Kundalini.Tantra.by.Satyananda.Saraswati

cultivate a mental picture of him, try to feel his guidance and continue practising
faithfully. You will surely succeed.
The time factor
Preparation is not the job of one lifetime. Man strives spiritually life after life. In fact,
this body is given to you only for that purpose. For eating, sleeping and sexual interaction
a human body is not necessary, so in our lower stages of evolution we had an animal
body. However, even with this human body, we still have animal in us, so these natural
urges follow us. Let them, but remember, this body is not for their fulfillment alone. In
this human body the consciousness is the most important point. Man is aware of his
awareness and he does not only think, he knows that he thinks. The evolution of his
awareness has been going on life after life. And what you have been practising for your
spiritual life in the last five to ten years is in addition to what you have already done.
Supposing your children are studying in primary school and you are transferred to
another city. Where will your children begin their education in the new city? Right from
the beginning? No, from the point where they left their studies. The same thing happens
in reincarnation. That is why, even though you may have brothers and sisters born of the
same mother and father, they will be different from you. In your previous incarnation
your preferences were different from theirs. May be after a few incarnations they may
come to the point where you are now. So we can't say how long preparation takes,
because this life is one of those milestones and you have left behind many, many
milestones.
However, if you are eager to awaken kundalini and the chakras, you should not be in
a hurry. Set apart twelve years of your life for this purpose. This is not to say that the
awakening cannot be brought about within one, two or three years - it can be. Total
awakening can even take place in a month, or the guru can give you awakening in one
day, but you will be unable to hold and sustain the awakening. When one is in possession
of a weak mind which cannot sustain even a little bit of cheerfulness or excitement, or
bear the death of a spouse or separation from a loved one, how can he sustain the
tremendous force of an awakened kundalini? Therefore, the twelve years are not for the
actual awakening, but for preparation so you can hold and sustain the awakening.
Where to begin
The practices of kundalini yoga are intended to create the awareness, not necessarily
to awaken kundalini. First of all we have to decide whether kundalini is already
awakened. It may already be on the way and you are opening the garage and there is no
car because it is already on the highway. When you go to satsang, do some kirtan or lead
a yogic lifestyle, you begin to have experiences and you realize something is happening
to you. Then, when you discuss kundalini and the chakras with a guru you start to
understand.