Kundalini Yoga and Kundalini meditation in an Adventist Church
Will Baron <WillBaron@adventweb.org>
Hi Kok Tho and Team:
Last week I received an e-mail from a conservative Adventist lady, a dedicated lay-ministry person in Europe, asking me if Kundalini Yoga is suitable for Adventists. This brand of yoga was being introduced into a local Adventist church. I was quite shocked at receiving this request for counsel. In the past, many times I’ve been asked about Yoga and various types of “meditation”, including of course “Christian meditation” and “biblical meditation”. But I’ve never been asked about “Kundalini Yoga” before, especially never in the context of it being introduced into a Christian church, and certainly never into an Adventist church.
“Kundalini meditation” was the specific type of meditation that I practiced when I was deeply involved in the New Age movement. In case you are familiar with it, within the New Age movement’s mysticism it is very well known that “Kundalini energy” was synonymous with “serpent power energy”. Supposedly this was a dormant power which is stored like a coil (as in a coiled serpent) in the chakra (mystical energy center) at the base of the spine. Supposedly this dormant power can be “activated” through the practice of Kundalini Yoga and its brand of meditation. Kundalini meditation, one of the main components of Kundalini Yoga, involves rhythmic breathing and creative visualization rituals imagined in the creative imagination faculties of the mind.
Attached is a small file with a few excerpts on Kundalini Yoga copied from the Wikipedia webpage on it, with bold emphasis provided. As you can see, this type of yoga and its meditation is absolutely not suitable for anyone, let alone suitable to be practiced in an Adventist Church.
in Him,
Will
Kundalini Yoga
EXERPTS FROM WIKIPEDIA:
Kundalini yoga (kuṇḍalinī-yoga) is a school of yoga that is influenced by Shaktism and Tantra schools of Hinduism. It derives its name through a focus on awakening kundalini energy through regular practice of mantra, tantra, yantra, yoga or meditation. Kundalini yoga is often identified as the most dangerous form of yoga because of the involvement of subtle energies.
The Sanskrit adjective kuṇḍalin means “circular, annular”. It does occur as a noun for “a snake” (in the sense “coiled“, as in “forming ringlets”) in the 12th-century Rajatarangini chronicle.
The feminine kuṇḍalī has the meaning of “ring, bracelet, coil (of a rope)” in Classical Sanskrit, and is used as the name of a “serpent-like” Shakti* in Tantrism as early as the 11th century, in the Śaradatilaka.
* personification of divine female creative power
The Upanishad more likely dates to the 16th century, as do other Sanskrit texts which treat kundalini as a technical term in tantric yoga, such as the Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpana and the Pādukā-pañcaka. These latter texts were translated in 1919 by John Woodroffe as The Serpent Power: The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga.
From Eric Good evening Will,
Thank you for sharing with this dear lady, and we will begin lifting her and the church there in much prayer. This very same power was also sought for by those in the “higher levels” of training within the martial arts.
Many would seek to couch this mystical energy in pseudo-scientific terms, such as “the reptilian brain,” ect. But when all is said and done, in the end the truth is revealed . . . This force or energy is nothing but that same power by which Satan works to manifest his influence upon and within the lives of mankind.
Quote – “The heathen oracles have their counterpart in the spiritualistic mediums, the clairvoyants and fortune-tellers of today. The mystic voices that spoke at Ekron and Endor are still by their lying words misleading the children of men. The prince of darkness has but appeared under a new guise.
The mysteries of heathen worship are replaced by the secret associations and séances, the obscurities and wonders, of the sorcerers of our time. Their disclosures are eagerly received by thousands who refuse to accept light from God’s word or from his Spirit. While they speak with scorn of the magicians of old, the great deceiver laughs in triumph as they yield to his arts under a different form.
His agents still claim to cure disease. They attribute their power to electricity, magnetism, or the so-called “sympathetic remedies.” In truth, they are but channels for Satan’s electric currents. By this means he casts his spell over the bodies and souls of men. {RH, June 27, 1882 par. 7}
May our Lord (Sovereign King) and Savior bless and keep you !
your friend and brother in Him,
Eric Wilson
From Edwin Noyes
Below are paragraphs taken from my book Exposing Spiritualistic Practices in Healing that refer to Kundalini (serpent power). I have taken only a few paragraphs of the info on kundalini within the book. Chakras, seven in number, are mythical centers (vortexes) of cosmic energy said to be located from coccyx upward along the spine with the crown chakra at the top of the head.
Page 101 The root chakra (chakra # 1 at the coccyx) is also regarded as the seat of kundalini. The kundalini is symbolized as a coiled serpent within the sacral/coccygeal region. The coiled serpent represents a powerful subtle cosmic force that is poised and waiting to spring into action. Only when the proper meditative and attitudinal changes have occurred does this force become directed upwards through the appropriate spinal pathway and activate each of the major chakras during its ascent to the crown. The kundalini is the creative force of manifestation which assists in the alignment of the chakras, the release of stored stress from the bodily centers, and the lifting of consciousness into higher spiritual levels. 1) Gerber, Richard M.D., Vibrational Medicine, The # 1 Handbook of Subtle-Energy Therapies, Bear and Co., Rochester, Vermont, (2001), p. 389.
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Page 105 Oriental religions have as their purpose and goal in life to escape the cycle of reincarnation in which they believe they are caught up and to join the spirit world. They do this by a lifelong pursuit of raising the energy levels in the body up through the chakras to bring it to its peak performance at the seventh chakra on top of the head. The religious activities of the Hindu and other oriental religions are all for the purpose of maintaining an unhindered flow of universal energy, so as to raise the energy level to its zenith at the top chakra. Meditation and yoga are believed to raise kundalini and clear the chakras to allow the rising of universal energy, and their existence is solely for this purpose. When the universal energy comes in full power to the top chakra, a person’s energy level has meshed with the energy of the universe and one expe-riences enlightenment, the Supreme Self, Lotus, Jewel, Godhood status. The reincarnation cycle is then broken and at death of the physical body the soul will assume its position with the spirit world of nirvana.
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Page 109 Continued practice of meditation over time causes gradual changes in the mystical subtle-energy flow through the chakras. They are slowly activated and cleared of any obstruction of flow, such as past traumatic emotional events, that of frustration, or anger, etc. Over time meditation will initiate a rise of kundalini—serpent power which is believed to be in the bottom chakra, forcing its climb up the subtle energy pathways (chakras) and within the spinal cord on its journey to the crown chakra and enlightenment—godhood.
Meditation and yoga are fundamental tools of Hinduism for progressing to a higher spiritual plane, with the goal of leaving this life on earth and moving into the spirit world. In Ayurvedic medicine, meditation is fundamental to accessing the powers of the cosmos in order to bring increase and balance of the energies within a person. It is also a process, physically and mentally, of trying to elevate the believed divine attributes within Self and connect with the god of the cosmos, Brahman, the ultimate deity of Hinduism. Meditation, whether for health or spiritual reasons, is a way of connecting with the spirit world. It is through meditation that blending of the sun and moon energies are said to occur. When a perfect blend is achieved, immortality is the result. Immortality is believed to come from being in perfect harmony with Brahman, the Hindu Deity.
Page 121
B.K.S. Iyengar, the founder of Hatha Yoga (used in the U.S.), makes the following statement regarding the goal of yoga,
…the means by which the human soul may be completely united with the Supreme Spirit pervading the universe and thus attain liberation (escape reincarnation)… Yoga Journal, May/June 1993, p. 69.
Yoga is an ancient physical practice of postures and movements established to join the mind, body, and spirit. Yoga means to hook up, to join, to unite. The primary purpose of posture and movement of yoga is to facilitate the flow of energy through the body and chakras, especially kundalini energy. As stated previously yoga is associated with meditation like a glove is with the hand. Dr. Khalsa tells us in Meditation as Medicine that he combines yoga with meditation to obtain a more powerful response in healing.
Page 126
The positions of the yoga postures are important in its concept because each position is proclaimed to direct prana or universal energy to specific parts of the body. In Hatha yoga the spine is to be kept straight so that the latent kundalini, or serpent force, supposedly coiled up at the base of the spine from birth, will be able to ascend through the chakras (energy centers of Hinduism) toward the top chakra. All of these acts are directed at “stilling the mind.” Hatha yoga is the most popular in the US. “Ha” means sun and “tha” is moon. Breathing through the nose in the left nostril will bring in the moon energy and in the right nostril the sun energy. Both sun and moon energy then travel downward through special (nonexistent) passages, one on each side of the body, and go to the bottom chakra at the coccyx area. This energy will then ascend up through the body by the help of yoga postures and exercises until the energy comes into full force at the top chakra, signifying that eternal life has been attained.
Page 131
Hinduism teaches that there is a great “latent” power within each person. Said to be located at the base of the spine, it is called kundalini, also referred to as the
Page 133
Spreading across the world like a forest fire is the popular activity of yoga exercise and the breathing exercises that go with them. There may or may not be meditation involved, but most formal yoga sessions end with a few moments of meditation. This can easily lead to spiritualism experiences. Because the spiritual philosophy that is a part of Hinduism is not presented in a verbal manner with yoga exercises, or with meditation, people totally disassociate the Hindu religion and its “world view” of man’s origin, from doing the yoga exercises. Yoga exercises are alleged to be purely physical with no mysticism involved. Yoga is yoga, and those various movements and stretching are designed to raise kundalini up through the chakras to join with the universal god of Hinduism. Partaking of these exercises places oneself on Satan’s ground. He has used such activities for more than three thousand years and for his purposes only. Will we move his counterfeit system into our lives and into the church as paganism moved in during the fourth to fifth centuries, and call it Christian? An ex-Hindu Guru, now a Christian, has stated a very clear truth about the influences of participating in yoga. He said:
There cannot be Hinduism without yoga and there can be no yoga without Hinduism. 2) Gods of the New Age: Video tape 1988 Jeremiah Films Inc., Hemet, CA.
The highest goal of the Eastern religion is to realize one’s own divinity, to make contact with the spirit gods, and to escape the cycle of reincarnation by joining the spirit world. These religions teach that this goal can be accomplished by our own works, not necessarily by good deeds, but by practicing meditation and yoga and its exercises. These practices were designed for these religions (by Satan’s directions) to facilitate an alteration in one’s state of consciousness wherein Satan can exert his power over them, and lead the person to believe he has attained godhood, and will at death join the spirit world.
Page 154
We know that Hinduism was formed more than 3500 years ago and that visualization or imagery is a fundamental doctrine. The goal in Hinduism is to bring the latent divinity of man into full godhood, then to leave this world of reincarnation and join the spirit world, nirvana. This is done by raising the latent kundalini (Mother serpent god power) in the chakra at the base of the spine, up through the other six chakras to meet the male serpent god Shiva at the crown chakra (top of head) where they (male and female) meet in sexual embrace, and thus immortality and full godhood are achieved. Meditation, visualization, and chakra clearing (or cleansing) are necessary to achieve such. 3) Prophet, Eliazbeth Clare, DJwal Kul Intermediate studies of the Human Aura, The Summit Lighthouse, Inc. Colorado springs, Colorado, (1974) p. 78, 114, 121. This information comes from a book that was dictated by a spirit calling itself The Tibetan Master or Djwhal Kul the same name given by the spirit that channeled through Alice Bailey the information in the books that are the “Bible” for the New Age Movement. The thought comes to me perhaps this channeling spirit is Satan himself?
Page 270
In the website given to me to check out, I found a very interesting article on essential oils entitled Twelve Oils of Ancient Scripture. The author Judy DeRuvo elaborated on each of the twelve. Listed in the next paragraph is a brief of the proclaimed uses and effects of using these aromatic oils. It is interesting that in the first sentence on the first oil, aloe/sandalwood, she refers to India, and thereafter the explanations are tied into Ayurveda (Hindu) vocabulary and principles. I will list some of her quips below, referring to the actions of these twelve oils she listed as being mentioned in Biblical scripture.
Enhancement to meditation; allows mind to move into the deepest states of meditation; connects with the great cosmic prayer; affects chakra energy; links the kundalini energy at the base chakra with the crown chakra; aligns all the chakras and subtle bodies; keeps you grounded, close to your divine essence; empowers the will; supports the sacral chakra; helps release emotional toxins lodged in the subtle bodies; aligns the heart chakra of the mental body to the physical; cypress has frequencies that are in transition between the physical and spiritual (etheric) plane; clears blockage in energy flow; cypress oil disconnects spleen energy attachments.; spiritual and karmic implications; operates beyond the auric field; frankincense helps each of us to connect to that part of us which is eternal and divine; promoting clairvoyance; it opens the 3rd eye for connection; sheds light on life’s purpose and on the inner self; it clears the aura and energy fields; it transmutes dense thought forms. 4) http://www.siohealthynaturally.com/YoungLiving/120OilsOfAncientScripture.html web site altered since correspondence) (https://www.youngliving.org/oils4wellness) present web site
References
| ↑1 | Gerber, Richard M.D., Vibrational Medicine, The # 1 Handbook of Subtle-Energy Therapies, Bear and Co., Rochester, Vermont, (2001), p. 389. |
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| ↑2 | Gods of the New Age: Video tape 1988 Jeremiah Films Inc., Hemet, CA. |
| ↑3 | Prophet, Eliazbeth Clare, DJwal Kul Intermediate studies of the Human Aura, The Summit Lighthouse, Inc. Colorado springs, Colorado, (1974) p. 78, 114, 121. |
| ↑4 | http://www.siohealthynaturally.com/YoungLiving/120OilsOfAncientScripture.html web site altered since correspondence) (https://www.youngliving.org/oils4wellness) present web site |