Osho's Kundalini Meditation
Osho’s Kundalini Meditation
“The space where the life force is stored is like a kunda, a pool near the sex center; that is why the energy is known as kundalini, as if it is a kunda or pool of water. Another reason it is called kundalini is that it looks like a snake coiled and sleeping. If you have seen a sleeping serpent you know how it lies in coils with its hood on top. But if you disturb the sleeping serpent it will wake up, uncoil and raise its hood up. This energy is called kundalini also because the pool of life force, or the seed of life is precisely located near the sex center and it is from here that life expands in all directions.”
Osho, In Search of the Miraculous.
Osho’s Kundalini Meditation is done all over the world in the early evening. It is one of his most popular and effective meditation techniques and it is known as the beloved sister meditation to Osho’s Dynamic meditation which is done in the morning. I once heard a story about group leaders approaching Osho in Pune 1. They thought that breaking the group so that the participants could attend kundalini meditation each evening was interfering with the group’s flow. They voiced this concern to Osho and he responded that the leaders had missed the point — the groups were being held to support the meditations not the meditations to support the groups. Oh my.
I have been leading kundalini meditation at Osho Leela Meditation Center (OMC) for the last twelve years or so (give or take a winter or two) and I never get tired of it. When we started adding other Osho meditations to our evening mix, I was happy to switch it up and lead other Osho meditations, but at some point I always missed the very simple and yet profound dear-to- my-heart Kundalini meditation. There is something very powerful about doing this meditation in the early evening over time. Although each meditation is the same (same time, same music, same instructions) my experience is always different and at times profoundly self-illuminating. I always finish feeling refreshed and somehow relieved of some unneeded weight.
I am super excited to just now be getting back to leading kundalini meditation at OMC on Thursdays at 5:30 pm.
So what is kundalini and why is kundalini meditation so effective?
“The space where the life force is stored is like a kunda, a pool near the sex center; that is why the energy is known as kundalini, as if it is a kunda or pool of water. Another reason it is called kundalini is that it looks like a snake coiled and sleeping. If you have seen a sleeping serpent you know how it lies in coils with its hood on top. But if you disturb the sleeping serpent it will wake up, uncoil and raise its hood up. This energy is called kundalini also because the pool of life force, or the seed of life is precisely located near the sex center and it is from here that life expands in all directions.”
Osho, In Search of the Miraculous.
Kundalini is your life force. It is stored at the base of your spine and moves up through your chakra system. If this energy is blocked and doesn’t flow through the system our life force is also stuck and we are not able to be total in our life. Our body, mind and spirit are effected in all kinds of ways by our blocked energy, none of them helpful or healthful. We want our energy to move. As we free it and it flows through our chakras we find our true power, our heart opens, our voices are freed to speak our truth, our intuition is strengthened and our connection to the infinite becomes possible.
“In fact, it is only when we have pressed our energy into meditation that there arises the need for the reserve of energy lying in the reservoir to wake up and come to our aid. Until then it lies asleep in the kunda, in the pool.… The center is activated only when we have staked our all.”
Osho
So how does it work? On a practical level, Kundalini meditation is done in four 15-minute stages. The first stage is shaking the body with eyes closed or open. You want to be loose and allow the body to shake rather than doing the shaking. If done with totality, over time you will start to feel the energy rising up from the feet. The more you allow your body to move on its own, rather then moving “it” the more powerful the effect.
“When I say shaking, I mean your solidity, your rock-like being should shake to the foundations so that it becomes liquid, fluid, melts, flows.
“And when the rock like being becomes liquid, your body will follow. Then there is no shaker, only shaking. Then nobody is doing it, it is simply happening. Then the doer is not.”
Osho, Meditation the First and Last Freedom.
The second stage is dancing and you again allow your body to move as it feels to without effort — but in totality. The next stage is either sitting or standing and just witnessing within and the fourth stage is relaxation.
Curious and want to give Kundalini Meditation a try? We offer it Thursday and Friday evenings at 5:30 pm at OMC. It’s also a great home practice/meditation technique. It’s a great way to shake off the worries and stress of the day so that your evening can be free of the day’s clutter. I’ll be back to leading the meditations on Thursdays starting this February, followed by an Introduction to Kundalini Yoga! Join me for one or both of these – let your energy flow!