Kundalini Research Project
George Tompkins
(Kundalini Research Association International – Indian
Chapter)
Talk to the Caribbean-Hindu Society, London, 22.10.94
I am here to discuss an enormous research project into the phenomenon
of kundalini. I became involved in this work as a friend of Pandit Gopi
Krishna, who died in 1984. I met him in 1971 and over the years we became
good friends. Everything that I am going to speak about today has been
inspired by his work. He was not a guru, he did not have disciples or
students, just a few 'co-workers'.
Today humanity is at several major crossroads. I will only attempt to
discuss those that are pertinent to this research. Man is a transitional
being; he is evolving from one state of consciousness to another. We are
at a crossroad in our development and we believe it is possible to demonstrate
this fact and scientifically validate it. We are at a point in time when
consciousness is focusing attention upon itself to unravel its own mystery.
In other words, Divinity is asserting itself in this particular phase
of human development. Basically, it creates urges within people. The reason
that you are here today to listen to a man of wisdom from the East like
Swami Niranjanananda is because you have an inner urge to do so. You have
an inner urge to discipline yourself, to practise yoga. That is an example
of consciousness focusing attention upon itself, and it is happening globally.
Spirituality and science
We are at another crossroad where science is concerned. Science has probed
matter to its fullest. In fact there is a consensus among the top scientists
in the world that when they reach a place that enters into the causal
or subjective side of life, there is a realisation that there is an incredible
intelligence surrounding everything within matter and beyond. So, we are
at a point where consciousness is making us aware of this divine urge
within us, and also where science has matured to a point where it is willing
to probe into the causal side of life to satisfy the blending of these
elements. The Kundalini Research Project offers such a working hypothesis.
Science is involved in an enormous paradigm shift. Paradigms are enormous
contexts in which we view the world. This paradigm shift has to do with
the eventual merger of religion, spirituality and science. Now, sometimes
when I talk to a group that is not involved in self-investigation, that
statement is not well-received, because people cannot fathom or picture
how this merging of religion, spirituality and science will take place.
But our work is designed to prove that spirituality is the future science;
in other words, that the science of yoga, the science of life and the
science of the soul is the future science for mankind. We are discussing
a science based on the awakening of kundalini.
Infinite potential of kundalini
I know from my own experiences in the USA that there is a very limited
understanding of kundalini. People speak of it as a force in the body
not to be disturbed or messed about with, because it could be very dangerous.
However, there is very little comprehension about the sovereignty of kundalini.
In the Tantras and other books of Hindu philosophy, it is said that kundalini
in her cosmic form is the architect of life. She is the creative power
of the absolute. She is the substratum of everything that exists. She
has created all this with just a fraction of herself. It is hard to even
contemplate the potential in terms of infinite creation.
She has two forms, a cosmic form and an individual form. In the individual
form she resides in the many subtle bodies that we possess, and yet has
her roots deep in our biological structure. When she awakens, either through
yogic practices or through the grace of guru or just through appropriate
heredity, then the process of transformation begins in the body, running
through the deepest levels of the body. In that process the body is not
only transformed, but the mental and psychic states are also transformed,
and one's personality is uprooted right to its foundations.
The ultimate purpose of an awakened kundalini is to awaken dormant centres
in the brain. When she awakens, every major organ in the body starts to
operate at a different level, the blood chemistry is changed, an incredible
range of biological transmutation takes place in the body that science
is not prepared to look at, at this time, and nor does it have the appropriate
instrumentation at this time. The sexual compounds in both men and women
reverse themselves and integrate through the spinal cord into the brain,
feeding the neurons at a whole new level of activity, because kundalini
is a higher form of the life energy that we call prana. It is an energy
of a much higher voltage than the normal prana that feeds the brain, and
to date this prana has only activated somewhere between 7 to 10 percent
of the brain.
When kundalini fully awakens, humanity can develop new modes of cognition
far superior to the intellect, modes of cognition that allow one to apprehend
consciousness itself beyond time and space. It is in this direction that
the whole race is being irresistibly drawn. It is not an overnight process.
We are on the precipice of a mass change where, with the accelerated evolution
that has taken place in the brain, a certain small segment of the race
is ripe to demonstrate what happens when kundalini fully awakens. This
process of transformation and metamorphosis of the brain is basically
the target of our kundalini research project.
We must remember that in growing into higher states of consciousness,
we are asking permission to enter a world that has certain traits of character
as its natural inheritance, its natural base. We must develop these same
noble traits of character before we can even consider the disciplines
to stimulate this energy. Those traits of character have to do with forms
of unconditional love, the development of compassion, the development
of caring for our neighbours, always putting ourselves in someone else's
shoes – at all times. The willingness to help people less fortunate
than ourselves, to be patient, to be sincere, to surrender to the Divine
Will, are all attributes that align one with the harmony of the state
that we are attempting to enter into. Based on what I have been taught
it is the most effective way to awaken the energy in a benign manner.
The research project
With that as a background, I will tell you a few things about the research
project. We are attempting to scientifically validate the human and divine
potential in man. We are attempting to scientifically validate that spiritual
awareness is the goal of life. We will invite 150 aspirants to come to
India, agreeing to spend 5 years there undergoing the disciplines to awaken
kundalini. During the process they will be monitored by the latest scientific
equipment, a wide variety of specialists in medicine with a heavy emphasis
on the neurological side, certainly on the psychological and psychiatric
side, because we are attempting to identify that kundalini is the as yet
unrecognised psycho-physiological mechanism controlling the evolution
of the brain and responsible for all states of extraordinary talent, all
forms of psychic gifts, and certain forms of insanity.
So we have a broad scientific hypothesis. People naturally ask us how
we are going to do this, what we can prove at this juncture of science.
Our major thrust is to gather as much scientific information as we can
about the biological, mental and psychological changes that take place
upon awakening. Currently we do not have the instrumentation to probe
and measure prana.
So, basically, what we are doing is creating an environment where kundalini
herself can demonstrate the potentials within man. We are creating an
environment where we would hope that out of 150 candidates there would
be a handful who would reach states of transcendence, and in the process
demonstrate that cultivating enhanced mental capacities is part and parcel
of the transformation that takes place when the energy is fully awakened.
This has been proven in India for centuries. Sometimes, at a certain point
in their inner environment, a person with little education will speak
languages that they have never studied and have intense knowledge of a
wide variety of subjects. Why? Because when these new modes of cognition
develop, then transformation comes in directly. In the process, the theory
is that even the genes are transformed, which we can monitor.
The global implications of this research are enormous because it will
help direct the purpose and meaning of life. Over that long, long haul
we are pioneering something, we are digging the first spadeful of earth
into this new science. If the results are as we hope, science will be
shocked at certain levels of human development, which should change their
entire concept of mind and matter. We are attempting to open the door
of a new science. Materialistic science actually is to be the servant
of the spirit and is responsible for bringing the goal of spiritual awareness
as the purpose of life to the masses.
Bridging ancient knowledge with modern science
The problem we have observed in speaking with people globally on this
subject is their lack of comprehension of the profundity and implications
of this research for both India and the world. It is truly the unusual
person who can grasp a visionary concept with no conceptual reference
other than the priceless expressions of saints and sages who have referenced
man's human and divine potential. This was the theme in recent years
of Sri Aurobindo, Vivekananda, Gopi Krishna and Swami Satyananda, among
many others. In this age of rationality and reason, man requires empirical
evidence before he accepts what used to be the province of faith. Our
attempt is to bridge ancient knowledge with modern science in a context
even the average man will comprehend. This is a tall order, yet with the
advancement of modern science, most doable.
I read something last night that really impressed me. It was a quote
from Thomas Merton, the famous Trappist monk who died many years ago:
“If you want to identify me as I am, do not ask me what I like to
eat or what clothes I like to wear or how I comb my hair. But ask me in
detail what it is I am living for and then ask me what is preventing me
from fully living that which I am living for.” I think we all have
our personal obstructions to living fully that which we believe we are
living for, but based on my experience which is probably not different
to anybody else's, I don't think we have been inspired to love
completely or fully enough.
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