Serpentine fire

Legends from the East speak of a powerful fire, coiled like a serpent, which brings power to the individual who finds it. Enigmatic illustrations, prints and paintings from the Chinese, Hindu and Tibetan traditions often allude to this powerful cosmic force, showing images of persons with coiled serpents on their spine. The knowledge of this energy force is more present in the East than in the West. This is because the East has taken centuries and processes of understanding the subtle energies of the body through practices such as yoga, acupuncture, tai-chi and meditation, to name a few. The Christians experience this as baptism by the Holy Spirit where waves and waves of electricity create deeply moving emotional experiences. This is also often the pre-state of samadhi, satori or enlightenment. The rational-scientific mindset of the Western world has not been able to fully accept the existence of this energy force for the simple reason that it has not been scientifically documented in laboratory experiments.

This energy is called Kundalini, a primordial energy coiled at the base of the spine (in the sacrum), near the coccyx area. It is an energy that often remains dormant in all individuals during the first half of life. (When a person awakens this energy too early in life – via drugs, psychic experiences and too active a sex life while too young, or forces it to rise prematurely without the proper spiritual understanding of this power, he experiences a sense of disorientation of his spirit from his body.) Akin to a serpent, this energy force usually begins to uncoil itself during mid-life (specifically from ages 38 to 42 for both men and women) and is actually the basis of the changes in our bodies and its subtle energy fields during the process we called mid-life.

The Kundalini energy has also been called "the liquid fire of sex" as the energy is described as mercurial in its ascent, spiraling in a double helix movement along the subtle channels of the spine and because it comes from the area near the genitals. However, a deeper and more profound meaning to this is that the sexual energy is at its higher manifestation, potent creative energy. This is present in all of us. During the second part of our life, this energy is transformed into spiritual energy. Thus it is the same energy that sexually active people, artists and sages tap. The difference is in the level and quality of the energy.

Mid-life brings with it both crises and challenges. Mid-life is all about change. This period of our life demands us to redirect our visions, re-assess where we are in our lives and invites us to break away from our usual limiting boundaries and patterns. Actually, new patterns of thinking, feeling, living, must surface. But because change is difficult and majority of us dig in our heels refusing to change, life crises come and force us to open up and expand. Mid-life is the best time to blast away encrusted patterns and mindsets and begins a whole new agenda for our lives.

The physical manifestation of Kundalini rise is interesting since it can be so varied. Common to all, however, is that it causes the most sensation when it enters the area of the mind or body that is blocked or obstructed. It begins by a feeling that our bodies, specifically the nervous system, seem to be undergoing a process of retooling. Aches and pains begin. Often, there are serious illnesses that manifest as organs of our bodies begin to have something wrong – shortness of breath, spasms and hot flushes, constant tummy aches or ulcers, heart murmurs and chest tightening, throat problems, headaches even. It may even be as physical as feeling an earthquake inside the body. The kind of illness and its location in the area of the body shows the certain chakra or energy center (there are seven energy centers in our bodies: groin area, naval, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye and crown) where a block is happening. Sometimes the blocks are in the mental and subconscious levels. Blocks may then manifest as fears, paranoia, anger, extreme anxiety. They may make themselves manifest through dreams, extreme emotional states and depressions. The heat generated by this energy rising is what burns out the blockages and the sensations then ceases. Some people have even experienced the whole body starting to glowing because of Kundalini energy rises, as impurities in the body disappear. When the Kundalini awakening occurs, energy is felt like a cool vibration through the hands, chakras and head.

The people who suffer the most during the Kundalini rise and awakening are those who invest so much with the surface self as they are not often aligned with the soul’s purpose of seeking to be enlightened. Meanwhile, those who grow most during mid-life are people who are most explorative of the subconscious or unconscious part of themselves and who are open to spiritually growing.

The Kundalini energy gives people a higher and deeper personality. This is why after mid-life people are imbued with a deeper purpose to live a more creative life. The serpentine fire’s heat can be used to its full potential if we help the rise by being conscious of the transformations happening inside us. Then, we can enjoy the higher power of Kundalini energy which is absolute purity, chastity, self-respect, pure love, detachment, enlightened attention, plus a consciously creative life flowing with peace, love, happiness and faith.

(E-mail me at jej1@easycall.com.ph)