‘Kundalini power is coiled like a serpent asleep at the base of the spinal cord. This is the power that has been called Mother of the Universe, and that Hermes Trismegistus calls the ‘strong fortitude of all strength’. Once awakened it may flow either up or down. If it moves upwards, it is very beneficial, and favours great spiritual development; if, on the contrary, it rushes downwards, it can have disastrous results. He who awakens the power of Kundalini without being absolutely pure and wholly in control of himself becomes a prey to uncontrollable sexual passions which plunge him at lightning speed into the deepest abyss, and to an inordinate, overweening ambition which leads him to defy the whole world.

This is why disciples are strongly advised not to attempt to arouse the Kundalini force before they have cultivated great purity and humility, for this most powerful of all forces is just as liable to destroy as to create.  In point of fact Kundalini can be aroused on different levels: it can be aroused seven times, for it sleeps with seven sleeps and is hidden by seven veils of matter. In one way it is quite easy to awaken Kundalini, but what is important, indeed essential, is to know what orientation to give to its energies and how to guide them, and this is much more difficult.

The forces of Kundalini are not subject to man’s will and cannot be driven in whatever direction he chooses; they will follow the direction determined by his qualities and virtues. When the fiery Serpent awakes it rushes headlong towards the nearest source of nourishment, and if this happens to be in a man’s lower nature, then that is where the Serpent goes, and the man is doomed and dragged down into the pit. Whereas, if he can offer the Serpent nourishment on a higher plane, then it will rise into the higher levels of his being.

When Kundalini rises it passes through the channel called Sushumna in the spinal cord. On either side of Sushumna are two other channels: Ida, which is negatively polarized and linked to the Moon, and Pingala, positively polarized and linked to the Sun. These two channels interweave upwards in a spiral movement, until Ida terminates in the left nostril and Pingala in the right.
This is why breathing exercises are considered most effective in awakening the Kundalini force….
To be continued…

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov –
Izvor book 219, Man’s Subtle Bodies and Centres,
http://www.prosveta.com/api/flipping/P0219AN