Lawrence Edwards PhD - Awakening Kundalini: The Path to Radical Freedom

Praise for Awakening Kundalini

This book makes me very happy. First, as a woman, it is fundamentally reorienting to read the work of a man who is devoted to the wisdom and transformative power of the divine feminine. As a psychiatrist, it is immeasurably helpful to have a clear framework to understand the gift of the extraordinary consciousness beyond our usual body-mind perspective. Understanding the creative process of Shaktis unfolding in the evolution of our Self is a much-needed perspective in interpreting the physical, mental, and emotional challenges that can arise in uswhether or not we are actively seeking to cultivate the vital flow of Kundalini. Dr. Edwards provides detailed guidance for exploring meditative techniques and other tools to work with this ancient tradition in our everyday lives. Further, he provides a balanced treatment of the psychological process encountered in inner work, including the healthful role of the ego mind and working with our shadow in the process of Kundalini awakeningessential but often neglected topics in spiritual guidance. This is an inspiring reference manual for my work with others.

MARY B. OMALLEY, MD, PHD

This book is a revelation that is a service to all of usbeginner, initiate, sage. It is a book about awakening that inspires awakening. It is a book about honoring the feminine that is a true sacred marriage of the masculine and feminineremarkably clear and beautifully poetic. The book is elegant in the truest scientific and consciousness-based wayssimple and so powerful. Lawrence Edwards supportively guides us on our own heroic journey in a way that demonstrates he is what he writes aboutso humble and so wise. A real teacher.

ANDREW HAHN, PSYD
Founder and director of the Guided Self Healing Training Institute

This book is an indispensable guide for anyone on the path of spiritual awakening. Dr. Edwards has devoted his life to studying and practicing the unfolding process of Kundalini, the subtle spiritual energy within everyone that leads to the highest states of consciousness. His depth of knowledge, personal experiences, and devotional poems illuminate the pages of this extraordinary book. Acknowledged worldwide for his professional experience in guiding people along the spiritual pathparticularly through the mysteries of advanced yogic practiceDr. Edwards is a gifted and compassionate guide. His devotional journey will inspire all who read his book. It is destined to become a classic in the field.

OLIVIA AMES HOBLITZELLE
Author of Ten Thousand Joys & Ten Thousand Sorrows: A Couples Journey through Alzheimers

A rare combination of a highly trained, articulate Western mind and a deeply personal experience of this extraordinary subject. Wise, elegant, and inspiring. Highly recommended.

LEE LYON
Founder and director of the Foundation for Integrative Meditation

Lawrence Edwards has given us an incomparable gift: a detailed, compassionate, and brilliantly clear guide to the greatest mystery and greatest revelation of our existence. It tells the story of his call to the profound process of awakening known in the yogic tradition as Kundalini, through his early visionary experiences, his meeting with his Indian teacher, Swami Muktananda, and how his life unfolded from that fortuitous meeting. Drawing on the rich legacy of numerous traditionsJungian, Western psychology, scientific research, traditional yogic and mystical onesthis book is an incomparable aid in taking us beyond the confines of the delusionary certainties of our ego mind toward the experience of the deepest ground of our own being. Kundaliniknown by other names in other spiritual traditionsis the path of reunion with the Divine Consciousness that lives and breathes in all of uscapable, as he says, of transforming our mind, our body, and every aspect of our lives. There is no one better qualified to explain and teach it, or to accompany us on our own mythic journey of discovery.

ANNE BARING
Author of The Dream of the Cosmos: A Quest for the Soul

This book is state of the artthe most comprehensive discussion of the Universal Life Force known as Kundalini. Edwards explores spiritual principles with his unique expertise in psychology, neuroscience, meditation training, and spiritual traditions. Western psychology has mapped our psychological and emotional development. Western medicine has mapped our physical development. Now Edwards shows us, in unprecedented depth, each step of our spiritual development. Toward the end of this excellent read, Edwards helps us to experience the realization that we humans are capable of and entitled to the wonder and splendor of each moment.

CHARLES L. WHITFIELD, MD
Author of Choosing God: A Birds Eye View of a Course in Miracles, and

BARBARA H. WHITFIELD, RT
Author of Spiritual Awakenings: Insights of the Near-Death Experience and other Doorways to Our Soul

O Kundalini Devi,

though known by a thousand names

no one can merely summon you.

Yet, the scent of love from sweet ripe souls

instantly draws you near!

Dancing as bliss,

casting off sparks of infinite delight,

you set souls ablaze!

Ignite us like a torch

my Beloved!

Throw the sodden logs of mind and body

onto your conflagration of Love!

Release the light and life

hidden within us!

O my Beloved,

whether clothed in form

or moving through the universe unseen,

graceful Holy Spirit,

protector of lovers of the Divine,

You are inseparable

from the eternal One.

Embracing all seekers wandering the worlds

You usher them home

to delight in true freedom.

May we be worthy of your

boundless love and protection.

O my Beloved Kundalini,

awaken seekers to your sublime play

of hide and seek!

Theres nothing You cant create!

You take forms that delude or enlighten,

lead us astray or draw us into your arms.

Delivering the fruits of our choices,

refining our discrimination,

You reveal the power youve given us

to create every reality.

Grant that we remain ever vigilant

of the power we wield

and guide us to use it only

in the service of love and compassion.

Plucking a strand of light from your countenance,

even as it forever vibrates with Om,

You string luminous jewels of consciousness

upon this thread

and spin a multi-colored shimmering web

of mind and body around it.

There You are,

throbbing within us,

piercing the veils,

inviting us to follow your love call!

May we remain true to even the subtlest

sounds of your voice.

Youve taken the form of the bindu,

exalted portal shrouded in mystery,

confounding all but those empty of self.

Carry us through your gateway to the Infinite,

known only through union with You.

In your earthly domain

You embrace your Beloved.

Taking the ancient,

yet ever-new serpentine form,

You coil round Him in pure delight!

In your transcendent abode

You both disappear!

No one can say

where Lover and Beloved have gone!

You are the path of Love,

You reveal the power of devotion

and take the form of its fruits,

nourishing your seeking-self.

Give us the wisdom

to take refuge in You alone.

Your inexhaustible Light illumines our path,

freeing us from all pain born of your ignorance.