The Rising Serpent at Esalen

For more than 60 years, Esalen Institute has embraced explorations into frontier research topics. The study of the subtle body has received much attention throughout Esalen’s vibrant history and has significantly contributed to the popularization of kuṇḍalinī as a means of reaching an altered state of consciousness.

Scientists and religious protagonists have sought individual and collective alterations of consciousness throughout the second half of the twentieth century. Historically, besides psychedelic experimentations, religious practices and beliefs of South Asian origin were the most popular avenues of consciousness research. This interest traces back to several South Asian yogis and philosophers who paved the way for European and US-American interest in the relationship between the physical and the subtle components of the mind. The South Asian notion of kuṇḍalinī śakti proved to be a popular if mysterious means for exploring inner realms and shedding light on the ups and downs of psychological and spiritual endeavors.

Kuṇḍalinī means “she who is coiled,” signifying the power of the divine feminine (śakti), which resides within the body of the yogi at the base of the spine. The medieval Śaiva Tantra corpus (ca. 8-10th century CE) is the earliest known source that discusses kuṇḍalinī śakti within the frame of subtle body theories. Frequently, kuṇḍalinī is symbolically depicted as a dormant serpent that lies coiled at the entrance of the central channel (suṣumnā) of the yogic subtle body. Tantric sources describe how kuṇḍalinī can be stimulated by yogic practices (initially these included only visualization and only in later texts we read of physical components), resulting in a rise through the central channel, passing through the subtle centers (cakras) to the crown of the head. There kuṇḍalinī śakti unites with and ultimately dissolves into her male counterpart, Śiva. The scriptures teach us how this process engenders spiritual potential, gives rise to paranormal attainments (siddhis), and ultimately leads to liberation (mokṣa).

Today, kuṇḍalinī is discussed in terms of spiritual liberation and spiritual emergency. This notion of kuṇḍalinī as spiritual emergency traces back to the Indian pandit Gopi Krishna (1903–1984), who experienced the rise of kuṇḍalinī at the age of thirty-four during a meditation session. The energy arousal led not only to an altered perception of reality but also to years of trauma. Krishna’s systematic and reflective examination of this decisive event culminated in the publication of his autobiographical book “Kundalini. The Evolutionary Energy in Man” in 1967, in which he expounds on his transformational experience.

Krishna focused on kuṇḍalinī’s dangerous implications and portrayed the energy as a bearer of crisis. His book underlines his agony and describes how he underwent unbearable efforts to succeed in averting his own demise. These extensive descriptions of the drawbacks of his experience subsequently triggered a global revaluation of kuṇḍalinī in India, Europe, and the US.

Besides these contributions to modern interpretations of kuṇḍalinī, Gopi Krishna is best known for his endeavors to promote scientific research into kuṇḍalinī, seeking to demonstrate that a specific psycho-physiological mechanism is responsible for the evolutionary process in the human body. He launched the first Kundalini Research Foundation, which resulted in a global research network that attracted the attention of a growing alternative religious audience. It is not a big surprise that many of these unconventional strings were pulled by intellectuals and explorers linked to Esalen Institute.

The Esalen Catalogs, which document over 60 years of workshops, talks, conferences, and events dedicated to the explorations of human potentialities, constitute a priceless archive of the research’s multifaceted and varied logics, dynamics, and directions. These records show that Esalen was central to modern research into the mysterious phenomenon of kuṇḍalinī and its implications for our understanding of the mind and its innumerable layers of perception. 

Some of its most important protagonists in that regard were Stanislav and Christina Grof, who taught at Esalen for decades (Stanislav since 1967 and Christina since 1978) on topics such as transpersonal psychology, mysticism, and altered states of consciousness. In 1980, the Grofs founded the Spiritual Emergency Network at Esalen, which had a central focus on kuṇḍalinī-related crises. In that same year, they taught their first workshop on kuṇḍalinī’s role in spiritual emergencies, which shaped the perception of kuṇḍalinī at the Institute and beyond. In one research article, they describe the emotional spectrum linked to a kuṇḍalinī awakening: “The emotional manifestations of Kundalini awakening range from ecstasy, orgastic raptures, and states of indescribable peace and tranquility, to waves of depression, anxiety, and agitation bordering on feelings of insanity and/or death.” (“Spiritual Emergency: The Understanding and Treatment of Transpersonal Crises,” 1986) Throughout their workshops at Esalen (at times month-long special programs), the Grofs underlined the frequency of kuṇḍalinī processes as part of spiritual emergencies. The Esalen-initiated Spiritual Emergency Network persists to this day (although it was renamed the Spiritual Emergence Network in 1986), and Stanislav and Christina Grof arguably had the greatest impact on kuṇḍalinī research at Esalen.

Besides the Grofs, biofeedback pioneers at Esalen were exploring ways to capture the kuṇḍalinī process as early as 1971. Elmar Green, Itzhak Bentov, and Gay Luce worked with biofeedback and other machines to find a way to trigger a controlled kuṇḍalinī awakening in the human body. Esalen co-founder, Michael Murphy took part in one of the countless biofeedback experiments at Esalen and underlined their popularity throughout the 1970s and 80s. While triggering a kuṇḍalinī awakening was not the sole goal of these experiments, their influence on kuṇḍalinī research foundations around the world cannot be overemphasized.

The concept of the coiled and dormant kuṇḍalinī has thus fascinated a broad scope of believers and winds through subcultural milieus associated with the human potential movement. Staying at Esalen for an extended period of time — connecting with its community, talking with its earliest pioneers, and inhaling its never-ceasing spirit — has expanded my understanding of the transformational impact the Institute has had on its cultural and social surroundings. My entire perception of the zeitgeist of the 1960s through the 1980s, arguably the heydays of kuṇḍalinī research, has truly been altered; opening my eyes and mind to new insights. Esalen remains a pivotal center of research into the vast realms of alterations of consciousness, and at the same time, it constitutes the leading laboratory for personal experiences of altered states of reality. Over and above, Esalen truly assumed a key role in the global evocation of the ever-mysterious serpent power kuṇḍalinī.