In the years since his experience with kundalini energy, Philip St Romain (in Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality) has sought to understand the phenomena through every avenue he could - finding that only the Hindu religion has explored it in depth. Even here, he finds some fault, for the Hindus believe that the "Brahman is in the Atman," or that God is in the individual, meaning that opening all the energy loci (chakras) will necessarily make the person and God one. Not so, he says. In Christianity, the soul is the essence of God, but it is not God. In it, with us, there still remains choice. We can, then, become thoroughly energized, obtaining great powers from the "ground" of being, but still decide to do evil - that is, do things that are solely considered from the egoistic viewpoint. There is some lack of clarity here, for the Hindus also know that power can lead to evil, and thus usually train the acolyte first in great moral principles.
There are fascinating possibilities embedded in this observation, including one of the most relevant, concerning the evolution of consciousness. We are no longer "group mind" but individualistic, and in that St Romain sees a progression from cultural infancy to an adulthood that lies closer to the precipice of self-realization. He is right - there has been a fundamental change in greater world consciousness, and it might, indeed, be evolutionary. But he is also right in showing us that greater "spiritual", or non-material energy does not always lead to holiness, regardless. At one point, he quotes an (Indian) expert on kundalini energy with this warning: such people as Napoleon Bonaparte or Hitler, who he (the Indian) considers geniuses, might also have experienced the thorough power of kundalini. It is not as far fetched as it sounds.
For years, I had subscribed to Quest magazine, the official publication of the Theosophical Society. When I first encountered it, it was with great joy. I was writing my thesis at the time, a thoroughly materialistic piece, when a sense of the spiritual began to creep in. It was a breath of fresh air, but no one I knew was familiar with the very real presence of spirit in daily reality. But there in the Quest, it was taken for granted. Finally, I had found a large group of people who knew.
Since then, I have found many others, but I had read a book years before on Hitler's spirituality. Surprisingly, I found that he had been a member of the Theosophical Society, and had even attended a meeting in London. It is fairly well known that, in the midst of the war, he sent out submarines to the Antarctic region looking for the portal to an underground civilization that he believed controlled history (it was believed to actually exist by many in the 19th century, including Edgar Allen Poe, who wrote a very odd book about it). Even the Hollywood extravaganza of Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail was partially accurate: Hitler did look for ancient sources of mystical power that he was convinced existed. He was, strictly speaking, a mystic.
He also had extraordinary powers. For decades, people have written of him disparagingly, as a wall-paperer (an unnecessary bit of snobbery, I think) and a third-rate artist (which I think is also overdone. The one always shown, of a city street, seems pretty good to me). Overall, the impression has always been given that he was a small man of little talent who tried, Freudian-like, to make his "power" bigger.
But how can that be? He was, it is hardly ever noted, a decorated war hero of WWI, an extremely brave man. He went without fear to prison after the extraordinary Beer Hall Putsch, where he wrote his brilliantly cynical best-seller, Mein Kampf. And the rest is history. This little man of no importance magically captured the German volkgeist, conquered nearly all of Europe, and had he had a little more time for his scientists, would have had the A-bomb and perhaps conquered the world. Not bad for a paper-hanger of no particular talent. Given the contradictory views on him, most always with a negative bias (understandable but not objective), the power of Hitler has always been an enigma to historians. To this day, they often say, how could it be? How could a decent-enough people like the Germans have allowed this?
The confusion would be cleared if it were known that he did experience the continual flow of kundalini energy, which would have put him as an adult over children in personal power and perception. And we would also have to conclude that such "holy" powers are not necessarily holy. In the past, in a time and place with an older form of consciousness, the possibility of kundalini energy being used for evil purposes would have been nipped by the stringent rules of the disciple-guru relationship. Now, it must be tempered by personal morality. It seems to me that this personal morality, in the face of such power, must be based not on humanistic considerations, but on spiritual grounds, on grounds given us by the Ultimate, for the merely personal here might not be enough. That is, we must have a deep spiritual grounding to guide our choice, if we are to develop into a world of fully-realized beings. For evolution to unfold, then, we need the presence of the true spirit more than ever.
As a youth, when I first read of such mystical powers, I wanted them, big time. Now, I am very, very glad they were not given to me. Perhaps it is best that they are never given me. St Romain's trials were synonymous with the trials of the saints. We might all pray not to be confronted with that power. And yet- there is a calling, isn't there? Perhaps we who would rather not are like children on the cusp of adolescence - like Peter Pans - who do not want to give up the blissful ignorance and lack of responsibility of the child. Some like Hitler were given this power before they grew up with what they had. Maybe there are now many of us who are ready but don't want it. But St Romain tells us it was more than worth it. I remain humbly undecided and will concentrate on turkey for now. FK
There are fascinating possibilities embedded in this observation, including one of the most relevant, concerning the evolution of consciousness. We are no longer "group mind" but individualistic, and in that St Romain sees a progression from cultural infancy to an adulthood that lies closer to the precipice of self-realization. He is right - there has been a fundamental change in greater world consciousness, and it might, indeed, be evolutionary. But he is also right in showing us that greater "spiritual", or non-material energy does not always lead to holiness, regardless. At one point, he quotes an (Indian) expert on kundalini energy with this warning: such people as Napoleon Bonaparte or Hitler, who he (the Indian) considers geniuses, might also have experienced the thorough power of kundalini. It is not as far fetched as it sounds.
For years, I had subscribed to Quest magazine, the official publication of the Theosophical Society. When I first encountered it, it was with great joy. I was writing my thesis at the time, a thoroughly materialistic piece, when a sense of the spiritual began to creep in. It was a breath of fresh air, but no one I knew was familiar with the very real presence of spirit in daily reality. But there in the Quest, it was taken for granted. Finally, I had found a large group of people who knew.
Since then, I have found many others, but I had read a book years before on Hitler's spirituality. Surprisingly, I found that he had been a member of the Theosophical Society, and had even attended a meeting in London. It is fairly well known that, in the midst of the war, he sent out submarines to the Antarctic region looking for the portal to an underground civilization that he believed controlled history (it was believed to actually exist by many in the 19th century, including Edgar Allen Poe, who wrote a very odd book about it). Even the Hollywood extravaganza of Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail was partially accurate: Hitler did look for ancient sources of mystical power that he was convinced existed. He was, strictly speaking, a mystic.
He also had extraordinary powers. For decades, people have written of him disparagingly, as a wall-paperer (an unnecessary bit of snobbery, I think) and a third-rate artist (which I think is also overdone. The one always shown, of a city street, seems pretty good to me). Overall, the impression has always been given that he was a small man of little talent who tried, Freudian-like, to make his "power" bigger.
But how can that be? He was, it is hardly ever noted, a decorated war hero of WWI, an extremely brave man. He went without fear to prison after the extraordinary Beer Hall Putsch, where he wrote his brilliantly cynical best-seller, Mein Kampf. And the rest is history. This little man of no importance magically captured the German volkgeist, conquered nearly all of Europe, and had he had a little more time for his scientists, would have had the A-bomb and perhaps conquered the world. Not bad for a paper-hanger of no particular talent. Given the contradictory views on him, most always with a negative bias (understandable but not objective), the power of Hitler has always been an enigma to historians. To this day, they often say, how could it be? How could a decent-enough people like the Germans have allowed this?
The confusion would be cleared if it were known that he did experience the continual flow of kundalini energy, which would have put him as an adult over children in personal power and perception. And we would also have to conclude that such "holy" powers are not necessarily holy. In the past, in a time and place with an older form of consciousness, the possibility of kundalini energy being used for evil purposes would have been nipped by the stringent rules of the disciple-guru relationship. Now, it must be tempered by personal morality. It seems to me that this personal morality, in the face of such power, must be based not on humanistic considerations, but on spiritual grounds, on grounds given us by the Ultimate, for the merely personal here might not be enough. That is, we must have a deep spiritual grounding to guide our choice, if we are to develop into a world of fully-realized beings. For evolution to unfold, then, we need the presence of the true spirit more than ever.
As a youth, when I first read of such mystical powers, I wanted them, big time. Now, I am very, very glad they were not given to me. Perhaps it is best that they are never given me. St Romain's trials were synonymous with the trials of the saints. We might all pray not to be confronted with that power. And yet- there is a calling, isn't there? Perhaps we who would rather not are like children on the cusp of adolescence - like Peter Pans - who do not want to give up the blissful ignorance and lack of responsibility of the child. Some like Hitler were given this power before they grew up with what they had. Maybe there are now many of us who are ready but don't want it. But St Romain tells us it was more than worth it. I remain humbly undecided and will concentrate on turkey for now. FK
RSS Feed