The serpent's tale : Kuṇḍalinī yoga and the history of an experience / Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Anya Foxen.

Author/creator Borkataky-Varma, Sravana author.
Other author Foxen, Anya P., 1986- author.
Format Book
PublicationNew York : Columbia University Press, [2025]
Description386 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Subjects

Contents South Asian roots : serpents, fire, and the ascent of Kuṇḍalinī -- Western roots : subtle bodies, mystical ascents, and assorted serpents -- West meets east : Kuṇḍalinī and the serpent power -- East meets west : Kuṇḍalinī and the evolution of modern yoga -- When the serpent rises : what happened to Gopi Krishna? -- The serpent in the marketplace : global gurus make their mark -- The serpent in the melting pot : Kuṇḍalinī in North American counterculture -- The serpent in the web : contemporary interweavings.
Abstract "In popular books and articles on Kuṇḍalinī, their definition converges on a common notion of a serpentine energy rising up the spine through a sequence of seven chakras (energy vortices). However, this represents only one specific strand of the Indian tradition. In the fifteenth century CE, eleventh-century tantric traditions imagined Kuṇḍalinīas divine energy-a goddess-to be visualized during meditative practice. But even earlier a complex cultural foundation of religious interests, understandings of the body, cosmologies, metaphysics, myths, and symbolism had originated in the Upanishad texts predating the Common Era. Tracing both its South Asian and its Western roots is integral to understanding its modern shape, a deeply hybrid entity, incorporating strands of Theosophy, the global gurus who introduced yoga to the West, and the ongoing diversity of the intricate ways that modern practitioners negotiate interpretation and authenticity"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in other formOnline version http://id.loc.gov/entities/relationships/onlineversion Borkataky-Varma, Sravana Serpent's tale New York : Columbia University Press, [2025] 9780231559430
Issued in other formebook version : 9780231559430
LCCN 2025003267
ISBN9780231212533
ISBN9780231212526 hardcover
ISBN0231212526 hardcover
ISBN0231212534 paperback
ISBNelectronic book

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