When there is a strain on a relationship people give up on the Siddhas. When there is a death in the family they give up on them. Even masters lose their grip in these times. But there are some who battle all odds and remain on the path. I guess faith and belief too is like a roller coaster ride for many. I too became angry in the years of my apprenticeship with others who came and went and never remained for a sufficient time to see changes taking place within. Generally, the time specified is some good twelve years before we can begin to see the blessings of the divine shower on us. The reason been the Siddhas do not pass on the goodies immediately but work on our past karma first, help us empty our minds of previous learnings, cleanse and strengthen the physical body, and only after it has been made a perfect vehicle to receive them do they shower us with these goodies. But many do not have the patience to wait that twelve years. They move on to where they can receive immediate results and recognition. These shortcuts are treacherous at times and can kill us. The long but well-traveled path would bring us home in one piece.
Kundalini has become a household word these days. What was once feared is taught to the masses in assemblies. An advert calls for the public to walk in to receive tons of benefits while another says to drive in as if these are collectibles. Indeed another advertises the number of initiation one receives akin to pinning the awards received on our chest.
Swami Muktananda in his "Kundalini - The Secret of Life", a Siddha Yoga Publication, published by the SYDA foundation, 1994, describes shaktipat from the guru, as "when the guru directly transmits his own divine shakti to the disciple" which means the guru is now responsible for the student and shall have to monitor his progress closely. I wonder how many masters do that after initiating these freshies into kundalini after a brief session of talks. Here is where the danger lies. Agathiyar told us that the master shall have to ascertain the flow of the breath running in the receiver, his general health and well-being, and whether his body and age can take on the energies that begin to erupt within upon initiation and continued practice before passing it on.
Swami Muktananda cautions us too adding that the body has to be purified first. "The basis of all disease and pain is the impurities that block the flow of prana in the nadis. These blockages are caused by imbalances and disorders in the three bodily humors - wind, bile, and phlegm. She (kundalini) penetrates all 720 million nadis consumes all the old decaying fluids, then releases vital energy into them all. The nadis become filled with prana. It is only after the body has been purified that the shakti can work with full force. "
Swami Kripananda author of the "Sacred Power (Kundalini)", and "The Guru's Sandals" in writing the introduction for Swami Muktananda's "Kundalini - The Secret of Life", a Siddha Yoga Publication, published by the SYDA foundation, says that,
"This knowledge (of the kundalini) was so well hidden, in fact, that when Swami Muktananda received kundalini awakening from his own master Bhagawan Nityananda and began experiencing its effects, he had no idea what was happening to him. He wrote his first great work the spiritual autobiography "Play of Consciousness" to prevent his own students from running into the same confusion and to help them understand the process unfolding within them.
Swami Kripananda gives us a reminder "that it is not enough for the guru to awaken kundalini. The guru also controls and regulates the process helping to remove all the blocks and obstacles in the disciple's path until the disciple attains the ultimate realization of the self. Being one with the inner energy the guru can accomplish this on a subtle level from within."
Swami Kripananda writes further that "Because he has merged his individual awareness into the divine the guru can serve as a pure vessel through which its pure energy flows. It is this transmission of divine energy which awakens and guides the kundalini."
Swami Kripananda says bit by bit as it moves through the subtle system, blocks are removed, addictions fall away, and one's life is set in order. Ultimately the experience of the self becomes constant. Hence nothing happens overnight. It is bit by bit that the Kundalini unfolds and travels within.
John White echoes the same in "Kundalini, Evolution and Enlightenment".
"Seek to refine your character and cultivate your mind through selfless service, discriminating studies, and dedicated spiritual training. Do that, and kundalini will awaken gently, automatically, and without the unhealthy effects that are being seen more and more frequently." Hence we see the need to wait patiently for those twelve years to pass by before seeing any results.
M. P. Pandit writes "What is being laboriously attempted, dangerously pursued, and problematically achieved in kundalini yoga can be assured in a yoga like Sri Aurobindo's in a very natural way by throwing oneself open to divine consciousness and grace, letting it descend into oneself, and letting it decide which centers of consciousness are going to be operated upon, which one is most open and ready. It is more in the natural way of evolution to let things develop in this manner rather than having a systematized procedure."
Alice A. Bailey writes that "When this process is carried forward with care and due safeguards, and under direction, and when the process is spread over a long period of time there is little risk of danger, and the awakening will take place normally and under the law of being itself."
Swami Muktananda writes that, "After you receive shaktipat meditation starts spontaneously and at that time prana and apana the ongoing and outgoing breath become balanced and long kumbhaka retention of breath begins to take place effortlessly. The prana and apana become even and eventually, the breath begins to be retained within. This is called kumbhaka. In true kumbhaka the prana and apana become one at that point. Prana does not go out nor does apana come in. The prana becomes extremely subtle and moves into the Sushumna and then the Sushumna opens up and begins to unfold. When kundalini awakening takes place through grace it will rise of its own accord and become established where it should be established. Kundalini will take care of herself... when the kundalini is awakened by the grace of the guru the grace itself will guide it in the correct manner. There is absolutely no danger in such a case."
John White even says that "Desiring something-even such a noble goal as the awakening of kundalini is misguided."
Sri Chinmoy echoes this statement too. "A genuine seeker never considers the hidden powers or occult powers as his goal. He cares only for God. He longs only for God's loving presence in his life.
Tavayogi never wanted to touch that subject nor initiate the public into this energy. But although he never initiated us into arousing the Kundalini directly in whatever manner, select yogic postures and practices that he taught a handful of us during his visit in 2007, did magic in us in bringing us to experience it unknowingly over the years. Agathiyar revealed later that the techniques we picked up from him and with practice did just that over time. He surprised me in a Nadi reading on 13.10.2007, mentioning that the Siddhas were delighted to see the kundalini sakti arise. உண்டாகும் குண்டலினி சக்தி உனக்கு உயர்வதைக் கண்டு நாங்கள் வியந்தோம் அப்பா. With the Muladhara activated in 2007, Agathiyar monitored my progress more closely. When these energies stagnated at the next chakra the Svadisthana for some fifteen years, Agathiyar broke its banks in 2022 and the energies continued their journey further, by their sheer momentum and flow, without any effort on my part. But he warns me that I have to maintain it at the crown of the head and never do anything that jeopardizes this state, otherwise, it shall fall back to the Muladhara. He says it then shall be a wasted effort on the part of the Siddhas to assist these energies to move to higher chakras. If that happens Agathiyar says that he shall have to reprimand me. This was a stern warning from him.
We are grateful to Tavayogi for showing us Agathiyar and not projecting himself. Since the day Tavayogi stepped aside and showed me to Agathiyar, Agathiyar took charge and held the reins. Even Lord Muruga backed off telling me that he shall leave it to Agathiyar to look into my every need. We are glad that Agathiyar was on hand and had a hand in awakening this super force in us without having to go through much pain and trouble. As he told me he had made it so simple that he could not simplify the process further, reminding me how he had to go through it the tough way. So did Tavayogi quip that I had come to the path quite easily compared with the rough journey he had. I am indeed blessed. I am deeply grateful to them. It was all possible by their grace. How do we gain their grace then? By being a good student of theirs and following all their dictates. This is the basis for all guru-disciple relationships. A bond has to be cemented that survives the onslaughts of space and time. Then even if the master has left his mortal frame he keeps guiding and monitoring us till we join ranks with them.
Please do not get initiated into Kundalini yoga by any Tom, Dick, and Harry or during mass activation. Find a guru and follow him for twelve years. Establish a bond with the guru during these years. Swami Tadatmananda says that he is completely turned off by the way Kundalini has been distorted and misrepresented. He reminds us not to chase the "experience seeking" that Swami Dayananda Saraswati spoke about to him. His guru had warned him about the danger of "experience seeking" that promises bliss and ecstasy. Swami Tadatmananda speaking about his guru's negative comments on Kundalini Yoga, says of his experiment with Kundalini that "If he were still alive, I might not have undertaken this project".