Thirty two years back I began my journey, a dramatic and fascinating inner and outer journey into the process that unfolds once that inner spiritual energy that was strong is ignited and the experience of spiritual awakening.

It had been my great good fortune to receive shaktipat initiation the stages of spiritual awakening from Swami Muktananda who had been the realized Master of the Siddha Yoga lineage then. I say it was my great good fortune because, in this tradition, not only is the initiation but the crucial teachings for understanding the awakening along with the spiritual experiences and process that unfolds as a consequence of it are openly and freely given. I shortly realized, through my own internal experience along with the experiences of others around me who'd received shaktipat, although this inner energy that was divine not only has got the capacity to give the greatest of mystical experiences to one, but is also a supreme healer. In one's aim to take the seeker to the realization of oneness she must help our internal barriers to be removed by us on the mental, physical, emotional, psychic and spiritual levels. Just like with any development and healing process, being faced with past challenging encounters, limitations, negative emotions, negative tendencies and challenges and open issues, might be at times frightening and difficult.

When combined with intense, impulsive encounters of energy going in manners an individual has no previous training, knowledge or comprehension of, it can be overwhelming, leading the person to find help from clergy, religious advisors, mental health practitioners and holistic practitioners-many of whom are lacking in the necessary experience as well as knowledge to offer sufficient support, and a few of whom may actually misdiagnose the individual's encounter, tagging it pathological. Therefore it is critical that anyone providing support to people with awakened kundalini have knowledge and experience of the kundalini process across spiritual customs.

Energetic Paradigms Across Traditions

There are many names for the kundalini across traditions that are religious. A few are: the Tibetan Buddhist tummo, or internal fire, the Chrisitian Holy Spirity, the Chinese Martial Arts and Healing Crafts Chi, as well as the num of healers and African tribal dacers. When one investigates the mystical texts, poetry and anecdotal content of a variety of traditions experiential paradigms appear describing movement and the awakening of this transforming internal power. The system that is most articulated is the Chakra/Nadi system that appears in Yoga, Tibetan Buddhism and Sufism. In the process of going through the chakras the kundalini releases a variety of psychological, mental, physical, psychic and religious experiences.

The Christian system is less fully pronounced, but is hinted at in the Book of Revelations as John, after receiving the Holy Spirit's awakening from Jesus, later experiences a series of mystical visions. In one of them he's shown the seven spirits of God who preside over them along with the seven seals. Each seal represents a level of revelation or consciousness. In Kabbalah, the mystical path of Judaism, there's an elaborate system of the Tree of Life and the sefiroth. Mention is also made of the 7 heavens as well as the Hebrew letters or sounds used to attain them. In the Native American tradition, vibrational centres that run over spinal column or the axis are described by the Hopi Creation Story. These five centres are near the top of the head, at the heart, the throat, just below the very best of the head and under the navel -a system rather much like the chakra system. A clay artifact discovered by archeologists in the mounds of the primeval Cahokian tribes that lived along the Mississsippi River in what is now the state of Illinois, shows a berger woman seated on an uncoiling serpent. The serpent rises like a vine up the middle of her back, along which are put numerous gourds. The uncoiling serpent is, in the traditions of Yoga, a sign of the spiritual awakening, or serpent power.