This is the second Q/A to answer questions from someone who has read some of my meditation books. This is the 2nd page of questions answered and there will be a link to the 3rd page at the bottom of this page. Here is the 1st page.
Questions about Kundalini
Would Kundalini meditation books help? Is Kundaline Necessary?
Do you also get a tingle up your spine whilst meditating?
Answers about Kundalini
To be honest, I don’t practice anything about Kundalini. Years ago when I was reading a lot of books about meditation, zen, eastern religion and philosophy I of course read some about Kundalini.
Just going from my own experience, I never had any sort of tingling in my spine or even my lower back. I do remember something with my spine around my neck that I’ll tell you about.
While sitting on the floor in a half-lotus position I sometimes found myself leaning forward a bit too far. The neck was not straight and when I realized it I would lean back and straighten my neck and then come to a relaxed position with a straighter neck.
Often times as I did this I felt a freeing up of tension. It was good to rebalance the head and make it sort of floating there instead of pulling on the neck muscles.
Sometimes as I did this, I’d get light-headed a bit. Not dizzy, but it just gave a feeling of lightness of being and helped to let the feeling of the body go a bit because the muscles were no longer straining to hold the head up, it was mostly balanced after straightening.
Is Kundalini Meditation Necessary to Progress in Your Practice?
No, Kundalini meditation is not necessary. Unless maybe you have read a lot about it and it has taken over your mind a bit. Or maybe you have told yourself that it is necessary because you have seen others talking about it authoritatively and you believe it.
I think that what we read, what we hear and put into (allow into) our heads becomes our reality. If you read dozens of Kundalini books and hear friends and teachers and media all talking about the importance of Kundalini energy, well you’re almost surely going that route and you’re going to have Kundalini type experiences.
Almost surely.
Start Meditation with a Fresh Mind – No Expectations
I think a much better way to go about meditation is to not fill your mind with anything that tells you what it will be like.
This is how I approached meditation back when I was starting out. I had read a couple of books about Buddhism and meditation. I read “No Religion” and a book on meditation by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu from Wat Suan Mokkh in Chaiya (Suratthani, Thailand).
I remember being acutely aware that I didn’t want to follow someone else’s experience. Not the Buddha’s or anyone’s experience. I wanted to have my own experience.
At the time, that meant that I only wanted to relax at the end of the day. That’s it, just some peaceful time to give my mind a break after hard thinking and running around all day with my real estate career.
Meditation in the Now, In the Moment
Meditation Without Religion
Meditation in the moment, in the present, is how I’ve always viewed it. I didn’t want to meditate and be thinking about what someone else told me they did the night before. I didn’t want to sit in a group with a teacher who told us how to breathe and what to be aware of.
I figured Buddha didn’t have any of that. He simply sat and watched the breath.
I didn’t want to have my head clouded by what the Buddha had done either – as far as experiences, Jhana, etc. I thought that was all nonsense to be honest. I thought it was all some sort of nice sounding fluff to draw people into Buddhism so they can become part of the religion too.
I didn’t want a religion. I just wanted to relax.
So I started by reading a book on meditation practice by S. N. Goenka. A book on Vipassana.
It was absolutely filled with fluff about all the necessary mental gymnastics one needed to do in order to have a successful practice.
I just ignored all of that. I read the book through a few times just so I could pick out the bare essence of the physical and mental meditation practice.
I focused on just a couple of things.
- Sitting relaxed and focusing on the breath until I attained strong concentration.
- Once I was able to focus, I watched what the mind presented and let it go. Over and over and over.
That is basically it.
This, I think, is how we have our own experience. If we don’t fill our minds with book after book about rules and suggestions for how to change our behavior, some correct way to sit or breathe or talk or think or whatever, the simple process of meditating on the breath will bring you to the same place (or a similar one – your own place) the Buddha found.
So many people are interested in repeating what the Buddha did. So many people want to be JUST LIKE THE BUDDHA.
But maybe there isn’t another person who was ever born who could be like the Buddha was because he was unique. Just like YOU ARE UNIQUE.
Your experience may be similar to or completely different than what Buddha found.
Your experience can go down a different track. Where you end up may be completely different.
That’s OK!
There may be hundreds of different outcomes when you do your OWN practice and are not concerned with an outcome if it doesn’t match the Buddha’s outcome.
Buddhists, Buddhism, and meditation books from every religion will try to pull you into their world to ‘help you’ attain what the Buddha did, or some yogi, some teacher.
Siddhartha Gautama meditated and reached a good place. A good outcome.
I meditated and reached a good place. A good outcome. I have no Buddhism in me. I have no religion in me. I have only the fruits of the meditation practice I followed that was very similar to what the Buddha did physically.
But my background, my culture, my influencers, my life, my mind, are all different. My outcome and yours may not be just like the Buddhas. Your outcome may be better.
Personally, and this may sound outlandish. I’ve never said it or wrote it or even thought about it before now…
My outcome in my mind is better than what the Buddha’s outcome was.
I believe that. I’m sure it sounds crazy to you. But I wouldn’t change what I have attained for what he had. I am so satisfied within myself with what I have found. It has been an incredible journey.
I’ve found a place where there is ultimate peace, ultimate rest, free of pain, free of any disturbance… and it’s there any time I want.
And other times, I just go through life as a human being WITH pain, WITH wants, WITH needs, with all that comes along with being human.
I am in this regular state 98% of the time I am awake.
I choose to go to the silent state only when I need to be reminded that the life of a human being is filled with pain and disturbances. I go to recharge I guess you could say. I go so I don’t forget that the state exists where there is no pain or suffering.
I hope you choose your own outcome too.
I hope you practice and see incredible changes in yourself that help you to become more at peace with, more at ease with, living this life.
I hope your ego dissolves quite a bit and you’re able to feel the pain of other living beings – including animals. I hope it leads you in some way to help other beings get through this life a little bit easier.
I hope you choose your own path.
All of this is why I finally sat down and wrote these two books at Amazon:
- Meditation for Beginners – a 22-Day Course
- Meditation for Beginners – Secrets for Success
If you would like these books and you cannot afford them at this time, let me know. I can help.
🙂