describes the principles of kundalini as the subtle energy of the body and what it does to the wiring of the nervous system and the other subtle energy channels
Kundalini -- subtle energies of the body
There are subtle energy channels in the body that make up the communication network between the various organs, organ groups and systems that govern how we live and experience life.
What we call the nervous system is one such 'channel'. The energy flows bumps into any impediments in our 'wiring' and, as a greater subconscious intelligence than our mind, gives us indications of where further purification and repair work is needed -- where the swamp needs to be drained.
Ultimately the wiring is 'ME', all of 'ME' as a living entity. The human being is like a conduit, a pipeline, a channel for the flow of the energy of Life. It is that flow which makes us alive.
Its not without reason that, down through the ages, the 'shaman' has been depicted as a living tree - the conductor of the energy between 'heaven' and 'earth'.
The nervous system as a subtle energy channel
On the subtlest level, that flow is the flow of consciousness, of awareness itself, through the "localized" manifestation that we call our mental/physical existence.
On the middle level, it is the flow of breath (5 pranas), of chi through the loop of the central and governing meridians, of kundalini (up through the sushumna and the chakras), of Masculine and
Feminine polarity (through the ida and pingala), of ojas through the 10,000 shrotas.
On the gross level, it is the flow of electrical/chemical information through our nerves.
the 'flow' of kundalini as a subtle energy
Imagine a scale of 0-10, where a "0" flow means you are dead, and where a "10" flow means you are at one with -- and conducting the cosmic energy of life and the universe, expeeriencing what some would call unbounded expansion and ecstasy.
Most people live life around "3". They conduct just enough Life energy to be alive, to function, but not enough to really stir up the "sleeping demons", the issues and parts of themselves that are locked away or hidden -- deep in the unconscious -- and, maybe have been for generations..
When they get sick, and "3" goes down to "2" or less, they know how lifeless, how lacking in energy, they feel. Sickness is in the direction of death ("0"), of the stopping of the flow of Life's energy cur-
rent.
On the other hand, most people do have an occasional experience of "4", or "5", or even higher. It could be falling in love, or after swimming across the lake or jogging (when the endorphins kick in and the energy channels are open).
Sometimes that experience can be had when meditating, or when painting, or playing music...
They call those "peak experiences", and most people have them rarely, and unpredictably. They are wonderful, but generally brief.
Kundalini in the body .. Self Healing is Tantra
Tantra is about breaking that "logjam" in the energy flow circuitry.
So we learn to let breath happen fully, to let attention be here now, to unguard our minds and hearts, to relax our muscular armor, to let sexual energy connect with love energy in the heart and spiritual energy in the head, to open our eyes and gaze deeply at what/who we are connecting with, to make the present more powerful than any fantasy, to be an energy explorer and say "yes" rather than "stop", etc.
Tantra is about raising our "normal" level of Life flow from "3" to "4", "5", "8", and eventually "10"! It's about conducting the cosmic current of Life, about reclaiming our hugeness, our vastness,
our divinity. It's about unlocking the prison doors, letting the old emotional issues and fears out, facing them, digesting them, healing them, unclogging the energy circuits ON ALL LEVELS.
It means having a healthy nervous system on the gross physical.
It means having unrestricted breath (prana), open/balanced meridians, intimately connected and cooperative chakras, internal Masculine and Feminine that are deep friends, intimate lovers, and devotees of each other, shrotas that are clean and free of toxins (ama).
It means restoring the machinery that is created "in the image of God" to it's full functioning, so that our divine reality, our ability to conduct "10", is realized.
Then we can sit on that junction point, where wholeness first breaks into the primal duality of God/Goddess (Shiva/Shakti), we can experience that incredible flow as Shiva and Shakti eternally chase one another - eternally make love with one another - creating the whole creation. And we can experience that flow of "10", of unbounded power, witnessed by infinite silence.
What is a 'safe' experience
If NOT brief, these forays into flows higher than "3" can often lead to "problems" - stirring up the old emotional issues that have been locked away, disrupting the "evenness" of life with long-forgotten
hopes and fears and fantasies. So many people choose to let the energy settle back down to "3" and to regain the "stability" of life.
To the average person, the most reliable way to have an experience above the normal "3" is through sex. That is the doorway for the vast majority of people to explore the energy flow above "3" - many people don't have artistic, or athletic, or spiritual doorways available.
When the 'peak experience' happens spontaneously -- which it can do all by itself -- then there is the experience of 'losing control' ..
The trick becomes, how to keep that "over 3" experience safe.
While "6" might be wonderful, "9" might feel way too scary, like it would "blow their circuits" or stir up the mud too much. And while "6" might be fun for a few minutes or half an hour, it would defi-
nitely get "too overwhelming" if it went on for an afternoon, or, God forbid, for a day or two.
So the average person places limits on the flow of Life energy. They hold their breath; they let their attention wander; they keep their hearts and/or minds guarded; they tighten
their muscles and push kundalini energy back down into the unconscious (wouldn't want the heart getting involved); they shut their eyes and fantacize; they simply say "stop" and pull away; etc.
There are a zillion conscious and unconscious ways to keep the energy from going above "6" or from lasting very long -- and reasons for it!