirit has similarities in results, but certainly not in approach. Unlike Kundalini, Christianity also discourages one from moving into the monistic worldview which it views as heretical.

“Where Christian dualistic philosophy distinguishes

between body and soul, matter and spirit, object and subject, matter and force, the system which denies such a distinction, reduces one term of the antithesis to the other, or merges both in a higher unity, is called Monism. This is not acceptable to Christian Thinking and Teaching.” 

I remain a Christian with the Kundalini rising experience benefiting greatly from two paths which seem to lead to the same summit.

Chapter 34 The Path Towards Enlightenment

“According to Vedanta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness. The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don't bother you anymore. You become light-hearted and full of joy. The second symptom is that you encounter more and more meaningful coincidences in your life, more and more synchronicities." 
Deepak Chopra: “Synchrodestiny: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence to Create Miracles”

I’ve read many articles and books on “enlightenment”, and I must be honest: I’m not completely sure what it is or whether

it can be completely accomplished in this life time. But I do know that because of Kundalini, I am journeying towards “enlightenment” and I believe in its possibilities. I relate very much to Deepak Chopra observation above about enlightenment as I continue to move towards greater light-heartedness and joy in my life, and being freed from worrying, about even death, since the renovation and restoration stage of kundalini. 


Advanced Yoga has provided some interesting information on “enlightenment” which helped to explain the evolving experience flowing from Kundalini. Enlightenment, in yoga is broken down into three stages. 

The first stage of enlightenment is evident with the rise of

“silence” in the nervous system. A characteristic of this deep silence is the awakening of "pure bliss consciousness" and a steady state of peace, happiness. This comes primarily from the discipline of meditation. In my previous posting, I spoke about the benefits of meditation and how this discipline has a profound effect on my life. In fact, in advanced yoga, meditation is a prerequisite to a healthy kundalini rising. I followed the discipline of meditation, not for the purpose of kundalini, but as a prayer practice that brought me close to God in a deep and experiential way. This practice over twenty-five years with increasing intensity resulted surprisingly in kundalini rising in 2005.

The second stage of enlightenment which results from kundalini is the rising of ecstasy from the three lower chakras

and its expansion in the nervous system. This prana energy accelerates the functioning of the nervous system and leads to deeper and more lasting experiences of pure bliss consciousness and deeper silence. The expansion and acceleration of this inward sensory experience stimulates greater flow of ecstatic prana which draws us into deeper realms of divine consciousness and deeper levels of meditation. It is a captivating experience as this divine flow heightened through practice, leading to an increased desire to enter and merge with deepening sensory experience. It is seemingly like falling into deeper and an endless abyss of ecstasy. It was in the years following my kundalini rising, with the increase in the flow of psychic energy, that I began to experience very deeply this pure bliss consciousness. The meditation and yoga practices that became a part of my discipline accelerated the flow over time providing the motivation to continue this path of development.

The third stage of enlightenment is the awareness and

expansion of a sense of unity with all things.  I-ness or that sense of separateness from all things created by the ego become like veils, thinly covering the essence of life. We see ourselves now, not as separate, but as the essence of all things. We begin to experience a "joining" of this veiled existence with the ecstasy of pure bliss consciousness and a presence of the divine. The world has not disappeared; we can still act in the world, but our motivation is different than before when we saw ourselves as separate. There is a sense of spaciousness as the “internal observer” is seen connected with all that is being observed. Intellectually, this cannot be understood, but the experience gives a new understanding of this universal union. This has certainly been a great source of inner peace, unshakable security and an increasing source of ecstatic blissful union with the divine as I venture along this spiritual path.

At first we may experience shades of one or all three of these stages, but as we continue along the path, they become deeper and more prolonged. As they become deeper and prolonged, what before were only glimmers of a different experience become more enduring, more real, until eventually, they become reality itself.

The reality of enlightenment becomes increasingly who we are in our interaction with the world.  As the self becomes more universal, our interest for the whole of humanity and for the whole of life also becomes more universal.  

Chapter 33 Beginning of Enlightenment

Krishna said to Arjuna, “Friend, if you want to realize me, you will not succeed if you have even one of the eight occult powers.” This is the truth. Occult power is sure to beget pride, and pride makes one forget God. An egotistic person cannot realize God. Do you know what egotism is like? It is like a high mound, where rain-water cannot collect; the water runs off. Water collects on low land. There seeds sprout and grow into trees. Then the trees bear fruit. “Therefore I say, Never think that you alone have true understanding and that others are fools. One must love all. No one is a stranger. It is God alone who dwells in all beings. Nothing exists without Him” Sri Ramakrishna on Occult Powers

I enjoyed this little story. It answers many questions, and deals with a lot of issues, about our desire for powers and attainment that relates to Spiritual Life. In our culture so

driven by individuality and self-seeking, our awareness is often blocked from the realization that spiritual growth is contingent upon setting self, with all of its desires to attain, aside.

To reach satisfaction in all, desire satisfaction in nothing.
To come to possess all, desire the possession of nothing.
To arrive at being all, desire to be nothing.
To come to the knowledge of all, desire the knowledge of nothing. 

St. John of the Cross

So if we look at “enlightenment” as something to be attained, particularly by our own efforts or for self-gain, then we are setting up the conditions that prevent its very attainment. Why? Because self-attainment is the product of the ego, and what we are trying to do is bypass or diminish ego involvement.

To surrender to the silence, stillness, and simplicity of

meditation is the only means I know of setting ego aside. There is little value in fighting ego involvement. This is like an alcoholic trying to convince him/herself not to take that next drink. Will power has never been very successful in dealing with our obsessions. The twelve-step program of alcoholics anonymous has proven that it is the acceptance of ones condition, and the surrendering of ones willfulness to the higher power "within" that will provide the pathless path through the maze of addiction to the discovery of a place that is beyond willfulness and obsessiveness.

In meditation, we are not trying to attain anything. We are merely saying our mantra or focusing on our breath, or concentrating on an object. If we practice the discipline of meditation with some consistency, then we begin to discover the “inner witness”, the observer of passing thoughts and

feelings. The “inner witness” learns to see all of these thoughts and feelings as coming and going, passing through. We discover that we are not our thoughts, our feelings, our obsessions. So we learn to let them go and return to the stillness and silence of the “inner witness”. And through the miracle of silence and stillness, allowing the “inner witness” to grow, we begin to see that the “inner witness” is also what is being witnessed. The “seeker” becomes the “sought”, which cannot be understood at the intellectual level, but understood from experience.

This is the beginning of “enlightenment”.  Enlightenment is not

something we earn, like money, or learn like a university degree.  It is something we discover we already possess as we let go of all desire to possess anything.