The Unassuming Alchemist

Gopi Krishna (1903 – 1984)

One invaluable resource to help earnest seekers treading the spiritual path (irrespective of their religions and faiths) with the much-needed poise and perspective in practice and penance is Pandit Gopi Krishna’s magnum opus work, Kundalini - The Evolutionary Energy in Man, a phenomenal narrative based on Panditji’s first hand experience of his involuntary-yet-forceful Kundalini awakening following many years of diligent meditation and austere lifestyle. The psychological commentary by James Hillman (author of The Soul’s Code) is highly incisive which draws parallels in?the psychoanalytical work of the Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist C G Jung and German Celticist and Indologist Heinrich Friedrich Zimmer.

Panditji was in his 30s, when during the wee hours of one fine morning, he sensed a luminous liquid force shoot up his spine, which rapidly entered his brain like a gushing waterfall in reverse motion. In that exalted state, he experienced indescribable happiness, with his self engulfed by a limitless halo of supreme light, like a tiny speck of consciousness marvelling the dazzle of a limitless field with no perimeter or circumference.

He was never the same man ever since, but the transformation was far from the poetic notions that popular literature and layman perspectives have held dear all along, that Kundalini is simply a step from a small room to a bigger hall, a fallacy that vested interests have profited from, thanks to a credulous populace more than willing to invest in claims of quick fix solutions to spiritual enlightenment.????

One evening, the turmoil caused by the fire ablaze inside was so unnerving that he could sense his approaching morality, when all of a sudden he recalled a conversation with his brother in law. The latter had made a passing mention of his Guru’s counsel? - that if Kundalini is aroused through Ida or Pingala Nadis instead of Sushumna, the danger of psychic and physical disturbances are very high. If the vehicle of ascent happens to be Pingala, the havoc can be unimaginable and even fatal emanating from the generation of extreme heat.?? ??

{Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna Nadis (nerves) are the three principal energy channels running from the base of the spine to the head, and extending to the Crown Chakra (Sahasrara); Sushumna is at the center with Ida and Pingala to its left and right respectively.}

Even in that chaotic and paralytic state, Panditji made a valiant attempt to focus his attention on the left side, to force an imaginary cold wave up the Ida until a miracle happened and the devouring fire within was quelled in an instant.?

His spirit of utter surrender to the Divine Will helped him endure umpteen highs and lows that followed, and which often brought him to the brink of insanity and death, not to mention the pain and perplexment of various bodily disorders of frightful regularity, till he was eventually blessed with illuminating visions and blissful sensations which manifested in an extraordinarily creative expression, even as he indulged in prose and verse of high literary value in multiple languages: from his mother tongue Kashmiri to Sanskrit, English, German, French, Italian, Persian, Arabic, and Urdu.

Consciously shunning the easy and materially lucrative route that would have made him a most sought after World Guru, this self-effacing Jammu and Kashmir resident, who also stayed in the Punjab province ?for a significant span, chose to become a seeker and penned down his Kundalini experience for posterity. In the process, he put human evolution in perspective. Traveling across Europe and North America, he urged the world to take up a scientific study of Kundalini and develop the Kundalini hypothesis as entailed in the “A Memorandum for Kundalini Research (https://www.icrcanada.org/research/memorandum).

Panditji was also an activist at heart, committed to the larger cause of women emancipation especialy widow remarriage and socio-economic movements to help the deprived and disadvantaged sections of society. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna and a very capable freestyle wrestler. ?????

It always amused him that mystics and enlightened saints are worshipped by both common people and men and women of knowledge and gladly bestoweed with superhuman dimensions when none exist. We see that happening across the globe to this today!

Kundalini shakti, the divine feminine energy located at the base of the spine in the Muladhara chakra which when roused, rises through the spinal cord to merge with Shiva in the apex centre located in the brain, is one frenziedly pursued spiritual endeavour; sadly, it is brutally trivialised by countless preachers and theorists, both from the West and East, with little time and inclination to become diligent practitioners themselves, leave alone adopt the needful approach and attitude to explore the realms before enlightening others.

No wonder, there is no dearth of fanciful literature across all forms of media – print, electronic and web – and the most scary of them are the scores of YouTube videos of self-proclaimed soothsayers claiming to reveal the ultimate truth either as the show hosts or celebrity guests; all you need to do is press the bell icon and presto! you have transformed into an ‘all knowing’ incarnation.

A few enterprising Gurus have smartly packaged products and services linked to their sermons – anything and everything from vagus nerve boosters, anti-ageing merchandise, life-transfroming Yoga workshops, kundalini enabling sessions, and much more, with the whole range of Platinum, Gold, Silver & Bronze plans and early bird discounts to expedite the pocket-to-coffer transfer of fiat or representative currency.

To cite a nerve-racking claim of the IT industry, they promise you ‘measurable value at the lowest cost of ownership’ ??????

A careful re-reading of Panditji’s books is the perfect primer to know the purpose that should guide the voyage, and the perils and pitfalls on the way, before one deep dives into the wealth of literature including the Maitri, Shvetashvatara, and Yoga Kundalini Upanishadic insights, as also the teachings of various schools like Kashmir Shaivism, Nath Sampradaya, and Siddha Yog traditions and tutelage of genuine mystics.

Pic courtesy: https://www.icrcanada.org