The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
The Hathayogī who rouses Kundalinī gains various occult powers (Siddhi) and enjoyment thereby. At every centre to which he leads Kundalinī he experiences a special form of bliss (Ānanda) and gains special powers (Siddhi). If he has Vairāgya for these he carries Her to the Shiva of his cerebral centre, and enjoys the Supreme Bliss, which in its nature is that of Liberation, and which, when established in permanence, is Liberation itself on the loosening of the spirit and body. She who “shines like a chain of lights”—a lightning-flash—in the centre of his body is the “Inner Woman” to whom reference was made when it was said, “What need have I of any outer woman? I have an Inner Woman within myself.” The Vīra (“heroic”)¹ Sādhaka, knowing himself as the embodiment of Shiva (Shivo’ham), unites with woman as the embodiment of Shakti on the physical plane.² The Divya (“divine”) Sādhaka or Yogī unites within himself his own principles, female and male, which are the “Heart of the Lord” (Hridayam parameshituh)³ or Shakti, and Her Lord Consciousness or Shiva. It is their union which is the mystic coition (Maithuna) of the Tantras.⁴ There are two forms of Union (Sāmarasya)⁵— namely, the first, which is the gross (Sthūla), or the union of the physical embodiments of the Supreme Consciousness; and the second, which is the subtle (Sūkshma), or the union of the quiescent and active principles in Consciousness itself. It is the latter which is liberation.
Lastly, what in a philosophical sense is the nature of the process here described? Shortly stated, energy (Shakti) polarises itself into two forms—namely, static or potential (Kundalinī), and dynamic (the working forces of the body as Prāna). Behind all activity there is a static background. This static centre in the human body is the central Serpent Power in the Mūlādhāra (root support). It is the power which is the static support (Ādhāra) of the whole body, and all its moving Prānik forces. This centre (Kendra) of power is a gross form of Chit or Consciousness—that is, in itself (Svarūpa) it is Consciousness and by appearance it is a power which, as the highest form of force, is a manifestation of it. Just as there is a distinction (though identity at base) between the supreme quiescent Consciousness and its active power (Shakti), so, when Consciousness manifests as energy (Shakti), it possesses the twin aspects of potential and kinetic energy. In Advaita Vedānta there can be no partition, in fact, of Reality. To the perfect eye of its Siddha the process of becoming is an ascription (Adhyāsa) to the ultimate Real.¹ To the imperfect eye of the Sādhaka—that is, the aspirant for Siddhi (perfected accomplishment)—to the spirit which is still toiling through the lower planes and variously identifying itself with them, becoming is tending to appear, and appearance is real. The Shākta Tantra is a rendering of Vedāntic truth from this practical point of view, and represents the world-process as a polarisation in Consciousness itself. This polarity as it exists in, and as, the body, is destroyed by Yoga, which disturbs the equilibrium of bodily consciousness which is the result of the maintenance of these two poles. In the human body the potential pole of energy, which is the supreme power, is stirred to action, on which the moving forces (dynamic Shakti) supported by it are drawn thereto, and the whole dynamism¹ thus engendered moves upward to unite with the quiescent Consciousness in the highest Lotus.² This matter has been so well put by my friend Professor Pramathanātha Mukhyopādhyāya that I cannot improve on his account,³ and therefore cite it in lieu of giving a further description of my own:
1 To the eye of Siddhi, to the spirit who is Udāsīna (simple witness unmindful of the external world), becoming is Adhyāsa and nothing real (in the Indian sense of that term, as used by Shangkara). Creation (Srishti) is Vivartta, or apparent and not real evolution (Parināma), Adhyāsa is attributing to something that which it does not really possess.
“When you say that Kundalī Shakti is the primordial Shakti at rest, I am led to think of an analogy (and it may be more than an analogy) in modern science. Cosmic energy in its physical aspect may be considered either as static or as dynamic, the former being a condition of equilibrium, the latter a condition of motion or change of relative position. Thus a material thing apparently at rest (there being no absolute rest except in pure Consciousness or Chit) should be regarded as energy or Shakti equilibrated, the various elements of it holding one another
1 The projecting power of consciousness withdraws its projections into the sensual world, and the power of Consciousness merges in Consciousness itself.
2 Why here, it may be asked, seeing that Consciousness is all pervading? True; but there the tāmasik force of Māyā is at its lowest strength. Therefore Consciousness is reached there.
The Hathayogī who rouses Kundalinī gains various occult powers (Siddhi) and enjoyment thereby. At every centre to which he leads Kundalinī he experiences a special form of bliss (Ānanda) and gains special powers (Siddhi). If he has Vairāgya for these he carries Her to the Shiva of his cerebral centre, and enjoys the Supreme Bliss, which in its nature is that of Liberation, and which, when established in permanence, is Liberation itself on the loosening of the spirit and body. She who “shines like a chain of lights”—a lightning-flash—in the centre of his body is the “Inner Woman” to whom reference was made when it was said, “What need have I of any outer woman? I have an Inner Woman within myself.” The Vīra (“heroic”)¹ Sādhaka, knowing himself as the embodiment of Shiva (Shivo’ham), unites with woman as the embodiment of Shakti on the physical plane.² The Divya (“divine”) Sādhaka or Yogī unites within himself his own principles, female and male, which are the “Heart of the Lord” (Hridayam parameshituh)³ or Shakti, and Her Lord Consciousness or Shiva. It is their union which is the mystic coition (Maithuna) of the Tantras.⁴ There are two forms of Union (Sāmarasya)⁵— namely, the first, which is the gross (Sthūla), or the union of the physical embodiments of the Supreme Consciousness; and the second, which is the subtle (Sūkshma), or the union of the quiescent and active principles in Consciousness itself. It is the latter which is liberation.
Lastly, what in a philosophical sense is the nature of the process here described? Shortly stated, energy (Shakti) polarises itself into two forms—namely, static or potential (Kundalinī), and dynamic (the working forces of the body as Prāna). Behind all activity there is a static background. This static centre in the human body is the central Serpent Power in the Mūlādhāra (root support). It is the power which is the static support (Ādhāra) of the whole body, and all its moving Prānik forces. This centre (Kendra) of power is a gross form of Chit or Consciousness—that is, in itself (Svarūpa) it is Consciousness and by appearance it is a power which, as the highest form of force, is a manifestation of it. Just as there is a distinction (though identity at base) between the supreme quiescent Consciousness and its active power (Shakti), so, when Consciousness manifests as energy (Shakti), it possesses the twin aspects of potential and kinetic energy. In Advaita Vedānta there can be no partition, in fact, of Reality. To the perfect eye of its Siddha the process of becoming is an ascription (Adhyāsa) to the ultimate Real.¹ To the imperfect eye of the Sādhaka—that is, the aspirant for Siddhi (perfected accomplishment)—to the spirit which is still toiling through the lower planes and variously identifying itself with them, becoming is tending to appear, and appearance is real. The Shākta Tantra is a rendering of Vedāntic truth from this practical point of view, and represents the world-process as a polarisation in Consciousness itself. This polarity as it exists in, and as, the body, is destroyed by Yoga, which disturbs the equilibrium of bodily consciousness which is the result of the maintenance of these two poles. In the human body the potential pole of energy, which is the supreme power, is stirred to action, on which the moving forces (dynamic Shakti) supported by it are drawn thereto, and the whole dynamism¹ thus engendered moves upward to unite with the quiescent Consciousness in the highest Lotus.² This matter has been so well put by my friend Professor Pramathanātha Mukhyopādhyāya that I cannot improve on his account,³ and therefore cite it in lieu of giving a further description of my own:
1 To the eye of Siddhi, to the spirit who is Udāsīna (simple witness unmindful of the external world), becoming is Adhyāsa and nothing real (in the Indian sense of that term, as used by Shangkara). Creation (Srishti) is Vivartta, or apparent and not real evolution (Parināma), Adhyāsa is attributing to something that which it does not really possess.
“When you say that Kundalī Shakti is the primordial Shakti at rest, I am led to think of an analogy (and it may be more than an analogy) in modern science. Cosmic energy in its physical aspect may be considered either as static or as dynamic, the former being a condition of equilibrium, the latter a condition of motion or change of relative position. Thus a material thing apparently at rest (there being no absolute rest except in pure Consciousness or Chit) should be regarded as energy or Shakti equilibrated, the various elements of it holding one another
1 The projecting power of consciousness withdraws its projections into the sensual world, and the power of Consciousness merges in Consciousness itself.
2 Why here, it may be asked, seeing that Consciousness is all pervading? True; but there the tāmasik force of Māyā is at its lowest strength. Therefore Consciousness is reached there.
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