Kundalini means "coiled" in Sanskrit. The idea behind the name is that a huge reservoir of energy is coiled around the tip of the tailbone in a latent condition, waiting to be launched on an upward trajectory toward the head by yoga, grace, or accident.

The sensations or symptoms of activated Kundalini can be incredibly intense and even debilitating.

Some people say Kundalini is a goddess (that's why we capitalize the word); some say it's a biological phenomenon; some say it's energy; and some say it's a disease.

There is disagreement about the relation between Kundalini and enlightenment. Some people think the activation of Kundalini automatically brings realization, but others point out that many individuals with powerful Kundalini are egomaniacal and self-deluded.

Kundalini is often symbolized by a cobra because it resides in a coil and rises when aroused.

Kundalini sometimes causes distressing symptoms. If this happens to you, it might be a good idea to see a neurologist (a doctor who treats diseases of the nervous system) to make sure you don't have epilepsy or some other illness. The website Shared Transformation is a valuable resource for people with unpleasant Kundalini activity.

Nothing Existed Except the Eyes of the Maharshi
by N.R. Krishnamurti Aiyer
Ramana Maharshi's gaze ignited a college professor's Kundalini and caused his heart center to open. Nine years later, his mind subsided permanently.

The Day My Kundalini Woke Up
by Freddie Yam
A Kundalini explosion -- a perception of blinding light and thundering noise entering the head from the lower body -- is one of the most dramatic experiences in Yoga. One of our contributing editors describes in detail how he deliberately provoked this experience and what it felt like. The event left him in an elevated spiritual state for three days, and he concludes (without making any special claims for himself) that Yoga is a technology for turning people into saints. This article includes a good phenomenological description of apana. Published December 5, 1999.

When Kundalini Breaks the Last Block
by A.D.
Kundalini activity made the author happy and healthy for over a year -- until the night it broke through the last block and entered his head, causing a devastating neurological illness.

A Case of Kundalini Affecting Ejaculation
by Patrick McDowell
The author suffered from painful symptoms including pressure in the scrotum and viscous ejaculate. After numerous doctors failed to help him, he concluded that the problem was caused by Kundalini activity. Published February 2, 2000.

Partial Kundalini Awakening: No Such Thing
by Dr. Glenn J. Morris
The author, a distinguished martial arts master who underwent a full Kundalini awakening starting 1985, states his opinion that so-called partial Kundalini awakenings are not really Kundalini awakenings at all.

My Life With a Contemporary Master
By Alan Scherr
After practicing Transcendental Meditation for 25 years, this former college professor met Master Charles, a contemporary Western disciple of Swami Muktananda, and was plunged into an extraordinary state of blissful awareness beyond anything he had known before. This experience was the catalyst for a remarkable journey of surrender; the author soon learned he had been found by something he hadn't searched for; and two years later he and his family moved permanently to Virginia to live and work with Master Charles. This autobiographical article describes these experiences in detail.

Sat-Cakra-Nirupana
By Purnananda Swami
This classic work of Tantric Yoga describes the six cakras and explains how Kundalini rises through them to achieve union with Siva. It was written in the sixteenth century by a Bengali yogi.

Kundalini Quest: Nighttime Shakes
By Bonnie Greenwell, Ph.D.
Bonnie answers a question from a reader who is experiencing tremors at night while he sleeps.

Kundalini: Awakening the Serpent Power
by Georg Feuerstein
One of the most thorough articles about Kundalini in English. It's on the website of the Yoga Research and Education Center.

The Icky-Sticky Creepy-Crawly It-Doesn't-Really-Hurt-But-I-Can't-Stand-It Feeling
by Shinzen Young
This article discusses unpleasant sensations that sometimes occur to practioners of vipassana meditation in Theravada Buddhism. The author says: "It is an icky, sticky, creepy, crawly, jump-out-of-your-skin quality, a subtle cringing that may affect part or all of the body. The body may even move, shake or twitch as though it were in extreme agony, but there is little actual pain. It seems unbearable, yet it doesn't actually hurt." On the website of the Vipassana Support Institute.

Kundalini FAQ
by Kurt Keutzer
Excellent overview of Kundalini.

Kundalini Yogas FAQ
by Kurt Keutzer
Excellent overview of Kundalini yogas.

Siddha Mahayoga FAQ
by Kurt Keutzer
Excellent overview of Siddha Mahayoga, a type of yoga in which the seeker practices mudras, asanas, and other kriyas spontaneously, without training, following initiation.

The Path of Siddha Mahayoga and the Lineage of Swami Shivom Tirth
by Kurt Keutzer
Information about a line of gurus who give initiation into Siddha Mahayoga.

Kundalini Yoga Home of the Kundalini Yoga mailing list. Includes excellent online Kundalini Yoga lessons by Gururattan Kaur Khalsa, Ph.D.

Shared Transformation
This web site is associated with the outstanding Shared Transformation newsletter. It offers help for people with distressing Kundalini symptoms and has superb articles and lists of books and links. Published by El Collie.

Kundalini Research Network
An international group of physicians, psychologists, researchers, therapists, and other people interested in spiritual states of consciousness and their relationship to Kundalini.

Kundalini Resource Center
Articles, links, book reviews, etc.

Kundalini Network and Information in Scandinavia
Articles, links, etc.

Kundalini Mailing List Gateway
A lot of useful information including list archives. Maintained by Mystress Serpent.

Kurt Keutzer's Personal Pages
Links on Kundalini, yoga, Buddhism, and other subjects.

KundaliniGuide.com
Dr. Bonnie Greenwell's website.

Froggy Jacques's Kundalini Links
A nice long list, and Jacques updates it frequently

KUNDALINI YOGA (Including YOGA-KUNDALINI UPANISHAD)
by Sri Swami Sivananda
Practical instructions for waking the Kundalini. Read it here on the website of the Divine Life Society.

PLAY OF CONSCIOUSNESS: A Spiritual Autobiography
by Swami Muktananda
Did you ever wish for a book that tells what it feels like to become a yogi at the highest level of attainment? The author would need a rare combination of qualities: first-hand knowledge of high yogic states, a modern empirical sensibility, a willingness to divulge information that has traditionally been guarded, and an ability to describe subjective phenomena. This is the only book we know that fits this description. Muktananda practiced Siddha Yoga, a form of Kundalini Yoga in which the classical asanas, mudras, and bandhas of Hatha Yoga occur spontaneously, without instruction, after transmission of energy by a guru. This is an excellent English translation of a work written in Hindi. Read more about it here on Amazon.com. (Muktananda has been accused by some of his followers of sexual abuse, lying, and greed. For more information, see LeavingSiddhaYoga.org.)

LIVING WITH KUNDALINI: The Autobiography of Gopi Krishna
by Gopi Krishna
This is probably the most famous account of a Kundalini explosion, a dramatic event that sometimes occurs to people who practice certain kinds of Yoga. Gopi Krishna was a middle-class Indian who, while meditating in 1937 at the age of 34, suddenly perceived a roaring stream of light rising into his head from his spine. For months afterward he suffered a variety of painful physical and mental symptoms, including some that seem akin to psychosis. These symptoms gradually subsided into a condition which he regarded as higher consciousness. The work is particularly fascinating because Gopi Krishna was a modern, skeptical, secular man who described his experiences with the skill of a novelist and without mysticism. For more info, see here on Amazon.com. For a first-person account of a similar experience which was inspired by this book, see this article by one of our contributing editors; he explains how he made it happen.

Path Notes of an American Ninja Master
by Glen Morris
A well-known author and martial arts master writes about his Kundalini awakening in this wonderful (and not easily categorized) book.

A Farther Shore: How Near-Death and Other Extraordinary Experiences Can Change Ordinary Lives
by Yvonne Kason and Teri Degler

Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis
by Stanislav Grof (Editor) and Christina Grof (Editor)
See our comments on this book here.

Arching Backward: The Mystical Initiation of a Contemporary Woman
by Janet Adler and Joan Halifax

Stalking the Wild Pendulum: On the Mechanics of Consciousness
by Itzhak Bentov.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Author unknown
One of the ancient Indian classics.

Yoga Kundalini Upanishad
Author unknown
One of the ancient Indian classics.

The Serpent Power: The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga
by Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe)
The most thorough English work on Kundalini Yoga. It includes translations of two classical treatises. This book is written in dense, somewhat antiquated prose.