Kundalini Tantra/2012 Re-print/ 2013 Golden Jubilee edition

Great read, lots of info, well written. Goes great with The Kybalion, Itzak Bentov, and the Gateway Experience.

I've owned this book for several years. I started out with "A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya", by the same author. This book is meant as a companion volume to A Systematic Course to go more in depth and explain technical details that couldn't find the space in the 1000 paged coursebook. It includes all the kriyas in their entirety with the same verbiage given in A Systematic Course. The only difference is that Kundalini Trantra presupposes the reader that's intending to do the practice has already had several years of rigorous hatha yoga and meditation practice. In fact, preceeding the exposition on the kriyas is a stern warning that those who haven't had such a lifestyle for about that much time should avert from kriya yoga until they have.A Systematic Course, by the same author, gives an excellent 3 years worth of systematically progressive yogic techniques and lays them out in a perfect way for daily practice. I followed it for 1.5 years before integrating the practice of kriya yoga with my daily sadhana, as laid out at the end of each section. I'm intensely grateful that I closely adhered to their guidelines. Had I not had a series of smaller "awakenings", I might wonder what the hell was happening to me sometimes. All for the persuit of God.Someone advised elsewhere here that practicing kundalini tantra (which includes kriya yoga) without a qualified teacher could be dangerous. I would have to firstly raise the question of what constitutes a "qualified" teacher? Secondly, what kind of risk would people be willing to take from these practices that might be so dangerous? I think the only qualified teacher available to us in the west is our own self-practice and our own experiences, guided by the budding intuition that develops therefrom. As for the risky business of meditation - Anytime I leave my house or drive my car, I'm putting my life in great potential peril. But I do so because I've minimized my risk from many years of practice and practical experience gleamed from it, and because the rewards far outweighs the risk.My ultimate recommendation: A great book for those who: are determined to gain self-enlightenment from kriya yoga and have had the hatha/concentration training; hatha yogis who want to move beyond the body; and those who simply are intensely curious about kriya yoga and its technical details.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati has done an excellent job writing this book. He started with his doubts as school boy, then how he learnt and how it fits in the big picture. all my questions about kundalini were answered. remember, even though i am indian/hindu upper caste born, none of it was known to me till i figured it out from the internet and then later on using this book. i had a pdf version of this book from somewhere - then decided to get myself a paper copy.it is very well written, no unwanted material, to the point. swamiji's command over english language is impeccable. he knows his stuff. as i heard in one of bhagawad gita's lecture, the concepts can be explained by someone who had a quest and understood it fully - as against a born brahma-jnani because a brahma jnani will not be relate to the billions of common man's thought process.even though the title says "tantra", there is nothing about sexual tantra that the media has associated tantra with. he does explain about the sexual aspects of tantra that can be used for kundalini awakening - and the dangers associated with it.over all, it is a fantastic book - if u need something more detailed about kundalini, you may have to know sanskrit well and access all the vedic texts to research and compile. swamiji has saved us the trouble and has compiled this beautiful book for us. i am planning to buy swamiji's 900+ page book on kriya yoga that outlines yoga and how it can be used for life and beyond instead of just muscle building and cholestrol control.on a side note, after reading this and listening to a lot of discourses, i inferred (cannot prove it) that prahlada had kundalini awakened all chakras to sahasrara while he was in his mother's womb with the help of sage narada. that is why he was crowned bhakta chakravarti by the lord himself - born a brahma jnani. when you hear bhakti providing ashta maha siddhis - remember, that happens ONLY when the kundalini crosses the diaphram chakra. also, when you hear that moksha/ samadhi status happens only with kundalini at sahasrara. i learnt to make the connection after analysis.enjoy reading this book.

This book is an absolute must for the Yoga aspirant. Here Satyananda Saraswati is our guide into the world of Kundalini, the working of our Yogic body and the experiences that come along with this practice. His words are so clear that if you have never read a book on Yoga, the information here will still be completely understandable. This along with their other books, namely, Practical Yoga Psychology Practical Yoga Psychology, should be a part of the library of all those who are trying to evolve, the yogic way. Satyananda, as the great teacher he was, goes to great lenghths to describe the ups and down of Kundalini, of how to prepare and the cleansing process that happens when the kundalini is awakened. He gives information on those throughout history who had experienced this gift. He also treads carefully as he writes, so as not to indulge fully on the philosophical point of view, noting where sctientific research has "proved" or have yet to (for the westrn skeptics). And he gives us, the practitioner, outlines so that we may asses who we really are and what path of cleansing is the best for our individual self.This is one of Bihar's School of Yoga great and educative book on man as a whole. I highly recommend this book.