Kundalini, Crown Opening and the Practice of Surrender

The Temple, the Mantra and the First Visions

Several teachers shaped this journey through different methods. Kalabhava was a master of Shaktipat, Kundalini and the chakras, and gave the initiation through which the chakra experiences began. A wandering master from southern India came to the ashram and gave sound meditation. Swami Tilak also taught sound meditation centered on Om. Kundalini and chakra practice came together with the meditation on sound.

For two or three days, the practice was almost continuous chanting, for as long as twenty-one hours. The temple had been empty for a long time. Bats flew through the trees at night, and thousands of them had gathered inside the place where meditation was taking place. During the day, a torch was needed to see. There was also a snake. There was no light, no electricity and no bathroom. Bathing required going down to the river, and the toilet was in the forest. Mosquitoes were everywhere.

In that atmosphere, the mantra was written across the sky through attention. After two or three days, Babaji, the guru of the guru, appeared, followed by Swami Tilak. The vision seemed to stand directly in front of the meditator. The eyes were kept closed because opening them might make the vision disappear. The experience brought intense weeping, lasting for about an hour and continuing even when an effort was made to stop it. The tears were understood as a response to grace.

Many snakes then appeared. They were large, came flying toward the meditator, and entered through the open mouths of their forms. These experiences became part of the passage through which the chakra system and enlightenment through sound were being encountered.