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In India kundalini awakening is called initiation or, in Sanskrit, diksha, which means, etymologically, “to cut.” There is profound significance to this term, for yogic texts speak about this initiation as the means for an individual to sever, to cut, the three impurities that are said to bind each human being. The first impurity, known as anava mala, is also considered the foremost: our sense of separation from God. It is this impurity that is cut with the awakening itself—as I had experienced. The second mala, mayiya mala, involves our sense of separation from each other and from other forms in the universe, something I recognized experiencing as well. In the week after my awakening, I became aware that I was feeling a warm connection to the people I ran into at school, both my colleagues and students. Then one day something extraordinary happened in an otherwise insignificant interaction with a total stranger. I was at the grocery store, buying food for my evening meal, when I became aware that I also felt a bond with the clerk who was ringing up my purchases.
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Marjorie Hines Woollacott (Infinite Awareness: The Awakening of a Scientific Mind)