Kundalini Awakening in the Bible: Many stories, one Truth

By Anne-Marie Wegh

Within all of us exists the potential for growth that enables us to make the next step in our evolution. This power source is of divine origin and spiritual traditions shared the knowledge of it only with a small group of initiated. The Yoga tradition knows this power source by the name kundalini shakti.

This book introduces the r

• Language: English
• Publisher: Magdalena Publishers
• Release date: Mar 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9789082502374

Anne-Marie Wegh

Anne-Marie Wegh writes books about spirituality. She specializes in the symbolic imagery of the Bible. Through the centuries, much of the symbolic meaning of the Bible has been lost in translation. Her mission is to expose the deeper layer of the Bible and to share this with her readers. Many of the Bible stories center on a process of spiritual rebirth which eastern traditions call kundalini awakening. Anne-Marie combines her insights into the deeper layers of the Bible with firsthand knowledge about this spiritual path of transformation. In her own words: The Bible can be regarded in several distinct ways. Many readers prefer to take the stories of the Bible literal and aim to live their lives according to the example of Jesus and the instructions he left us. Others see the Bible as a wholly human product and study it scientifically and anthropologically, or admire it as the great depository of narrative archetypes that still carries artistic expressions today. Many, however, have abandoned the Bible and seek solace in Far Eastern traditions. I want to show you an additional and exiting way to look at the Bible. In my books you will discover amazing parallels between the stories of the Bible and the esoteric principles of other spiritual traditions. Hidden in gruesome stories about war, slavery and animal sacrifice, we find a universal roadmap to self-actualization and spiritual awakening. The deeper layers of the Bible rise to the surface when we review the figurative and symbolic qualities of the Biblical stories. They teach us how we can realize the Kingdom of God. Not after death, somewhere in another dimension, but here and now on earth, within ourselves; how we can make of ourselves a temple for God to live in.

Book preview

"Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge.

You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering."

Luke 11:52

Kundalini Awakening in the Bible

Many stories, one Truth

Anne-Marie Wegh

Introduction

Ever since I discovered that the Bible consists of multiple layers, and at its core proclaims how we can realize the Kingdom of God within ourselves, this Holy Book and I have entered a passionate love relationship. So, in the words of Isaiah the prophet: let me tell you about my beloved...

Not many readers realize that the Bible is much more than a mere trove of archetypal stories. Like a pearl in a woven basket, the stories of the Bible encapsulate a core of mystical profundity. The ingenuity of the authors commands utter respect. What at first glance may seem like a simple or even primitive myth transforms at closer scrutiny into a brilliant construction that encapsulates universal and eternal wisdom.

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus offers a telling rebuke:

Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.

(Luke 11:52)

The word for knowledge that Jesus uses is the Greek noun gnosis. Gnosis is knowledge not merely obtained via the ratio but also, and perhaps more so, by experience: empirical knowledge, a knowing of God through the experience of God; an intimate knowledge, a knowledge of the heart. The lawyers have purloined the key of knowledge, says Jesus, the key that opens the inner Way to God. Not only have they refused the key to gnosis for themselves, they also prevent the believers from using it, from finding the path and going on their journey toward the Kingdom.

This key of which Jesus speaks is the same as what eastern traditions call kundalini: the divinely natured power source that exists in a dormant state within our pelvis at the level of the sacrum. This power source is the key to the Kingdom of God, and Jesus aimed to return this key to the people. Not directly, because not everybody was ready for this, but encrypted in metaphors and parables: for who has ears and wants to hear.

The disciples came to him and asked, Why do you speak to the people in parables?

He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

This is why I speak to them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. (Matthew 13:10,11,13)

Not only the gospels, the entire Bible from cover to cover is about kundalini awakening. The story of Adam and Eve tells us the reason why in most people the kundalini energy is inactive, or asleep. The book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible, describes a kundalini awakening in a language of symbolism. All other Bible stories about wars, tyrannical kings, cruel invaders and heroic braves are descriptions of the universal battle within every person: the battle between the hypnotic forces of one’s lower animal nature and the call of one’s higher divine nature.

When I began to experience the kundalini energy, I knew next to nothing about it. I was familiar with yoga philosophy, and kundalini got mentioned on occasion, but to me it seemed something for fanatical yogis who spent hours each day trying to awaken this mysterious source of energy. And this endeavor was not wholly void of danger, I gathered, so I wisely passed on the whole thing.

Then I had a magnificent dream about a great golden serpent. This dream told me that the curious sensations I felt in my body and the chronic fatigue that haunted me were not due to some mysterious disease but rather to a kundalini awakening!

I decided to investigate the phenomenon more seriously and soon began to make one amazing discovery after another. What surprised and inspired me most was finding out that virtually all humanity’s spiritual traditions, in whatever way or form, are radiant with references to the kundalini. One might say that man’s potential to experience God through a kundalini awakening is the universal truth that unifies all religions.

It also became clear to me that a kundalini awakening should not be pursued unmotivated and unprepared. Within the human pelvis slumbers the very potential for the next step in our human evolution. Humanity collectively and every person individually is called to a spiritual resurrection: to turn the key and open the door and begin to journey back toward our Creator!

I want to invite the reader to come along with me, to share my discoveries, and to walk confidently and in awe of the miracle of awakening.

Chapter 1 shows how the kundalini phenomenon pervades the many world religions.

Chapter 2 offers insight in the various components of a kundalini awakening. Only the yoga tradition discusses kundalini explicitly. Most other traditions are more reserved and commonly present this delicate knowledge within the protective casings of literary symbolism.

Chapter 3 offers an overview of some universal metaphors that refer to the kundalini, and not only occur in holy scriptures but also in many art forms. Most examples are Biblical, with the occasional excursion into other religions.

In chapter 4 we will identify and examine kundalini symbolism in four familiar stories from the book of Genesis: the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, the fatal feud between Cain and Abel, the great flood of Noah, and the collapse of the tower of Babel. Every analysis will additionally discuss the story’s relevance to the modern spiritual seeker.

Chapter 5 reviews a remarkable discovery: the series of seven miracles as laid out in the gospel of John corresponds to the seven chakras that are positioned along the human spinal column and which are purified and activated by the kundalini energy. The seven miracles show, per chakra, which transformations someone goes though when experiencing a kundalini awakening.

The reader will notice that this book spends much time reviewing the spiritual legacy of ancient Egypt. As I will demonstrate, the earlier stories of the Bible are greatly influenced by the Egyptian customs and myths of that time, and it’s fascinating in its own right to see how much mystical knowledge the ancient Egyptians already possessed - they even knew the details of the actual physiology of the kundalini process - and how central this knowledge was to their culture. Virtually everything that remains of ancient Egypt is pervaded by kundalini symbolism: pyramids, temples, funeral attributes, hieroglyphs, divine myths, and so on.

In this book we’ve made use of several different translations of the Bible, namely NIV, NAS and KJV. Unfortunately, the more modern the translation, the more symbolism is lost. The deeper layers of the stories are often conveyed by subtle word choices or sophisticated sentence structures. Translators who intent to make the Bible more fluently readable often do so at the cost of these valuable subtleties. A treasure of spiritual wisdom has slipped away from the youngest versions of the Bible, but awaits intact in the original Hebrew and Greek source texts, to be unearthed with some additional efforts of literary excavation. And that is so much fun!

I hope that the reader will be touched as much as I have been by the deeper meaning of the ancient Bible stories - stories that are so interwoven in our modern culture that everybody, whether brought up with the Bible or not, has heard of them. The many illustrations in this book will serve this purpose possibly even better than the written word, as images are able to stir us at depths were words can hardly penetrate. Letters may be the tools of reason, but images form the language of our heart and soul.

These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father. (John 16:25)

h1

When Kundalini is taken to the Sahasrara

and when it is united with Lord Siva, perfect Samadhi ensues.

The Yogic student drinks the Nectar of Immortality.

He has reached the Goal.

Mother Kundalini has done Her task now.

Glory to Mother Kundalini!

May Her blessings be upon you all!

Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati

In the pelvis of every human being, at the level of the sacrum, exists an awesome potential to growth, which empowers us to a next step in our evolution. This power source has a divine nature, and the knowledge of it was shared in every spiritual tradition under the sun, but only among a small group of initiated. The rest of the general population had to make do with vague hints throughout the centuries, adding up to a recognizable library of general symbolisms that appeared in myths, fairy tales, legends and other folklore. The foundational texts of the world’s religions also deal with this topic, albeit with careful reservations and nearly exclusively metaphorically.

Only in the world of yoga, and that mostly in modern times, people speak openly and explicitly about this mighty energy source: the kundalini. The entire eightfold path of yoga aims to awaken this latent power source.

Special exercises or techniques are in principle not required for this. The kundalini becomes active when the spiritual aspirant is ready. When there is sincere interest in growing toward God and a willingness to relinquish all elements of the self.

A second condition is that the aspirant has already achieved some degree of purity and equilibrium in body, mind and behavior.

The yoga philosophy, with all its rules to live by and its emphasis on meditation, is specifically concerned with this preparatory phase. The first one to compile a written record of the ideas of the yoga tradition was the 2nd century BC sage called Patanjali. Nowhere in his 196 sutras, this celebrated author devotes a single word to kundalini. And why? Quite possibly because knowledge of kundalini in the wrong hands could have disastrous effects.

Once activated, the kundalini initiates a purification process that results in a state of detachment, coupled with great inner peace and joy. This process of purification and dissolution of the self is a required condition for the potentially next step: the unification with God. Or in the words of Jude: to be presented before God’s glorious presence without fault and with great joy (Jude 1:25).

The kundalini can be deliberately activated through spiritual exercises (meditation, prayer, and so on), but can also awaken spontaneously. More about this in the appendix.

Between beast and God

All Scripture that speaks of the mystery that is kundalini, and the process of growth to which we are invited, also discusses humanity’s dual nature, which is part animal and part divine.

We humans are governed mostly by our animal instinct, our so-called lower nature, which is a logical effect of our biological heritage. It’s what we are born with. Hence the Psalmist exclaimed: "I was senseless and ignorant. I was a beast before you" (Psalm 73:22, also see Ecclesiastes 3:18, 2 Peter 2:12, Jude 1:10)

But upon our birth on earth, we humans are also endowed with a divine potential and are called to seek to partake in the divine nature: For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (2 Peter 1:4, also see John 17:21-23, Ephesians 4:24, Hebrews 12:10)

Regardless of whether we are conscious of it, this dualism causes tidal forces that continuously stretch and twist our human minds. The impulses of our animal instincts, which are rooted in our bodies, often wholly contradict the desires of our soul, which is connected to the divine. Animals may appear lovely and beautiful, but they are capable of appalling cruelty. The weak are rejected, rivals wounded, imperfect offspring killed. And we can’t even blame them. The freedom of their choices is as limited as the understanding of their effect. Their behavior is instinctual and serves to perpetuate their kind.

Unlike animals, we humans do have the ability to distinguish good and evil, and to empathize with others. Hence we are quick to regard ourselves as the crown of creation, elevated high above the animals plain. Still, much of our behavior derives from our animal origin. The advertisements in any random magazine demonstrate that we humans are very much preoccupied with our exterior appearance, much alike the grooming and flaunting of animals, and our perpetual search for food and sex. In sports arenas we engage our rivals and explore our sublimated quest for territory and dominion. Also qualities such as greed, aggression, jealousy and egoism are elements of an animal nature. And don’t forget our blinding desire to belong to and be accepted by a tribe or herd. Whoever is not guilty of that cast the first stone!

And through the chaos of animal instincts, a distant voice from our heart calls us to compassion, servitude, justice and sharing with others.

The spiritual mission that we humans have is to dominate the animal side of us, and to realize our divine potential. The word dominate is an important and carefully chosen word. We are not to suppress or deny - this is a major pitfall on our path - but obtain mastery, to be the master of our domus (i.e. our spiritual house). These animal instincts, when sublimated and purified, will even help us attain the heights we crave.

God gave us the kundalini to help us with this process. We don’t have to traverse this long and arduous road alone; we do it together with our Creator. The kundalini is a holy fire that consumes everything that stands between ourselves and the divine. The image of fire is an often deployed element in the mythology and iconography of many religions. We see flames up or around the heads of prophets like Buddha and Muhammad, and of course the disciples of Christ at Pentecost. Moses saw a fire that didn’t burn the bush, and Daniel and friends were cast into a raging furnace and the fire didn’t even singe their clothes.

We see references to the kundalini, in some form or other, in virtually all religions and cultures. In this chapter we will review five of them, and we will start with the yoga tradition, also because the intangible and transcendental nature of the phenomenon too often leads to misunderstanding.

The yoga tradition

In the west, yoga is mostly associated with physical exercise. But that’s only a single element of a philosophy that encompasses all aspects of human life: study, codes of conduct, meditation, servitude, sexuality and so on. The entire teaching of yoga focusses on the process of self-realization: a transformation of consciousness during which the ego and the duality are transcended and the divine is experienced.

The yoga tradition offers great knowledge and experience of the subtle aspects of a person: the nadis (energy channels) and chakras. The kundalini energy is regarded as substantially different from the prana (vital energy) that flows through the body. Prana can be manipulated by our consciousness, but kundalini is understood to be endowed with its own will and intelligence.

Just like most other traditions, yoga metaphorizes this transcendental energy source with a serpent. The Sanskrit word kundalini means coiled and refers to a coiled up and sleeping serpent. The image of a serpent that renews itself by shedding its skin reflects the transforming and healing aspect of the kundalini.

The activation of the kundalini, it is emphasized, comes from removing obstacles and a balanced equilibrium of the nadis and the chakras. The premise is that the sleeping kundalini must be treated with great respect and should not be forced. She awakens when the prana flows unhindered through the body and in a state of equilibrium.

h1-16

This equilibrium involves specifically the two most important nadis in the body: the ida and pingala, which flow from the pelvis, to the left and right of the spinal column, to the forehead. These two energy channels represent the energetic blueprint of the duality in our body. They represent the opposites of creation, comparable with the yin and yang from Taoism.

Ida represents the feminine and lunar aspect, which has a cooling and pacifying effect and is associated with emotions. Pingala represents the masculine and solar aspect, which has a heating and activating effect and is associated with the ratio. These two aspects have of course nothing to do with the gender of the individual. Every human has ida and pingala nadis, and thus a feminine and masculine side.

The mission of the spiritual aspirant is to bring both aspects, both energy channels, into a harmonic equilibrium. When that is achieved, the kundalini will awaken and arise from the pelvis through the third main nadi, namely the sushumna channel, which runs all the way through the central axis of the spinal column.

On the way to the highest chakra, the crown chakra, all other chakras along the spinal column are purified and activated by the transcendental fire of the kundalini. This purification process affects the whole person : physically, mentally, emotionally and energetically. Fears, old pains, traumas, false convictions and even diseases are brought to the surface and are healed.

Psychologically spoken, the ego is emptied of all its contaminations, injuries and unnecessary deadweight that has accumulated since childhood. Some traditions promote the destruction of the ego in order to realize the divine, but it would be better to speak of the pursuit of transparency of the ego. A transparent ego is like a clean window that allows all the divine light to pour in.

When they arrive at the sixth chakra, the ida and pingala nadis merge, upon which on the forehead of the spiritual aspirant the so-called third eye is opened. This unification of the inner feminine and masculine aspects also results in the opening of the crown chakra: the mystical marriage with God takes place.

This process takes years to master and people who try to rush it are quickly presented the bill. This is why there are so many dramatic stories about kundalini-trauma told on the Internet and in books. But kundalini is not the cause of potential discomfort, it merely amplifies an existing disbalance. The kundalini process is at its core a healing process.

The familiar medical symbol called the rod of Asclepius is named after the Greek god who is associated with astrology, healing and medicine. Clearly, the rod of Asclepius represents the healing effect of the kundalini energy.

The classic symbol of a kundalini awakening is the caduceus, which is the staff of the Greek god Hermes (or Mercury to the Romans) . The caduceus has since antiquity represented healing, protection, equilibrium and unity through consolidation of opposites. Mystically speaking, the top-end wings symbolize God-realization.

h1-19