IWOW - Part 3 - The Serpent and the Lotus

Prior to the dawn of Western civilization
and written language

science and spirituality were not two separate
things.

In the teachings of the great ancient traditions

the outer search for knowledge and certainty
was balanced

by an inner feeling of impermanence

and intuitive understanding of the spiral
of change.

As scientific thinking became more dominant
and information multiplied,

fragmentation began to occur within our knowledge
systems.

Increased specialization meant that fewer
people

were capable of seeing the big picture,

of feeling and intuiting the aesthetic of
the system as a whole.

No one was asking, "is all this thinking good
for us?"

The ancient knowledge is here in our midst,
hidden in plain view.

But we are too preoccupied with our thoughts
to recognize it.

This forgotten wisdom is way to restore the
balance

between the inner and the outer.

Yin and yang.

Between the spiral of change and the stillness
at our core.

In Greek legend, Asclepius was the son of
Apollo and the god of healing.

His wisdom and skills for healing were unsurpassed

and he is said to have discovered the secret
to life and death itself.

In ancient Greece the Asclepian healing temples

recognized the power of the primordial spiral

Which is symbolized by the rod of Asclepius.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine,

whose oath still forms the moral

code of the medical profession is said to
have

received his training at an Asclepian temple.

To this day, this symbol of our evolutionary
energy

remains as the logo of the American Medical
Association

and other medical organizations worldwide.

In Egyptian iconography, the snake and bird
represent

the duality or polarity of human nature.

The snake, the downward direction, is the
manifested spiral,

the evolutionary energy of the world.

The bird is the upward direction; the upward
current oriented

towards the sun or awakened single-pointed
consciousness;

the emptiness of Akasha.

Pharaohs and gods are depicted with awakened
energy

whereby the Kundalini snake moves up the spine
and pierces

"Ajna chakra" between the eyes.

This is referred to as the eye of Horus.

In the Hindu tradition the bindi is also representative
of the third eye;

the divine connection to spirit.

King Tutankhamen’s mask is a classic example

showing both the snake and bird motifs.

The Mayan and Aztec traditions combine the
serpent and bird motif into one god.

Quetzalcoatl or Kukulkan.

The plumed serpent god represents the awakened
evolutionary

consciousness or awakened Kundalini.

The person who awakens Quetzalcoatl within
themselves

is a living manifestation of the divine.

It is said that Quetzalcoatl, or serpent energy,

shall return at the end of time.

The snake and bird symbols can be found within
Christianity as well.

Their true meaning may be more deeply encrypted

but the meaning is the same as in other ancient
traditions.

In Christianity, the bird or dove often seen
above Christ's head

represents Holy Spirit or Kundalini Shakti

as it rises to the sixth chakra and beyond.

The Christian mystics called Kundalini by
another name; Holy Spirit.

In John 3:12 it says, "and as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness,

so must the son of man be lifted up."

Jesus and Moses awakened their Kundalini energy,
bringing awakened consciousness

to the unconscious reptilian forces that drive
human craving.

Jesus was said to have spent forty days and
forty nights

in the desert, during which time he was tempted
by Satan.

Similarly, the Buddha was tempted by "Mara"
as he sat to reach

enlightenment under the bodhi tree, or wisdom
tree.

Both Christ and Buddha had to turn away from
the lure of sensory

pleasures and worldly grasping.

In each story, the demon is the personification
of one's own attachments.

If we read the Adam and Eve story in the light
of the Vedic and Egyptian traditions

we find that the serpent guarding the tree
of life is Kundalini.

The apple represents the lure and temptation
of the external sensory world,

distracting us from the knowledge of the inner
world,

the tree of knowledge within.

The tree is simply the network of Nadis or
energy meridians within ourselves,

which literally form tree-like structures
throughout the body.

In our egoic quest for external gratification

we have cut ourselves off from the knowledge
of the inner world,

our connection to Akasha and the wisdom source.

Many of the world's historical myths about
dragons

can be read as metaphors for the inner energies

of the cultures in which they are embedded.

In China, the dragon is still a sacred symbol
representing happiness.

Like the Egyptian pharaohs, ancient Chinese
emperors

who had awakened their evolutionary energies

were represented by the winged snake, or dragon.

The royal totem of the Jade Emperor or Celestial
Emperor

shows a balance similar to Ida and Pingala.

The yin and yang of Taoism, awakening the
pineal center

or in what in Taoism is called the Upper Dantien.

Nature is full of different light detection

and assimilation mechanisms.

For example, a sea urchin can actually see
with its spiky body

which acts as one big eye.

Urchins detect light striking their spines
and compare

the beams' intensities to get a sense of their
surroundings.

Green iguanas and other reptiles have a parietal
eye

or pineal gland on top of their heads which
they use to detect

predators from above.

The human pineal gland is a small endocrine
gland

that helps to regulate waking and sleeping
patterns.

Even though it is buried deep inside the head

the pineal gland is sensitive to light.

The philosopher Descartes recognized that
the pineal gland area

or the third eye was the interface between
consciousness and matter.

Almost everything is symmetrical in the human
body.

Two eyes, two ears, two nostrils-even the
brain has two sides.

But there is one area of the brain that is
not mirrored.

This is the pineal gland area and the energetic
center that surrounds it.

On a physical level unique molecules are formed
naturally

by the pineal gland such as DMT.

DMT also forms naturally at the moment of
birth and at the moment of death,

literally acting as a unique bridge between
the world of the living and the dead.

DMT is produced naturally during states of
deep meditation

and Samhadi, or through entheogenic means.

For example, Ayahuasca is used in the shamanic
traditions

in South America to remove the veil between
the inner and outer worlds.

The word pineal itself has the same root as
pine-cone

because the pineal gland exhibits a similar
spiral phyllotaxis pattern.

This pattern, also known as the flower of
life pattern,

is common in ancient artwork depicting enlightened
or awakened beings.

When the pine cone image is seen in sacred
artwork it represents the

awakened third eye; single pointed consciousness

directing the flow of evolutionary energy.

The pine cone represents the flowering of
the higher chakras

which are activated as Sushumna rises to the
Ajna chakra and beyond.

In Greek mythology the worshippers of Dionysus
carried a thyrsus

or giant staff wrapped with spiraling vines
topped with a pine-cone.

Again, representing Dionysian energy or Kundalini
Shakti

as it travels up the spine to the pineal body
at the sixth chakra.

In the heart of the Vatican you might expect
a giant sculpture

of Jesus or Mary but instead we find a giant
pine-cone statue

indicating that in Christian history there
may have been knowledge

of the chakras and Kundalini but for whatever
reason

it was kept from the masses.

The official church explanation is that the
pine-cone

is a symbol of regeneration and represents
new life in Christ.

The
thirteenth century philosopher and mystic,
Meister Eckhart said,

"The eye with which I see God and the eye
with which God sees me

is one and the same."

In the King James bible Jesus said, "the light
of the body is the eye,

if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole
body shall be full of light."

The Buddha said, "the body is an eye."

In a state of Samadhi one is both the seer
and the seen.

We are the universe aware of itself.

When Kundalini is activated, it stimulates
the sixth chakra

and pineal center and this area starts to
regain some of its

evolutionary functions.

Darkness meditation has been used for thousands
of years

as a way to activate the sixth chakra in the
area of the pineal gland.

Activation of this center allows a person
to see their inner light.

Whether it is the proverbial yogi or shaman
retreating deep into a cave

or Taoist or Mayan initiate, or Tibetan monk,
all traditions incorporate

a period of time during which one goes into
the darkness.

The pineal gland is the gateway to experiencing
one's subtle energy directly.

The philosopher Nietzche said, "if you stare
into the abyss long enough,

eventually you find that the abyss stares
back at you."

Dolmens, or ancient portal tombs are among
the oldest remaining structures on Earth.

Most date to the Neolithic period of 3000-4000
BC and some in Western Europe

are seven thousand years old.

The dolmen was used to enter into perpetual
meditation as a way

for a human to bridge the inner and outer
worlds.

As one continues to meditate in total darkness
eventually

one begins to observe inner energy or light
as the third eye becomes active.

The circadian rhythms which are governed by
the sun and the moon channels

no longer control the functions of the body
and a new rhythm is established.

The seventh chakra, for thousands of years,

has been represented by the "OM" symbol.

A symbol which is constructed by Sanskrit
signs representing the elements.

When Kundalini rises beyond the sixth chakra
it begins to create an

energy halo.

Halos appear consistently in the religious
paintings of different

traditions in all different parts of the world.

The halo, or the depiction of an energy signature,

around an awakened being, is common to virtually
all religions

in all parts of the world.

The evolutionary process of awakening the
chakras

is not the property of one group or one religion,

it is the birthright of every human being
on the planet.

The crown chakra is the connection to the
divine;

that which is beyond duality.

Beyond name and form.

Akhenaten was a pharaoh whose wife was Nefertiti.

He is referred to as the son of the sun.

He rediscovered "Aten", or the word of God
within himself,

uniting Kundalini and consciousness.

In Egyptian iconography, once again the awakened
consciousness

is represented by the solar disk seen above
the heads of gods

or awakened beings.

In the Hindu and Yogic traditions, this halo
is called

"Sahasrara", the thousand-petalled lotus.

The Buddha is associated with the symbol of
the lotus.

The phyllotaxis pattern IS the same pattern
as can be found

in a blooming lotus.

It IS the flower of life pattern.

The seed of life.

It is the fundamental pattern into which all
forms fit.

It is the very shape of space itself or a
quality inherent to Akasha.

At one time in history, the flower of life
symbol was prevalent all over Earth.

The flower of life is found guarded by lions

at the most holy places in China and other
parts of Asia.

The 64 hexagrams of the I Ching often surround
the yinyang symbol

which is yet another way of representing the
flower of life.

Within the flower of life is the geometric
basis

for all of the platonic solids;

essentially every form that can exist.

The ancient flower of life begins with the
geometry

of the star of David, or upward and downward
facing triangles.

Or in 3D these would be tetrahedral structures.

This symbol is a yantra, a sort of program
that exists within the universe;

the machine which is generating our fractal
world.

Yantras have been used as tools for awakening
consciousness

for thousands of years.

The visual form of the yantra is an external
representation

of an inner process of spiritual unfolding.

It is the hidden music of the universe made
visible,

comprised of intersecting geometrical forms
and interference patterns.

Each chakra is a lotus, a yantra, a psycho-physiological
center

through which the world can be experienced.

A traditional yantra, such as can be found
in the Tibetan tradition,

is invested with rich layers of meaning,

sometimes incorporating a complete cosmology
and world view.

The yantra is a constantly evolving pattern

which works through the power of repetition

or iteration of a cycle.

The power of the yantra is all but lost in
today's world

because we seek meaning only in the external
form

and we do no connect it to our inner energies
through intention.

There is a good reason why priests, monks
and yogis

traditionally have been celibate.

Today all but a tiny few know why they are
practicing celibacy

because the true purpose has become lost.

Quite simply, if your energy is going into
producing more sperm or eggs,

as the case may be, then there is not as much
to fuel the rising

of Kundalini which activates the higher chakras.

Kundalini is life energy, which is also sexual
energy.

When awareness becomes less focused on animal
urges

and is put into the objects reflective of
the higher chakras,

that energy flows up the spine into those
chakras.

Many of the tantric practices teach how to
master sexual energy

so it could be used for higher spiritual evolution.

Your state of consciousness creates the right
conditions

for your energy to be able to grow.

Entering a state of consciousness takes no
time.

As Eckhart Tolle says, "awareness and presence
always happen in the now."

If you are trying to make something happen

then you are creating resistance to what is.

It is the removing of all resistance that
allows

evolutionary energy to unfold.

In the ancient Yogic tradition, yoga postures
were used

to prepare the body for meditation.

Hatha yoga was never intended solely as an
exercise regime,

but as a way to link one's inner and outer
worlds.

The Sanskrit word "hatha" means: sun "ha",
and moon "tha".

In the original yoga sutra's of Patanjali

the purpose of the eight limbs of yoga

are the same as the Buddha's eight fold path;

to liberate one from suffering.

When the polarities of the dual world are
in balance,

a third thing is born.

We find the mysterious Golden Key that unlocks

the evolutionary forces of nature.

This synthesis of the sun and moon channels
is our evolutionary energy.

Because humans are now identified almost exclusively

with their thoughts and the outer world,

it is a rare individual that achieves a balance

of the inner and outer forces which allow
Kundalini

to awaken naturally.

For those identified only with the illusion,

Kundalini will always remain a metaphor,

an idea, rather than a direct experience

of one's energy and consciousness.