Spiritual Dangers of Yoga

According to renowned psychoanalyst Carl Jung:

“One often hears and reads about the dangers of Yoga, particularly of the ill-reputed Kundalini Yoga. The deliberately induced psychotic state, which in certain unstable individuals might easily lead to a real psychosis, is a danger that needs to be taken very seriously indeed. These things really are dangerous and ought not to be meddled with in our typically Western way. It is a meddling with Fate, which strikes at the very roots of human existence and can let loose a flood of sufferings of which no sane person ever dreamed. These sufferings correspond to the hellish torments of the chönyid state…”   C. G. Jung, Introduction to The Tibetan Book of the Dead * - Carl Jung

The purpose of this website is to provide information and links to articles and websites that describe the many physical, psychological, and spiritual dangers associated with yoga, Eastern meditation, and especially practices that are used to bring about a “kundalini awakening.”  As you investigate the sites and articles here you will see that the purpose of yoga is not physical exercise, but a path to spiritual “awakening” and “enlightenment” through union with the “divine.”   To bring about this “enlightenment,” the primary goal of yoga is to prepare oneself for the awakening of the spiritual energy or “kundalini” that supposedly lies dormant at the base of the spine.  When the awakening of kundalini or “serpent energy” occurs, the consequences can be perilous and last for years.

The websites referenced on these pages come from “New Age” and Eastern religious sources as well as Christian viewpoints on the topic.  

Below are two suggested articles that should be read by anyone considering engaging in yoga.  The first is from the Livestrong website and the second is much more in-depth regarding the spiritual dynamics of yoga and kundalini.  Please remember that awakening the kundalini is the goal of all yoga and this includes “hatha” yoga.

Kundalini Yoga Dangers – from Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong website.

Awakening the Serpent Power – by Georg Feuerstein, founder of the Yoga Research and Education Center (YREC).

Also, below is a newly released video by Steven Bancarz that reviews recent research from the Britton Meditation Lab at Brown University as well as includes excerpts from a video by New Age guru, Leo Gura, called the “Dark Side of Meditation.”

Signs and Symptoms of a Kundalini Awakening:

  • Mental confusion, difficulty concentrating, memory problems
  • Severe emotional mood swings – anxiety, depression, rage, fear, and dread
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Gastrointestinal problems, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Itching, burning, cramping, twitching of skin and  body
  • Electrical rushes and feelings of energy moving throughout  the body
  • Ego problems, grandiose and paranoid states
  • Psychic, trance states and out-of-body experiences
  • Sexual and hormonal difficulties
  • Uncontrollable vocalizations, chanting and body contortions
  • Ringing, rushing, and hissing sounds in ears
  • Paranormal activity – levitations, possession states, and spiritual assault
  • Inability to function effectively enough to work or care for children
  • Symptoms can last for years
  • For more extensive listings see: Signs and symptoms of Kundalini Awakening and Kundalini: Risks and Information

About the Author:

The author of this website has an intimate and personal knowledge of the “kundalini awakening” experience.  If you explore the links on this site you will see that the experience is often debilitating, disabling, and sometimes life-threatening.  The experience can drive you insane and can continue for years.   The author of this webpage practiced Transcendental Meditation during the 1970s and became a Christian in 1995.  His spontaneous “awakening” started several years after he became a Christian during a battle with a rare muscle disease called “Eosinophilic Fasciitis.”  However, some of the more subtle symptoms started before his conversion.   Freedom from many of the symptoms of kundalini has come through prayer and ministry received from several Christian inner healing and deliverance ministries.  Increasingly, freedom has come through a deepening relationship and a complete surrender to Jesus Christ.   The Lord Jesus Christ is the true healer.

Is Kundalini really of God?

The questions to all who view these pages:   What is your view of God?  Is God a “force” or an “energy” to be manipulated? What are the attributes of God’s nature?  What kind of relationship do you want to have with God?  If God is a personal and truly loving God, does God desire these “kundalini” experiences for His human creation?  Has He made it this difficult and treacherous to get to know Him?

” the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; ” (Galatians 5:22-23)

“For God has  not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”  (2 Timothy 1:7)

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?” (Luke 11:11)

“The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness and truth; who keeps loving-kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin”  (Exodus 34:6-7)

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

“Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.”  (Isaiah 40:11)

“that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; [and] that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”  (Ephesians 3:16-19)

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