Kundalini Tantra
With kind regards,
and prem
Kundalini Tantra
Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India
Y OGA P UBLICATIONS T RUST
Kundalini Tantra
Kundalini Tantra is Swami Satyananda Saraswatis seminal work on kundalini, chakras and kriya yoga. Defining and explaining kundalini, this book provides a detailed account of kundalini awakening, including the signs and effects of such experiences and ways to both elicit and manage them.
The book contains a comprehensive description of each chakra and the significance of the chakras in tantric and yogic practice. Techniques are given to balance each centre for greater harmony in mind, body and spirit, and in preparation for the rising of kundalini shakti. The 20 kriyas and their preparatory practices are fully elucidated.
Includes colour plates, diagrams and charts.
Many sannyasins have selflessly contributed to the compiling, editing and publishing of this text. To one and all, yoga aspirants extend their gratitude for bringing this information to them.
Bihar School of Yoga 1984, 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from Yoga Publications Trust.
The terms Satyananda Yoga and Bihar Yoga are registered trademarks owned by International Yoga Fellowship Movement (IYFM). The use of the same in this book is with permission and should not in any way be taken as affecting the validity of the marks.
The purpose of this book is to provide relevant information regarding yoga practice; it is not to be used for teaching oneself or others. All yoga training and learning should be done under the guidance of an experienced, competent teacher, not from the book alone.
Published by Bihar School of Yoga
First published 1984
Reprinted 1992, 1996
Published by Yoga Publications Trust
Reprinted 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
First digital edition 2016
ISBN (print): 978-81-85787-15-2
ISBN eMOBI: 978-93-84753-34-4
ISBN ePUB: 978-93-84753-35-1
Publisher and distributor: Yoga Publications Trust, Ganga Darshan, Munger, Bihar, India.
Website: www.biharyoga.net
Dedication
In humility we offer this dedication to
Swami Sivananda Saraswati, who initiated
Swami Satyananda Saraswati into the secrets of yoga.
Contents
Introduction to Kundalini
and Tantra
I have been travelling the world for the last three decades in order to pass on the message of yoga, and I find that yoga has influenced the course of human thinking tremendously. Initially of course, there was some doubt about it as many people thought that yoga was a type of religion, witchcraft or mysticism. This particularly happened because man believed matter was the ultimate point in the evolution of nature. The materialistic world did not understand yoga for some time, but as scientists dived deep into the mysteries of matter, they came to understand and realize that matter was not the ultimate in the evolution of nature.
If that is so for one form of matter, it applies to every form of matter. This external experience, the perception you have through your senses, is a product of matter. Even your thoughts, feelings, emotions and cognitions are products of matter. Therefore, they cannot be absolute and final. This means there must be another realm of experience, and if there is another realm of experience, it must be possible to transcend the present limitations of the mind.
The mind is also matter; it is definitely not spirit. Therefore, the mind can also be transformed and made to evolve. Many people have begun to realize and experience this fact in the last few decades. In my opinion, this marks the end of one era and the beginning of another. For those who have some knowledge of science and the nature of matter, it is not difficult to understand exactly what inner experience is.
An inner experience is the manifestation of a deeper level of oneself. Dream, of course, is an experience. Your dreams may be schizophrenic, but that is an expression of your own self. Thought is also a concept or expression of your own self. A piece of music is an expression of your self, whether you compose it or just admire it. A painting or sculpture is a concept of your self whether you create it or just admire it. That means the external world is a manifestation of your inner experience, and you can improve this experience to any extent. You can also bring about deterioration of this experience. When everything is hopeless outside, that is your experience of yourself, and if everything is beautiful outside, that is also your experience of yourself.
In the last few decades, yoga has helped millions of people to improve their self-concept. Yoga realizes that man is not only the mind, but the body as well. Therefore, one does not experience happiness only through the mind. The body is also real and it is a part of ones personality. Just improving the condition of the body, however, will not necessarily enable the mind to experience happiness either. This is because man is not only the body and mind, but emotion and desire as well. He is something beyond the mind or psyche. Therefore, yoga has been designed in such a way that it can complete the process of evolution of the personality in every possible direction. That is why yoga has so many branches hatha yoga, karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga, jnana yoga, kundalini yoga, and so on.
A combined, integrated practice of yoga in ones life will definitely ensure a better quality of experience within you and without. Every seeker and practitioner on the path of yoga must remember that the various paths of yoga are to improve the quality of head, heart and hands. However, yoga does not end with the development of the personality. One level of the personality is dependent on this mind, this body and these emotions, but there is another deeper part of the personality which you have to develop with another kind of mind and emotion. This requires a special process, and that process is known as kundalini yoga.
Objective experience is not the ultimate
Kundalini yoga is a part of the tantric tradition. Although you may have already been introduced to yoga, it is also necessary for you to know something about tantra. Since ancient times, the wise have realized that the mind can be expanded and that experiences do not necessarily depend on an object. This means that if somebody is playing music, I can hear it, and if somebody has painted a picture, I can see it, but I can also see if there is no picture, and I can hear if there is no music. This is also a quality of the personality which has been ignored in the last one hundred and fifty to two hundred years.
Tantra says that the range of mental experience can be broadened. With the help of the senses, your mind can have an experience based on an object. There can be an experience within the framework of time, space and object, but there can also be an experience beyond the framework of time, space and object. The second form of experience can happen when the present mind expands beyond its given definitions and borders, and when this experience occurs, energy is released from yourself.