Kundalini - The Secret of Yoga - HolyBooks.com

222 Pages·2004·0.84 MB·English

Kundalini -
The Secret of Yoga

GOPI KRISHNA

Published by
F.I.N.D. Research Trust
and
Kundalini Research Foundation, Ltd.
Kundalini - The Secret of Yoga

Copyright© 1972
Gopi Krishna

First printing 1972

Second printing 1990

Published by:

F.I.N.D. Research Trust
R.R. 5 Flesherton
Ontario, Canada
NOC lEO

The Kundalini Research Foundation, ltd.
P.O. Box 2248
Noroton Heights
CT. 06820
U.S.A.

Published in association with:

Kundalini Research Association International

Kundalini Research and Publication Trust

Kundalini Research Association
Gemsenstrasse 7,
8006 Zurich, Switzerland

Bioenergy Research Foundation
1187 Coast Village Road, 1-186 Santa Barbara
CA. 93108., U.S.A.

First F.I.N.D. Research Trust edition

Second Kundalini Research Foundation, Ltd.
edition

International Standards Book Number:
06-064787-6
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:
77-184409
Cover painting:
A New Jewel by D. Joan Woo
Contents

Introduction ( i )

1 The Aim of Yoga 1

2 How This Aim Is Achieved 21

3 Kundalini, Fact and Fiction 44

4 Yoga, True and False 67

5 The Discipline of Yoga 91

6 Kundalini, the Key to Cosmic Consciousness 113

7 The Biological Aspect of Kundalini 134

8 The Physiology of Yoga 157

9 The Harvest: Transcendence, Genius, and Psychic Powers 180

Appendix 204

About the Author 208

Index 209
OTHER BOOKS BY GOPI KRISHNA

Kundalini, The Evolutionary Energy in Man

(An Autobiography)

The Biological Basis of Religion and Genius

The Awakening of Kundalini

The Riddle of Consciousness

The Dawn of a New Science

Secrets of Kundalini in Panchastavi

Yoga, A Vision of Its Future

The Real Nature of Mystical Experience

Kundalini in Time and Space

The Shape of Events to Come

Reason and Revelation

The Present Crisis

The Way to Self-knowledge

From the Unseen

The Wonder of the Brain

Kundalini for the New Age
Introduction

There are few subjects relating to spiritual development so
critically important and yet so incompletely understood as Yoga.
Although the interest in Yoga that started in the West during the
1960’s has abated to some degree, the teaching of the various
forms of the discipline has become well-established. In many
cases, those who practise Yoga as it is generally taught in the West
do so primarily as a means to improve health, reduce stress or
maintain physical fitness.
The other aspect of Yoga given much attention is the control
over the physical body that can be gained by long practice of its
physical disciplines. Sensational accounts of yogis who can
perform amazing feats of bodily control, such as suspension of
breathing for extended periods of time, conscious control of the
heartbeat and the ability to increase body heat in freezing
temperatures get wide publicity. There are stories of yogis who can
fly, live to an advanced age or perform amazing psychic feats.
Although these stories are, for the most part, never properly
verified, the general impression exists, both in the East and West,
that Yoga can bestow magical or occult powers on those who learn
its deepest secrets.
But, as Gopi Krishna points out, there is much more to Yoga
than its benefits to health, control over the body and potential for
developing paranormal abilities. The significance of Yoga, and the
purpose for which the discipline as a whole was really designed,
lies in its potential for enabling the practitioner to actually
experience expanded states of consciousness and

(i)
INTRODUCTION (ii)

to verify the existence of levels of creation other than the one we
perceive with our material senses. The other benefits are minor
when compared with the real goal.
Part of the reason for this lack of understanding is that in the
West, Yoga is rarely presented in its complete form. Aspects of the
disciplines which are critical to achieve real success, i.e., a
balanced lifestyle, self-discipline and control of the senses, are not
always emphasized, or if emphasized, they are not followed.
Because the primary goal of Yoga is understood in such a limited
way, few people who take up the discipline are willing to make the
effort essential to real success and the potential for attaining highly
enhanced states of perception remains largely untapped.
Another important aspect of Yoga is that if Kundalini, which
Gopi Krishna claims is at the heart of the discipline, is the energy
responsible for spiritual experience and mystical states of
consciousness, then two logical conclusions can be drawn: 1) all
religious experience owes its origin to this source and 2) the
systematized discipline of Yoga corroborates the basic beliefs of
religion which heretofore could only be accepted on faith. They are
verifiable by personal experience. So, Yoga can provide a method
that alleviates the discord and rivalry that exists between the
adherents of the major faiths and also a foundation for the
development of a more broadly-based scientific method that could
reduce the long-standing conflict between science and religion.
Another reason for the need to properly study and understand
Yoga is the occurrence of what is currently known as ‘Spiritual
Emergence.’ This term is generally used to describe a set of
physical and psychological symptoms which are experienced for
varying periods of time and, if handled in a proper way, can result
in enhanced levels of awareness, creativity and mental well-being.
But some of the symptoms experienced in these cases resemble
common forms of psychosis, and treatments done on this basis can
be detrimental both to the process and to the mental and physical
health of the individual.
For those who approach these processes with an open mind and
who attempt to help the people who experience them there can be
no doubt about the reality of the suffering that many of them
endure, often unnecessarily. But until the physiological basis for
this condition is actually determined and understood, it will not be
possible to make substantial progress either in helping the people
suffering from severe problems related to these processes or in
making Spiritual Emergence a valid and accepted branch of
medical study.
(iii) INTRODUCTION

It was Gopi Krishna’s belief that the only way to establish the
reality of spiritual experience on a firm scientific basis is to
conduct research into the biological factors that are responsible for
it. The discipline of Yoga, with its systematized and highly
developed methods for enhancing the processes that lead to higher
levels of consciousness, is the natural centre around which this
research can proceed.
Although not a Yoga teacher by profession, Gopi Krishna’s more
than 45 years of experience with the effects of a fully awakened
Kundalini and the thorough research of the subject done during his
lifetime gave him the insight and knowledge necessary for the
understanding of this vast subject. The meticulous study of his own
condition and the information that he gathered can be of invaluable
help in undertaking a project of this kind.
If his theories about the nature of spiritual experience are verified
by the research that he recommended, it will bring about a
revolution in our understanding of the human condition and of the
goal towards which the human race is currently evolving.

Michael Bradford
1

The Aim of Yoga

The great interest evinced in Yoga and other occult doctrines by
a large number of people, both in the East and in the West, is a
clear indication of a growing thirst in men to know more about
themselves, their birth and death, the real nature of the conscious
principle animating them, and about the mystery surrounding the
universe. There is nothing new in the expression of this impulse. It
has been present in various forms from the day man began to lead
the life of a rational being, from the day he began to use stone
implements, of the crudest type, and to live a family and social life
of the most primitive kind. That the thirst has always been present
in one form or another is corroborated by the earliest relics of
primitive men found in different parts of the earth. Undoubtedly
there is a difference in the intensity of its expression and the form
of its manifestation, but that the thirst has not abated is clear
beyond the least shadow of doubt.
There appears to be a misconception in the minds of some people
that Yoga offers an easy and convenient method for gaining access
to the occult. This notion is especially prevalent in the West, and
the idea persists that there are secret practices which can work
wonders in leading men to the realm of the spirit. Such a
conception is not peculiar to this era alone, but, in various

1
2 THE SECRET OF YOGA

forms, has been present from the remote past, ever since primitive
man began to experiment with different methods to gain psychic
powers, to invoke spirits and ghosts, to practice the art of magical
healing, or to trade in sorcery and witchcraft. The men who prac-
ticed or professed these arts were always a source of wonder and
attraction to novices desirous of attaining similar powers. The idea
underlying this belief, which persists to this day, suggests that there
are latent possibilities in the human mind which, when developed
through appropriate methods, can place at the command of an
adept unseen, intelligent forces of nature which enable him to
perform extraordinary feats utterly beyond the capacity of normal
men. How far this concept is based on reality and how far it is a
myth is the aim of this work to expound.
Properly speaking, Yoga is an adjunct to religion and has always
been treated as such in India, the country of its birth. The word
Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means to yoke or
join. As such, Yoga signifies the union of the individual soul with
universal Consciousness or, in the language of the Upanishads,
with the uncreated, all-pervading Brahman. In other words, the
spiritual practices, classified under the general name Yoga,
constitute different methods for the attainment of spiritual
objectives, for verifying the doctrines formulated by prophets and
sages, and for experiencing the Transcendent. Yoga is not
something different or divorced from religion. It is the experi-
mental part of it, offering ways and means to the properly qualified
aspirants, prepared to undergo the discipline and to follow the
methods suggested, to prove for themselves the validity of
religious doctrines and the results attained by those who
successfully pursued the path prescribed.
Yoga, as the empirical part of religion, is especially valuable in
this age of reason as the growing intellect of the race demands
some proof for the existence of the Transcendent Reality within the
universe. Unless and until this proof is forthcoming, even in a
subjective form, it will be increasingly difficult to reconcile the
intellect with the existing dogmas of religion and agnosticism