Shared Transformation
Introduction to Issue 19
A reader wrote to tell us that her therapist asked
Stanislav Grof if the newer SSRI drugs such as Prozac, Paxil, etc. were okay for people going through Kundalini
awakening. Grof replied that these drugs do not interfere with the spiritual emergence process. From my own research
on these drugs, it does seem they are safer than other antidepressants in terms of possible side effects and adverse
reactions. Of course, the ultimate guide on this is one's own bodymind.
Review
The following two audiotapes were recorded at the Kundalini Research Network Symposium 1994. They are available
through KRN, (800)-340-7490; c/o Dale Pond, RR #5, Flesherton, Ont., Canada N0C 1E0
Kundalini: Transcendence, Trauma and Transformation, with Christina Grof
In this tape, Christina Grof discusses the "double-edged experience" of spiritual emergence,
which veers between "madness and bliss, terror and divine presence." Although her own process eventually
became an inner flowing "benign creative river," for twelve years, she experienced "very dramatic
and chaotic" daily manifestations of the risen Kundalini. At one point when she was so sick she thought she
was dying, she went to see her teacher, Swami Muktananda. He assured her "When you feel the Shakti moving
through you, you're feeling God moving through you." Although she knew in her heart this was true, it didn't
bring her much comfort because "I had difficulty accepting that God could feel this terrible." Grof
has found that "a high percentage of people who have a severe, dramatic form of Kundalini awakening also have
a history of previous trauma," such as childhood physical, emotional or sexual abuse, rape, or involvement
in war. The inner cleansing process of a Kundalini awakening, which reactivates these old nightmares, can be very
painful when previous trauma has been catastrophic. On top of this, some of the extreme phases of Kundalini can
be traumatic in themselves, and may be overwhelming for those who are already deeply stressed from prior terrible
life experiences. She asks healers and therapists working with Kundalini clients to be aware of this. Although
her subject matter is intense, Grof's personal spiritual growth shines through in the strength and clarity of this
presentation. What she has to say is validating and encouraging for anyone who is having a hard time with the
physical, mental and emotional afflictions of spiritual awakening.
TransDimensional Energies and Entities in Kundalini Processes with Bonnie Greenwell, Ph.D.
In one of her most fascinating presentations, Greenwell discusses her own and her clients' Kundalini experiences with altered states, alternate dimensions of consciousness, and contact with spirit guides and beings from other planes of existence. She says that these experiences are life transforming for those who have them, prompting them to redefine who they are and their role in life, their relationship to the planet and the cosmos, and their spiritual path. Greenwell reveals a message she was given by a spirit inner voice, in which she was told that "this planet was a filtering process to wash out most of the negativity and impurity in the cosmos and that souls came from many places to be part of this process." Greenwell does not ask that anyone accept this as truth, but says it had a profound influence on her own development. She also tells of spiritual messages channeled by one of her clients, Karen, whose long seige of poor health began to improve when she started integrating information she was receiving from a Light Being. Among other things, this spirit guide said humans need to understand "there are groups of beings living simultaneously who have always been present," and that these loving and wise beings are here to help us reach spiritual maturity. One very interesting phenomena Greenwell has come across in her practice is individuals whose Kundalini rose after they had been contacted by aliens or had UFO abductee experiences! In a few cases, the individual had already been in a Kundalini process when alien contact occurred. (There have also been many reports of spontaneous Kundalini awakenings in the wake of NDEs.) Greenwell speculates that as our consciousness expands, we become receiving stations, able to detect communications from a much broader range of intelligences in the universe.
--El Collie