The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
“This aspiration to unify one’s soul with the Eternal One has been held by some to be an attempt of a Tāmasa origin to rid itself of all Tamas and Rajas in it. Therefore the aspirant in the first and second stages is said to have more Tamas than in the succeeding stages, and to bep. 253 therefore in the Tāmasic stage, which is presided over by Agni. In the next two stages he is similarly said to be in the Rājasic stage, presided over by the Sun. In the next two he is in the Sāttvic stage, presided over by the Moon, the Deity which is assigned a higher plane than the Sun and Agni. But it is to be noticed that the aspirant does not get at pure Sattva until he passes on to the Sahasrāra, and that Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva, referred to in the above table, are but relative, and bear no comparison with their common acceptation.
“Kundalinī is the grossest form of the Chit, the twenty-fourth Tattva, which lives in the Mūlādhāra; later on we shall have to speak of it in detail in our treatment of the second part of the aspirant’s ascent. This Kundalinī, as soon as it is awakened, is in the Kumârī (girl) stage. On reaching the Anāhata, it attains the Yoshit stage (womanhood). Hence the indication that it is the most difficult and important step in the ascent. The next stage is in the Sahasrāra, of which we shall speak hereafter, and the Shakti in that stage is called Pativratā (devoted to husband). See Taittirīyāranyaka, 1. 27. 12.
“The second part of the ascent of Kundalinī consists of only one step; the Shakti should be taken into the Sahasrāra from the Ājnā, where we left her. The Sahasrāra (lit., a thousand-petalled lotus) forms in itself a Shrīchakra. The description of this place in Sanskrit is too difficult to be rendered satisfactorily into English. In the Sahasrāra there is a certain place of lustre known as Chandra Loka (a world of nectar). In this place live in union the Sat (Sadāshiva) and the Chit, the twenty-fifth and the twenty-fourth Tattvas. The Chit, or Shuddha Vidyā, is also called Sadākhyā, the 16th Kalā of the moon. These two Tattvas are always in union, and this union itself is taken to be the twenty-sixth Tattva. It is this union of Sat and Chit that is the goal of the aspirant. The Kundalinī which has been led all the way to the Sahasrāra should be merged into this union; this is the end of the aspirant’s journey; he now enjoys beatitude itself (Paramānanda).
“But this Kundalinī does not stay in the Sahasrāra for a long time. It always tends to return, and does return to its original position. The process should again and again be repeated by the aspirant several times, until the Shakti makes a permanent stay with her Pati (husband)— namely, Sadāshiva—or until the union of Sadāshiva and Chit is complete, and becomes Pativratā, as already mentioned. The aspirant is then a Jīvan-mukta, or pure Sattva. He is not conscious of this material limitation of the soul. He is all joy, and is the Eternal itself. See vv. 9 and 10. So much of Samayāchāra.
“Now to the other methods of Shākta worship; the Kaulas worship the Kundalinī without rousing her from her sleep¹ in the Mūlādhāra, which is called Kula; and hence Kaulas (Sans. Ku=earth, Prithivī; so Mūlādhāra). Beyond the Mūlādhāra they do not rise; they follow the Vāmāchāra or black magic,² and gain their temporal objects and enjoy; they are not liberated from birth and death; they do not go beyond this earth. Nay, more, the Kaulas are now so far degraded that they have left off altogether the worship of the Kundalinī in the Mūlā- dhāra, and have betaken themselves to practices most inhuman, which are far from being divine.¹ The Mishras are far above the Kaulas. They perform all Karmas, worship the Devī or Shakti in the elements, such as the sun, air, etc., and do Upāsanā with Yantras made of gold or other metals. They worship the Kundalinī, awake her, and attempt to lead her on. Some of the Mishra worshippers rise even as far as the Anāhata.
1 A statement by the same author at p. 85 is in apparent contradiction with this. He there says, citing Lakshmīdhara: “The Kaulas who worship Kundalinī in the Mūlādhāra have no other aim than awakening it from its sleep. When this is done, they think that they have attained their object, and there they stop. In their own words, the Kaulas have Nirvāna always near at hand.”
2 Vāmāchāra is not “black magic,” the nearest Sanskrit equivalent for which is Abhichāra. There may have been, as the Mahākāla Samhitā says (Ullāsa II), some Kaulas who, like the Vaidikas, sought enjoyment in this and the next world, and not Liberation (Aihikārtham kāmayanti amrite ratim na kurvanti). But to state baldly that Kaulas as a whole do not rouse Kundalinī and lead her to the Sahasrāra is incorrect. Pūrnānanda Svāmī, the author of the Text (S.N.) here translated, was himself a Kaula, and the whole object of the work is to secure Liberation (Moksha). So much ignorance of, and prejudice against, the Kaula schools prevail that statements adverse to them
“This aspiration to unify one’s soul with the Eternal One has been held by some to be an attempt of a Tāmasa origin to rid itself of all Tamas and Rajas in it. Therefore the aspirant in the first and second stages is said to have more Tamas than in the succeeding stages, and to bep. 253 therefore in the Tāmasic stage, which is presided over by Agni. In the next two stages he is similarly said to be in the Rājasic stage, presided over by the Sun. In the next two he is in the Sāttvic stage, presided over by the Moon, the Deity which is assigned a higher plane than the Sun and Agni. But it is to be noticed that the aspirant does not get at pure Sattva until he passes on to the Sahasrāra, and that Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva, referred to in the above table, are but relative, and bear no comparison with their common acceptation.
“Kundalinī is the grossest form of the Chit, the twenty-fourth Tattva, which lives in the Mūlādhāra; later on we shall have to speak of it in detail in our treatment of the second part of the aspirant’s ascent. This Kundalinī, as soon as it is awakened, is in the Kumârī (girl) stage. On reaching the Anāhata, it attains the Yoshit stage (womanhood). Hence the indication that it is the most difficult and important step in the ascent. The next stage is in the Sahasrāra, of which we shall speak hereafter, and the Shakti in that stage is called Pativratā (devoted to husband). See Taittirīyāranyaka, 1. 27. 12.
“The second part of the ascent of Kundalinī consists of only one step; the Shakti should be taken into the Sahasrāra from the Ājnā, where we left her. The Sahasrāra (lit., a thousand-petalled lotus) forms in itself a Shrīchakra. The description of this place in Sanskrit is too difficult to be rendered satisfactorily into English. In the Sahasrāra there is a certain place of lustre known as Chandra Loka (a world of nectar). In this place live in union the Sat (Sadāshiva) and the Chit, the twenty-fifth and the twenty-fourth Tattvas. The Chit, or Shuddha Vidyā, is also called Sadākhyā, the 16th Kalā of the moon. These two Tattvas are always in union, and this union itself is taken to be the twenty-sixth Tattva. It is this union of Sat and Chit that is the goal of the aspirant. The Kundalinī which has been led all the way to the Sahasrāra should be merged into this union; this is the end of the aspirant’s journey; he now enjoys beatitude itself (Paramānanda).
“But this Kundalinī does not stay in the Sahasrāra for a long time. It always tends to return, and does return to its original position. The process should again and again be repeated by the aspirant several times, until the Shakti makes a permanent stay with her Pati (husband)— namely, Sadāshiva—or until the union of Sadāshiva and Chit is complete, and becomes Pativratā, as already mentioned. The aspirant is then a Jīvan-mukta, or pure Sattva. He is not conscious of this material limitation of the soul. He is all joy, and is the Eternal itself. See vv. 9 and 10. So much of Samayāchāra.
“Now to the other methods of Shākta worship; the Kaulas worship the Kundalinī without rousing her from her sleep¹ in the Mūlādhāra, which is called Kula; and hence Kaulas (Sans. Ku=earth, Prithivī; so Mūlādhāra). Beyond the Mūlādhāra they do not rise; they follow the Vāmāchāra or black magic,² and gain their temporal objects and enjoy; they are not liberated from birth and death; they do not go beyond this earth. Nay, more, the Kaulas are now so far degraded that they have left off altogether the worship of the Kundalinī in the Mūlā- dhāra, and have betaken themselves to practices most inhuman, which are far from being divine.¹ The Mishras are far above the Kaulas. They perform all Karmas, worship the Devī or Shakti in the elements, such as the sun, air, etc., and do Upāsanā with Yantras made of gold or other metals. They worship the Kundalinī, awake her, and attempt to lead her on. Some of the Mishra worshippers rise even as far as the Anāhata.
1 A statement by the same author at p. 85 is in apparent contradiction with this. He there says, citing Lakshmīdhara: “The Kaulas who worship Kundalinī in the Mūlādhāra have no other aim than awakening it from its sleep. When this is done, they think that they have attained their object, and there they stop. In their own words, the Kaulas have Nirvāna always near at hand.”
2 Vāmāchāra is not “black magic,” the nearest Sanskrit equivalent for which is Abhichāra. There may have been, as the Mahākāla Samhitā says (Ullāsa II), some Kaulas who, like the Vaidikas, sought enjoyment in this and the next world, and not Liberation (Aihikārtham kāmayanti amrite ratim na kurvanti). But to state baldly that Kaulas as a whole do not rouse Kundalinī and lead her to the Sahasrāra is incorrect. Pūrnānanda Svāmī, the author of the Text (S.N.) here translated, was himself a Kaula, and the whole object of the work is to secure Liberation (Moksha). So much ignorance of, and prejudice against, the Kaula schools prevail that statements adverse to them
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