The story goes that kundalini yoga was kept secret from the general public for thousands of years. But the assumption is it was due to a dangerous aspect of these teachings.
The truth is much simpler than that. Yogis, sages, and gurus used to have many followers and people were living happy lives practicing kundalini yoga but eventually, they started to be prosecuted and were forced to leave the society because people were becoming hard to control and the feudal or slave systems (you know those pyramid schemes where few have all the wealth and many have nothing) were not working.
After the plague of the 14th century in Europe, there was a lack of workers which created a huge growth of the middle class. Simple workers could now afford to wear expensive clothes, have nice houses and their self-esteem was growing. They started to question their religious leaders and even their kings and nobility. This is the time that we hear of reformist thinkers like John Wyckliff, Jan Hus, and eventually Martin Luther.
Their main requests were based on the FREEDOM of CONSCIOUSNESS.
So of course, this outrage had to be stopped. New laws on what the middle class can wear were implemented and persecution of free thinkers started.
In kundalini yoga, just as in religious freedom movements, we have a pathway to create our own understanding of the world and the place we play in it. It is due to this freedom that we reach our potential and are able to live in dignity.
Enslavement doesn’t happen through chains, it happens through ideology. As someone who lived in a communist country can attest to that.
Deemed as dangerous to society, kundalini yogis went into hiding in the Himalayas. To keep the practices remembered, they passed them down through the word of mouth from student to teacher, so when there is an auspicious opening, people can once again relearn these practices and elevate themselves. Therefore for many new students, kundalini yoga feels like coming home. Like a beautiful memory.
In the past few years, I have seen kundalini yoga be made into a cultish, dangerous, fake study. This process of eliminating kundalini yoga from public awareness continues even today with the latest article about Guru Jagat in Vanity Fair.
I deeply resent this cultish classification.
I never teach something that I have never tested on my own.
I never repeat the empty words of a guru if I don’t know what they mean to me.
I have not changed my parents ‘ given name to fit into the kundalini club.
I have not replaced my Christian beliefs with Sikh beliefs.
I have added spiritual name as my middle name and I have added words of Sikh gurus on top of my belief in Jesus.
You too always have a choice to take what’s working and leave the rest but never forget those on whose shoulders you stand on.
I ask the same of my students. Notice how these tools work on you and then practice them on regular basis. This practice connects you with the divine infinitely creative current of energy. Come and plugin.
What is your experience with kundalini yoga? What is your experience of awakening? Please share your thoughts with me.