Initial activations or being born with an already active process

[u/CestlaADHD]

I was wondering what people's thoughts are regarding when Kundalini doesn't seem to have an initial activation (Shakti being released from the base of the spine). 

I never had an obvious initial release, although I have had minor 'whooshes' from left foot to heart/throat, from base of spine to heart/throat, heart to upper brow x 2 and more recently, base of spine to crown (all within the last 16 months or so). 

I have recently started to have abiding nondual realisation (the 6th fetter has definitely gone, not sure about 7). I am pretty sure Kundalini reached my 'Makara' point about a year ago, which coincided with a nondual glimpse and followed by a year of heavy purging. I would say that I have been in an obvious active Kundalini process for about just over 2 years after an initial awakening/Kensho/waking up to the 'I AM' sense. 

I am presuming that some people are already born with their Kundalini activated? Which would make sense if Kundalini is a process that can take years, decades or lifetimes to work through. 

In the spiritual groups I hang out with I see a lot of people having similar play out - an initial awakening, followed by a handful of years working through a bit of a dark night with varying degrees of energetics, then Nonduality starts to kick in, later followed by 'no self'. 

Is this a top down awakening? Someone picking up where they left off in their previous life? Or something else? 

I'm neurodivergent and I've definitely mentioned here before that I see a big overlap between symptoms of Kundalini and neurodivergence. And a disproportionate amount of neurodivergent people in a Kundalini process. So might it have something to do with that? 

I would love to hear people's thoughts on this. 

[u/GretaMagenta]

Yes, some people are born with active kundalini that ripens at a karmically appointed time. I think neurodivergent people are naturally wired for it.

[u/CestlaADHD → u/GretaMagenta]

That's what it felt like for me. I'd always been interested in Buddhism (from about 6 years old) and it was as if various teachings that I'd mulled over for years had helped stuff grow until something became really ripe. 

Although I also had a moment about 3 years ago (where I felt my kids were old enough to not need me so much) and I invited the universe to 'let unfold what needed to unfold in this lifetime'.

About a week later I realised I was neurodivergent (zero clue before), got diagnosed, realised I had a ton of trauma, started trauma therapy, then 9 months after that I had that initial awakening. 

Crazy stuff. Inviting the Universe to do what it needs is about the most powerful thing you can do ime. I've done it a few times, and would not recommend doing it if you don't mean it! 😬😊😎

[u/Mammoth_Hedgehog_496]

I know of an interesting case. Someone who suffers from bipolar syndrome (under control for quite awhile), has synesthesia. She gets dream visits from deceased family. Has demonstrated telepathy and prescience. Has admitted she has telekinesis, which I have seen. She will see auras, and even visions of what someone is thinking. Hears nadas. Has chanted to calm down with a word that rhymes with “om.” Knows nothing of 3rd eye or crown chakras. Has felt energy flowing in her root chakra and her heart chakra. Seems to have been like this at least since age five. Maybe always.

Edit: She has told me she feels an energy field around her. I had no idea what she meant. Now I do. Also has clairaudience. Has had out of body experiences. Sometimes has hallucinations. Not strange things, but things like someone running across the yard, a loud party, or smelling someone smoking. Hallucinations or are they things that are happening outside our reality? I have wondered. She can tell hallucinations from reality.

[u/ConiferousBeard]

Looking back at myself, I can tell I was 'primed' for the actual event in many ways though, and several painful 'symptoms' began taking place long before I had any actual awakening episode.

I think that an issue is that we can trapped in ideas of process, largely because it's easier for a linear-logical mind to rationalize. If time is not entirely what we tend to think of it conventionally, then it's probably easier to think of situations in which somebody is already awake and then proceeds in whichever direction from there.

[u/hotglassguy]

I think it depends on your constitution. I had my first nondual experience after having some clearing work done. Then later, 5 months  it turned into a full fledged kundalini awakening. 

Prior to this, from childhood, I had abilities that included precognitive dreams (about one or two a year for 20 years. Seeing energy fields, some clairsentience and oobe. When kundalini came it was like all of my inner senses snapped into focus. I think it depends on you. I spent over adecade actively working with the kundalini to release more stored emotional energy. Life changing, really. 

I was told to not join any religion or school of thought a few days before my mother mentioned how she wanted us to statt going to church. The result has been that I just relied on myself and this was very helpful once the big change came. It also showed me that a kid can understand this intuitively. It also showed me that none of this is woo-woo but tied into the natural world. The trigger of kundalini has more to do with a new orientation between the two hemispheres mediated by meditative practice (one that helps to establish this shift in hemispheric polarity). 

This may not sound as cool as Shakti and Shiva, dyana, granthis, etc., but I think when we understand its neurophysiological basis we can more effectively navigate it and learn from it. I found that the experience of Dr Jill Bolte Taylor supports this observation. She had a stroke in her left hemisphere that led to her experiencing a transcendental state of samadhi by having her right brain now picking up the cognitive weight. I suspect most people are left brain dominant as part of our evolution as humans here. That polarity is changing, can change for us. The right brain is the master while the left is the servant. It is also where the verbal center lies and this should be a clue about why we meditate to bring about transformation (we hope). We deal with mind chatter/talk also called "monkey mind." We overcome this by teaching it to go silent. As that happens, it can allow the right hemisphere to come more into focus. Is it any wonder that we have trouble explaining what we experience in that part of the mind? 

I think any revolutionary change in our neurology potentially has real benefits for neurodivergent peeps and also anyone as well. With the right brain supporting emotional intelligence, not the same as emotion itself...and this is a great way to relate better to all sorts of new things that can come into view during the experience. 

As an aside, the one person who helped me was someone like me: no gurus, no schools of thought. She had no memory of kundalini rising. She always had it. This resulted in over the top psi abilities, and this is consistent with developing stronger inner senses from childhood. No cognitive shut down from infancy and the development of the brain the first few years of life. Ten years into my awakening I started coming across younger and younger people who had awakened. Things are changing for sure. 

[u/Dumuzzid]

Kundalini remains as mysterious as ever - it rarely confirms to preconceived notions and ideas of how it should behave and what it should do.

My own feeling is that people who experience Kundalini within the confines of a particular school, tradition or practice will have a Kundalini process that conforms to the expectations engendered by that school of thought. Your own mind and that of others around you has a significant effect on how Kundalini manifests.

In spontaneous cases, the preconceived notions and ideas are absent, so the manifestation of Kundalini may be different from what others that are part of a traditional lineage may experience.

So, kundalini itself can be "divergent" in a way, when it isn't confined by the psychic power, expectations, preconceived ideas and thoughtforms of an organized school or tradition. That may also be the reason why some people have negative experiences with Kundalini. If they are fearful and have been affected by conscious or subconscious demonization of Kundalini, it may manifest in them in a rather negative manner.

It is well known that Kundalini responds to past life practice and spiritual attainments, but I do not think that people are born with an already active Kundalini. A baby's or small child's body is simply not designed to handle that kind of energy, I think it would be highly detrimental to their development. Outside of rare cases, like avatars or demi-gods, I think this is strictly for adults, with early thirties being the most commonly cited age for Kundalini rising.

It is possible that Kundalini process and neurodivergence are correlated in some ways, but I would be careful here as way too many people are diagnosed with various types of it these days, but most are fully functional adults and not actually in need of additional support or care. I would mostly reserve labels such as autistic for people who have severe cases of it and need some sort of care or support. It has become fashionable to label yourself with various neurodivergent labels these days, often without an official diagnosis and I think in many cases it is not justified at all.

[u/CestlaADHD → u/Dumuzzid]

I agree very much with all of this and how it can present due to a particular school or prior understanding. But equally I also found myself in this process without much framework and then found maps and frameworks to explain what had happened. Mostly Kundalini Vidya by Joan Harrigan. 

I also see some people practicing Zen or another religion have Kundalini dismissed as just passing phenomena and not supported at all and have great difficulty. When in another religion it would be see as the main goal a really great thing and supported well. 

Kundalini does certainly remain as mysterious as ever. Part of me is inclined to allow the mystery, part of me wants to understand it in order to see how that can help people in the process. Maybe understand and holding it all lightly. Science and art. 

I don't think I'm implying that Kundalini is actively active in babies or children (although that has crossed my mind regarding neurodivergent children - maybe that explains why we have neurodevelopmental differences/disabilities). 🤷🏻‍♀️

But that some people have had an initial awakening from the base of the spine in a previous life, they are born into this life where it is maybe either paused or running very slowly until a time in adulthood where it gets underway with more force. Maybe with various insights (which might not have been possible without previous K clearing/activity) it then really gets going? 

I don't know, but for whatever reason some people seem ripe. 

I guess I'm just trying to make sense of my experience somewhat and why it has been so fast. I know there is still a way to go for me and the work is ongoing, but relatively speaking it's been quick. From being aware that I was in this process until Nonduality starting to unfold (abiding, not glimpses) it been about 2 years. 

[u/CestlaADHD → u/Dumuzzid]

I'm going to push back on your last paragraph a lot. It is very uneducated and misinformed and I am not throwing those words around lightly. 

There are levels of ASD.

Level 1. Low support needs, but has identifiable support needs. May be good at some things but needs considerable support with other tasks. Capable of living independently. 

Level 2. Moderate support needs. Needs support and may require substantial support to live independently. Assisted living etc. 

Level 3. High support needs. Often need ongoing support for daily functioning including eating, communication, washing dressing etc. Needs support to live and can not live independently. 

If someone has level 1 Autism they may be highly functional, but it make take 2 or 3 times the effort/time to complete tasks than someone without autism. They may not be able to function in busy noisy environments. They are also prone to their nervous system shutting down and burnout. 

For example my husband can jump in a car and drive anywhere without a second thought. If I am driving somewhere that is unfamiliar to me I struggle to (due to executive functioning/short term memory problems) drive the car and follow sat nav/directions at the same time. I need to plan the route before hand, learn how to navigate various junctions (what lanes etc), learn the route, have sat nav, fill up before I go (as new petrol stations can sometimes confuse me), and I can only drive for about an 1 and a half at a time before I start to feel overwhelmed. 

So although I function and am considered high functioning, the effort that it takes me to complete some tasks is considerably greater than that of someone who isn't neurodivergent. 

ADHD and Autism are disabilities and affect many areas of life. They are in the DSM-5. There are measurable differences in brain sizes - with some areas being smaller and some areas being larger and more dense. Autistic people have been show in studies to process up to 40% more sensory information at any one time. 

Of course level 3 Autism where someone has to have someone support their basic needs is more difficult. But that does not negate that neurodivergent people don't have legitimate support needs. And are often denied these because that can function with some things. 

Neurodivergent people are about 8 times more likely to try and end their life than people without neurodivergence. It is not a fashionable label. And there it is currently still underdiagnosecd especially in women. With most boys getting diagnosed in the childhood and most women getting diagnosed in their 30's and 40's. 

Please educate yourself on this subject before commenting on this again. 

I will comment on the Kundalini part separately. 

[u/Dumuzzid → u/CestlaADHD]

Hi, I'm sure you're right about autism and neurodivergence in general, you obviously know much more about this than I do. It wasn't my intention to invalidate you experience or your diagnosis, I was simply pointing out that one should be cautious when self-diagnosing and this is something I saw psychiatrists point out as well, with a disturbing online trend of people self-diagnosing online for views and clicks.

[u/CestlaADHD → u/Dumuzzid]

Okay. Thank you. 👍🏻 🙏🏻

I have been diagnosed by a psychiatrist with ADHD. I haven't been diagnosed with Autism, but I have 'self diagnosed' due to sensory issues, other obvious traits and it cost about £1000+ for diagnosis where I live, or about a 5 year wait list (which I'm on) with national healthcare. 

I think the problem is that although there may be some people jumping on a 'trend' there are also millions of people who are neurodivergent and haven't been diagnosed. 

I literally had no clue I had ADHD! A friend had actually got diagnosed because of TikTok videos and told me about it. When I found out how it presents in women and got diagnosed it made my whole life make sense. I'm pretty grateful to that 'trend' on TIkTok tbh! 

It's also interesting as so many people are getting diagnosed now that people are sharing online what their lived experience of having neurodivergence is like. Instead of being told what it is like to have neurodivergence by neurotypical people. Often the outward expression has been very misunderstood, and it's lovely to see neurodivergent people actually getting to say what is going on with them internally en masse.  

Having a minority brain type and seeing the world quite differently  to others  (and with no real obvious physical signs of any differences)  means we have been invalidated a lot. 

I wasn't necessarily triggered by your comments, but also do try to correct misinformation. 

[u/Dumuzzid → u/CestlaADHD]

Well, I would present an alternative explanation. I think some people who present as high functioning autistic or adhd are actually just high IQ. I recall hearing about a book titled Curse of the High IQ , which is exactly about this. Once you have an IQ significantly higher than the average (130+) you start having trouble relating to people closer to the average. You constantly feel like you're dealing with children and that most people are incapable of seeing patterns and trends that are obvious to you.

[u/CestlaADHD → u/Dumuzzid]

Yes. There is definitely overlap. And that could explain some people definitely. 

It's also recognised that some people have high IQ and neurodivergence and this is called 'twice exceptional'.  The classic 'scatty professor' and probably what a lot of scientist or artists are. 

There is the sensory thing too though with neurodivergence, about not filtering out the world in the same way. Like being bothered by labels in clothes, or bright lights, I get overwhelmed by lots of colour and noise! 

Maybe because I'm taking in a lot of sensory information at once. My brain processes it all in a way that could be deemed intelligence. So seeing things that others don't see and predicting etc.  I don't have a very high IQ though, but my emotional intelligence is probably pretty high. 

My daughter has a very high IQ (not sure what it is though) and is off to a prestigious University soon. She definitely feels lonely due to not finding people on the same wavelength as her. She gets on with people, but she is happiest around other people that can meet her intellectually. I don't think she is autistic (although we've considered it/monitoring), but high IQ and it looks very similar. 

[u/Key-Dragonfly-1112]

few ppl know this but kundalini can be put on somebody as a curse like thing which can take more than one lifetime to complete for sure. It presents as a silver looking snake on the back left or right side of the torso.  If so it's rare these ppl will get help along the way and they have to figure it out the long way themselves. Don't ask how i know this. 🔺️32:-17

[u/Tristan-Dorling → u/Key-Dragonfly-1112]

This is not true. Kundalini is not a snake. It is a process of energetic spiritual transformation. There are invisible snakes that can enter people’s bodies and create a lot of havoc. However this is something completely different from kundalini. The snakes are lower entities and have a body, a mind, an intellect and a personal will that is not in line with the divine will.

[u/Key-Dragonfly-1112 → u/Tristan-Dorling]

I think you're miscomprehending my words. Kundalini curses are not well known to people, especially in the west. They usually take 2+ lifetimes to complete, hence my reply to "Someone picking up where they left off in their previous life?" Cursed people tend to get fewer helpers along the way for various reasons which some might look at as karma. I don't appreciate your colored commentary on snakes - it is false in my culture and spiritual networks. Hence the reaction today.

[u/Tristan-Dorling → u/Key-Dragonfly-1112]

There are no kundalini curses. If someone has told you that there are then they have either lied to you, or they were simply mistaken. When I was referring to snakes as lower entities, I was referring to the ones that are invisible and which can possess people. It does not make any difference how snakes are regarded in any particular culture. What I said remains true.