Exoteric serpent power

This clip could be controversial...

Swami Tadatmananda is a practioner of Advaita Vedanta who argues that the spiritual experiences of Brahman associated with fairly traditional forms of this system are fully compatible with, indeed identical to, Kundalini Yoga. His point is *not* that Advaita has some kind of esoteric message similar to Tantrism which leads to dramatic experiences of the "rising serpent power" or something of like kind. No, his point is the opposite: real kundalini yoga leads to the same non-dramatic "dreamless sleep" as taught by the exoteric rishis and advaitins of ancient India. All the drama is purely subjective. 

Tadatmananda further claims that while the nadis (energy channels in the body) are real, the chakras are not. They are purely symbolic and are used as aides for visualization during meditation. At the end of the clip, he admits that even the New Age systems of "rainbow chakras" and such could perhaps be used in this way. The important point is that chakras are not part of the esoteric anatomy of the human body. 

The swami then reports on an experiment he undertook, meditating on the chakras while "awakening" the "serpent power" or kundalini until it reaches the crown chakra and unites with the Divine. While he did feel intense heat in various parts of the body, it´s obvious that he never lost control of anything, indeed the experiences of inner heat seem to have been induced by his own concentration and meditation. He also visualized various deities associated with the chakras (often forms of Shiva). The crowning experience, when the shakti is supposed to merge with the Divine and lead to super-enlightenment, is described in very sober terms. First, Tadatmananda experiences a great white light filling his entire body. But then, there was a prolonged "dreamless sleep" of the kind mentioned above.

The meditator reaches the conclusion that kundalini yoga, if practiced according to the original system of the Upanishads, really leads to the same goal as orthodox Advaita Vedanta, and therfore it´s mostly pointless for him to teach the techniques to his students. They are too complex, and other forms of meditation work better. 

As I said, I know a few people who will probably disagree with this take on the Serpent Power...