Esoteric Energy Systems: Kundalini Yoga, Taoist Taoist Alchemy, and the Pineal Gland The inquiry is not to be approached in a spirit of conquest or arrogance arrogance with the intent to achieve victory over a force of nature, which has characterized man's approach to the problems of the material world, but rather with humility, humility, in a spirit of utter surrender to Divine Will and absolute dependence on Divine Mercy, in the same frame of mind one would approach the flaming sun. There There is no other way save this open to man to arrive at the solution of an otherwise impenetrable mystery of creation, creation, no other way open to him to find out what path has been aligned for his progress progress by nature, nature, no other way way for him to now now and recognize recognize himself, himself, and no other way to save himself from the awful consequence of conscious or unconscious violation of the mighty laws which rule his destiny. This is the only method to bridge the gulf at present yawning between science and religion, religion, between warring political ambitions and idealogies, more deadly than the most virulent disease and more awful than all the epidemics combined, between religious religious faiths, races, nations, classes, and finally between men. This is the immortal light, held aloft by nature from from time immemorial to guide the faltering footsteps of erring humanity across the turns and twists, ups and downs, of the winding path of evolution, the light which shone in the prophets and sages of antiquity, antiquity, which continues to shine in the men of genius and seers of today, and will continue to shine for all eternity, illuminating the vast amphitheatre amphitheatre of the universe for the marvellous, unending play of the eternal, almighty, queen of creation, creation, life. ! "opi #rishna, #undalini$ The %volutionary %nergy %nergy in Man, &(.
Traditions of Esoteric Energy Systems Many spiritual traditions, particularly those of the East, have attempted to create synthesized systems that incorporate aspects of biological fact and aspects of religious belief regarding subtle or astral bodies into a functional system of medicine and health. The most well known of these today is the Chinese tradition of acupuncture, qi, qi, and energetic meridians. lso well known are the systems of charas and pranas and pranas in !indu yurvedic medicine. "oth of these remarkably comprehensive and detailed systems predate what we would consider modern medicine, and both Eastern systems are still being used today. today. The basic, yet e#tremely important, i mportant, distinction between yurveda and Chinese medicine and contemporary $estern medicine is that the theoretical system of $estern $estern medicine does not include a component of energy in the human being beyond what is materially visible in the body and its electrochemical reactions. "oth yurveda yurveda and traditional Chinese medicine are based on the theoretical premise that there is an energy component component of the human body that transcends, yet is intimately linked to, the physical body. body. %n yurveda and &undalini yoga the idea is that prana, prana, 'which can be though of literally as breath, but also metaphorically as life energy( flows through energy centers called charas and nadis points or nadirs, nadirs, and that health is based to a large degree on the proper flow of prana through the body ')(. *ogic *ogic e#ercises are used to promote the healthy flow of prana. prana. %n Chinese medicine we also
find the idea that there is a non+physical energy component of the human body, which they call qi, that can be regulated by acupuncture and e#ercises like martial arts and igong '-(. "oth of these traditions, whether in Tantric ritual te#ts or in Taoist scripture, teach that this spiritual energy 'which may or may not be easily euated with literal internal and se#ual fluids( must be conserved for the spiritual development and health of the individual '/(. %ntriguingly, both of these spiritual medicine systems also focus on parts of the head 0 particularly the space between and slightly above the eyes, and the place at the top of the head 0 as focal points of these subtle energies. Modern anatomical science has located the mysterious pineal gland as being close to the center of the brain, making it the gland nearest in pro#imity to the top of the head '1(. The pituitary gland is nearest to the location of what has been iconographically identified as the third eye in !indu traditions '2(. "y investigating these physical and energetic locations described in religious te#ts as a basis of comparison we may analyze and compare these Eastern medicine systems with known facts about human neurobiology to see what connections may be found. This type of inuiry has been complicated in contemporary scholarship by the comple#ity of everyday cultural e#changes 'including misunderstandings and appropriations( which occur at various levels of social and religious communication. ncient religious traditions have come to be interpreted and re+e#pressed through various critical lenses of modern theory3 psychology, sociology, phenomenology, history, etc. The views of science on ancient religions may or may not be valid4 it could be that a phenomenon such as mystical Taoism cannot be fully understood or defined by the protocols of scientific analysis. 5ome new religious movement or 6ew ge groups have also complicated things by adopting parts of these ancient traditions into highly syncretic forms which do not always resemble the historical religious practices that the contemporary practices are based in. 7ne result of this, in a somewhat ironic way, is that the original practices 'as practiced by people in the lineage of that tradition( are sometimes changed and re+interpreted based on the influence of modern scholarship and religious syncretism as mentioned. This is important to keep in mind when studying a tradition like &undalini yoga, which has been popularized, reinterpreted, and sometimes misunderstood, in the $est over the past half+century. !owever, to the academic, along with this caveat should also come the challenge of interpretation and comparison3 that we can attempt to understand another culture8s religious beliefs and practices by a careful study, by making relevant comparisons, and orienting religious information within a larger sphere of contemporary knowledge.
Kundalini &undalini yoga is a term referring to a set of ritual practices mainly in Tantric !induism, involving a set of physically based meditation e#ercises designed to utilize the human body as a means of spiritual enlightenment. &undalini yoga is a form of laya yoga as described in the )ogatattva *panishad '9(. Mary 5cott writes in The #undalini +oncept$ ts -rigin and alue , Tantric science and therefore also its yoga was, and still is, a body+affirming system. :nlike yogas advocating its denial and seeing bliss and enlightenment as involving the transcendence of physical limitations, the Tantric yogi seeks to raise up the uality of natural forces so that enlightened states can be ;e#perienced< within the body '5cott, -(. The culmination of this practice is the ability to move the &undalini energy 'a form of shati( coiled at the base of the spine upwards through the seven, or twelve ma=or charas and eventually up and out of the body through the crown at the top of the
head. This process is an e#treme physical and energetic act which, if not properly guided, can produce disastrous physical and mental results, sometimes causing a state resembling psychosis '>(. "ut according to the Tantric te#ts, with proper preparation and the support of a guru, the flow of &undalini force through the charas can lead to supreme bliss and mystical revelatory e#perience '?(. &undalini yoga was popularized in the $est largely by contemporary !indu mystics such as 5wami @ivekananda, 5ri Aamana Maharshi, and Bopi &rishna. %n his )>D autobiography, #undalini$ The %volutionary %nergy in Man, Bopi &rishna describes his own initial energetic awakening which occurred after sustained meditation3 I had read glowing accounts, written by learned men, of great benets resulting from concentration, and of the miraculous powers acquired by yogis through such exercises. My heart began to beat wildly, and I found it dicult to bring my attention to the required degree of xity. After a while I grew composed and was soon as deep i n meditation as before. When completely immersed I again experienced the sensation, but this time, instead of allowing my mind to leae the point where I had xed it, I maintained a rigidity of attention throughout. !he sensation again extended upwards, growing i n intensity, and I felt myself waering" but with a great e#ort I $ept my attention centered round the lotus. %uddenly, with a roar li$e that of a waterfall, I felt a stream of liquid light entering my brain through the spinal cord. &ntirely unprepared for such a deelopment, I was completely ta$en by surprise" but regaining self' control instantaneously, I remained sitting in the same posture, $eeping my mind on the point of concentration. !he illumination grew brighter and brighter, the roaring louder, I experienced a roc$ing sensation and then felt myself slipping out of my body, entirely eneloped in a halo of light. It is impossible to describe the experience accurately. I felt the point of consciousness that was myself growing wider, surrounded by waes of light. It grew wider and wider, spreading outward while the body, normally the immediate ob(ect of its perception, appeared to hae receded into the distance until I became entirely unconscious of it. I was now all consciousness, without any outline, without any idea of a corporeal appendage, without any feeling or sensation coming from the senses, immersed in a sea of light simultaneously conscious and aware of eery point, spread out, as it were, in all directions without any barrier or material obstruction. I was no longer myself, or to be more accurate, no longer as I $new myself to be, a small point of awareness conned in a body, but instead was a ast circle of consciousness in which the body was but a point, bathed in light and in a state of exaltation and happiness impossible to describe )*rishna, +-.
Gopi Krishna then goes on to debate about what his experience was, wondering if what happened to him was a hallucination or a genuine mystical experience. He eventually came to place his experience within the tradition of Kundalini ascension which was described in ancient Hindu texts. A later book called Serpent of Fire: A Modern View of Kundalini (!!"# by $arrel %rving features interviews with Gopi Krishna, and attempts to scientifically analy&e the phenomenon of Kundalini. 'everal scholars have written books on the subect, including 'ir )ohn *oodroffe+s !- text The Serpent Power. The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga, ary 'cott+s !/0 book The Kundalini Concept: ts !rigin and Value and a collection of lectures from !01 by 2arl )ung called The Ps"cholog" of Kundalini Yoga (published in !!3#. 4here are numerous other books in the 5ew Age literature which mention Kundalini in various ways, usually by showing the chakras. 6hilosophically, Kundalini occupies the somewhat curious metaphysical position of being a non7 physical force which is located or mapped onto the physical body. %n this sense, the system of Kundalini and the chakras is a scientific 8 but bodily subective 8 process of exploring how energy interacts with matter. 4his practice is associated mythologically and cosmologically with the figures of the god 'iva and goddess 'hakti as the two necessary and balancing vital spiritual forces which combine to create material reality. 4hus the 4antric worldview could be described in the
context of *estern philosophy as an %dealist view, wherein the immaterial energies of 'hakti and the underlying structure of 'iva, although themselves non7material, as thought to construct and give birth to the material world (!#. According to some interpretations, 4aoist alchemical practices were functioning according to similar philosophical assumptions (9#. %n Serpent of Fire: A Modern View of Kundalini, $arrel %rving describes how etheric or subtle energy may be thought to interact with the human body in the philosophy of Kundalini. !he $undalini process occurs in what is sometimes called the etheric or subtle )nonphysical- body, although as will be demonstrated in chapter , this etheric body may actually be physical, composed of atoms and cells (ust li$e all other parts of the body. !his subtle body is comprised of nere bers not isible to the na$ed eye. /or the sa$e of isuali0ing this system, therefore, imagine these bers as loo$ing li$e all the neres and ganglia of the nerous system, some as thin and spindly, others as thic$ and clustery, all of them radiating light, and branching out through the entire body, thousands of them. !heir oerall appearance in the body might be li$ened to the grid of electric lights one sees aboe a city at night. !hese nere bers are actually conduits. !hey are called 1adis" some are ma(or, some are minor, and their function is to conduct currents of energy called prana, or ital force, throughout the body. 1ot only does this prana animate the body, but it is this force that can be controlled by the 2oga adept through arious exercises, described below, to actiate the $undalini )Iring, +3-.
The kinds of e#ercises that %rving mentions involve cultivating breath control techniues, trance states, body postures, visualizations, and other elements of yoga. !owever, there are documented cases of people outside of the tradition of yoga or !induism e#periencing something which can be interpreted as a &undalini awakening '))(. nother aspect of the &undalini energy that is important to understand is the fundamentally se#ual nature of the &undalini. The &undalini energy is conceived as a generative force which carries some of the same connotations of the reudian psychological concept of libido energy. $hen interpreting ancient religious ideas it may be difficult to discern between the elements of a te#ts that may be describing something literally, or metaphorically, or both. Certainly, though, the &undalini energy has been interpreted as being closely associated with the material se#ual fluids, most obviously male sperm ')-(. Thus non+e=aculation and redirection of se#ual energy internally 'also referred to as reversal of se#ual energy( is one of the most crucial teachings of &undalini se#ual practices ')/(. The full development of &undalini through the charas is only possible if the se#ual energy that arises is contained within, and not spilled in the form of e#ternal e=aculation. 5pilling the se#ual fluid is thought to result in a hastening of death and degeneration of the vitality of the sub=ect ')1(. Taoist Alchemy Taoist alchemy, like Tantra and &undalini yoga, is a term that describes a wide variety of practices that occurred over different eras of time. lso like Tantra, Taoist
alchemy was an esoteric religious worldview as well as a set of ritual practices. The combination of philosophical and physical preparationphilosophically in the interpretation of ritual te#ts, and physically in the form of eli#irs and physical e#ercisesfacilitated the internal process of alchemical transformation resulting in a mystical state of awareness. This state is described in various ways symbolically and li terally in the Taoist te#ts, often involving an illuminating light radiating from the head. %n the chapter entitled Bathering the Microcosmic %nner lchemical gent from the book Taoist )oga$ /lchemy and mmortality, author Fu &8uan *u describes the alchemical process of gathering energy and breath internally which culminates with a fire which will soar up to the brain and manifest as a bright light between the eyes. !his chapter discusses the method of using the microcosmic inner re that passes through sublimating phases at the cardinal points 4 and 5 )see gure 6 on page +- to produce the )microcosmic- inner alchemical agent, which method is also called 7inner copulation7 )nei chiao $oumeaning that after you hae gathered enough of the )microcosmicouter alchemical agent, true itality, drien by entilation and re, will soar up to the brain" you should then roll your eyes from left to right in a complete circle in order to push itality up and down so that the ital breath in the brain unites with the nerous system. At this stage the brain will deelop fully and a bright light will manifest )between the eyes-" you should now gather the )microcosmic- inner alchemical agent, this is commonly called the preparation of the golden elixir. !his bright light is the mysterious gate )hsuan $uan- about which it is said8 2our mouth cannot explain what appears before you" %eeing it you will be relieed of all concern )2u, 9-.
Fu &8uan *u is translating the work of a contemporary Taoist master named Chao Gi Ch8en, a scripture originally titled The 0ecrets of +ultivating %ssential 1ature and %ternal 2ife ' 3sin Ming 4a +hueh Ming +hih(. %n the preface he notes that he has translated the words lead and mercury, alchemical terms, into more accessible religious terms vitality and spirit , an act of te#tual re+interpretation ')2(. Fike &undalini, ancient Taoist rituals have sometimes been reinterpreted and re+imagined in contemporary practice. ccording to Fivia &ohn in her book nternal /lchemy$ 0elf, 0ociety, and the 5uest for mmortality, internal alchemy has been the dominant system of Haoist spiritual practice since the 5ong dynasty, when it was first defined as the comple# integration of multiple forms of Haoist self+cultivation
'&ohn, )(. This included many different highly e#perimental practices, sometimes involving the ingestion of dangerous chemicals like mercury ')9(. $hen the eli#irs were successful, the individual would often feel strange sensations and spiritual e#altation in a physiological e#perience not unlike modern descriptions of e#periences with hallucinogenic drugs ')>(. Fike other methods of occult or magical practice, Taoist alchemy was a highly individualized pursuit and did not adhere to a single regimen or program, but rather a multitude of e#perimental methods were refined over time by individual practitioners. s &ohn writes, the actual practice, moreover, actively combines the various forms of Haoist self+cultivation3 guiding the qi, visualization, absorptive meditation, operative alchemy, and cosmological speculation 'for conscious reorientation(. !owever, this does not occur in a linear fashion, one after the ne#t. %nstead, adepts weave an intricate network, using the different modes in a spiraling, twisting, and ever turning movement '&ohn, )(. This pursuit, like $estern alchemy, occurred mostly at high levels of society and the practitioners were learned religious scholars. Many of the emperors themselves became uite enthusiastic about the idea of possessing immortality, and hired alchemists to come to court and try to e#tend the life and fortune of their dynasty. !owever the decline of the alchemical age came about at least partially as a result of the deaths of several emperors who drank 'probably unintentionally( poisonous eli#irs ')?(. Taoist alchemy, like &undalini, is based on the idea that there is an energetic or subtle component of the human body which can be manipulated in various ways. Fike &undalini, Taoist alchemy organizes the schemata of the energy body according into several sections which have various properties that can be related to the physical body. %n +reativity and Taoism$ / 0tudy of +hinese 6hilosophy, /rt, and 6oetry , by Hr. Chang Chung+yuan, the author relates one Taoist method of breath techniue that bears some notable resemblance to the !indu techniues of prana. gain, the idea is that by controlling internal energies such as breath and se#ual fluids, an individual can capture and cultivate spiritual energy within themselves. After a certain time and a degree of practice he may feel the circulation of the :breath: as a heat current. !his heat current is set into motion by the technique of concentration. !he practicioner may focus his attention on any one of the twele centers to start the current. !he chosen center may be ch7i' hai, or the sea of breath, below the nael, or wei'lu, the tip of the spine, or ming't7ang, the hall of light between the eyes, or any other. It is common practice for men to concentrate on ch7i'hai, while women usually concentrate on t7ang'chung, the center of the chest. ;h7i'hai is the most important center, $nown as the regular eld of the
elixir. It is the lowest of the three elds of the elixir on the path of the grand circulation. !he middle eld of the elixir lies lies in the region of the heart, and the higher eld of the elixir in the top of the head. It is said to be located in the middle of the nine sections of the brain and is $nown also as ni'wan or Nirvana. The region between the middle and the lower felds is named the yellow court, or the center o the Earth (Chung-yuan, 1!".
The eli#ir fields are also called cinnabar fields after the element cinnabar which was used in alchemy, or dantian in Chinese. %n this passage we witness the fascinating way in which Taoist religious e#ercises were encoded with a sense of cosmological meaning4 the outer world, including geography, and the larger realms of cosmic and mythological meaning, are understood to be reflected internally within the human body. Fao Tzu advised his students to imagine themselves as Mount &unlun. There Taoist are paintings of Mount &unlun esoterically mapped with internal aspects of the human body, like a diagram ')(. Taoist alchemy has been a tradition in Chinese religious culture for the past thousand years. Chinese alchemy certainly rivals the tradition of European, and even Middle Eastern alchemy, in terms of the proliferation of te#ts, physical substances, beliefs, and rituals. 5ome practices and aesthetics of alchemy are still in use, as we see in te#ts like Taoist )oga by Fu &8uan *u and some modern Chinese meditative spiritual andIor physical e#ercises like igong. 6ow that a basic understanding of beliefs and practices of Taoist alchemy and &undalini yoga have been established, we may attempt a brief comparison based on te#tual sources. Similarities Between Taoist Alchemy and Kundalini Yoga "oth systems philosophically present a balanced duality of feminine and masculine energy as a symbolic structure of reality. %n Taoism the symbol of yin and yang, is understood metaphorically to refer to yang as positive vitality and yin as negative entropy, which wa# and wane and fluctuate as a person ages, thus his positive 'yang( vitality decreases gradually while the negative counterpart 'yin( grows in proportion so that he becomes a mortal worldling '*u, )?(. *es it is understood that these forces are balanced in the ultimate sense, which is represented visually in the familiar yinyang symbol called Tai7itu. %n &undalini Tantra the duality of feminine and masculine energies is presented in the symbol of the god 5iva and the goddess 5hakti. 5iva is thought to represent the unformed, unmanifest space or superstructure of reality, and 5hakti is the energizing, animating force of energy which moves through and animates space in individual parts. 5ymbolically, this is represented in images of se#ual union of the gods. 7ne of the purposes of Tantric practice is to understand this seemingly dual, yet ultimately unified, esoteric symbolism.
"oth systems present a knowledge of the human being, and human consciousness, as the result of a con=unction between an invisible energetic body or grid, and the outwardly visible material body. %n Taoism this is represented with the three dantian or cinnabar fields, the meridians of energy, and the various locations which are described in the Taoist te#ts3 the abdominal cavity, the navel, the tip of the spine, the center of the chest, and the regions behind the eyes in the center of the brain, and at th e top of the head are of the most interest which are encoded with symbolic names like the three Gasses, the *ellow Court, the *ellow Chamber, the Bate of Hestiny, and the Crystal Galace as they have been alternately translated in te#ts '-D(. %n &undalini yoga the system of describing the human energy field is based on the charas, the nadir points, and the movement of prana through the body in its proper circulation governed by breath techniues and yoga e#ercises. Coincidentally or not, the same areas which are of importance for the Chinese are generally regarded as the areas of chakras3 the lower abdomen is Muladhara, the space below the navel is 0vadhisthana, the lower chest is Manipura, the heart is /nahata, the throat is isuddha, the brow or space behind the eyes is /7na, and the top of the head is 0ahasrara, as we see in John $oodroofe8s translation of the te#ts 0at8+ara81irupana, and the 6adaa86ancaa in his foundational academic work The 0erpent 6ower. "oth systems strongly encourage the spiritual practitioner to conserve their subtle energy andIor se#ual fluids. %n &undalini the conservation of se#ual fluids is involved with the process of raising the &undalini. !owever, se#ual fluids, when e#creted, are used in some Tantric rituals as transgressive ob=ects '-)(. Taoist alchemy, and the larger tradition of Taoism on the whole, stresses the conservation of se#ual energy and fluids as a ma=or reason for a practitioner to be celibate '--(. "oth systems involve the use of substances, in Tantra this is in the form of five forbidden substances which are ritually used. %n Taoist alchemy many chemical substances and the resulting eli#irs are used. %n both cases the substances are generally thought to be a physical means of inducing mystical e#perience. "oth systems describe that the ultimate culmination of spiritual progress involves a release or transmutation of internally gathered spiritual energy through the top of the head. %n Taoist alchemy this happens
when the qi energy moves upward through the Bate of !eaven or Crystal Galace and illuminates the area behind the eyes, and then is partially released or gathered at the top of the head '-/(. %n &undalini yoga, the &undalini energy moves up through the charas, resting in the various charas as meditative power and concentration progresses, finally resting in the space behind the eyes, the /7na chara, and then being released out through the 0ahasrara or crown chara. Differences Between Kundalini Yoga and Taoist Alchemy &undalini, as it is situated in the larger realm of Tantra, is involved with intentionally transgressive acts. The use of the five forbidden substances in Tantra is done in a ritual setting, with the idea that transgressing against social norms of behavior will help a yogi become liberated from the realm of illusion while alive. %n Taoist alchemy there is not so much a sense of social transgression, as there is a sense of e#perimental curiosity. 5ocially, alchemy was a lot more respectable than &undalini Tantra. Emperors and wealthy people were very interested in alchemy, whereas the folk magic of Tantra is traditionally seen as a fringe activity in %ndian social circles. The iconographies and symbolism of each tradition are different. %n Taoism Fao Tzu tells the Taoist adept to imagine themselves like Mount &unlun and the yingyang '-1(. %n &undalini, the focus of symbolism is more on the figures of the two gods, 5iva and 5hakti, and the two original people, Gurusha and Grakriti '-2(. The tradition of &undalini yoga is probably older, and may be based on the earlier @edic society. Chinese alchemy was developed later, and was probably influenced by Middle Eastern alchemy rather than @edic civilization. The practices and techniues vary greatly. or e#ample the Taoists do an advanced visualization meditation about reversing the aging process and putting spiritual energy into the formation of an immortal fetus '-9(. Taoists were more interested in chemical substances than the &undalini yogis. Taoist rituals were more abstracted, and intentionally encoded with symbolism to make them esoteric, which is less true of &undalini. A Biological Basis for ystical E!"erience: the Pineal Gland# This
comparison leaves us with a brief impression of some of the similarities and differences between !indu yoga and Chinese alchemy. %f we =udge the phenomenological e#periences of the rising of &undalini through prana control, and the focusing of qi energy with meditative breathing, to be e#ceptionally similar in some important ways, we may further ask what sort of basis there might be that could e#plain this similarity. 7bviously one area to look is in the makeup of human biology. few authors have e#plored this sub=ect, although it remains at the level of tentative comparative theory. or e#ample, medical doctor Aick 5trassman, who conducted controlled studies of dimethyltriptamine 'HMT( and the interaction of the pineal gland with the religious mystical e#perience, in DMT$ the 0pirit Molecule he writes3 Western and &astern mystical traditions are replete with descriptions of a blinding bright white light accompanying deep spiritual reali0ation. !his :enlightenment: usually is the result of a progression of consciousness through arious leels of spiritual, psychological, and ethical deelopment. All mystical traditions describe the process and its stages. In 5udaism, for example, consciousness moes through the serot, or *abbalistic centers of spiritual deelopment, the highest being *eter, or ;rown. In the &astern Ayuredic tradition, these centers are called cha$ras, and particular experiences li$ewise accompany the moement of energy through them. !he highest cha$ra is also called the ;rown, or the !housand
5trassman goes on to e#plain what the pineal gland is. The pineal gland has the uniue distinction of being the only part of the human brain which is not dualistically paired. There is a right and left hemisphere, right and left cerebrums, etc. but the pineal gland is un+paired. %t is interesting, then, to consider that the !indu iconography representing the third eye of the gods '5iva, for e#ample, was also called Tri+lochana, meaning three+eyed( emphasizes the third eye8s unification of sight, beyond dualism into a single vision, the truth burning away illusion. 5trassman, however, in his analysis would euate the pineal gland with the 0ahasrara chara rather than the /7na chakra. 5trassman8s theory is that the pineal gland produces HMT, a powerful psychoactive chemical which can cause intense hallucinations. This might help e#plain why mystics of various traditions have been so interested in that particular region of the interior body and have described visionary e#periences when that area of the body is activated.
%n the self+published book The 9iology of #undalini$ / 0cience and 6rotocol of 0piritual /lchemy , author Jana Hi#on speculates about the role of the pineal gland in Taoist and Tibetan practices. The main unction o the #ineal gland is its role in mediating circadian rhythms o the animal through the #roduction o the hormone melatonin, rom its #recursor amino acid try#to#han. The #ineal gland is most active in early morning hours hence meditation is oten undergone at this time. The #ineal gland is the only singular organ in the brain and is located near the u##er end o the s#inal cord, which ends or terminates in the oldest anatomical region in the brain. Taoists call the center o the brain between the #ineal and the #ituitary )the Crystal *alace.) +ts between the old brain at the bac$ and the new brain at the ront o the head, between the let and right hemis#heres, sitting above the two wings o the mysterious ventricles. +t rests between the two large cerebrums at the anterior end o the cerebellum. The cerebellum is one o the oldest eatures o the brain, involved in coordinating muscular activity in the body. +ts said that when the #ineal gland is activated it becomes illuminated li$e a thousands suns. The sense o white light owing within and without may be when the #ineal gland is highly activated #roducing /T ty#e chemistry during the height o the #ea$ (4ixon".
There are other traditions which might also be involving the same biological processes. Haniel Ginchbeck8s book 9reaing -pen the 3ead describes an initiation in which some frican tribes drill a hole into the very top of their heads, which in their tradition is supposed to allow for a greater spiritual e#perience '->(. ccording to some modern interpretations of Koroastrianism, the turban worn by ancient Karathustrians was worn for the specific purpose of shielding the pineal gland, called /ipi. There is a constant riction near the #ineal gland, on account o the incessant onslaught o the cosmic rays, which enters at various #oints o the astral body, one o them being near the frst Centre or Cha$hra. Thus there is an unending clash o vibrations around the #ineal gland, i ones head is uncovered. + the head is covered #reerably with a headgear, made o white cotton, the riction is reduced to a minimum and the 0i#i remains un#olluted. The #ineal gland #ower is develo#ed by harenangh (aura, glory" which is the #roduct o s#iritual acts (#rayers, #artici#ating in religious ceremonies", contribution to social and religious activities and *racticing (Tari$ats" tenets o our religion in daily lie (>hadha".
Could it be that such traditions are similar in their descriptions of the third eye or this area at the top of the head because they are relating the same basic spiritual biology, a fundamental metaphysical energy system of the human bodyL 7bviously such a brief study does not prove any conclusive assertions, but it is interesting nonetheless to consider these possibilities in light of what is known about modern science, and the biological curiosity of the pineal gland in forming human perception.
$onclusions 4aoist alchemy and Kundalini yoga, in their respective ways, are religious traditions based on an imperative of rational, yet creative, experimentation with the relationship of the internal body to obects in the outside world, and the relationship of human physical energy with the abstracted realms of religious symbolism and ontological beliefs. :oth systems present a picture which is not entirely comprehensive by the methods and assumptions of modern science. ;et these types of traditions may have something useful to teach us, if we can analy&e their beliefs and practices within the historical and cultural context in an effort to understand them as they were, and as they are, within their individual cultural framework. 'cientific methods such as neurobiology can give us some insight into the basic underlying causes of human experience, yet will never be able to fully explain the phenomenological idiosyncrasies of religious ritual. *ith this in mind, we can apply the knowledge of modern science to the study of ancient religious in a responsible and realistic way.
%otes ). 'cott, ary. The Kundalini Concept: ts !rigin and Value. ivia. Taoist M"stical Philosoph": the Scripture of #estern Ascension. Albany, 5ew ;ork= 'tate ?niversity of 5ew ;ork 6ress (!!# !1. /. The esoteric se#ual symbolism of tantra is described in the introduction to The Ps"cholog" of Kundalini Yoga. 6rinceton, 5ew )ersey= 6rinceton ?niversity 6ress (!!3#. Taoist view of se#ual fluids is given in Kohn, >ivia and *ang, @obin @., ed. nternal Alche$": Self% Societ"% and the &uest for $$ortalit". agdelena, 5ew exico= 4hree 6ines 6ress (199!# 3. 1. 'trassman, @ick. 'MT the Spirit Molecule: A 'octor(s )e*olutionar" )esearch into the +iolog" of ,ear-'eath and M"stical /periences. @ochester, ermont. 6ark 'treet 6ress (199# "!. 2. %rving, $arrel. Serpent of Fire: A Modern View of Kundalini. ;ork :each, aine= 'amuel *eiser %nc. (!!"# 33.
9. 'cott, ary. The Kundalini Concept: ts !rigin and Value. . %rving, $arrel. Serpent of Fire: A Modern View of Kundalini. ;ork :each, aine= 'amuel *eiser %nc. (!!"# /0. ?. 'cott, ary. The Kundalini Concept: ts !rigin and Value. ivia and *ang, @obin @., ed. nternal Alche$": Self% Societ"% and the &uest for $$ortalit". agdelena, 5ew exico= 4hree 6ines 6ress (199!# /. )>. %bid.,)?. )?. %bid.,)?. ). Kohn, >ivia and *ang, @obin @., ed. nternal Alche$": Self% Societ"% and the &uest for $$ortalit". agdelena, 5ew exico= 4hree 6ines 6ress (199!# -0. -D. s found in ;u, >u K+uan. Taoist Yoga: Alche$" and $$ortalit".
;ork :each, aine= 'amuel *eiser, %nc. (!0# and Kohn, >ivia a nd *ang, @obin @., ed. nternal Alche$": Self% Societ"% and the &uest for $$ortalit". agdelena, 5ew exico= 4hree 6ines 6ress (199!#. -). )ung, 2arl. The Ps"cholog" of Kundalini Yoga. 6rinceton, 5ew )ersey= 6rinceton ?niversity 6ress (!!3# xxiii. --. ;u, >u K+uan. Taoist Yoga: Alche$" and $$ortalit". ;ork :each, aine= 'amuel *eiser, %nc. (!0# /. -/. Kohn, >ivia and *ang, @obin @., ed. nternal Alche$": Self% Societ"% and the &uest for $$ortalit". agdelena, 5ew exico= 4hree 6ines 6ress (199!# 0. -1. Kohn, >ivia and *ang, @obin @., ed. nternal Alche$": Self% Societ"% and the &uest for $$ortalit". agdelena, 5ew exico= 4hree 6ines 6ress (199!# -0. -2. 'cott, ary. The Kundalini Concept: ts !rigin and Value. u K+uan. Taoist Yoga: Alche$" and $$ortalit". ;ork :each, aine= 'amuel *eiser, %nc. (!0# ". ->. Ginchbeck, Haniel. 9reaing -pen the 3ead$ / 6sychedelic :ourney into the 3eart of +ontemporary 0hamanism. 6ew *ork3 "roadway "ooks '-DD-(.
Bi&liogra"hy "hadha, !oshang J. Effect of $earing Cap on Karathustri :rvaan. Tenets of Koroastrianism. May 2, -D)D. $eb. http3IItenets.zoroastrianism.comItopi//.htmlN 2hung7yuan, 2hang. Creati*it" and Taois$: A Stud" of Chinese Philosoph"% Art% and Poetr" . 5ew ;ork= )ulian 6ress (!3"#. $ixon, )ana. +iolog" of Kundalini.
ay ", 199. *eb. Bhttp=CCwww.biologyofkundalini.comCD %rving, $arrel. Serpent of Fire: A Modern View of Kundalini. ;ork :each, aine= 'amuel *eiser %nc. (!!"#. )ung, 2arl. The Ps"cholog" of Kundalini Yoga. 6rinceton, 5ew )ersey= 6rinceton ?niversity 6ress (!!3#. Kohn, >ivia and *ang, @obin @., ed. nternal Alche$": Self% Societ"% and the &uest for $$ortalit". agdelena, 5ew exico= 4hree 6ines 6ress (199!#. Kohn, >ivia. Taoist M"stical Philosoph": the Scripture of #estern Ascension. Albany, 5ew ;ork= 'tate ?niversity of 5ew ;ork 6ress (!!#. Krishna, Gopi. Kundalini: the *olutionar" nerg" in Man. :oulder, 2olorado= 'hambhala 6ublications (!3#. 'cott, ary. The Kundalini Concept: ts !rigin and Value. ondon= $over 6ublications (!-#. ;u, >u K+uan. Taoist Yoga: Alche$" and $$ortalit". ;ork :each, aine= 'amuel *eiser, %nc. (!0#.
