Flames of Refinement

When we burn in these ways there can be very few options other than to suffer the pain and not resist the changes being forced by divine grace. We cannot run away as these flames come from within. We may not even be able to run from the triggers that bring this pain up such as a teacher or a friend or a circumstance or a situation.

The questions come to mind - Why must we be so pained when it comes to losing the attachments of the ego? Why must it hurt? Can we not move into the release from these qualities voluntarily?

Sometimes we can change within those areas that we are aware of and sometimes not as we are not always aware of that which is beyond the conscious ability to discern. So the Kundalini places us in situations and scenarios that bring up these issues for release. The analogy of "the flames" is that it often goes against our comfort zones to have this occur and it can hurt.

Change is rarely easy inside of this teaching. We enjoy our complacency of knowing who and how we are and we do not always feel the need to clean out from under the carpet those issues and elements of the ego that will often block our progress if not given the opportunity to be exposed by the Kundalini. We will happily go through life thinking that we are "fine just the way we are" with no need to change or modify our inner and outer environments.

The Kundalini will then force the issue if we resist overly much and from that level of enforced guidance we will resist typically even more. This is where some of the pain comes from. Other pains come from the understanding that we are not going to escape this and that we are not able to share this with others. We are alone in this inner cleansing.

With that solitary confinement it is even more of a painful experience as we no longer have the familiar structures of healing and happiness to lean on. We are forced to comply with the Kundalini and if we continue to resist then a Kundalini based fragmentation can occur. These can last for years.

So we struggle and we writhe in our inner agony. We lash out and we blame and we project outward from our own responsibilities in order to avoid or to discredit that which is forcing us to change. We try to run away from that which is within us as our inner demons chase us into circles of exhaustion.

A "star chamber" is a description of a place of extreme five body pressure from all sides. When the pressure builds to a certain degree the star bursts into its brilliance and shines brightly. It is that way with us as we enter into the Kundalini refining fire. The process itself though is quite difficult and when inside of a vertical ascension process it can be difficult to the extreme.

Do your best to surrender to the Kundalini or to the teacher it has assigned you. Do not resist the changes of your inner personality or your behaviors of the ego. Let yourself be given completely into the Kundalini grace and if the flames reach out to you embrace them right back and bathe in them for the brilliance of the burn will fade in its difficulty as you do so leaving a bright Kundalini star in its wake. - chrism