Kundalini.Tantra.by.Satyananda.Saraswati

therefore a living philosophy and not just a system of endless intellectual speculation
unable to deliver the truth and leaving more questions unanswered than answered. It is
also a very potent method by which we can realize ourselves in totality, and attain union,
ultimate freedom and fulfillment.
Perhaps the greatest contribution of tantra to the modern world will be its ability not
just to define the mind and put it into perspective, but to deliver techniques by which we
can experience the mind itself and eventually transcend it through the awakening of
kundalini. Modern medicine and psychology, for example, will greatly benefit from
tantra's systematic and succinct approach to man's fundamental, basic components of
body, mind and spirit - pingala, ida and sushumna. These flows of energy make up our
total human personality and are derived from the ultimate polarity of our macro-cosmic
universe into Shiva and Shakti, consciousness and energy.
In trying to understand the manifestations of these forces in our body, and for research
purposes, in trying to prove the reality of the existence of the nadis, we have to
understand that they are not physical, measurable, dissectable structures within our
physical body, but are the basic energies which underlie and motivate life and
consciousness.
It is important to understand exactly what nadis are before we either try to prove their
existence or disprove it. When we achieve certain states of consciousness we can see that
nadis are, as yogis described them, flows of energy which we can visualize at the psychic
level as having distinct channels, light, color, sound and other characteristics. At the same
time, however, these nadis underlie and can be seen mirrored in all bodily functions and
processes. There is no separation between the nadis, the body and the mind; they are one
and the same thing.
The duality of life
In many of the oriental philosophies, the entire universe is seen as a separation into
two great, polarized forces, Shiva and Shakti, which are interdependent and opposite, but
complementary. The universe hangs as a kind of web of interacting energies, suspended
and functioning within the framework of tensions developed by the fundamental polarity.
Carl Jung stated, ''Natural processes are phenomena of energy constantly arising out of a
'less probable' state." (1) This apparent dualism is actually a unified, holistic process from
another level of consciousness, but at our own level we see it from a fragmented, limited
and partial perspective.
We see polarity everywhere we look, in nature, within ourselves and within our mind.
Moving from macrocosmic to microcosmic to atomic, at every level, two great principles
or forces can be seen at work motivating our universe; light and dark, positive and
negative, male and female. All other forces are seen to be an outcome of these two main
forces. It seems amazing to us that things can be so simple and yet so profound, however,
to the enlightened mind, the universe and man is just so.