Kundalini: The Energy of the Depths

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State University of New York Press, Oct 18, 1988 - Religion - 240 pages
Kundalini's power lies dormant in humans until it is awakened. The awakened Kundalini expresses the primal divine impulse and ultimately joins the individual with the divine. The development of the book parallels the development of the Kundalini within. Part One exposes the awakening and unfolding of the Kundalini; Part Two describes the piercing of the energy centers and the stages of ascent through the body; and Part Three examines Kundalini's relation to sexual expression.

The book provides a deep understanding of Tantra and of the underlying purpose of Tantracism. The author carefully considers the Caryakrama practices of sexual expression as a means of awakening and controlling Kundalini.

Silburn draws together passages from the Trika, Krama, and Kaula systems ranging through Abhinavagupta and Lalla and provides both translation and commentary for them. Chapters on the Chakras, the Nadis, and on mantras further elucidate the topic and lead to a forceful conclusion: Kundalini is the source of ultimate human knowledge and power.
 

Contents

Various Means of Unfolding the Median
4
Stirring and Churning of the Energy
7
OF KUNDALINI
19
The Parabija SAUH and the Rod Practice
22
59
30
Movements of Kundalini Related to a Yogins Practice
63
Chapter 6
71
Somānandas Säktavijñāna
79
Chapter 2
143
Chapter 3
149
Chapter 4
157
21
163
24
171
Caryakrama and Kramamudrā
172
Kulayaga Esoteric Sacrifice
177
Description of Madhyacakra or Urdhvadhāman
186

Text in Transliterated Sanskrit
81
Chapter 1
87
Analysis
92
Mantravedha Piercing of the Centers by Means of Mantra
93
Para or Purnakundalini
111
Chapter 3
121
Analysis
129
Chapter 1
137
The Coiled Kundalini Within the Human Body
190
Quiescence Emergence and Kaula
193
Respective Roles of Man and Woman
201
Definition of Omnipenetration Mantravyāpti
202
INDEX
215
71
217
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND WORKS
221
Copyright

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About the author (1988)

Lilian Silburn is Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. For many years she has been respected worldwide as a leader in studies of the Shaivism of Kashmir. She has published many books and articles on the subject.

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