Customer Reviews

Unmasking the Rose: A Record of a Kundalini Initiation

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Unmasking the Rose is compiled from Dorothy Walters' private journals over the past 25 years or so, during which time she experienced a spontaneous awakening of an energy she barely understood: kundalini. Her book has both the strengths and the drawbacks of this method. On the one hand, we follow along with her as she gradually tries to cope with and make sense of what is happening to her. On the other hand, the journal entries are not dated, and the connecting narrative sometimes makes it a little unclear how much time has passed or what is going on outside the inner self. The introduction and the concluding chapter, writtem in a more direct style for publication, help to frame the middle chapters and give them more clarity.

As a Christian who is drawn to the mystical, I felt I needed to be introduced to kundalini. Walters certainly gives me a lot to think about. Her experience is primarily one of bliss. She attempts to describe as openly as she can her actual experience, and I am left with the understanding that kundalini feels like sexual pleasure transmuted so that it pervades the entire being. It occurs in the head, not as mental images, but as actual sensation.

I am attracted to her insistence that the path to awakening is not out of the body but in more fully uniting body and spirit. This, in my opinion (though not in hers), is in fact what Christianity actually indicates. She also speaks of the fact that the image of Christ on the cross is the final image that will occur to a Christian being awakened. The lives of the Catholic saints certainly confirms that fact.

On the other hand, the fact that Walters is a lesbian, dabbled in the occult, and uses primarily Hindu imagery in her explanations, challenges me.

And if synchronicities mean anything, I can't overlook the fact that her initiation began when she was the exact same age as I now am, in the exact same profession, and that she wrote a book on the same author that I wrote my master's thesis on.

The bottom line is that I have a better and more positive impression of what kundalini is all about. And I am left to wonder if the story of Genesis, where a serpent suggests to Adam and Eve that they eat of a forbidden tree and become like gods, is in fact a specific rejection of kundalini by the Hebrews. Since kundalini (despite the serpent image, which seems male) is considered to me a female power (goddess, even), is it possible that it was rejected in order to allow patriarchy to gain the ascendency? Or is it a warning from God Himself to avoid this serpent power?

I am left with these questions.

It's hard to put into words how helpful I found this book to be. Dorothy Walter's way of describing her personal kundalini awakening makes this often nebulous phenonmenon accessible and understandable to novices and experienced practitioners alike. Too often such mystical experiences are presented in ways that tend to make one feel these are mountain-top moments not meant for the so-called average person. I mean we aren't all Ram Dass or St. John of the Cross or some guru living in an ashram in India. We are folks who go to work, clean our homes, raise our children, shop in grocery stores, drive cars on the freeway, get angry when someone tailgates us too close. I mean, we're simply human.

Well, Dorothy Walters is human too, yet she has experienced the highest form of spiritual arousal not once, not twice, but on a regular basis for decades. It happens when she slows down, tunes out and quiets herself. That makes sense. Everything she says makes sense.

Of all the many--countless, actually--spiritual books I've read, "Unmasking the Rose" comes the closest to the Truth. The truth that spiritual experiences are not for the already-enlightened, but for everyone. Everyone who is willing to open that door and walk through it, that is. Not that we will all experience kundalini in either its blissful or painful aspects, but that we all have the POTENTIAL to do so.

I thank Dorothy Walters for telling her story so we will have the courage to LIVE our stories, wherever they might lead us.

I am so overwhelmed that I will be short in my praise : This book should be handed out free; It is simply a masterpiece of spirituality>Ms Walters shares with us her struggles to understand the amazing process taking place within her 'regular' life and the revolutionary leap it creates;
We all have to learn from Dorothy Walters; May God bless her and her superb work.

Frankly I was stunned. I knew nothing about Kundalini, and little about ecstatic experiences, but after finishing Dorthy Walter's "Unmasking the Rose" I was both enlivened, educated and inspired. This book is a MUST for anyone asking the question, "Is it ever too late to connect with God?" Dorothy Walters teaches us not only that connection is only a breath away, but how, through her own remarkable journey your own path may be created. Finally, books of this kind can frequently be thick and inaccessible. I found Ms. Walters writing to be both "friendly" and a joy to read. What more could I ask?

Dorothy Walter's book is a beautiful, honest, and unpretentious description of the transformative process of kundalini awakening. This isn't a story of Himalayan caves or remote monasteries; Dorothy Walters presents herself as she is: a university professor who leads a relatively quiet life. She strives, sometimes struggles, to balance the mundane details of life with this deep spiritual opening. And she describes it honestly, day-to-day, largely free from the technical jargon of many spiritual books. This book is so profound precisely because hers is a life you or I could be leading. Fascinating reading!

In "Unmasking The Rose," Dorothy Walters has indeed given us a gem - a modern-day spiritual classic that describes, in all of its subtle and shattering detail, the process of Kundalini Awakening as it occurred within her "own" bodymind. Like so much great mystical writing, "Unmasking The Rose" is both deeply personal and transcendent; It describes not only the events in the life of a 53-year-old American woman, but also an evolutionary process unfolding now, for all of humanity. If you appreciate accounts of rapidly-expanding consciousness, spiritual awakening within the energetic matrix of the body, or just how life can present us with the most unexpected and delicious gifts ... then I highly recommend picking up a copy of "Unmasking The Rose." It is a treasure not to be missed!

I was so honored to be asked by Dorothy Walter's publishers to endorse this brave and wonderful book; How rare it is to read an account of a spiritual transformation that is both profound and very, in the highest sense, accessible. Ms Walters has made a unique contribution to the literature of the Spirit with an elegance, candor, humor and passion that will inspire all those who are blessed enough to read this book. In my blurb, I wrote "'Unmasking the Rose' is one of the most amazing and powerful books I have ever read". I have just read it again and I am happy and grateful to find it even more compelling than I did before.Do not hesitate to get this book and reflect deeply on what it has to say.Your life will be the richer for it.

I found this book most helpful in understanding my own awakening. Walters entries reflect the wonder and confusion of this universally known experience.Although she uses some Hindu terminlogy I found the writing
easy to follow. On such a difficult complex subject this is quite an accomplishment. Thank you Dorothy Walters for putting into words this
overwhelming experience. Indeed, it is refreshing to find something on this subject that comes out of an ordinary life instead of the countless pages written by gurus who perhaps have not even had the experience themselves

Prior to reading "Unmasking the Rose," I knew very little about kundalini. My understanding was a remote recollection of a snake lying at the base of the spine. However, after reading Dr. Walter's superb autobiography, I am convinced that kundalini awakening (k.a.) is very important in terms of our shared spiritual destiny. It may very be the universal cornerstone of mysticism.

What makes Dr. Walter's book so helpful and inspiring is her approach, which is very honest and down to Earth. K.A., traditionally reserved for the select few (living in monasteries and caves) has now been made accessible to a much larger audience. Dr. Walter's is a modern day mystic, with one foot in the material world and the other in eternity.

Furthermore, I truly believe in the authenticity of her awakening. Why? Because of the setting, Dr Walters has spent most of her life living and working in the Midwest. This region is not very well versed in any spiritual discipline but traditional Christianity. Yet, despite the dearth of information or encouragement, Dr. Walters found herself immersed in a classical k.a. It is clear that to accomplish this it was necessary for her to connect with an inner guide.

Before concluding, I wish to mention Dr. Walter's wonderful anthology of poetry, "Marrow of Flame." It is a perfect complement to her autobiography. Both books are an expression of her depth and honesty.

If you want a first person account of a true kundalini awakening do not waste your time or your money on this book!!!! Dorothy Walters may have had a small amount of kundalini activity, and that is questionable, but she did not have an awakening.

As a student of kundalini who has spent 120+ classroom hours, and hundreds more on my own, studying the subject I was extremely disappointed when I read this book. The symptoms that she describes are weak imitations of true kundalini activity. NO ONE experiencing the heat of kundalini is going to contemplate vacuuming the house!!! They will also experience kundalini activty at seemingly random, inconvienient times, not just after meditation. She continuously describes the kundalini energy as being subtle, delicate, and delicious. THERE IS NOTHING SUBTLE ABOUT KUNDALINI!!! While it is true that every kundalini awakening is unique to the individual that experiences it, there are, after several thousand years of documented awakenings (mostly in the East), several criteria that must be met for an experience to be considered a true kundalini awakening. Dorothy Walters experience meets none of those criteria. Now, I am not saying that Dorothy Walters is intentionally misleading anyone. It is obvious when reading the book the she honestly believes that she had a kundalini awakening.

A much, much better book of a true and recent first person account is "The Evolving Human" by Penny Kelly.