Surya Deva:
I don’t believe it is completely true that we need somebody’s help when we have a pattern of mind that is limiting us or causes us to see in a false way. Once we become aware of how our mind can fool us due to inaccurate psychological conditioning, we gain the space to question ourselves.
Ironically, I’ve found that false psychological conditioning can come from a guru. First a person decides to believe that a guru is an infallible spiritual master that can’t be questioned, because how could an enlightened master be wrong about something? Next, a person takes on the belief system that is taught by a guru. To the extent the guru’s belief system is correct that’s okay, but to the extent it isn’t, that’s a problem, until a person can free his
(or her) self from the first erroneous concept, and then the false concepts that followed.
Not that I believe it is wrong to receive advice and input from other people, but I believe it is wrong for them to do so in a manner where people lose self reliance and the ability to think freely.
My kundalini first awakened about 28 years ago. I went through a period of time where I got involved with nondual teachings and a nondual guru, and because his teachings emphasized pure consciousness, I considered kundalini to be a problem, and willed it to stop arising (here’s an example of how false concepts can come from a guru, nondual gurus don’t tend to know about kundalini, even though they claim to be enlightened.).
A number of years later after I was no longer involved with the above guru and nondual teachings, my kundalini came back to life. Because I read that many people have problems with awakened kundalini I was concerned about having them. I didn’t want to seek assistance from a guru, because after years of paying attention to what goes on with them, I found that many of them aren’t the perfected masters they claim to be. Many of their former students, who left them with good reason, now have problems with their kundalini. Some end up in mental hospitals, some commit suicide.
At about the same time I heard that some people have good results after they make contact with their spirit guidance. They make contact with beings they agreed to make contact with before they incarnated, or at a later time were found to be a good match.
So I made contact with my spirit guidance and the results have been very positive (including my kundalini ascension). I found that it is quite different than being with a guru. For one thing, my guidance doesn’t want me to worship it. Also, it doesn’t claim to be the totality of God, just one of many pieces of God that were projected by God (as is true with all of us). It doesn’t claim that grace will come from it, eventhough I feel love, peace, divinity and vastness eminate from it. Rather, it understands it is a matter of my opening my mind and heart to what God, source being, has to offer to all of us, without requiring we go through a guru based intermediary. I and other people I know of have been able to open up to divine love without the assistance of a guru.
My guidance hasn’t given me a bunch of new concepts to believe in. It simply offers perspectives and points out when I’m missing something, just as a wise and loving friend would do. A loving friend would never allow us to become dependent upon he or she. He or she would simply offer help. The perspectives sometimes come in the form of nonphysical experiences that say so much more than a few words.
Regarding shakipat, one doesn’t need to be a perfected master in order to awaken the kundalini of others. One simply needs to have awakened kundalini. One time I was shown this sequence of images:
-I saw a lifesize image of a heavy metal dude. I could see kundalini flowing within him. He said, “I use my kundalini for evil.”
-Next I saw a lifesize demonic image of myself.
-Next I was shown the face of Jesus Christ.
I understood this sequence of images to mean, that if I’m going to go through the kundalini unfoldment process, I better make certain I do so with Christ consciounsess/love in mind, because kundalini, the creative aspect of being, can be used in just about anyway.
Therefore, it isn’t simply a matter of how much energy comes from a person, it is also a matter of how the energy feels. If it doesn’t feel like unconditional love, peace and humility, then it might be best to move on to someplace else. It also important to determine if love comes from a guru, or the vibrations created by the devotional attitudes of the followers within the room where Satsang is held. They might also come from one’s own self, if one is in an open and devotional state of mind. So many gurus have been mistakingly given credit for what doesn’t come from them.
