Editing Kundalini yoga (section)

== History ==
[[File:Indic_Manuscript_347,_side_a_Wellcome_L0024647.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Drawing of the [[subtle body]] in an Indic manuscript showing the energy centres ([[chakra]]s), the main subtle channels ([[Nadi (yoga)|nadi]]s), and the coiled serpent energy at the base of the spine ([[kundalini]]). The serpent is shown again on the left of the drawing.]]

===Name===

The Sanskrit adjective ''{{IAST|kuṇḍala}}'' means "circular, annular". It occurs as a noun for "a snake" (in the sense "coiled", as in "forming ringlets") in the 12th-century ''[[Rajatarangini]]'' chronicle (I.2). ''{{IAST|Kuṇḍa}}'', a noun which means "bowl, water-pot", is found as the name of a [[Nāga|Naga]] in ''[[Mahabharata]]'' 1.4828.
The Sanskrit feminine noun ''kuṇḍalī'' means "ring, bracelet, coil (of a rope)", and is the name of a "serpent-like" [[Shakti]] in [[Tantrism]] as early as the 11th century, in the ''[[Sarada Tilaka|Śaradatilaka]]''.<ref>André Padoux, ''Vāc: The Concept of the Word in Selected Hindu Tantras'', SUNY Press, 1990, 124-136.</ref>

What has become known as "Kundalini yoga" in the 20th century, after a technical term particular to this tradition, is actually a synthesis of Bhakti Yoga (devotion and chanting), Raja Yoga (meditation) and Shakti Yoga (the expression of power and energy)."<ref>{{cite web |title=What Is Kundalini Yoga |date=19 March 2020 |url=https://www.fitsri.com/yoga/kundalini-yoga |access-date=21 December 2021}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2021}} However, it may include [[haṭha yoga]] techniques (such as [[Bandha (Yoga)|bandha]], [[pranayama]], and [[asana]]), [[Patañjali]]'s [[Kriyā|kriya yoga]] (consisting of self-discipline, self-study, devotion to God, dhyāna, and samādhi), tantric visualization and meditation techniques of ''laya yoga'' (known as ''samsketas'').<ref>[[James Mallinson (author)|Mallinson, James]]. "Dattātreya's Discourse on Yoga". 24 June 2013. accessed 25 October 2015. https://www.academia.edu/3773137/Translation_of_the_Datt%C4%81treyayoga%C5%9B%C4%81stra_the_earliest_text_to_teach_ha%E1%B9%ADhayoga . "The Yoga of Dissolution (layayoga) happens as a result of the dissolution of the mind by means of esoteric techniques (saṃketas). Ādinātha has taught eighty million esoteric techniques."</ref>

Laya may mean either the techniques of yoga or (like [[Rāja yoga]]) its effect of "absorption" of the individual into the cosmic.<ref>{{cite book | last=Woodroffe | first=John |author-link=John Woodroffe | title='The Serpent Power'. Illustrations, Tables, Highlights and Images by Veeraswamy Krishnara | pages=88–89 | access-date=25 October 2015 | url=http://www.bhagavadgitausa.com/Serpent%20Power%20Complete.pdf | quote=YOGA is sometimes understood as meaning the result and not the process which leads to it. According to this meaning of the term, and from the standpoint of natural dualism, Yoga has been described to be the union of the individual spirit with god." and "the ecstatic condition in which the 'equality' that is identity of Jīvātmā and Paramātma is realized. The experience is achieved after '''the absorption (Laya) of Prāṇa and Manas''' and the cessation of all ideation (Saṁkalpa) }}</ref> Laya yoga, from the Sanskrit term ''laya'' (meaning "dissolution", "extinction", or "absorption"), is almost always described in the context of other Yogas such as in the ''Yoga-Tattva-Upanishad'', the ''[[Varaha Upanishad]]'', the exact distinctions between traditional yoga schools are often hazy due to a long history of syncretism, hence many of the oldest sources on Kundalini come through manuals of the tantric and haṭha traditions, including the ''[[Hatha Yoga Pradipika]]'' describes the qualified yogi as practicing the four yogas' to achieve kundalini awakening, while lesser students may resort solely to one technique or another: "Mantra Yoga and Hatha Yoga. Laya Yoga is the third. The fourth is Raja Yoga. It is free from duality."<ref>{{cite book | last=Mallinson | first=James |author-link=James Mallinson (author) | date=2007-01-01 | title=The : A Critical Edition and an English Translation (Kindle Locations 100-101) and (Kindle Locations 799-825) | publisher=YogaVidya.com | edition=Kindle | quote=As Hatha Yoga, originally the preserve of the unorthodox Nathas, grew in popularity in the medieval period, the orthodox Shaivas sought to incorporate it within their soteriology, and thus may be an example of this appropriation." and "He is sure to achieve perfection in three years. He is entitled to practice all Yogas. In this there is no doubt.}}</ref>

===Hatha yoga===
{{further|Hatha Yoga Pradipika|Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad}}

The ''[[Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad]]'' is a [[syncretism|syncretistic]] yoga text related to the schools of [[Hatha yoga|Hatha]] and [[Mantra]] yoga.<ref>[[Gerald James Larson|Larson, Gerald James]] (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Yoga: India's philosophy of meditation''. Motilal Banarsidass. {{ISBN|978-81-208-3349-4}}, p. 476, 615-617</ref>

Other Sanskrit texts treat ''kundalini'' as a technical term in tantric yoga, such as the ''Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpana'' and the ''Pādukā-pañcaka''. These were translated in 1919 by [[John Woodroffe]] as ''The Serpent Power: The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga''. He identifies the process of involution and its techniques in these texts as a particular form of Tantrik ''Laya Yoga''.<ref>Woodroffe, John. "The Serpent Power". Illustrations, Tables, Highlights and Images by Veeraswamy Krishnara. p. 11. Accessed 25 October 2015. http://www.bhagavadgitausa.com/Serpent%20Power%20Complete.pdf "when dealing with the practice of Yoga, the rule is that things dissolve into that from which they originate, and the Yoga process here described is such dissolution (Laya)"</ref>

[[File:Late Kundalini Model of Hatha Yoga.svg|thumb|upright=2|Late Kundalini Model of Hatha Yoga<ref>{{cite book | last1=Mallinson | first1=James |author-link=James Mallinson (author) |last2=Singleton |first2=Mark |author2-link=Mark Singleton (yoga scholar) | title=[[Roots of Yoga]] | publisher=Penguin Books | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-241-25304-5 | oclc=928480104 |pages=180–181}}</ref>]]

The ''Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad'' consists of three short chapters; it begins by stating that Chitta (consciousness) is controlled by Prana, and it is controlled by moderate food, postures and ''Shakti-Chala'' (I.1-2). Verses I.3-6 explain the concepts of moderate food and concept, and verse I.7 introduces ''Kundalini'' as the name of the ''Shakti'' under discussion:
:I.7. The Sakti (mentioned above) is only Kundalini. A wise man should take it up from its place (Viz., the navel, upwards) to the middle of the eyebrows. This is called Sakti-Chala. 
:I.8. In practising it, two things are necessary, Sarasvati-Chalana and the restraint of Prana (breath). Then through practice, Kundalini (which is spiral) becomes straightened.<ref>trans. K. Narayanasvami Aiyar [http://www.astrojyoti.com/yogakundaliniupanishad.htm Astrojyoti.com], based on a translation first published in 1891 in ''The Theosophist'', Volume 12.</ref>