John B.:
OK. Your response made me even more skeptical. One cannot keep kundalini shakti down by effort. That is ridiculous.
I am skeptical too about the causes, the nature of it, and the perhaps subtle ways in which his self/identity may be creating or interfering with it, but what I can testify for certain is that
something is happening to him. He calls it Kundalini Syndrome, and that's fine with me.
John B.:
But the hallmark is a radically altered state of consciousness and "seeing God." All the physical stuff is like a side effect. Kundalini awakening is the same thing as the A&P. It passes, and then needs to be integrated.
Sounds very much like how he describes his awakening experience which started it all.
John B.:
In terms of a spiritual syndrome, it makes more sense to talk of the Dark Night, which definitely follows and can last a long time.
He doesn't appear to be experiencing any Dark Night type symptoms these days (misery, fear, disgust, etc.) It seems to be mostly physical, and he appears to me to be quite at peace with life.
John B.:
If this only happens while he's meditating, he may be doing something to egg it on
This is what I wonder, though I don't think it's conscious. But perhaps in a very subtle way, the activity of the self/identity is egging it on.
John B.:
I don't mean to be harsh, but there's so much disinformation and mystification around kundalini awakenings online. It makes real information difficult to come by and then people think it's just rolling around on the floor and sticking your tongue out.
Sure. And, given that kundalini is not at all a scientifically verified phenomena... what makes you take such a stance as an authority on it? Is it possible that perhaps there is still much we don't know about such things?
John B.:
The money thing looks like a scam.
Yes. I have no idea how he came up with $50,000. He said he thought he might not be able to work for a year or two, but that certainly doesn't require $50,000 (not even in the Bay Area.) I think a person could live in the SF bay area for about $20,000 per year, if keeping a tight budget.
At any rate, he is closing the fundraiser and taking out the $1,000 he raised so far. This is what he wrote to me:
Damian:
"Strangely, I'm not particularly afraid; I'm actually kind of excited to step head first into the fear of poverty I've had most of my life, in order to overcome it."