Kundalini in Time and Space

By Gopi Krishna

This work contains some facts about Kundalini which it is necessary to grasp first before this mysterious Force and the mechanism behind it can be understood. Gopi Krishna explains the real nature of the chakras and the source of the energy which can bring about a revolution in our consciousness and outlines the most effective way to undertake a spiritual practice. The book also deals with psychic powers, enhanced creativity and emphasizes the crucial role of lifestyle in the healthy spiritual development of the individual.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Institute for Consciousness Research
• Release date: Jan 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9780992108229

Gopi Krishna

Gopi Krishna was born in 1903 to parents of Kashmiri Brahmin extraction. His birthplace was a small village about twenty miles from the city of Srinagar, the summer capital of the Jammu and Kashmir State in northern India. He spent the first eleven years of his life growing up in this beautiful Himalayan valley.In 1914, his family moved to the city of Lahore in the Punjab which, at that time, was a part of British India. Gopi Krishna passed the next nine years completing his public school education. Illness forced him to leave the torrid plains of the Punjab and he returned to the cooler climate of the Kashmir Valley. During the succeeding years, he secured a post in the Public Works Department of the state, married and raised a family.In 1946 he founded a social organization and with the help of a few friends tried to bring about reforms in some of the outmoded customs of his people. Their goals included the abolition of the dowry system, which subjected the families of brides to severe and even ruinous financial obligations, and the strictures against the remarriage of widows. After a few years, Gopi Krishna was granted premature retirement from his position in the government and devoted himself almost exclusively to service work in the community.In 1967, he published his first major book in India: Kundalini — The Evolutionary Energy in Man. Shortly thereafter it was published in Great Britain and the United States and has since appeared in eleven major languages. The book presented to the Western world for the first time a clear and concise autobiographical account of the phenomenon of the awakening of Kundalini, which he had experienced in 1937. This work, and the sixteen other published books by Gopi Krishna have generated a steadily growing interest in the subjects of consciousness and the evolution of the brain. He also traveled extensively in Europe and North America, energetically presenting his theories to scientists, scholars, researchers and others.Gopi Krishna’s experiences led him to hypothesize that there is a biological mechanism in the human body which is responsible for creativity, genius, psychic abilities, religious and mystical experiences, as well as some aberrant mental states. He asserted that ignorance of the working of this evolutionary mechanism was the main reason for the present dangerous state of world affairs. He called for a full scientific investigation of his hypothesis and believed that such an objective analysis would uncover the secrets of human evolution. It is this knowledge, he believed, that would give mankind the means to progress in peace and harmony.Gopi Krishna passed away in July 1984 of a severe lung infection and is survived by his three children and seven grandchildren. The work that he began is currently being carried forward through the efforts of a number of affiliated foundations, organizations and individuals around the world.

Book preview

KUNDALINI IN TIME AND SPACE

by

Gopi Krishna

Published by:

The Institute for Consciousness Research

and

The Kundalini Research Foundation, Ltd.

Smashwords Edition

KUNDALINI IN TIME AND SPACE

Copyright © 1979 Gopi Krishna

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

First Published in 1979 by:

The Kundalini Research and Publication Trust, New Delhi, India

Reprinted 1991 (in Three Perspectives on Kundalini) by:

F.I.N.D. Research Trust, Canada and

The Kundalini Research Foundation, Ltd., U.S.A.

Published by:

The Institute for Consciousness Research

165 Valley Crescent,

RR #4, Markdale ON,

Canada N0C 1H0

The Kundalini Research Foundation, Ltd.

86 Wallacks Drive

Stamford CT

06902 U.S.A.

International Standards Book Number: 978-0-9921082-2-9

Photographic Illustrations Reproduced Courtesy of the Archeological Survey of India

Table of Contents

Part I: Kundalini: The Mystery of the Coiled Serpent

1. The Profundity of Kundalini

2. Spiritual Teaching and Practice

3. Dispelling Some Misconceptions

4. Kundalini: The Illusive Power of Life

5. Kundalini and the Spiritual Path

Part II: Kundalini in Time and Space

1. The Religious Impulse and Evolution

2. Illumination—Fact and Fiction

3. Supernal Vision and the Brain

4. Kundalini and the Plan of Nature

References

About the Author

Other Books by Gopi Krishna

List of Illustrations

1. Shiva and Parvati from Jageshvar Temple

2. Bust of Buddha from Mathura

3. Tantric Depiction of sahasrara chakra

4. Seal of Pashupati from Mohenjodaro

Part I: Kundalini: The Mystery of the Coiled Serpent

1: The Profundity of Kundalini

There are some facts about Kundalini which it is necessary to grasp first before the idea of the chakras and the nature of the force that rises through them can be properly conceptualized. This elucidation is needed to clear the errors and misconceptions that exist, at present, about this Divine Power and which, incorporated in the books written on the subject, in our time, tend to create erroneous ideas in the minds of those who read them. In the Tantras and the Shakti Shastras, Kundalini is invariably designated as a Goddess, or as the Creative Power of the Absolute. In the present-day versions it is often referred to as a Force, as Serpent Power, or as Energy, which does not portray the sovereign stature of this Almighty Architect.

When, in my writings, I refer to Kundalini as a dormant force, lying coiled three and a half times at the base of the spine, I but repeat the traditional view, as expressed in the ancient treatises on the subject. I am led to follow this course as, otherwise, confusion is likely to be created if there is a radical difference in what I say and what is stated in the ancient documents on which the current popular ideas are based.

But I always make it clear that there are two aspects of the Power: first, the individual aspect where She can be said to be lying dormant at the base of the spine and second, Her Cosmic Aspect which is beyond our understanding. In dealing with Kundalini, we deal with an element of Creation which is beyond the reach of the intellect. The Energy, named as the Serpent Power or Kundalini Force is not, at all, an energy or a force in the sense in which these terms are used in modern science, or in any sense in which the idea of an active force is used in any language of our day.

In order to elucidate further what I mean I can do no better than take the help of the following few verses from Vijnana-Bhairava, an esoteric treatise dealing with meditational techniques used for expansion of consciousness. Replying to a question from His spouse, Parvati (Shakti or Kundalini), to reveal His real nature, Lord Shiva (Bhairava), as the Creator, replies:

O Auspicious One, though wrapt in deep secrecy, I shall still reveal to you what the form or shape of Bhairava is said to be.

O Shining One, that (the form or shape of Bhairava) should be understood to be unreal, like a magic show, illusory, dreamlike, delusive, like (an unsubstantial) city of Ghandarvas (a mythical class of Celestial Beings).

This (the Deity with shape and form) is for the purpose of contemplation of people with deluded intellects, who make a show of religious rites and labor only under a load of error.

In the real sense, the Supreme Deity has neither nine forms, nor is He Bhairava, nor even the three-headed One (said to be the form of Lord Shiva), nor even in the form of three-fold Energy.

"He is neither of the nature of sound (nada), nor dot (bindu), nor is there the condition of the crescent Moon (that is, there is no crescent of the Moon adorning Him), nor is He differentiated by the system of Chakras (through which the Shakti rises), nor is He even of the form of Shakti (Cosmic Energy or Kundalini)."

These (formulations) are for (people of) unawakened intellects to serve like bugbears to children or like the sweets offered by mothers to their infants for their appeasement.

He is beyond the limits of time, space and direction. He cannot be explained by simile, nor named, nor qualified, nor described in the real sense.

He is internally blissful by His own Self-awareness and becomes perceptible when one is free of ignorance. That state of fullness, O Bhairavi (Parvati, Shakti) belongs to Bhairava (Universal Consciousness).

That form should be realized in its true proportions as being pure and filling the worlds. This being the Supreme Form (of Bhairava), how can he be worshiped or propitiated?

In this way the state of Bhairava (Universal Consciousness) has been fully described. That highest state with the Supreme Form has been eulogized as the Highest Energy.

"Just as power and the