https://youtu.be/uLkBv_W1AmA

"The Awakening of Kundalini 

The manifestations of this form of psychospiritual crisis resemble the descriptions of the awakening of Kundalini, or the Serpent Power, found in ancient Indian literature (Woodroff 1974, Mookerjee and Khanna 1977, Mookerjee 1982). According to the yogis, Kundalini is the generative cosmic energy, feminine in nature, which is responsible for the creation of the cosmos. In its latent form it resides at the base of the human spine in the subtle or energetic body, which is a field that pervades and permeates, as well as surrounds, the physical body. This latent energy can become activated by meditation, specific exercises, the intervention of an accomplished spiritual teacher (guru), or for unknown reasons. 

The activated Kundalini, called shakti, rises through the nadis, channels or conduits in the subtle body; the pricipal three nadis rising along the body's vertical axis are called Ida, Shushumna, and Pingala. As Kundalini ascends, it clears old traumatic imprints and opens the centers of psychic energy, called chakras situated at the points where Ida and Pingala are crossing. This process, although highly valued and considered beneficial in the yogic tradition, is not without dangers and requires expert guidance by a guru whose Kundalini is fully awakened and stabilized. The most dramatic signs of Kundalini awakening are physical and psychological manifestations called kriyas. 

The kriyas involve intense sensations of energy and heat streaming up the spine, usually associated with violent shaking, spasms, and twistingmovements. Intense waves of seemingly unmotivated emotions, such as anxiety, anger, sadness, or joy and ecstatic rapture, can surface and temporarily dominate the psyche. This can be accompanied by visions of brilliant light or various archetypal beings and variety of internally perceived sounds. 

Many people involved in this process also have emotionally charged and convincing experiences of what seem to be memories from their past lives. Involuntary and often uncontrollable behaviors complete the picture: speaking in tongues, chanting unknown songs or sacred invocations (mantras), assuming yogic postures (asanas) and gestures (mudras), and making a variety of animal sounds and movements. 

C. G. Jung and his co-workers dedicated to this phenomeno a series of special seminars (Jung 1996). Jung's perspective on Kundalini proved to be probably the most remarkable error of his entire career. He concluded that the awakening of Kundalini was an exclusively Eastern phenomenon and predicted that it would take at least a thousand years before this energy would be set into motion in the West as a result of depth psychology. In the last several decades, unmistakable signs of Kundalini awakening have been observed in thousands of Westerners. The credit for drawing attention to this condition belongs to Californian psychiatrist and ophtalmologist Lee Sannella, who studied single-handedly nearly one thousand of such cases and summarized his findings in his book The Kundalini Experience: Psychosis or Transcendence (Sannella 1987)."

Source: http://realitysandwich.com/1800/spiritual_emergencies/

From what I have gathered Dr David Lukoff has a keen interest in Transpersonal Psychology with Abraham Maslow being one of the pioneers of this branch of psychology. Dr Lukoff had an interesting experience in his youth and when he studied psychiatry he wrote some interesting papers that led to the introduction of a new category in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual for Mental Illnesses called the Religious and Spiritual Problem in 1994. One of his papers is entitled "The Diagnosis of Mystical Experience with Psychotic Features". An interesting challenge is to distinguish between a spiritual or mystical experience and a psychotic experience. In one article by Sandra Stahlman on Schizophrenia, reference is made regarding certain mystical experience questionnaires through which certain statistical data had been gathered for research and Dr Lukoff was involved in this.

Some of the things I have mentioned are also referred to in this video:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PXbuiYpGWQ&feature=youtu.be .

You may feel free to comment and share your views with me in these regards.

Thanks.

 "Questionnaires and scales can yield a wealth of information if administered in a precise manner. Hood and Morris (1981) created the Mystical Experience Questionnaire. It was a culmination of “the major component criteria common in empirical studies of mysticism” (p.77). The questionnaire items were derived from the “research of Brown, Spilka, and Cassidy (1978), Greeley (1974), and Hood (1975)” (p.77). Examining these sources, I found that they all were in turn, based upon the research of Stace. In 1960, Stace created categories to distinguish the “core” mystical experience. First Stace differentiates between “introvertive” and “extrovertive” mystical experience, the extrovertive being “on a lower level than the introvertive type…a partly realized tendency to unity which the introvertive kind completely realizes” (Stace,1960,p.132). Next, examining the reports of mystics, he generates two lists of common “core” characteristics, one for each type – introvertive or extrovertive. Characteristics include: unity, noesis, disregard of logic, bliss, sacredness, paradox, and ineffability. The Hood and Morris 1981 questionnaire is based largely upon Stace’s conceptualizations.

Michael Siglag administered the Hood and Morris questionnaire to seventy-five schizophrenic adult inpatients. He describes the research in “Schizophrenic and Mystical Experiences: Similarities and Differences” (Siglag, 1987). Participants were chosen from a cross-section of socioeconomic status, ethnic groups and religious orientations (p.2). Among their initial hypothesis was a prediction that one-third of the questioned schizophrenics would respond positively to having had a mystical experience; in addition, those who respond positively will score equal to or greater than “schizophrenic subjects who do not claim mystical experience, on the questionnaire’s factors measure experience of unity, affect, time/space distortion, and noesis."

https://runningfather.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/the-relationship-between-schizophrenia-mysticism-a-bibliographic-essay-by-sandra-stahlman/

 "Commentary on David Lukoff's "The Diagnosis of Mystical Experience With Psychotic Features"

~Sandra Stahlman

In the article "The Diagnosis of Mystical Experience with Psychotic Features," (1985) David Lukoff criticizes the DSM-III-R, a diagnostic system used nationwide by psychiatrists. Specifically, he proposes a change in the classification of psychotic episodes; he has designed - within the system's guidelines - a new diagnostic category. MEPF for short, a Mystical Experience With Psychotic Features would be a distinct category within the DSM-III-R. Lukoff argues that the current version of the DSM does not distinguish psychotic episodes which have a positive outcome. Lukoff explains that these episodes are brief, come on quickly, and often result in "improvements in the individual's functioning" (p.157); Lukoff believes they should be categorized and treated differently from psychotic episodes which "indicate a mental disorder" (p.157).

Lukoff proceeds under the assumption that there are mystical experiences, psychotic episodes, mystical experiences with psychotic features and psychotic disorders with mystical features. He briefly defines all his terms, noting that what will be necessary is the ability to discriminate the two. Lukoff explains that the MEPF would describe "the presence of the psychotic state during an essentially religious experience" (p.166). Three criteria for the MEPF are: overlap with mystical experience, positive outcome likely, and low-risk - an "exclusionary criterion" to be implemented "only if the danger seems immediate and severe" (p.171). Five categories define the overlap with mystical experience: ecstatic mood, sense of newly-gained knowledge, perceptual alterations, delusions (if present) have themes related to mythology, and finally, no conceptual disorganization is apparent. In addition, two of the following must be present to fulfill the positive outcome likely criteria: good pre-episode functioning, acute onset of symptoms during 3 months or less, stressful precipitants to the episode, and a positive attitude towards the experience. If these criteria are met, MEPF would be the diagnostic category to use. It would be assumed that the experience will be relatively brief, and beneficial (assist growth). The treatment would differ from the other psychoses, where persistent conceptual disorganization and successful reintegration into society is unlikely.

Lukoff presents an example case study. In addition, he supplies references to scales and tests which may be used to make a diagnosis of MEPF. For example, he suggests a scale and interview created by N. Andreasen (1979) which can help determine if conceptual disorganization is present; because, Lukoff notes, that bizarre speech does not always indicate disorganization. Also included is an excellent bibliography on the topic at hand.

bibliography

Andreasen, N. (1979) The clinical assessment of thought, language, and conceptual disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 36, 1325-1330.

Lukoff, David (1985) The Diagnosis of Mystical Experience With Psychotic Features. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 17, 155-181.

for an update, read Dr. Lukoff's article:

From Spiritual Emergency to Spiritual Problem: The Transpersonal Roots of the New DSM-IV Category"

https://www.peakstates.pl/duchowe/biblioteka13.html#A6