Kundalini Yoga Ashrams

sonia sonia

Hi there i am trying to find a good reputable ashram that practises kundalini yoga preferably in the north if possible as I will be near Varanasi to start.
I'm looking for something cheap and in a beautiful setting with great teachers. anyone?anyone??

theyyamdancer

Hello sonia,

Are you planning to tour the yoga ashrams of India? (I saw your previous post, enquiring about ashrams.)

My yoga teacher is also planning to take a course in Kundalini this winter in India. So I will follow your research with interest. And I will ask her if she has found a good place yet to recommend.

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"Wandering seemed no more than the happiness of an anxious man." - Albert Camus

sonia sonia

hello
well im trying to narrow down my search in what seems to be an impossible mission. apparently yogi bhajan ashrams dont exist. so the next best is kundalini yoga which is what he taught...
my healer told me that i must come to india and start at varanasi and my master will find me...however having heard all these stories of dud ashrams and fake gurus i'm a little worried....
but perhaps i should just follow y heart when i get to india and travel around a nd see what happens??

delhiwala

What is this fascination with Kundalini yoga ?

As far as I understand, There is no yoga by that name....

In fact awakening ones Kundalini is a part of all yoga streams. The ultimate aim of all yoga being Samadhi....

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Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone. - The Dhammapada

Goran

actually I think there is an organization that goes by that name. Oh well, people make such a fuss abut this kundalini thing. Usually nothing happens besides fantasies of suggestible minds. And when something does happen they regret going after it

I would suggest books of pandit Gopi Krishna for anyone wishing to go that way. And than if really so interested in it find a good teacher (which they probably wont, eventually a new-age bearded and always "enlightenedly" smiling freak)

theyyamdancer

Indeed, Goran, there is nothing new under the sun. The "Kundalini" method usually refers to the Bihar School. Advertising and soundbites try to make something new out of a method which is as old as India.

delhiwala

Yes,

Reading Gopi Krishna's experience of spontaneous Kundalini awakening is good for every Kundalini Sadhak.

Lee Sanella has also published a very good book Kundalini : Psychosis or Transedence.

I have read one very good book of Itzhak Bentov on scientific explanation of Kundalini mechanism. It's titled 'Stalking the wild pendulum' .

theyyamdancer

Thanks, delhiwala, for these book recommendations. I can also recommend "Kundalini Tantra" by Swami Satyananda Saraswati.

Paleface

What, you mean if She awakes and i am not ready to handle the phenomenal energy, nerves will fry and blow out endocrine fuses and if She unites totally with Her Shiva, i will cease to exist?

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jituyadav

Instant kundalini yoga is a marketing gimmick. Yoga is usually associated with “Asana” and “Pranayam” but these are also the third and fourth steps of the whole process and kundalini is the final enlightenment after Samadhi when the energy (kundalini) in the body is finally activated. The body requires going through all the steps so that it becomes capable to activate as well as control the sudden burst. I am sure everyone who is looking for instant kundalini is up for big disappointment. Moreover, I will not be surprised that people who propagate such an activity are using some sort of psychedelic substance to give the feeling.So better stick to usual Asana and Pranayam.

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Goran

I don't know about all that, I know I've seen personally and heard about people getting in trouble (from serious psychological disturbances to becoming paralyzed for life), while I've never jet seen anyone "enlightened" from the practice despite all the hype. And "gurus" turning their holly backs to the disciple when it happens is not uncommon, bad PR I suppose. As Ramakrishna used to say to his disciples: it is better not to practice (hatha/kundalini) yoga unless one is seriously attracted to it, and if he is than only under the supervision of a teacher that has achieved the goals of this disciplines. There are much safer spiritual practices than that, but to everyone his own. However when a teacher says it is all bliss, there is no danger in it and crap like that while propagating it to all an everyone I'd stay away from him.

Goran

Possible but not necessary. Look what goes on in Pentecostal meetings, suggestions and make-beliefs (well, that is the same actually) can make wonders.

Paleface

[quote=jituyadav;815485So better stick to usual Asana and Pranayam.[/QUOTE] Only one who knows shakti can control her - which is almost impossible as the average person's personality is simply not strong enough to deal with cosmic energy! But there are some.. All this misguidance that She will be willing to arise because of some exercises and breath control... twaddle. What about some sadhana to Ma, apart from it needing time, which most will not give.

Personification is a safe way to create a relationship with Kundalini. Convert her into a Goddess and worship her, love her like Mother, and then you will be safe. Uma, instead of Parvati or another name, is made of the same letters as Aum, and is no more different than Shakti and Shiva. U stands for Vishnu, the preserver, Uma is then U + Ma the Mother who always protects, who shields her child, what can be better than that.

delhiwala

Not 4, it has 8 steps and Kundalini Awakening per se is not the aim of Yoga, however, it's one of the process towards achieving Samadhi which is the final step.

And in todays world with todays lifestyle, social pressures and work ethics, it's very difficult for Kundalini to do a sudden burst. It's rarest of the rare phenomenon.

And Psychedelic substances like LSD, do mimick the feeling of Kundalini Awakening.... As Kunadalini is a neural mechanism and not some abstract concept......

However, Shortcuts are dangerous and there is no substitute for the real thing.....

jituyadav

Oh Delhiwala, not again, pleeease! When did I say it has 4 steps??? I can understand your compulsion to comment at the drop of a hat but sometimes it pays to read the posts attentively..

@ Goran, yes, not necessarily, there are other ways too.
@ Paleface, you are talking about Bhakti, that too is one of the ways mentioned to attain the ultimate but the OP was discussing about yoga so I will keep to that. And Asana and Pranayam are a part of whole process to attain kundalini, these two in themselves are incomplete.
And now I will excuse myself as I have no idea about the OP’s main query and hope that someone will be here and post the details that OP requires.