My Advice

From Practical Lessons in Yoga, Swami Sivananda Saraswati

Develop virtues like generosity, forgiveness and so forth. Mere yogic kriyas alone will not help you much. Do self-analysis and eradicate your faults and evil habits. Rectify your defects like selfishness, pride, jealousy, hatred. Develop your heart. Share what you have with others. Do selfless service. Then alone you will get purity of mind.

In these days aspirants neglect these things and jump at once to do yogic kriyas for getting siddhis. It is a serious Himalayan blunder. They have the hopeless downfall sooner or later. Therefore be careful. Mere yogic kriyas cannot bring in much results. Purification of the heart is very necessary. Without it no success in yoga is possible. You should free yourself from lust, anger, greed, jealousy, hatred, egoism, vanity, attachment, delusion, etc. This is more difficult than the control of the heart or the practice of nauli or the uniting of prana and apana.

Kundalini can be awakened by various methods such as japa, devotion, vichara, enquiry of ‘Who am I’, asana, kumbhaka, bandhas, mudras, and above all by the grace of the Guru. You must become perfectly desireless and free from all earthly longings.

Many persons jump with curiosity and expectation of acquiring occult powers and rousing the kundalini. They do sirshasana and various other asanas and pranayama. But no one sticks to the practice for a sufficient length of time. They leave off the practice after a few months. This is not good. Application and tenacity, patience and perseverance are essential for sure success and acquisition of siddhis.

My advice is: Never care for siddhis or quick awakening of the kundalini. Have devotion to God. Have perfect trust in Him. Have the spirit of service to humanity. The kundalini will awaken by itself.

Awakening of kundalini is not so easy as you may imagine. It is extremely difficult. When all desires die out, when the mind becomes absolutely pure, when all the senses are subdued, when you attain one-pointedness of mind to a considerable degree, when all the ideas of egoism and ‘mineness’ melt away, the kundalini will awaken by itself. Then alone awakening of the kundalini is also beneficial.

Therefore purify yourself first. Have full trust and faith in the Mother. She will do the needful for you at the proper time. Be not troubled. Be not anxious, my dear friends and brothers! A glorious day is waiting to dawn on you. You will shine with full powers, nay, you will become God Himself. Laugh at all troubles and obstacles and keep your eye on the kundalini shakti all the twenty-four hours. Do all you can in order to rouse her up. If purification is ordained, purify you must. What other alternative is there? Therefore do purify yourself.

O Mother Kundalini! Having pierced the six chakras, Thou sportest with Thy consort Paramashiva in the thousand-petalled lotus of the sahasrara chakra all alone! Salutations unto Thee! Guide me. Give me light and knowledge!