The following excerpt is from Kundalini Yoga: The Mother Power, by Sri Chinmoy.

There are two worlds: the outer world and the inner world. When the kundalini is fast asleep, man is awake to the outer world. He wants to have everything that the outer world can offer him and he feels that he can get satisfaction only from what the outer world can give him.

When the kundalini is awake, man is fully aware of the inner world. He knows that the outer world cannot satisfy his inner needs. He has brought to the fore the capacity of the inner world, which he has come to realise is far superior to the capacity of the outer world. He has brought to the fore the hidden powers, the occult powers, within himself. Either he uses these powers properly or he misuses them. When he divinely uses the powers of the kundalini, he becomes the real pride of the Mother Supreme. When he misuses them, he becomes the worst enemy of man’s embodied consciousness and of his own personal evolution.

As we all like to play, so also our Divine Mother and Divine Father like to play. The Divine Mother, Parvati, and the Divine Father, Shiva, want to play and they want their child to participate. But their child is fast asleep, so they wait for some time. When they feel that it is high time for him to get up and they see that there is no sign that he is about to do so, the Mother most affectionately gives him a push from below, from his muladhara chakra, and the Father affectionately pulls him up from above, from sahasrara. Then the child gets up.

If the child is in a good, divine consciousness when he gets up, he says, ‘You have been waiting for such a long time. I am so sorry. I beg to be excused. I wish to play with you. Come, let us start playing the game.’ Then the Mother most affectionately teaches the child with Her dynamic Power how to play the cosmic Game extremely well. And the Father most affectionately teaches the child with His inner illumining Light and Wisdom how to play the Game extremely well. Eventually they make their child a unique and accomplished player. When he becomes an exceptionally good player, he has to fight against three opposing players at the same time. These three formidable opponents are Darkness, Ignorance and Death. To his surprise, he defeats his enemies easily. His is the everlasting victory over these fallen foes.

If the child is in a bad, undivine consciousness when he receives the push and pull from his parents, he says to them, ‘For God’s sake, don’t bother me. I need sleep, only sleep. I want nothing else. I do not want to play.’ Then the parents sadly say, ‘Sleep, child, sleep. We shall play without you.’

Any individual can practice Kundalini Yoga if he sincerely wants to. Or if he only wants to study it, then I must say that Kundalini Yoga is worthy of study with the deepest reverence.

The main objectives of Kundalini Yoga are to realise the dynamic existence in the static existence, to change the lower state of consciousness into the higher state of consciousness, to transform the bondage of the finite into the freedom of the Infinite. The dynamic existence is Shakti and the static existence is Shiva. If Shakti is not present in Shiva, then Shiva will remain static. Shakti, the Mother, is the Power, but it is the Father who houses this infinite Power.

When a seeker wants to identify himself with the Mother-Power, he has to intensify his aspiration. It is through intensity that he becomes one with the Shakti. If he wants to become totally one with the Divine Father, Shiva, it is with sea-like immensity that he can become one with Shiva.

Here in the West there are many who feel that the powers of Kundalini Yoga are nothing but rank superstition. I wish to say that those who cherish this idea are totally mistaken. Even the genuine spiritual Masters have examined Kundalini Yoga and found in their own experiences the undeniable authenticity of its hidden occult powers.

Blessed is he who practises Kundalini Yoga as part of his self-discovery and not in order to acquire power in hypnotism, black magic or other low forms of occultism which operate in and from the vital world. A genuine student of Kundalini Yoga is he who tries to unite the vital power and the spiritual knowledge in perfect harmony with the evolving spirit of life. 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.

The Kundalini Power is the dynamic power in us. When the dynamic power and the spiritual knowledge go hand in hand, the perfect harmony of the universal Consciousness dawns and the conscious evolution of the human soul reaches the transcendental Self.

There are two ways for one to enter into Kundalini Yoga: through the Tantric process and through the Vedantic process. The Tantric approach is systematic and elaborate but, at the same time, quite dangerous. The Vedantic process is simple and mystical, but it is safe and in no way less convincing or less fulfilling.

The Tantric method is dangerous because it deals first with the lower vital and emotional life. The approach is dynamic and courageous. Either one will purify himself by entering bravely into the vital world and coming out triumphant, or one will be totally lost in the ignorance of the vital world if he is not strong enough inwardly to conquer the vital forces there.

The Vedantic way is safe because the seeker concentrates and meditates to raise, purify and illumine his consciousness before he tries to deal with the obscure, impure lower vital forces that want to bind him. When the seeker enters into the lower vital world with the light of illumination, to his wide surprise he sees that the lower vital is illumined, purified and divinised.

The Tantric process demands from the seeker constant and conscious awareness of the inner and upward movement from the muladhara chakra to the sahasrara chakra. The Vedantic process demands from the seeker conscious and constant awareness of the evolving and liberating consciousness.

If anybody here would like to practise Kundalini Yoga, I advise that seeker to follow the Vedantic method, which is safe and, at the same time, sure. If you follow the Vedantic method, you are destined to reach the Goal certainly and safely.

Writings on Kundalini