The Journey to the Infinite through Kundalini Yoga
Isn’t it ironic how we go about our daily lives, essentially having everything we need and want and yet miss out on life itself and question our purpose here on Earth? Church minister and author Rick Warren wrote an elaborate reason why God has put us here on Earth and was quite eloquent about it in his book The Purpose Driven Life. However, when his son died a couple of months ago of apparent suicide, he couldn’t draw a single phrase or word from his best seller. It was as if that situation forced him to swallow his own words. The irony of someone inspiring millions of lives across the world because of his book and yet failed to save his own son through it is just staggering. Sometimes your true purpose in life cannot simply be supplanted with words and perhaps it may require you to do a “physical” in order to unlock the “spiritual” side in you. Yet still many people bad mouth eastern philosophies and practices without understanding or even knowing what they really mean.
The Essence of Kundalini Yoga
Kundalini Yoga is an ancient sacred Hindu practice probably dating back to the 2nd millennium B.C. in India based on written Sanskrit texts. It is believed; however, that this type of holy meditation have already existed hundreds or even thousands of
years prior to its writing. The term “Kundalini” has its roots from the word “Kundala” which literally means “to coil” or “to spiral,” while other translations says that it means “to unbound the spiraling energy.” This meaning will only be realized if one was talking about the 7 points of chakra emanating from the spinal column of the human body. While “yoga” also means “to unite” or “to be in union with everything or the universe.” Summing it all up into the correct context we get the exact translation as “to unlock the coiled energy from the 7 chakra points at the spine of a human being by means of uniting oneself with God or the universe.” What an amazing concept from such primitive people?! While we believe that they were primitive compared to our modern standards which essentially circumvents around technology, they are by no means superior to us when it comes to spiritual advancement.
What is the Goal of this kind of Meditation?
There is a saying that goes “a highway is one long and wide road that leads to one end, but it has stems for traffic to exit.” In a way the goal of Kundalini yoga is to reveal to you your true purpose in life not only in the physical plane of existence but in other forms of existence as well. In the Hindu tradition people believe that life is not confined in this reality alone, but it thrives into other realities that is why most spiritual masters in India are more concerned about how much they’ll gain from the Kundalini yoga experience than about death. They are absolutely certain that it is only their physical bodies that will cease to exist here on Earth and they will continue to experience the richness of life elsewhere even after they died. Therefore the true goal of Kundalini yoga is to first make you realize that you are a spiritual being inhabiting a physical body; you need to achieve the utmost of physical and spiritual pleasures altogether and finally merging your enlightened spirit with God.
The living Consciousness of God within You
Much like the Judeo-Christian beliefs, Kundalini yoga practitioners believe that every human being on this planet possesses the living consciousness of God within them from the time of their conception. Kundalini yoga requires you to develop this meditation in several stages which includes strength, awareness, character, and consciousness in order to revive and become one with the living consciousness of God within you. Those who practice Kundalini yoga are said to be the happiest and most satisfied people on Earth, in fact, you will rarely see their names on police record for any crimes or derogatory behavior since the time they started meditating. You won’t find them as well in the intensive care units of hospitals as one of the positive effects of Kundalini yoga is giving the practice an unusually healthy and long life. Their bodies die mostly as a result of their internal clock stops ticking due to old age, but never because of a horrific disease.
Recurring Beliefs in Various Esoteric Teachings and Religion
It is absolutely stunning to see the how systems of beliefs that’s been separated by time and space could have something in common! The Knights Templar from the 10th century A.D., the Free Masons, the De Molay and even the great inventor Nikola Tesla, despite not being a member of any of these secret societies, revered the number “33.” It is also interesting to find that the number of vertebrae in the human spinal column is also 33, but even more incredible is that the Kundalini yoga believes that the “coiled” energy stems from the bottom of the human spine.
The Egyptians also laid out the three Great Pyramids of Giza on the 33rd parallel of the equator due north. The striking coincidences in the number 33, the spinal column and Kundalini yoga cannot be simply dismissed as superstition, because every sacred and esoteric knowledge points to the same spot over and over again. Islam, Mormonism and the Judeo-Christian core beliefs involves the numbers 3, 7, 12 and 33 as positive numbers in signs, prophecies and miracles told in the Tora, the Bible and Quran. There’s something so special yet so mysterious about the number 33 and Kundalini yoga that the ancients had to hide its true meaning in confusing codes and symbols so that only the selected few may understand it. However, Kundalini yoga offers the knowledge of it completely free and all you have to do is walk the path to enlightenment.
Actual Life Application
Now the biggest challenge – how does one apply Kundalini yoga in their daily lives? Unfortunately, the “free enterprise” mentality of the west, particularly the United States, has corrupted the true meaning of Kundalini yoga and it became a workout routine instead of true enlightenment. Some people are literally setting up shop that sells “Kundalini yoga” merchandise. It is widely accepted that in order to truly understand the Kundalini yoga, one will need a spiritual guide for 
them to walk the path of ultimate enlightenment; and thanks to the resurfacing of new spiritual masters of the Kundalini yoga its intended use has been revived. Now more than ever people are beginning to wake up from within and they find that life is not as meaningless as society would have you believe. It flows from within you throughout the universe and back to you again like a rejuvenating manna. Remember to choose the quietest place in your house as the key location where you’ll be doing the Kundalini yoga and if you need to, go to a spiritual master and ask them to help you walk and understand the path of enlightenment in Kundalini yoga.
Johanna Oosterwijk ND