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Words are quite obviously inadequate to describe the phenomenon. Experiences and effects vary widely and so comparisons are also not very helpful. From the wonderful and beautiful imagery (as well as the terrifying) descriptions we read, the wisdom and profound understanding of nature and the human body one comes to realize, which are true, it’s very easy for some out of devotion to their desire or expectations, perhaps to conjure it up, becoming trapped by some kind of longing for it. Kundalini is a mechanical, physical dynamic, with a great deal of force and is only subject to the mind and emotions so much as they effect our posture and breathing.
The most misleading terms used in its description are “awakening,” or “receiving.” Mistaken notions of it having some kind of brilliant intelligence like our own are also unhelpful. You could say it has intelligence and a will of its own, but it’s like that of a bowel movement or a cramp, only 1000 times more powerful. Kundalini is not something that just happens like spilling coffee, or that comes over you like a some kind of miracle. It’s not some kind of blessing from heaven or god, but rather is something you DO with a great deal of strength and vigilance. You have to physically MAKE IT HAPPEN.
We know from yoga and Taoism that we are two bodies, ha and tha, yin and yan, or ida & pingala, same thing. We alternate between them, from the moment we leave the womb or flip over in our cribs (if we are so lucky). These two bodies develop separately from one another. One supports and balances the other, more or less, yet they each have a life of their own. Kundalini is a physical-coming-together of these two, ha and tha, starting at the mula and terminating in the crown, although it can also develop partially somewhere in between, as it did with me, and spread in opposite directions, up and down. It happens in coordination with posture and breathing (and their complete development through yoga) and takes a great deal of strength and control to guide, being negotiated internally (imperceptible form the outside) around and between the chakra in a “serpentine,” or wave-like fashion. In fact, you could say it defines the chakra in doing so: chakras being the pivotal points in the crest and trough of the wave.
Once they become joined, they begin to draw together with the force of gravity, of flood, of landslides and freight trains, etc. There is very little you can do to stop them, unless you have that strength and control which you gain through many years of diligence in yoga. If you have blockage or obstruction, something in the way, you will need every ounce of strength and concentration to weave and bob and duck (and pray), like running up a staircase that’s collapsing at the same time. No fun.
And then afterward, if you survive, you do have a different view of the world. You could say you’re in the presence of god, but what does he/she look like? He looks more like reading a book, instead of turning on the TV, more like cooking some lentils, than going out for a burger, more like smiling at your neighbor than ignoring a friend. You see? There will still be bills in the mailbox and life will go on much like it did before, but without the longing.
