Kundalini Yoga (Swami Sivananda)
Two Stars with a Caveat (and Warning)
[My 2-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Kundalini Yoga” by Swami Sivananda.]
When I saw this book available at Kindle for just .99, I immediately downloaded it and zipped through the very familiar material in a couple of hours. I first read this book in 1971, when it was originally published, but my original copy is long gone, and reading it now, as an expert in the field of yoga, my reaction to it is mostly negative. But because of the book's bargain-basement price and all the esoteric yogic information it provides, I have decided to give it two stars instead of one.
This book, along with Sivananda's "Sadhana" and "Concentration and Meditation," served as my "Bible" when I practiced ultra-intense Kundalini Yoga as a naive twenty-year old. Little did I know of the dangers of Kundalini -- and Sivananda's text only extols the virtues and wonders of Kundalini, while failing to properly warn spiritual aspirants of its dangers. "Thanks" to the faulty and incomplete information in this text. I ended up with an intense, seemingly intractable Kundalini disorder that I still suffer from. "Thanks" to the misinformation in this book, I've had a half century of physical hell and have spent well over a hundred thousand dollars trying, unsuccessfully, to "cure" my "Snake Bite." Now I just live with it, and in spite of it, enjoy a profound, often Bliss-full, spiritual life.
Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh (1887-1963) was a renowned guru, and a number of his disciples, including Swami Satchidanandama, Swami Vishnudevananda, Swami Chinmayananda, and Satyananda Saraswati (the founder of the Bihar School of Yoga) also became spiritual luminaries. Sivananda, a medical doctor, was a saintly soul, devoting his life to selflessly serving the sick and needy as well as the yogis who studied under him, but in my estimation, he was not Self-realized, and his teachings, though teeming with esoteric yogic information, are limited, flawed, and dangerous.
First off, Sivananda does not understand Self-realization or its "mechanics." He considers Nirvikalpa Samadhi to be the highest Samadhi and a state of superconsciousness. He considers raising Kundalini to the Sahasrar to amount to the union of Siva and Shakti and God-realization. All of this is nonsense. Nirvikalpa Samadhi is not the highest Samadhi; Sahaj Samadhi is. Self-realization, the union of Siva and Shakti (or Kundalini), does not take take place at the Sahasrara, or crown chakra; it takes place in the Hridayam - and it results in a "State" of Consciousness itself, not one of superconsciousness, which is a superimposition upon the Ground, or Substratum, of Consciousness. Sivananda does not mention the Hridayam (Heart-center) or the terminal extension of the Sushumna between the Sahasrara and the Hridayam.
Sivananda has no knowledge of the "Higher Kundalini," Shaktipat. In just one sentence in the book, he mentions descent relative to Kundalini, but fails to elaborate on it. He writes, "Slowly exhale - And as you exhale feel the Kundalini Shakti is gradually descending from the Sahasrara and from chakra to chakra." The Higher Kundalini does not descend through the spinal chakras. It descends down a terminal extension of the Sushumna between the Sahasrara and the Hridayam.
The contradictions in this text reveal Sivananda as a sloppy writer-thinker. Most glaring are the contradictory statements regarding Jnana Yoga and Kundalini Yoga. Regarding Jnana Yoga, he writes, "If Liberation is sought without desire for union through Kundalini, then, such Yoga is not necessary; for Liberation may be obtained by Pure Jnana Yoga through detachment, the exercise and then stilling the mind, without any rousing of the central Bodily-power at all." But Liberation through Kundalini Yoga, according to Sivananda, is dependent on uniting Kundakini-Shakti with Siva at the the Sahasrara. If Liberation is dependent on this union of Siva and Shakti, then how does the Jnana yogi attain Liberation? And what spiritual center, if not the Sahasrara, correlates with his Liberation? Sivananda fails to answer these questions.
Sivananda makes numerous ridiculous statements. For example, he states that "there is a presiding deity in each chakra." No there isn't. He makes outrageous claims for the powers that accompany one's concentration on each of the chakras. For example, regarding the Manipura (or navel) chakra, and quoting the Gheranda Samhita, he writes, "The yogi who concentrates at this chakra gets Patala siddhi, can acquire hidden treasure, and will be free of all diseases. He has no fear at all from Agni (fire). Even if he is thrown into a burning fire, he remains alive without fear of death." Again, pure poppycock.
Sivananda, in a just a single sentence, mentions that there are "unusual risks and difficulties" involved in Kundalini Yoga. But he, egregiously, fails to elaborate on his statement. Maybe if he had, I wouldn't have religiously practiced the Kundalini Yoga exercises in this book and become a victim of the Serpent Power.
Although I have numerous criticisms of this text, one in particular stands out - Sivananda's failure to mention and consider the need to let go, and let the forces of prana and consciousness flow. There is no Yin pole in this book, nothing about receptivity and conductivity. If Sivananda had addressed this all-important subject of utterly relaxing and letting go upon feeling the visceral "pressure" engendered by the practices of Kundalini Yoga, then my guess is that I never would have "blown the gaskets" in my subtle body and contracted the seemingly intractable Kundalini-Vata disorder that plagues me to this day. If you decide to practice Kundalini Yoga, remember to let go and let be when you experience the "pressures" of prana and consciousness.
[My 2-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Kundalini Yoga” by Swami Sivananda.]
When I saw this book available at Kindle for just .99, I immediately downloaded it and zipped through the very familiar material in a couple of hours. I first read this book in 1971, when it was originally published, but my original copy is long gone, and reading it now, as an expert in the field of yoga, my reaction to it is mostly negative. But because of the book's bargain-basement price and all the esoteric yogic information it provides, I have decided to give it two stars instead of one.
This book, along with Sivananda's "Sadhana" and "Concentration and Meditation," served as my "Bible" when I practiced ultra-intense Kundalini Yoga as a naive twenty-year old. Little did I know of the dangers of Kundalini -- and Sivananda's text only extols the virtues and wonders of Kundalini, while failing to properly warn spiritual aspirants of its dangers. "Thanks" to the faulty and incomplete information in this text. I ended up with an intense, seemingly intractable Kundalini disorder that I still suffer from. "Thanks" to the misinformation in this book, I've had a half century of physical hell and have spent well over a hundred thousand dollars trying, unsuccessfully, to "cure" my "Snake Bite." Now I just live with it, and in spite of it, enjoy a profound, often Bliss-full, spiritual life.
Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh (1887-1963) was a renowned guru, and a number of his disciples, including Swami Satchidanandama, Swami Vishnudevananda, Swami Chinmayananda, and Satyananda Saraswati (the founder of the Bihar School of Yoga) also became spiritual luminaries. Sivananda, a medical doctor, was a saintly soul, devoting his life to selflessly serving the sick and needy as well as the yogis who studied under him, but in my estimation, he was not Self-realized, and his teachings, though teeming with esoteric yogic information, are limited, flawed, and dangerous.
First off, Sivananda does not understand Self-realization or its "mechanics." He considers Nirvikalpa Samadhi to be the highest Samadhi and a state of superconsciousness. He considers raising Kundalini to the Sahasrar to amount to the union of Siva and Shakti and God-realization. All of this is nonsense. Nirvikalpa Samadhi is not the highest Samadhi; Sahaj Samadhi is. Self-realization, the union of Siva and Shakti (or Kundalini), does not take take place at the Sahasrara, or crown chakra; it takes place in the Hridayam - and it results in a "State" of Consciousness itself, not one of superconsciousness, which is a superimposition upon the Ground, or Substratum, of Consciousness. Sivananda does not mention the Hridayam (Heart-center) or the terminal extension of the Sushumna between the Sahasrara and the Hridayam.
Sivananda has no knowledge of the "Higher Kundalini," Shaktipat. In just one sentence in the book, he mentions descent relative to Kundalini, but fails to elaborate on it. He writes, "Slowly exhale - And as you exhale feel the Kundalini Shakti is gradually descending from the Sahasrara and from chakra to chakra." The Higher Kundalini does not descend through the spinal chakras. It descends down a terminal extension of the Sushumna between the Sahasrara and the Hridayam.
The contradictions in this text reveal Sivananda as a sloppy writer-thinker. Most glaring are the contradictory statements regarding Jnana Yoga and Kundalini Yoga. Regarding Jnana Yoga, he writes, "If Liberation is sought without desire for union through Kundalini, then, such Yoga is not necessary; for Liberation may be obtained by Pure Jnana Yoga through detachment, the exercise and then stilling the mind, without any rousing of the central Bodily-power at all." But Liberation through Kundalini Yoga, according to Sivananda, is dependent on uniting Kundakini-Shakti with Siva at the the Sahasrara. If Liberation is dependent on this union of Siva and Shakti, then how does the Jnana yogi attain Liberation? And what spiritual center, if not the Sahasrara, correlates with his Liberation? Sivananda fails to answer these questions.
Sivananda makes numerous ridiculous statements. For example, he states that "there is a presiding deity in each chakra." No there isn't. He makes outrageous claims for the powers that accompany one's concentration on each of the chakras. For example, regarding the Manipura (or navel) chakra, and quoting the Gheranda Samhita, he writes, "The yogi who concentrates at this chakra gets Patala siddhi, can acquire hidden treasure, and will be free of all diseases. He has no fear at all from Agni (fire). Even if he is thrown into a burning fire, he remains alive without fear of death." Again, pure poppycock.
Sivananda, in a just a single sentence, mentions that there are "unusual risks and difficulties" involved in Kundalini Yoga. But he, egregiously, fails to elaborate on his statement. Maybe if he had, I wouldn't have religiously practiced the Kundalini Yoga exercises in this book and become a victim of the Serpent Power.
Although I have numerous criticisms of this text, one in particular stands out - Sivananda's failure to mention and consider the need to let go, and let the forces of prana and consciousness flow. There is no Yin pole in this book, nothing about receptivity and conductivity. If Sivananda had addressed this all-important subject of utterly relaxing and letting go upon feeling the visceral "pressure" engendered by the practices of Kundalini Yoga, then my guess is that I never would have "blown the gaskets" in my subtle body and contracted the seemingly intractable Kundalini-Vata disorder that plagues me to this day. If you decide to practice Kundalini Yoga, remember to let go and let be when you experience the "pressures" of prana and consciousness.
