Dangers

Just like any other activity in life, too much effort, over-indulgence, fanaticism towards spiritual enlightenment, has its problems. Few people have talked about this until recently. Many Masters will tell you that you can't meditate too much, you can't praise God enough, you can't donate too much towards the betterment of their cause - but this isn't true!

Firstly, there is such a thing as Kundalini energy. Of this there is absolutely no doubt. It is not well understood, and descriptions in many textbooks are misleading, making it out to be something grand and life changing. Sudden enlightenment accompanied with minor magical powers! If your are undertaking proper spiritual practices it will arises much more gradually. Or it may manifest and pain and affect your health. Or, if you are like the vast majority of the population - you are totally unaware of it. But let there be no doubt whatsoever that Kundalini is real.

In the page on Enlightenment I explained the process, explained that it would happen naturally whether you are on a path or not, and also explained that different types of assistance is required depending on your individual situation. The process can happen too fast or in an unbalanced way. Here are some links which may be of assistance. Follow your own heart, not what someone else tells you is right for you, if you do not feel that the practices are working. To succeed at anything in life you do need to have confidence in yourself.

Kundalini survival and support from Bob Boyd
A Farther Shore: How near-death and other extraordinary experiences can change ordinary lives, Yvonne Kason & Teri Degler, published by Harper Collins, First Edition 1994, ISBN 0-00-255439-9.
Rick Ross site - check out warnings about cults and Guru's before you get involved in any group, also The Watchman index of cults and religions
Kundalini Research Network (KRN)
Spiritual Competency Resource Centre
The Souls Journey - Dr Lawrence Edwards

A quote I found very important comes from Sri Ramana Maharshi (published in a book by David Godman, "Be As You Are" - the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Arkana books, 1985, page 97). This is accurate and valuable advice from an enlightened master.

Q. There are a number of spiritual teachers teaching various paths. Whom should one take for one's Guru?
A. Choose that one where you find you get shanti (peace).

Q. Should we not also consider his teachings?
A. He who instructs an ardent seeker to do this or that is not a true master. The seeker is already afflicted by his activities and wants peace and rest. In other words he wants cessation of his activities. If a teacher tells him to do something in addition to, or in place of, his other activities, can that be a help to the seeker? Activity is creation. Activity is the destruction of one's inherent happiness. If activity is advocated the adviser is not a master but a killer. In such circumstances either the creator [Brahma] or Death [Yama] may be said to have come in the guise of a master. Such as person cannot liberate the aspirant, he can only strengthen his fetters.

Dark Night of the Soul

The term "Dark Night of the Soul" was used in a classic work by Saint John of the Cross (available from the Catholic resources web site). Recently It was also used by Gregg Braden in Awakening to Zero Point. He describes an experience where you may lose your frame of reference, where everything around you seems to be crumbling - a state in which you have to confront your deepest fears. Other people around you may not understand what is going on, and apart from just "being there" for you, they can't help much. Gregg Braden suggests that at this time, most people on the planet will probably go through "the dark night of the soul" at some time in their lives. The experience is very personal and will vary from person to person. You cannot predict when it is going to happen. It is like a little time-fuse which your own self has set in place for you. If friends around you are going through such a patch, you can do little more than be there for them for whatever they need.

The Dark Night is also described in more detail by Dr Caroline Myss in "Anatomy of the Spirit", where she describes the stages of separation from the tribal/group mind (which we all need initially for our development), which is necessary to form a bond with the Divine Spirit. Each stage of the dark night is accompanied by feelings of depression, madness, and isolation, in addition to the mystical journey. Life in a monastery or ashram provides an environment for care of people going through such periods - alas, family life and nine-to-five jobs are not very sympathetic to such crises!

Such stages of crisis, darkness and isolation are part of the initiations described in Alice Baileys teachings. Each initiation can result in a crisis, particularly the second and fourth, which seem to correspond to the two Dark Nights described by St John of the Cross.

Be aware that if you are serious on the spiritual path, such periods are inevitable and you are not going to be understood and get appropriate help from 99.9% of the population. The process is so poorly understood by medical professionals that you are on your own.

Progress

How do you actually measure your own spiritual progress? I grappled with this for a long time. Many groups will tell you that it is impossible to measure your progress, and to some extent this may be true.

However, there is one sure way to measure your progress, and I quote from Paramahansa Yogananda: if you continue to grow in happiness and contentment (excluding the odd crisis, and minor ups and downs) with the passing months and years, then you can be sure you are making progress. If you are doing anything in life - work, relationship, religious or spiritual group - and your association with them/it is not contributing to a growth in your happiness, then you should be evaluating your situation and making appropriate changes.

Recommendations for Balanced Living

A. Paramahansa Yogananda

This first set of recommendations is from a chapter on "The Art of Living" by Paramahansa Yogananda in Man's Eternal Quest (published by Self-Realization Fellowhip, USA, 1992, ISBN 0-97612-232-2).

Read and follow a reliable modern book on dietetics. Include in your daily diet milk and other dairy products, and a good percentage of raw food and fresh nuts. Eat less meat.
Fast one day a week on orange juice and use a suitable natural laxative as prescribed by your physician.
Every morning and evening, with deep attention, walk briskly, run, or take some other form of exercise (as vigorous as your constitution allows) until you perspire.
Read and meditate on some inspiring passage from the Bible / Bhagavad Gita / etc.
Read Shakespeare and other classics, and suitable portions from practical books on subjects such as chemistry, physics, physiology, history of Oriental and Western philosophy, comparative religion, ethics, and psychology.
Visit different temples and churches - Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu and so on - to develop your appreciation and understanding of all faiths.
Honour God not only in man-made temples, but learn to worship and commune with Him in the inner temple of silence. Meditate for one hour morning and night.
Do not be enslaved by the senses.
See plays or motion pictures only occasionally, choosing those of the highest quality.
Obey God's divine laws as applied to family, country, and all nations.
Speak truth with kindness and understanding, and respect truth wherever you perceive it.
Expand your love for family and country to include love and service to people of all nations. See God in all men of whatever race or religion.
Spend less, and have more, by doing away with luxurious habits.
Be calmly active and actively calm. Don't think all the time of making money. Exercise, read, meditate, love God and act peacefully at all times.

B. A Farther Shore

This next set is from A Farther Shore by Yvonne Kason & Teri Degler. Dr Kason defines the term STE - Spiritually Transformative Experience. The "Basics of a Balance Lifestyle" is extremely practical and valuable information for people recovering from any sort of emotional or spiritual crisis. This is from Chapter 15 "Strategies for living with Spiritual Transformation".

Develop and stick to a regular daily routine - have a regular rising, bed, and meal times and set aside regular periods each week for exercise.
Get plenty of sleep and rest and set aside regular times for daily relaxation and weekly recreation.
Do not skip meals. Eat a nutritious, well-balanced diet. You don't need to deprive yourself of occasional treats, but avoid junk foods in general.
Keep the amount of stress and hectic activity in your life to a minimum.
Communicate and share your thoughts and feelings with a supportive person daily, or as often as possible.
Keep you sex life moderate, and pay attention to your body if it seems to be telling you to cut down.
Spend time in nature; get plenty of natural daylight.
Avoid toxins and self-destructive habits such as smoking and drugs; keep alcohol consumption to a minimum.
Get regular physical exercise, at least two or three times per week.
Spend a moderate amount of time each day in meditation, prayer, and/or a spiritual practice.

Grounding Strategies. Many spiritual practices will disconnect you from the physical world where the aim is to achieve spiritual bliss and euphoria. This is fine for short periods, but large amounts of stress can result if you are not often grounded - centred in physical reality. If emotional and mental stress starts to mount, try the following:

Stop meditating.
Decrease all forms on concentration.
Keep prayers very brief.
Decrease amounts of reading.
Decrease stress and the hustle and bustle in your life.
Increase your sleep, rest and relaxation time.
Try to follow a fixed daily routine.
Try eating small, more frequent meals instead of three large ones per day. Never skip meals or fast during periods of intense Spiritually Transformative experiences, even if you feel an aversion to food. Eating frequent, light meals is essential.
Avoid caffeine (not just coffee, also chocolate, coca-cola, tea, etc.); avoid junk foods; avoid excessive and regular intake of refined sugar (a sugar craving during a crisis is often better served through a sweet nutritious snack, eg dates or other dried fruit).
Cut out alcohol consumption or occasionally have just one glass of beer or wine per day. Small amounts of alcohol can be very grounding, but can lead on to alcoholism in certain cases. Reserve alcohol as an emergency grounding measure.
Increase your daily intake of protein, such as yoghurt and other dairy products, chicken, and fish. For the most grounding effect, eat red meat.
Cut out recreational drugs and tobacco if you haven't already.
Take some light physical exercise daily, such as walking, cycling, or swimming. Walking in a pleasant environment is a very grounding exercise.
Do light manual work, such as gardening, cooking, housecleaning.
Increase body awareness by rubbing your body or massaging your legs and feet; for an immediate grounding effect take a hot bath or shower, vigorously scrub your body with a clooth, sponge or loofah, rub your scalp, and wash your hair.
Try having a vigorous massage to increase body awareness, but monitor the effect it has on you, as many types of massage may stimulate the flow of energy.
Set aside time for contact with nature; regularly spend some time outdoors in a park or other natural environment.
Be exposed to natural light (not direct sun or UV rays) as much as possible.
Take time off from work if necessary and spend some time in a peaceful, quiet environment.
Pay careful attention to how your sex life correlates with any difficulties you may be having and moderate your behaviour accordingly. If your sex drive is very high, having sex and orgasm with your partner may release sexual energy and have a grounding effect; if your sex drive is low, do not have sex or masturbate.
Visualize your chakras closing up, like full lotuses closing into buds and withdrawing back into their stem.
Visualise your energies withdrawing from your head region, moving down to the base of your spine, and staying there.
Visualise your energies traveling down your legs to your feet, and focus on feeling your feet firmly planted on the ground; feel your energies linking you to the ground.
Visualise your energies extending down from your body and projecting down to the centre of the the earth. Feel your energy "hook" into or connect ot the centre of the earth.
Find a creative outlet for your energies, such as art, dance, music, or writing. Observe how these activities affect you and moderate them accordingly.
Try to flow with surfacing psychological or spiritual issues rather than trying to resist or struggle with them.

From Chapter 17, "Stimulating Healthy Spiritual Transformation", I am going to list those techniques which will stimulate the flow of energy. These techniques increase the flow of energy, whereas those listed above are intended to ground and reduce the flow of energy. Understanding what contributes to the flow of energy may also help you bring about balance in your life.

Intensely focused kundalini meditation - a type of meditation that involved visualising and focusing on an image of the kundalini rising from the base of the spine.
Intensely focused meditation on the divine.
Intensely focused meditation on chakra points.
Intense prayer and devotion.
Intensely focused meditation ont he unity of life.
Intense practice of Hatha Yoga.
Pranayama.
Tantric sexual practices.
Receiving shaktipat from a person with a highly active kundalini.
Intense, prolonged concentration or focus on spiritual topics - this includes reading spiritual material, discussing and debating spiritual topics, contemplating spiritual questions, or attending spiritual conferences.
Intensive, prolonged concentration or focus on any subject without breaks.
Intensive, prolonge dperiods of reading.
Tai Chi.
Bodywork, massage, shiatsu, etc., that is aimed at increasing or stimulating the flow of energy.
Chanting.
Sexual relations with a person who has an active kundalini.
Being in the prolonged presence of others who have an active kundalini.
Being in a state of emotional and spiritual openness; surrendering to the divine.