Śakti Transmission
Śakti transmission is Consciousness looking back at Itself. Svātantrya Śakti is the autonomous power of Consciousness to forever manifest Its own fullness and perfection, expressing Itself as a matrix of energy called Kauliki Śakti.
Kauliki Śakti is Consciousness becoming the universe, individuating into kuṇḍalinī and into you and me. Because kuṇḍalinī śakti is everywhere, śakti transmission is not the movement of energy from one location to another. Instead, it is a contact between two points held within the dynamic infinite field of Oneness. That is where transmission takes place.
What is this energetic field of Consciousness? Max Planck, a German theoretical physicist, whose discovery of energy quanta won him the Nobel Prize in 1918, said this:
As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent spirit (orig. geist). This spirit is the matrix of all matter.
While Planck’s words point us in the right direction, we must directly experience this field of Oneness within ourselves. To do that, we engage in the fundamental practices we have been given — to first internalize our energy and open our hearts, and then, to tune in to the currents of energy that move within the central channel, the suṣumṇa. In addition, we begin to know Consciousness within us as we receive śakti transmission, which not only awakens kuṇḍalinī, but also includes the resonance of Oneness.
Transmission: Energy Leads to Consciousness
One of the essential elements of teaching I received from my guru Rudi is śakti transmission. It is critical, because becoming one with kuṇḍalinī śakti leads us back to Consciousness, that supreme Source of all existence. Kuṇḍalinī is the individuated expression of supreme Consciousness within each of us. All Tantric teachings say that we cannot awaken our own kuṇḍalinī since that power is deeply buried — and the ego (our separated identity) is so thick that we have little chance to uncover that inner force on our own. A teacher who embodies the energy field of his or her lineage is like a tuning fork that allows us to resonate with this deeper dimension in ourselves.
Our desire to know our highest Self may feel like our own longing, but in reality, it is God within us, wishing to know Himself, as us. When, through the descent of grace (śaktipāta), this spiritual longing begins to stir, it generally leads us to find a practice and a teacher who can help unfold that which is already within us. Śakti transmission provides the flow of energy that can cut through any level of psychic density, greatly augmenting whatever inner work we do on our own. This nourishment feeds the Divinity within, allowing It to emerge and reveal Itself to us. Transmission is love freely given, a living spiritual force that not only opens the door within us but provides the energy and support necessary to keep that door open.
From the highest perspective, although śakti transmission appears to originate and flow from the transmitter, it is actually called forth from the receiver. It is the response to the grace that is awakening within. Like a flash of lightning, the still point where the calling forth and the transmission merge explodes into the revelation that there were never two. There is only One — only the perfect eternal moment of grace. As we open and surrender to that grace, our sense of differentiation and of separate identity begins to melt and fall away, like ice melting into water, and contracted awareness is absorbed into its unbounded Source.
We are engaging in a relationship with a living spiritual force that is always activated, and in one sense has nothing to do with the person of the teacher. But in our relationship with an individual teacher, it is imperative that we remember that every part of our interaction with him or her contains transmission. When we accept someone as a teacher, transmission happens on an ongoing basis, and is an expression of the matrix of energy that is the autonomous power of Consciousness. That Kauliki Śakti is omnipresent, and therefore transmission is not restricted to being in physical proximity to the teacher. We can tune in to it at any time, in any place.
I truly encourage you to recognize the incredible opportunity that has been presented to you by the Divine. Within you is the fullness and perfection of Life, and that is an extraordinary gift. My advice is this: don’t let anything get in the way of discovering that blessing for yourself.