The Role of Kundalini in Eco-Tantra

Awakening kundalini is a fundamental aspiration of many tantric practitioners, but what exactly is kundalini? Kundalini is often likened to sexual energy, but whilst a kundalini experience may be sexually arousing, this in itself is an over simplification. Rather, kundalini is the stable core that sits beneath all other energetic experiences, and can be better understood as our own inner shakti.

To understand this concept better, it may be worth borrowing an analogy from an ancient tantric philosopher. Many Tantras envision the universe as a divine play – an artistic performance, enacted by God as a form of both self-expression and self-exploration.

Because we are God (everything that constitutes ourselves also constitutes God, and all that is within God is also within us) we are creators, participants and observers of the play. As creators we must be present and conscious, our awareness is what defines our existence. In order to participate we must have an ego, a constructed self, a sense of individuality. This is a contraction of our divine nature, the universal Self, but a necessary one if the play is to be enacted – like an actor taking on a role, calling upon (and overstating) some of their own personality traits whilst suppressing others so they can perform their part.

But we are also observers – members of the audience. And as an audience we are able to respond to the events on stage with detached emotion – we take pleasure in the performance regardless of the subject explored and the emotions expressed. And it is this detached pleasure that allows us to connect with our own divinity, the universal Self.

The analogy then, is one of a bracelet, consisting of several translucent beads held on a thread. The beads represent the various emotions expressed throughout the play by the actors (the participants). But the stable core beneath them all, on which they are all held in place, is the thread – the constant source of detached pleasure that exists within us all as observers, as members of the audience. This analogy can help us to understand kundalini. Within Tantric physiology kundalini would be the thread that travels the length of our spine whilst the beads would be the various chakras – centres or sources of energy, both expressive and responsive – that exist within our subtle bodies.

Indeed, one method of raising your awareness of kundalini is to shift your focus away from your energetic, emotional or passion fuelled responses, and to concentrate on the stable core; the constant thread of detached pleasure that underlies all experience. A pleasure in simply being – in feeling anything at all. In this way, any experience can become a Tantric experience.

But kundalini is more than an abstract concept. It is something that can be felt. To understand kundalini as our own inner shakti is to recognise that kundalini possesses the same intrinsic qualities as shakti – the dynamic force that binds the entire universe, the whole of space and time, constantly expanding and contracting. The Tantras understand this process (the passage of time) as progressing through a series of phases: creation, stasis, re-absorption (in tantra the entire universe consists of energy in varying states of manifestation, therefore it cannot be destroyed, only re-absorbed), and revelation / concealment. This process is reflected in our own physical forms through the process of beathing: inhalation represents creation and expansion; stasis occurs as we hold our breath, allowing the energy to manifest inside ourselves; this energy is re-absorbed throughout our subtle bodies as we exhale; finally, as we empty ourselves of breath we relax into the emptiness, inviting revelation or concealment. Revelation is a recognition of our own universality, an identification of ourselves as the single universal Self that permeates all of existence. Concealment is a re-enforcement of our own ego-centric individuality, and often manifests itself as a future oriented thought (fantasy or anxiety) or a past oriented thought (nostalgia or regret).

Concentrated breathing therefore re-enacts the process of shakti within our own bodies, and can consequently be used to awaken kundalini. As we draw in breath, we can feel it invigorating our energy centres as the breath descends down the front of our bodies until it eventually reaches the root chakra. This is where dormant kundalini resides. By holding the breath-energy here, in stasis, you can feel kundalini begin to stir. Slowly, it will shift to the base of your spine; as you exhale, allow kundalini to fill the void, rising up along the spine until it floods the crown of your head. Whilst there are lots of other breathing techniques that you can use, this one seems to work for me.

So why has kundalini been confounded with sexual energy? Well, kundalini can be felt internally, and whilst most texts say it resides at the root chakra, the spot seems to coincide with the location of the sacral nerve. Stimulation of this nerve zone has been shown to result in sexual arousal. It is a pleasant sensation, but it is important to recognise that kundalini is not produced by external stimulation, rather the stimulation is produced by kundalini. Additionally, the purpose of kundalini awakening is not to elicit sexual arousal, instead, it is to transmit this energy in a process of re-absorption throughout the body, along the spinal column until it reaches the crown of the head. Once the energy reaches the crown practitioners can experience a deeper connection, not only to their inner shakti, but to the universal shakti that surrounds and imbues us all.

This too can result in arousal. What we are talking about is a unification and a harmonisation, between our physical bodies and something much deeper, universal and all-pervading. This unity can manifest itself physically as sexual arousal – which is really the only way our physical bodies know to interpret such deep connectivity. But there’s liberation in this. This is an arousal that does not rely upon lust or objectification, desire or emotional attachment; it is a detached arousal. And this is the stable core of our soul, the foundation of our very existence, the source of all that we are. Indeed, it is the source of all that is. Because in Tantra, our physical bodies are microcosmic representations of the entire universe, so if the core of our being is a thread of pure delight, then that is also true for everything that surrounds and empowers us, it is the very essence of God.

Kundalini then, is something that can liberate us whilst also binding us, unifying us with our environment, our planet. To understand that kundalini runs through everything, is the constant thread beneath every dynamic force of nature, the source of every expansion and contraction, every burst of energy, is to recognise ourselves in the selves of every manifest object. Protecting our environment becomes an act of self-preservation.

That then, is what an awakened kundalini can contribute to environmentalism and Eco-Tantra.