Shiva-Shakti as downward flowing Kundalini

[Dumuzzi]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday, during deep meditation, I had an epiphany regarding downward flowing Shakti and its relevance to the Kundalini process.

It would appear that there are actually two forms of Shakti that manifest in the body. Kundalini Shakti is perhaps the better known form, it is what rises up from the Muladhara and into the crown. However, there is also a downward-flowing process which is meant to balance out Kundalini and this is what I would call Shiva Shakti, the most succinct word I can find for Divine Grace, Shiva’s Grace, the Nectar of Heaven, etc…

In terms of felt experience, it feels as if someone (Shiva) was pouring liquid light into your brain via a funnel inserted into an opening on the bulb of your head. This then slowly flows downwards along the spine and acts as a counterpart to Kundalini Shakti, which is fiery and rises upwards from the root. The sensation can be compared to moonlight being poured down your spine. Another analogy would be liquid lightning entering and electrifying your spine all the way to the root.

This made me think about the symbolism found in various religions around the world associated with this downward flowing process. As with Kundalini, Shiva’s Grace is associated with serpents due to shape of the spine. Also, the energy appears to be distinctly blue or blueish, whereas Kundalini is perhaps more appropriately described as red-hot. Blue is also associated with lightning, electric sparks and other forms of plasma. It is also distinctly lunar, which is why Shiva is often associated with the moon.

However, it is the interplay between these two form of Shakti, Shiva and Kundalini, that is most interesting. They seem to need each other, feed off each other and balance each other out. In Tantra, union of Shiva and Shakti is paramount to understanding the mysteries. However, this is even more fundamental and goes back to the very beginning of our civilisation and religious thought. In ancient Sumer, the fundaments of the religion were based on An, the Sky Father and Ki, the Earth Mother. Their union gave birth to their children, the gods, who were known as the An-unna-Ki.

This tradition carried over into other religions and mystical traditions all over the world, often wrapped in symbolism, or as archetypes. The Sky Father is often depicted as a wise old man in the sky who has power over the storm and particularly lightning. This lightning is symbolic of the power of illumination and Divine Grace as a down flowing of the Divine Masculine. A lightning bolt is frequently used to symbolise this power that I call Shiva Shakti. Kundalini Shakti on the other hand rises from the ground, from the Earth Mother and since deep below the earth’s crust we have pure fire, this is often depicted as fiery. Both are necessary for a balanced awakening and those that experience problems with a purely feminine rising process, need to develop the Shiva Shakti side of their awakening, to balance out Kundalini Shakti.

You can invoke the Divine Masculine in any form you wish, however I will describe the process here as I do it, invoking Lord Shiva as my protector and the source of this grace. This presupposes that you are at a fairly advanced stage of the Kundalini process, since your energetic system, your Tree of Life, needs to be ready to handle both Divine Masculine and Feminine energies, flowing both upwards and downwards with the roots and the crown of your Tree of Life both being accessible and open to energies from below and above respectively. This will also help with any issues, such as blockages and knots that you encounter during your Kundalini process, as it can smooth things over, acting like a soothing balm.

Assuming your crown chakra is open and active, you invoke Lord Shiva. You can just use Om Namah Shivaya or any other common mantra used to invoke him and his Shakti. I will usually see visions of Lord Shiva as a universal being when I do this and it will feel like he is extending his divine grace to me. I might see him touching my head in a gesture of giving a blessing, even feeling the palm of his hand on the top of my head. Then the grace starts to flow into the Brahmarendra below the crown, which is soothing and pleasurable, with the bulb of my head tingling with delight. As Shiva’s grace or Shakti flows into me, it enters the brain stem from there and continues flowing downwards tickling my spine and soothing any overactive areas. Eventually his Shakti will reach the Muladhara at the base of the spine, with his power exiting through the roots of the Tree of Life and nurturing, the Earth Mother. There is then an interplay between the two powers, with the earth also feeding the Tree of Life through the roots and the two types of Shakti complementing each other in a complex process, criss-crossing and mixing, keeping each other in balance and establishing harmony.

I find that this method of accessing Shiva’s Grace (the Grace of God) is very effective in tackling any deficiencies in the rising process, overcoming blocks and knots (granthas) or just generally soothing any areas of your energetic body that are overactive or too fiery due to an overabundance or misaligned activity of Kundalini Shakti. I may not have gotten all of the details right and the philosophical underpinnings of it are still a work in progress, but I welcome any input of feedback.

Thanks for reading,

Om Namah Shivaya

[Salvijus]

I can relate to this. 

In my experience when i meditate, energy knots knots always release themselves and go upwards, never downwards.

But grace always pours itself in a form of goosebums going downwards, sometimes braking me into tears. Like the great rays of the sun

And the third one pure shiva, pure primordial awareness is not going anywhere. It's always perfect, an empty space of darkness where all things come and go.

An-nuuna-ki 

The Sun, the moon, and the earth

Primordial awareness, god's grace from above and kundalini from below

Edited January 31, 2023 by Salvijus

[Dumuzzi]

@Salvijus Thanks, beautifully put