Living with Kundalini (Shambhala Dragon Editions) [Paperback]

Gopi Krishna (Author)

Book Description

Series: Shambhala Dragon Editions | Publication Date: November 9, 1993

This classic first-person account of spiritual awakening was first published under the title Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man —here expanded with two-thirds new material drawn from the author's writing to make a complete autobiography.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"With so many 'spiritual teachers' today proclaiming their own greatness, this humble, matter-of-fact tale of an almost accidental spiritual odyssey is reassuring. Maybe all this stuff is true."—Shambhala Sun



"At a time when the word 'Kundalini' is bandied about by too many self-appointed gurus and occult groups offering enlightenment in ten easy lessons, Gopi Krishna provides a salutary reminder of what a serious undertaking it is to attempt to raise this awesome power. He states that the Kundalini is the basis of all psychic manifestations in the individual, including mediumship and clairvoyance, a fact which renders this book of great importance to anyone working in a psychic capacity."—Light

"Gopi Krishna was a pioneer in the land of spirituality. What he described as psychic forces in human beings are now being understood as fields of energy and information. I salute this great sage and scientist of the twentieth century and congratulate the publishers for bringing out this volume."—Deepak Chopra, M.D., author of Quantum Healing

"Gopi Krishna was a true psychenaut into the realms of human possibility, an Odysseus of inner space. The publication of his autobiography should be a major event in the documentation of who and what we really are."—Jean Houston, Ph.D., Director Foundation for Mind Research

"Gopi Krishna's description of the changes—psychological, physical, perceptual, and biochemical—which can happen to a person who is in the process of an accelerated spiritual emergence process was the first definitive work written for the Western world about kundalini awakening. This new book should be a great comfort to those trying to comprehend the process."—Emma Bragdon, Ph.D., Editor of the Spiritual Emergence Network Newsletter

"The writing of Gopi Krishna is an indispensable resource for anyone who wishes to begin to understand the role of kundalini in exceptional mental states and in the evolution of consciousness. His own kundalini awakening is itself an extraordinary and inspiring story of human possibility and gives one a sense of the tremendous spiritual birthright each of us carries within our own nervous system."—Kenneth Ring, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of Connecticut, and author of Heading toward Omega and The Omega Project

"It was above all Gopi Krishna who, through his fascinating autobiography and other works, made the kundalini phenomenon widely known in the West. More than that, he brought it down from the level of abstract speculation to concrete description based on personal experience. He struggled hard to make this complex and crucial spiritual phenomenon intelligible in his numerous writings and talks, and I regard him as one of the bridge-building pioneers of our time, who hewed new paths for the necessary dialogue between East and West."—Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., Author of Encyclopedic Dictionary of Yoga

About the Author

Gopi Krishna (1903–1984) was an ordinary Indian householder who experienced the awakening of the spiritual force known as kundalini at the age of thirty-four. He subsequently became the inspired writer of numerous books in which he shared his insights with others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1st edition (November 9, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877739471
• ISBN-13: 978-0877739470
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #466,420 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Cryptic words. Just pure Simple & understandable., January 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Living with Kundalini (Shambhala Dragon Editions) (Paperback)

The Book is written in a very simple and lucid language. Kundalini has been a mystery for 1000's of years and there is not much written about it ..due to this there are numerous misconceptions about this topic. Gopi Krishna is the first person who has tried to lift the veil of ignorance about this topic. This he could do only because he is amoung the few in this world who have experienced Kundalini awakening in the seventh center called the sahashra chakra OR the 1000 petaled lotus situated in the brain. It is due to this self experience that he was able to lay down in front of the reader accurate information about this phenomena. Other Yogis who have written about this have done so in a very cryptic language ..which is not so easy to understand for the average person. Gopi Krishna have made honest attempt to clear & enhance the understanding of the new aspirant on his way to trying to find the superconscious & lift the veil of Maya.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An intresting account but dont take it as gospel, February 24, 2003

By 

louis smith "louis" (U.S.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Living with Kundalini (Shambhala Dragon Editions) (Paperback)

Krishna gives, what I believe, to be a true account of kundalini awakening. I don't have doubts about what he writes; he seems to be sincere. His book is a telling of how he practiced meditation on the crown chakra and gives in terrifying detail how the kundalini affected him. However I must agree with one of the reviewers, who wrote about how little Krishna knows about the effects of meditation. It seems he picked up a meditation technique without knowing anything about its results. He appears to have no knowledge of yoga or the yoga sutras of pantajali. It looks like he just started meditating without any prior study of authentic information on meditation and its effects. This is surprising to me, because India has many good books on meditation and yoga. He started to meditate and then proceeds to give an account of his results. I got the idea that kundalini was incredibly dangerous and meditation was not something one would want to do. His results are real, because I have experienced to a greater or lesser degree some of the things he writes about. For example, in one of part of the book he writes that his appetite increased greatly. The true reason for this is that meditation increases the gastric fire. The result of this increased appetite is that kundalini uses the greater amounts of food to increase your physical and mental health. But if you read Krishnas account of it, you think its something truly terrible. I would suggest you take his conclusions with a great deal of skepticism. He also writes that he could not find someone in India who would explain what was happening to him. One guru told him that he was possessed by a demon. This shows me that there may far less genuine teachers and information in India then one may be led to believe. There are authentic teachings however; the works of Swami Sivananda come to mind. This man, as far as I know, is a true guru and spiritual genius. He has written many excellent works on yoga and meditation. I refer the spiritual seeker to his books which are inexpensive and filled with wisdom and practical teachings. True teachings are out there but they are not abundant. One should follow the yoga students of long ago who read authentic works such as the yoga sutras of pantajali and carefully STUDIED these works to get at the deeper meanings of the text. The deep secrets of the occult are found this way and not by following books or other instructions that dont know what they are talking about.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Honesty and Courage, May 25, 2000

By 

John Mueter "Chopinski" (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Living with Kundalini (Shambhala Dragon Editions) (Paperback)

With all the philosophizing and conjecture about the Kundalini force, we have here an account of a profound psychic experience by someone who has personally lived through it. Gopi Krishna, an obscure civil servant, tells his tale with great honesty and alacrity. I especially appreciated the lack of religious reference. The vital force is beyond religion. The author's integrity and intelligence add to the immediacy of his, at times, harrowing life story. But he tends to repeat and explain himself at great length, and the elegant writing style became overbearing after a while. The book could have been edited down by half without losing much. Still, an important and worthwhile read for those interested in the mysterious Kundalini force.