Coiled like a snake at the base of the spine, kundalini is the spiritual force that lies dormant in every human being. Once awakened, often through meditation and yoga practices, it rises up the spine and finds expression in the form of spiritual knowledge, mystical vision, psychic powers, and ultimately, enlightenment.

This is the classic first-person account of Gopi Krishna, an ordinary Indian householder who, at the age of thirty-four, after years of unsupervised meditation, suddenly