Gopi Krishna
Encyclopedia
Gopi Krishna of India
was a yogi
, mystic, teacher, social reformer, and writer. His autobiography is known under the title Kundalini
: The Evolutionary Energy in Man.
Born in a small village outside Srinagar
, Kashmir
, Gopi Krishna was one of the first people to popularize the concept of Kundalini among Western readers. His autobiography is entitled Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man
later renamed to Living with Kundalini. According to June McDaniel, his writings have influenced Western interest in kundalini yoga.
He chose the path of yoga
due to his circumstances. His father renounced the world to lead a religious life leaving his twenty-eight year old mother with the responsibility of raising him and his two sisters. His mother now pinned all her hopes for success on her only son. Pandit
Gopi Krishna was also a good freestyle wrestler and it is well known that he beat many a good wrestler. People who knew him well mention that he had the capability to be a world class wrestler, however, he spent most of his energy on intellectual pursuits.
But he failed to pass the examination to enter college, and he now took a lowly job and established his family. He also started on a discipline of meditation to discover who he was. After having been engaged in this for many years, he had his first Kundalini experience at the age of 34, which he describes thus in his autobiography:
According to June McDaniel, his writings have influenced Western interest in kundalini yoga. He wrote many books and traveled all over the world giving lectures. He came to feel the kundalini experience underlies all (or most) religions that started with a personal revelation. He could see kundalini iconography in cultures worldwide, from ancient Egypt
to Quetzalcoatl
to the caduceus of Mercury
, and believed there was a common basis, and that he had been granted entry to this vision. Gopi Krishna theorized that the brain was in a state of organic evolution, and that the rising of Kundalini into the brain would open a normally silent chamber called brahma-randra in the yogic tradition. Krishna worked tirelessly to promote the scientific investigation of kundalini in the human frame, hypothesizing that this energy was leading humankind towards the goal of higher consciousness
.
The research should, according to him, consist of research on biological processes in the body, psychological and sociological research of living persons.
According to Mr. Krishna the lives of historical persons should also be investigated.
One organisation has picked up the wish of Mr. Krishna to further investigate the lives of saints, geniuses and inspired people, namely the Institute for Consciousness Research
.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
was a yogi
Yogi
A Yogi is a practitioner of Yoga. The word is also used to refer to ascetic practitioners of meditation in a number of South Asian Religions including Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.-Etymology:...
, mystic, teacher, social reformer, and writer. His autobiography is known under the title Kundalini
Kundalini
Kundalini literally means coiled. In yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, lies coiled at the base of the spine. It is envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent...
: The Evolutionary Energy in Man.
Born in a small village outside Srinagar
Srinagar
Srinagar is the summer seasonal capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in Kashmir Valley and lies on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus. It is one of the largest cities in India not to have a Hindu majority. The city is famous for its gardens, lakes and houseboats...
, Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
, Gopi Krishna was one of the first people to popularize the concept of Kundalini among Western readers. His autobiography is entitled Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man
Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man
This is the Autobiography of Pandit Gopi Krishna. The book Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man was originally published in 1967. Later it was renamed Living with Kundalini and is one of the many books that Gopi Krishna wrote about his experience with the Kundalini energy...
later renamed to Living with Kundalini. According to June McDaniel, his writings have influenced Western interest in kundalini yoga.
He chose the path of yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
due to his circumstances. His father renounced the world to lead a religious life leaving his twenty-eight year old mother with the responsibility of raising him and his two sisters. His mother now pinned all her hopes for success on her only son. Pandit
Kashmiri Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits are a Hindu Brahmin community originating from Kashmir, a mountainous region in South Asia.-Background:The Hindu caste system of the region was influenced by the influx of Buddhism from the time of Asoka, around the third century BCE, and a consequence of this was that the...
Gopi Krishna was also a good freestyle wrestler and it is well known that he beat many a good wrestler. People who knew him well mention that he had the capability to be a world class wrestler, however, he spent most of his energy on intellectual pursuits.
But he failed to pass the examination to enter college, and he now took a lowly job and established his family. He also started on a discipline of meditation to discover who he was. After having been engaged in this for many years, he had his first Kundalini experience at the age of 34, which he describes thus in his autobiography:
- Suddenly, with a roar like that of a waterfall, I felt a stream of liquid light entering my brain through the spinal cord.
- Entirely unprepared for such a development, I was completely taken by surprise; but regaining my self-control, keeping my mind on the point of concentration. The illumination grew brighter and brighter, the roaring louder, I experienced a rocking sensation and then felt myself slipping out of my body, entirely enveloped in a halo of light. It is impossible to describe the experience accurately. I felt the point of consciousness that was myself growing wider surrounded by waves of light. It grew wider and wider, spreading outward while the body, normally the immediate object of its perception, appeared to have receded into the distance until I became entirely unconscious of it. I was now all consciousness without any outline, without any idea of corporeal appendage, without any feeling or sensation coming from the senses, immersed in a sea of light simultaneously conscious and aware at every point, spread out, as it were, in all directions without any barrier or material obstruction. I was no longer myself, or to be more accurate, no longer as I knew myself to be, a small point of awareness confined to a body, but instead was a vast circle of consciousness in which the body was but a point, bathed in light and in a state of exultation and happiness impossible to describe.
According to June McDaniel, his writings have influenced Western interest in kundalini yoga. He wrote many books and traveled all over the world giving lectures. He came to feel the kundalini experience underlies all (or most) religions that started with a personal revelation. He could see kundalini iconography in cultures worldwide, from ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
to Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and has the meaning of "feathered serpent". The worship of a feathered serpent deity is first documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BCE or first century CE...
to the caduceus of Mercury
Mercury (mythology)
Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
, and believed there was a common basis, and that he had been granted entry to this vision. Gopi Krishna theorized that the brain was in a state of organic evolution, and that the rising of Kundalini into the brain would open a normally silent chamber called brahma-randra in the yogic tradition. Krishna worked tirelessly to promote the scientific investigation of kundalini in the human frame, hypothesizing that this energy was leading humankind towards the goal of higher consciousness
Higher consciousness
Higher consciousness, also called super consciousness , objective consciousness , Buddhic consciousness , cosmic consciousness, God-consciousness and Christ consciousness , are expressions used in various spiritual traditions to denote the consciousness of a human being who has reached a...
.
Research of genius and enlightened persons
In the light of Pandit Gopi Krishna's experiences he himself has started to search the life of geniuses and enlightented persons in history for clues of kundalini awakening. He proposed an organisation to be erected to conduct scientific research on the matter.The research should, according to him, consist of research on biological processes in the body, psychological and sociological research of living persons.
According to Mr. Krishna the lives of historical persons should also be investigated.
One organisation has picked up the wish of Mr. Krishna to further investigate the lives of saints, geniuses and inspired people, namely the Institute for Consciousness Research
Institute for Consciousness Research
Institute for Consciousness Research is a non-sectarian group with the goal of raising public awareness of Kundalini. They believe this energy is the divine energy force, guiding mankind through the evolution of higher states of consciousness...
.
See also
- ConsciousnessConsciousnessConsciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
- Enlightenment (spiritual)Enlightenment (spiritual)Enlightenment in a secular context often means the "full comprehension of a situation", but in spiritual terms the word alludes to a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things, communication with or understanding of the mind of God, profound spiritual...
- KundaliniKundaliniKundalini literally means coiled. In yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, lies coiled at the base of the spine. It is envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent...
- PrakasaPrakasaPrakāśa is a concept of Kashmir Shaivism translated by various authors as "light", "splendour", "light of consciousness" , "luminous and undifferentiated consciousness" or "primordial light beyond all manifestations"...
- PranaPranaPrana is the Sanskrit word for "vital life" .It is one of the five organs of vitality or sensation, viz. prana "breath", vac "speech", chakshus "sight", shrotra "hearing", and manas "thought" Prana is the Sanskrit word for "vital life" (from the root "to fill", cognate to Latin plenus...
- QiQiIn traditional Chinese culture, qì is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as life energy, lifeforce, or energy flow. Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts...
- ShaktiShaktiShakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
Further reading
- Gopi Krishna, Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man, Shambhala Books, 1970. autobiography
- Yoga: A Vision of its Future, New Delhi: KRPT, 1978.
- Secrets of Kundalini in Panchastivai New Delhi: KRPT, 1976
- The Awakening of Kundalini, New York: E P Dutton, 1975.
- The Real Nature of Mystical Experience, New York: New Concepts Publishing, 1978.
- The Shape of Events to Come, New York: KRPT, 1979. A warning of possible impending nuclear holocaust, in essay and verse.
- The Riddle of Consciousness, New York: Kundalini Research Foundation, 1976. ISBN 0-917776-00-3, entirely in verse.
- The Biological Basis of Religion and Genius, New York: Harper and Row, intro. by Carl Friedrich Freiherr von WeizsäckerCarl Friedrich von WeizsäckerCarl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker was a German physicist and philosopher. He was the longest-living member of the research team which performed nuclear research in Germany during the Second World War, under Werner Heisenberg's leadership...
, which is half the book, 1971, 1972. - The Secret of Yoga, New York: Harper and Row, 1972.
- Higher Consciousness: The Evolutionary Thrust of Kundalini, New York: Julian Press, 1974.
- William Irwin ThompsonWilliam Irwin ThompsonWilliam Irwin Thompson is known primarily as a social philosopher and cultural critic, but he has also been writing and publishing poetry throughout his career and received the Oslo International Poetry Festival Award in 1986. He describes his writing and speaking style as "mind-jazz on ancient...
, Passages about Earth: An Exploration of the New Planetary Culture, New York: Harper and Row, 1974. one chapter describes his interaction with Gopi Krishna