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82-632: Ashrams and meditation centers provide places to learn and practice Siddha Yoga. The two main ashrams are Gurudev Siddha Peeth in Ganeshpuri, India , and Shree Muktananda Ashram in New York State , USA . Siddha Yoga has meditation centers in several countries, including India, the United States, Australia , United Kingdom , France , Belgium , Germany , Italy , Canada , Mexico , Brazil and Japan . "Siddha Yoga" ("perfect" or "perfected" yoga)

164-612: A High Court Judge in Calcutta , he studied Sanskrit and Hindu philosophy, particularly as it related to Hindu Tantra . He translated numerous original Sanskrit texts and lectured on Indian philosophy , Yoga and Tantra. His book, The Serpent Power: The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga became a major source for many modern Western adaptations of Kundalini yoga practice. It presents an academically and philosophically sophisticated translation of, and commentary on, two key Eastern texts: Shatchakranirūpana (Description and Investigation into

246-863: A co-guru and spiritual leader of the Siddha Yoga path. Gurumayi is the sole spiritual leader of Siddha Yoga since her brother's removal. In 1992, Gurumayi's humanitarian initiative, the PRASAD Project, was incorporated in the United States. The project is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It assists "people to achieve lives of self-reliance and dignity by offering programs of health, education and sustainable community development in India, dental care in

328-519: A half coils. Swami Vivekananda describes Kuṇḍalinī briefly in his book Raja Yoga as follows: According to the Yogis, there are two nerve currents in the spinal column, called Pingalâ and Idâ, and a hollow canal called Sushumnâ running through the spinal cord. At the lower end of the hollow canal is what the Yogis call the "Lotus of the Kundalini". They describe it as triangular in a form in which... there

410-613: A hymn of 182 verses transmitted in the Skanda Purana ; Shree Rudram , an ancient hymn to Rudra (Shiva) preserved in the Krishna Yajurveda ; and the Kundalini Stavah , an eight-stanza hymn to Kundalini . Siddha Yoga students can participate in satsang , group meetings or programs held weekly at Siddha Yoga ashrams and meditation centers. Satsangs typically include talks, chanting, and meditation. The SYDA Foundation offers

492-499: A latter-day scholar on Kuṇḍalinī and its physical basis, and a former member of the Theosophical Society . According to Carl Jung "the concept of Kundalini has for us only one use, that is, to describe our own experiences with the unconscious". Jung used the Kundalini system symbolically as a means of understanding the dynamic movement between conscious and unconscious processes. According to Shamdasani, Jung claimed that

574-483: A master, the awakening of the kundalini cannot take anyone very far on the Path; and such indiscriminate or premature awakening is fraught with dangers of self-deception as well as the misuse of powers. The kundalini enables man to consciously cross the lower planes and it ultimately merges into the universal cosmic power of which it is a part, and which also is at times described as kundalini ... [but it] cannot dispense with

656-496: A new form of comparative psychology opened up." The American writer William Buhlman began to conduct an international survey of out-of-body experiences in 1969 in order to gather information about symptoms: sounds, vibrations and other phenomena that commonly occur at the time of the OBE event. His primary interest was to compare the findings with reports made by yogis such as Gopi Krishna who have referred to similar phenomena, such as

738-462: A restraining order against Muktananda and Siddha Yoga members. In 1983 William Rodarmor printed several allegations in CoEvolution Quarterly from anonymous female devotees that Muktananda regularly raped them. In the article, based on twenty five interviews, former devotees charged that Muktananda had engaged in rape of many women including underage devotees. In 1996 former devotees started

820-436: A secret astral passage, the coiled way of the kundalini in the coccygeal plexus, and upward through the sacral, the lumbar, and the higher dorsal, cervical, and medullary plexuses, and the spiritual eye at the point between the eyebrows, to reveal finally the soul's presence in the highest center (Sahasrara) in the brain. Krishnamacharya, often called the "father of modern yoga", described kuṇḍalinī differently. To him, Kuṇḍalinī

902-500: A small three-room dwelling in Gavdevi, a mile from Ganeshpuri. After his death in 1961, Nityananda's Ganeshpuri ashram was converted into a samadhi shrine and has subsequently become a renowned temple and pilgrimage site. Under Muktananda's leadership the three-room dwelling in Gavdevi expanded into a flourishing ashram and international retreat site (Sri Gurudev Ashram, now Gurudev Siddha Peeth ). From August 27 to 30, 1974, Muktananda led

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984-479: A strong authority figure ... who[m] devotees believe is able to perform miracles in response to needs". Ashram An ashram ( Sanskrit : आश्रम , āśrama ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions . The Sanskrit noun āśrama- is a thematic nominal derivative from the root śram 'toil' (< PIE * ḱremh 2 , cf. śramaṇa ) with the prefix ā 'towards.' An ashram

1066-552: A variety of courses and retreats throughout the year, including the meditation intensives first developed by Muktananda in the 1970s. Siddha Yoga students engage in seva , or "selfless service", as a spiritual practice. Students can practice seva through volunteer work at an ashram or a meditation center in their city. The work of the SYDA Foundation is carried out by the work of "sevites". Other Siddha Yoga practices include japa (mantra repetition), contemplation, and dakshina ,

1148-414: A variety of methods. Many systems of yoga focus on awakening kuṇḍalinī through: meditation , pranayama , the practice of asana , and chanting of mantras . Kundalini yoga is influenced by Shaktism and Tantra schools of Hinduism. It derives its name from its focus upon the awakening of kundalini energy through regular practice of mantra , Tantra , yantra , asanas or meditation . When kundalini

1230-513: A website entitled Leaving Siddha Yoga to express their grievances against Siddha Yoga. Lis Harris repeated and extended Rodarmor's allegations in an article in The New Yorker (1994). According to Lola Williamson, "Muktananda stressed the value of celibacy for making progress on the spiritual path, but he almost certainly violated his own rules." Sarah Caldwell, in an essay in the academic journal Nova Religio (2001), argued that Muktananda

1312-463: Is shaktipat where one individual's Kuṇḍalinī is awakened by another who already has the experience. Shaktipat only raises Kuṇḍalinī temporarily but gives the student an experience to use as a basis. The twentieth century yogi and mystic Gopi Krishna , who helped to bring the concept of Kuṇḍalinī to the Western world, stated that As the ancient writers have said, it is the vital force or prana which

1394-474: Is "the innate intelligence of embodied Consciousness". The first possible mention of the term is in the Tantrasadbhāva-tantra (eighth century), though other earlier tantras mention the visualization of Shakti in the central channel and the upward movement of prana or vital force (which is often associated with Kuṇḍalinī in later works). According to David Gordon White, this feminine spiritual force

1476-509: Is a Sanskrit term adopted by Muktananda to describe the path of self-realization that he embarked on under the guidance of his spiritual teacher, the Indian saint Bhagawan Nityananda . Muktananda regarded the path he learned from his teacher as a perfect path because it embraced all of the traditional yogas ( jnana yoga , karma yoga , raja yoga , and bhakti yoga ), spontaneously bringing the disciple to perfection in each. In 1975 Muktananda founded

1558-481: Is a form of divine feminine energy (or Shakti ) believed to be located at the base of the spine, in the muladhara . It is an important concept in Śhaiva Tantra , where it is believed to be a force or power associated with the divine feminine or the formless aspect of the Goddess. This energy in the body, when cultivated and awakened through tantric practice, is believed to lead to spiritual liberation . Kuṇḍalinī

1640-470: Is a place where one strives towards a goal in a disciplined manner. Such a goal could be ascetic , spiritual , yogic or any other. An ashram would traditionally, but not necessarily in contemporary times, be located far from human habitation, in forests or mountainous regions , amidst refreshing natural surroundings conducive to spiritual instruction and meditation . The residents of an ashram regularly performed spiritual and physical exercises, such as

1722-503: Is a power called the Kundalini, coiled up. When that Kundalini awakens, it tries to force a passage through this hollow canal, and as it rises step by step, as it were, layer after layer of the mind becomes open... When it reaches the brain, the Yogi is perfectly detached from the body and mind; the soul finds itself free. ... The left is the Ida, the right Pingala, and that hollow canal which runs through

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1804-462: Is a type of religious experience within the Hindu tradition, within which it is held to be a kind of "cosmic energy" that accumulates at the base of the spine . When awakened, kuṇḍalinī is described as rising up from the muladhara chakra , through the central nadi (called sushumna ) inside or alongside the spine reaching the top of the head. The progress of kuṇḍalinī through the different chakras

1886-404: Is advised to follow the path in an open-hearted manner. Kuṇḍalinī is considered to occur in the chakra and nadis of the subtle body . Each chakra is said to contain special characteristics and with proper training, moving Kuṇḍalinī through these chakras can help express or open these characteristics. Kuṇḍalinī is described as a sleeping, dormant potential force in the human organism. It

1968-436: Is also termed bhogavati, which has a double meaning of "enjoyment" and "coiled" and signifies her strong connection to bliss and pleasure, both mundane physical pleasure and the bliss of spiritual liberation ( moksha ), which is the enjoyment of Shiva's creative activity and ultimate union with the Goddess. In the influential Shakta tradition called Kaula, Kuṇḍalinī is seen as a "latent innate spiritual power", associated with

2050-457: Is associated with the goddess Parvati or Adi Parashakti , the supreme being in Shaktism , and with the goddesses Bhairavi and Kubjika . The term, along with practices associated with it, was adopted into Hatha Yoga in the 9th century. It has since then been adopted into other forms of Hinduism as well as modern spirituality and New Age thought. Kuṇḍalinī awakenings are said to occur by

2132-445: Is attained by the infusion of spiritual force through the good grace of a saintly preceptor... Siddhayoga or Siddhimarga is nothing but the knowledge of the unity of Self and Brahma... A further definition of "Siddha Yoga" was offered in 1948 by Swami Purushottam Tirtha's disciple, Swami Vishnu Tirtha: Therefore the yoga of Kundalini is known as Mahayoga . It is also sometimes called Siddhayoga because it can be acquired only through

2214-581: Is attested in the Third Tantra of the Tirumantiram of Tirumular , a Tamil poet of the 7th or 8th century A definition of "Siddha Yoga" is also offered by Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirtha, a yogi from the dual Tirtha/Siddhayoga lineage, who wrote two books on " Siddhayoga " in the early 1900s: The easy way of attaining it (salvation) is said to be Siddhayoga... Siddhayoga or Siddhimarga is that means by which yoga can be attained without difficulty... Siddhayoga

2296-494: Is awakened spontaneously or without guidance it can lead to kundalini syndrome which sometimes presents as psychosis . The concept of Kuṇḍalinī is mentioned in the Upanishads (9th – 7th centuries BCE). The Sanskrit adjective kuṇḍalin means "circular, annular". It is mentioned as a noun for "snake" (in the sense of "coiled") in the 12th-century Rajatarangini chronicle (I.2). Kuṇḍa (a noun meaning "bowl, water-pot"

2378-524: Is believed to achieve different levels of awakening and a mystical experience , until Kundalini finally reaches the top of the head, Sahasrara or crown chakra , producing a profound transformation of consciousness. Swami Sivananda Saraswati of the Divine Life Society stated in his book Kundalini Yoga that "Supersensual visions appear before the mental eye of the aspirant, new worlds with indescribable wonders and charms unfold themselves before

2460-477: Is either prepared or unprepared. According to Hindu tradition, in order to be able to integrate this spiritual energy, a period of careful purification and strengthening of the body and nervous system is usually required beforehand. Yoga and Tantra propose that Kuṇḍalinī can be awakened by a guru (teacher), but body and spirit must be prepared by yogic austerities, such as pranayama , or breath control, physical exercises, visualization, and chanting. The student

2542-584: Is found as the name of a Nāga (serpent deity) in Mahabharata 1.4828). The 8th-century Tantrasadbhava Tantra uses the term kundalī , glossed by David Gordon White as "she who is ring-shaped". The use of kuṇḍalī as a name for Goddess Durga (a form of Shakti ) appears often in Tantrism and Shaktism from as early as the 11th century in the Śaradatilaka . It was adopted as a technical term in Hatha yoga during

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2624-525: Is not an energy that rises: it is a blockage that prevents prāṇa vāyu (breath) from entering the suṣumnā and rising. This interpretation came partly from his own experience and partly from teachings of two sects of Vishnu-worshiping temple priests. Sir John Woodroffe (1865–1936) – also known by his pseudonym Arthur Avalon – was a British Orientalist whose published works stimulated a far-reaching interest in Hindu philosophy and Yogic practices. While serving as

2706-432: Is one of the components of an esoteric description of the " subtle body ", which consists of nadis (energy channels), chakras (psychic centres), prana (subtle energy), and bindu (drops of essence). Kuṇḍalinī is described as being coiled up at the base of the spine. The description of the location can vary slightly, from the rectum to the navel. Kuṇḍalinī is said to reside in the triangular sacrum bone in three and

2788-600: Is problematic given their presentation of themselves as scholarly historians of religion. The scholar of religion Catherine Wessinger comments that while devotees are varied, many are "upwardly mobile", and that the path seems to attract people from Jewish and Roman Catholic backgrounds. She writes that Catholics will find many familiar features, such as venerated images of saints; the use of the rosary or mala to count repetitions of mantras; celibate "ministers" in distinctive robes; "uplifting congregational singing; elaborate and beautiful worship and places of worship; and finally,

2870-538: Is said to support the seeker’s steady efforts to attain self-realization. Students of Siddha Yoga celebrate two major Hindu religious holy days: Maha Shivaratri (celebrated two days before the new moon in February/March) and Guru Purnima (celebrated on the full moon in July–August). They also celebrate the birthdays of Muktananda and Chidvilasananda; Muktananda's divya diksha day (the day he received initiation); and

2952-549: Is spread over both the macrocosm, the entire Universe, and the microcosm, the human body... The atom is contained in both of these. Prana is life-energy responsible for the phenomena of terrestrial life and for life on other planets in the universe. Prana in its universal aspect is immaterial. But in the human body, ...The brain is alive only because of Prana... an enlightened person ... [becomes] compassionate and more detached. There would be less ego, without any tendency toward violence or aggression or falsehood. The awakened life energy

3034-403: Is the former co-guru and spiritual leader of the Siddha Yoga path. He was appointed by Muktananda along with his sister. In 1985, Gurumayi's brother Nityananda stepped down "in disputed circumstances", in which he and Gurumayi "messily parted ways". In October 1985 he had his sannyasa vows revoked. He later told a journalist this was because he had broken his celibacy vow. A different version of

3116-406: Is the mother of morality, because all morality springs from this awakened energy. Since the very beginning, it has been this evolutionary energy that has created the concept of morals in human beings. The American comparative religions scholar Joseph Campbell describes the concept of Kuṇḍalinī as "the figure of a coiled female serpent—a serpent goddess not of "gross" but "subtle" substance—which

3198-424: Is to be thought of as residing in a torpid, slumbering state in a subtle center, the first of the seven, near the base of the spine: the aim of the yoga then being to rouse this serpent, lift her head, and bring her up a subtle nerve or channel of the spine to the so-called "thousand-petaled lotus" ( Sahasrara ) at the crown of the head...She, rising from the lowest to the highest lotus center will pass through and wake

3280-475: The Khecarīvidyā , states that khechari mudra enables one to raise Kundalini and access the stores of amrita in the head, which subsequently flood the body. The spiritual teacher Meher Baba emphasized the need for a master when actively trying to awaken Kuṇḍalinī: Kundalini is a latent power in the higher body. When awakened, it pierces through six chakras or functional centers and activates them. Without

3362-561: The Lok Biradari Prakalp Ashram Shala . A number of ashrams have been established outside India. Typically, these ashrams are connected to Indian lineages, focus on imparting Yoga -related teachings, often in residential retreats , and are headed by spiritual teachers (Indians or Western). Kundalini energy In Hinduism , kundalini ( Sanskrit : कुण्डलिनी , romanized :  kuṇḍalinī , lit.   'coiled snake', pronunciation )

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3444-759: The mahasamadhi anniversaries of Muktananda and Bhagawan Nityananda. Muktananda's spiritual teacher, Bhagawan Nityananda , was born in South India . He first came to Ganeshpuri , a small village located 82 kilometers north of Mumbai , in 1936, settling there in a small hut built for him by the caretakers of the local Shiva temple. As his visitors and devotees increased in number, the hut expanded into an ashram. In his autobiography, Play of Consciousness, Muktananda describes how he received shaktipat initiation from Nityananda on August 15, 1947, and how he attained moksha or God-realization after nine more years of sadhana and discipleship. Nityananda installed Muktananda in

3526-407: The "vibrational state" as components of their kundalini-related spiritual experience . He explains: There are numerous reports of full Kundalini experiences culminating with a transcendental out-of-body state of consciousness. In fact, many people consider this experience to be the ultimate path to enlightenment. The basic premise is to encourage the flow of Kundalini energy up the spine and toward

3608-572: The 15th century, and became widely used in the Yoga Upanishads by the 16th century. Eknath Easwaran has paraphrased the term as "the coiled power", a force which ordinarily rests at the base of the spine, described as being "coiled there like a serpent". Kuṇḍalinī arose as a central concept in Shaiva Tantra , especially among the Śākta sects like the Kaula . In these Tantric traditions, Kuṇḍalinī

3690-477: The 1970s and early 80s. Purity is emphasized in the Siddha Yoga tradition; the scholar of religion Karen Pechilis writes that Gurumayi's purity is highlighted to show that she continues the guru tradition, and that she is a suitably pure person to be the spiritual leader of the organization. Pechilis comments that while purity may have been an implicit credential for her predecessor gurus, one point of view would be that it became "explicit and greatly emphasized during

3772-516: The Goddess Kubjika (lit. "the crooked one"), who is the supreme Goddess ( Paradevi ). She is also pure bliss and power (Shakti), the source of all mantras, and resides in the six chakras along the central channel. In Shaiva Tantra, various practices like pranayama , bandhas , mantra recitation and tantric ritual were used in order to awaken this spiritual power and create a state of bliss and spiritual liberation. According to Abhinavagupta ,

3854-405: The SYDA Foundation (Siddha Yoga Dham Associates) to administer the work of his global "meditation revolution". "Siddha Yoga" has been a registered service mark of the SYDA Foundation, a domestic non-profit corporation , since 1977. As an educational service mark, it is used in teaching and conducting workshops for individual spiritual development. The ancient generic Sanskrit term "Siddha Yoga"

3936-670: The SYDA Foundation, an organization designated to protect, preserve and facilitate the dissemination of the Siddha Yoga teachings. In 1975 Muktananda founded the Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland in the San Francisco Bay Area , and in 1976 he established Shree Nityananda Ashram (now Shree Muktananda Ashram ) in the former Gilbert Hotel, South Fallsburg in the Catskills Mountains , north of New York City . His fame increased to

4018-614: The Six Bodily Centers) written by Tantrik Pūrnānanda Svāmī (1526) and the Paduka-Pancakā from the Sanskrit of a commentary by Kālīcharana (Five-fold Footstool of the Guru). The Sanskrit term "Kundali Shakti" translates as "Serpent Power". Kundalini is thought to be an energy released within an individual using specific meditation techniques. It is represented symbolically as a serpent coiled at

4100-545: The United States and eye care in Mexico." In the treatment of cataracts, PRASAD de Mexico has "performed free eye surgery on 26,087 adults and children." In 1997, Gurumayi founded the Muktabodha Indological Research Institute with its own publishing imprint , Agama Press. The mission of Muktabodha, based on Gurumayi’s original intention for the organization in 1997, is "to preserve endangered texts from

4182-667: The Yogi, planes after planes reveal their existence and grandeur to the practitioner and the Yogi gets divine knowledge, power and bliss, in increasing degrees, when Kuṇḍalinī passes through Chakra after Chakra, making them to bloom in all their glory..." Yoga gurus consider that Kuṇḍalinī can be awakened by shaktipat (spiritual transmission by a Guru or teacher), or by spiritual practices such as yoga or meditation. There are two broad approaches to Kuṇḍalinī awakening: active and passive. The active approach involves systematic physical exercises and techniques of concentration, visualization, pranayama (breath practice) and meditation under

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4264-457: The base of the spine. When Woodroffe later commented upon the reception of his work he clarified his objective, "All the world (I speak of course of those interested in such subjects) is beginning to speak of Kundalinî Shakti." He described his intention as follows: "We, who are foreigners, must place ourselves in the skin of the Hindu, and must look at their doctrine and ritual through their eyes and not our own." Western awareness of Kuṇḍalinī

4346-683: The center of the spinal cord is the Sushumna. ... The canal is closed at the lower end, ... near what is called the sacral plexus... The different plexuses that have their centers in the spinal canal can very well stand for the different "lotuses" of the Yogi. When Kuṇḍalinī Shakti is conceived as a goddess, then, when it rises to the head, it unites itself with the Supreme Being of ( Lord Shiva ). The aspirant then becomes engrossed in deep meditation and infinite bliss. Paramahansa Yogananda in his book God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita states: At

4428-449: The command of the yogi in deep meditation, this creative force turns inward and flows back to its source in the thousand-petaled lotus, revealing the resplendent inner world of the divine forces and consciousness of the soul and spirit. Yoga refers to this power flowing from the coccyx to spirit as the awakened kundalini. Paramahansa Yogananda also states: The yogi reverses the searchlights of intelligence, mind and life force inward through

4510-580: The events was reported later, that there had been a battle for succession and Nityananda was forced to leave. In 1987, Nityananda started his own organization, Shanti Mandir. Both it and Shankarananda's Shiva Yoga have been described as schisms from Siddha Yoga. One of Muktananda's earliest and principal disciples was Malti Shetty, a young woman from Mumbai who accompanied him as his English language interpreter on his second and third World Tours. In May 1982, Muktananda installed Shetty (now known as Gurumayi Chidvilasananda or Gurumayi) along with her brother as

4592-502: The favor of a perfect master (Siddha Guru), without any effort on the part of the initiated. It has been said that through shaktipat Kundalini is soon awakened, and that Mahayoga or Siddhayoga is the direct outcome. Muktananda's Siddha Yoga is based on his personal selection "from the teachings of his guru, Nityananda, and philosophical and practical traditions that preceded him, especially premodern hatha yoga, Vedanta, and Kashmir Shaivism." The Siddha Yoga practices are intended to help

4674-557: The first Shaktipat Intensive in Aspen, Colorado . Through Shaktipat Intensives, created by Muktananda, participants are said to receive shaktipat initiation (the awakening of Kundalini Shakti that is said to reside within a person) and to deepen their practice of Siddha Yoga meditation. Historically, Shaktipat initiation had been reserved for the few who had done many years of spiritual service and practices; Muktananda offered this initiation to newcomers and yogis alike. In 1974, Muktananda founded

4756-457: The five between, and with each waking, the psychology and personality of the practitioner will be altogether and fundamentally transformed." According to the Gorakṣaśataka , or "Hundred Verses of Goraksa", hatha yoga practices such as the mudras mula bandha , uddiyana bandha, and jalandhara bandha , and the pranayama practice of kumbhaka can awaken Kundalini. Another hatha yoga text,

4838-506: The force inseparable from consciousness, who animates creation and who, in her particularised form in the body, causes liberation through her upward, illusion-shattering movement. Despite mostly being associated with Shaiva and Shakta traditions, the concept of Kundalini Shakti is not at all alien to Vaishnavism . Narada Pancharatra, A popular Vaishnava text gives a detailed, although somewhat different description of Chakras and Kundalini Shakti. According to William F. Williams, kuṇḍalinī

4920-645: The global COVID-19 pandemic , Gurumayi started speaking in frequent livestreamed video satsangs . As of 2021, students may visit the ashrams only to offer short-term (less than six months) or long-term (six months or more) service, or to attend pre-booked retreats. In 1981, Stan Trout, a swami for Siddha Yoga, wrote an open letter in which he referred a number of stories of Muktananda engaging in sexual activities with young women, and using Sidda Yoga members to harass and make death threats to force people to "stop talking about your escapades with young girls in your bedroom." This included mention of former members being granted

5002-572: The great tantric scholar and master of the Kaula and Trika lineages, there are two main forms of Kuṇḍalinī, an upward moving Kuṇḍalinī ( urdhva ) associated with expansion, and a downward moving Kuṇḍalinī ( adha ) associated with contraction. According to the scholar of comparative religion Gavin Flood , Abhinavagupta links Kuṇḍalinī with "the power that brings into manifestation the body, breath, and experiences of pleasure and pain", with "the power of sexuality as

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5084-403: The guidance of a competent teacher. These techniques come from any of the main branches of yoga, and some forms of yoga, such as Kriya yoga and Kundalini yoga , which emphasize Kuṇḍalinī techniques. The passive approach is instead a path of surrender where one lets go of all the impediments to the awakening rather than trying to actively awaken Kuṇḍalinī. A chief part of the passive approach

5166-432: The mantra, I noticed that my breathing was getting heavier. Suddenly, I felt a great impact of a rising force within me. The intensity of this rising kundalini force was so tremendous that my body lifted up a little and fell flat into the aisle; my eyeglasses flew off. As I lay there with my eyes closed, I could see a continuous fountain of dazzling white lights erupting within me. In brilliance, these lights were brighter than

5248-507: The need for the grace of a Perfect Master. In his book, Building a Noble World , Shiv R. Jhawar describes his Shaktipat experience at Muktananda's public program at Lake Point Tower in Chicago on 16 September 1974 as follows: Baba [Swami Muktananda] had just begun delivering his discourse with his opening statement: 'Today's subject is meditation. ... 'Kundalini starts dancing when one repeats Om Namah Shivaya.' Hearing this, I mentally repeated

5330-549: The point that he was made the subject of a New York magazine article ("Hanging out with the Guru") and a Time magazine article ("Instant Energy"), both in 1976. In 1979, Muktananda created The Prison Project, designed to making the teachings, practices and experience of the Siddha Yoga path available to incarcerated seekers. Muktananda died on October 2, 1982. He appointed Gurumayi and Subhash Shetty as co-gurus of Siddha Yoga. Subhash Shetty (now known as Mahamandaleshwar Nityananda)

5412-633: The practice attractive, from the aromatic incense, the diet and lifestyle, the group meditation and chanting, and the experiences of the group, including of the guru. The changes within the organization after Muktananda's death have been examined by scholars including Gene Thursby and Douglas Osto. The scholars Jeffrey Kripal and Sarah Caldwell write that the 1997 book Meditation Revolution , which includes five recognized scholars among its six authors, essentially legitimizes, systematizes, and canonizes Chidvilasanda's Siddha Yoga lineage. They state that this would be unexceptionable if presented as from devotees, but

5494-500: The princes receive martial instruction from the sage, especially in the use of divine weapons. In the Mahabharata , Krishna , in his youth, goes to the ashram of Sandipani to gain knowledge of both intellectual and spiritual matters. Boarding schools , especially in the tribal areas of Maharashtra and elsewhere in India , are called ashram shala or ashram schools. One such school is

5576-445: The process of individuation, with sensitivity towards a new generation's interest in alternative religions and psychological exploration." In the introduction to Jung's book The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga , Sonu Shamdasani puts forth: "The emergence of depth psychology was historically paralleled by the translation and widespread dissemination of the texts of yoga... for the depth psychologies sought to liberate themselves from

5658-464: The religious and philosophical traditions of classical India and make them accessible for study and scholarship worldwide." In 2004, SYDA changed its focus from large events at its South Fallsburg ashram to bringing programs to where its followers lived. It stated this was to increase accessibility. The ashram staff was cut, and the Sadhana Kutir dormitory and office building (the former Windsor Hotel)

5740-404: The seeker "touch and expand the inner mystical state, until over time he or she becomes established in his experience of yoga or oneness with God." Siddha Yoga meditation, or the practice of turning the attention inward, involves silently focusing the attention on a mantra and on the flow of breath. The principal Siddha Yoga meditation mantra is Om Namah Shivaya . Siddha Yoga chanting involves

5822-427: The source of reproduction" and with: the force of the syllable ha in the mantra and the concept of aham , the supreme subjectivity as the source of all, with a as the initial movement of consciousness and m its final withdrawal. Thus we have an elaborate series of associations, all conveying the central conception of the cosmos as a manifestation of consciousness, of pure subjectivity, with Kuṇḍalinī understood as

5904-482: The stultifying limitations of Western thought to develop maps of inner experience grounded in the transformative potential of therapeutic practices. A similar alignment of "theory" and "practice" seemed to be embodied in the yogic texts that moreover had developed independently of the bindings of Western thought. Further, the initiatory structure adopted by institutions of psychotherapy brought its social organization into proximity with that of yoga. Hence, an opportunity for

5986-434: The succession dispute and is now a primary lens" for understanding Gurumayi's spiritual path; unusually for female gurus, Pechilis writes, she was not apparently expected to marry at any time, and instead she took sannyasa in the way a male guru would. John Paul Healy, who had been a devotee from 1981 to 1985, analysed the sociology of 32 former Siddha Yoga devotees. Some of the participants had moved to one or another of

6068-468: The sun but possessed no heat at all. I was experiencing the thought-free state of "I am", realizing that "I" have always been, and will continue to be, eternal. I was fully conscious and completely aware while I was experiencing the pure "I am", a state of supreme bliss. Outwardly, at that precise moment, Baba delightfully shouted from his platform, ‘I didn't do anything. The Energy has caught someone.' ' The experience of Kuṇḍalinī awakening can happen when one

6150-420: The top of the head—the crown chakra —thus projecting your awareness into the higher heavenly dimensions of the universe. The result is an indescribable expansion of consciousness into spiritual realms beyond form and thought. Sri Aurobindo was the other great scholarly authority on Kuṇḍalinī, with a viewpoint parallel to that of Woodroffe but of a somewhat different slant - this according to Mary Scott, herself

6232-408: The traditional practice of making a voluntary monetary offering to a saint as an expression of gratitude for the grace and teachings one is said to have received. A central element of the Siddha Yoga path is shaktipat -diksha, literally translated as “initiation by descent of divine power,” through which a seeker’s Kundalini Shakti is awakened God-realization by the Guru. Once active, this inner power

6314-459: The two groups which split off from Siddha Yoga, Swami Nityananda's Shanti Mandir and Shankarananda's Shiva Yoga ; they were moved to leave by the death of Muktananda, the changing leadership and the allegations that Muktananda had had sexual interactions with devotees, as well as changes in their own lives. Healy found that the brainwashing theory of conversion to cults did not apply to Siddha Yoga, but that people joined and stayed because they found

6396-465: The use of music and sacred mantras "to enter into a dialogue with the divine." There are two main types of Siddha Yoga chants: namasankirtana (lyrical chanting of Sanskrit mantras, typically the names of God), and swadhyaya (the chanting of longer Sanskrit scriptural texts). Scriptural texts chanted in Siddha Yoga ashrams and meditation centers include the morning and evening Arati ; the Guru Gita ,

6478-593: The various forms of yoga . Other sacrifices and penances, such as yajnas , were also performed. Many ashrams also served as gurukulas , residential schools for children under the guru-shishya tradition . Sometimes, the goal of a pilgrimage to the ashram was not tranquility, but instruction in some art, especially warfare. In the Ramayana , the princes of ancient Ayodhya , Rama , and Lakshmana , go to Vishvamitra 's ashram to protect his yajnas from being defiled by emissary-demons of Ravana . After they prove their mettle,

6560-472: Was a practitioner of Shakta Tantrism, but also "whatever Baba was doing, claiming it to be a form of Tantric initiation, seemed rather to retain only the bodily shell of a Tantric practice". In November 2023 a lawsuit was filed in New York against the Siddha Yoga organization Syda Foundation on behalf of 3 plaintiffs. The lawsuit alleges a series of abuses by Swami Muktanada including rape and sexual assault during

6642-423: Was sold. Before 2008, the Ganeshpuri ashram had allowed Western backpackers to drop in for short stays and welcomed Indian visitors on weekends. Subsequently, only visits to its Nityananda temple and Muktananda's shrine were permitted. In 2011, the website was reworked to become the primary means of disseminating teachings and events. In 2013, the website began to livestream video programs. In 2020, in response to

6724-584: Was strengthened by the interest of Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung (1875–1961). "Jung's seminar on Kundalini yoga presented to the Psychological Club in Zurich in 1932 was widely regarded as a milestone in the psychological understanding of Eastern thought and of the symbolic transformations of inner experience. Kundalini yoga presented Jung with a model for the developmental phases of higher consciousness, and he interpreted its symbols in terms of

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