How does a tantric practitioner enter higher levels of consciousness?
The expansion of consciousness is first aroused in the body, then through the mind and intellect, and then into the higher levels of consciousness. It starts from the gross material level and expands up and out. Kundalini is a latent potency of awareness within physical material. It expands and develops, changes and progresses through body, intellect, and mind. We call this “shakti rising.” Kundalini is the energy inherent in the universal consciousness, even in insentient beings. The greater the consciousness, the more powerful the kundalini. There are many forms of this energy. Some work at the physical plane—the atomic or molecular or cellular. Some are mental—there is the power to know, act, desire. Then there are spiritual energies—the power to enlighten. A rolling boulder is powerful but not conscious. Yes, exactly. If you are doing something unconsciously, the energies operating belong to a lower level. You are conscious of this magazine, this room, the thought you are having. A
