Itzak Bentov has developed a physical-physiological model, which may shed some light on the Kundalini phenomenon. When the heart is pumping blood into the aorta, tiny mechanical vibrations (micromotions) develop in the upper body. If the body is completely immobile and respiration is slow and barely perceptible – as is the case in deep meditation – these micromotions will assume great regularity and oscillate at seven cycles per second (7 Hz). Subsequently standing waves in and above the audio frequency range will develop in the ventricles of the brain. These may cause the high-pitched sounds meditators sometimes hear which may herald the activation of the Kundalini.

Bentov further theorizes that the standing waves in the ventricles will stimulate an electrical loop circuit in the sensory cortex oscillating at 7 Hz – which incidently is within the EEG theta frequency band. As this oscillating current passes through the sensory cortex in a closed circuit, it will create different bodily sensations starting in the toes and moving up the body to the head. These may be the sensations described by yogis, which accompany the Kundalini awakening.

Kindling and brain functions
According to Bentov, the 7 Hz oscillating current in the sensory cortex – set up by sitting immobile in meditation – also passes through the limbic system. Here it stimulates the pleasure centers in amygdala thereby initiating the socalled kindling phenomenon. Animal experiments have shown that electrical stimulations of the amygdala for a few seconds each day for two or three weeks produce convulsions. Amygdala is the part of the brain most amenable to kindling which tends to spread from the midbrain in an orderly sequence to hippocampus, the occipital lobes and finally to the frontal lobes. This travel of energy can be traced by means of EEG measurements, since it is reflected by an increasing amount of alpha waves spreading from the occipital to the frontal cortex.

The kindling phenomenon speeds up the electrical loop system, which exists between the thalamus and the cortex. This extra supply of energy from lower centers causes a diffuse activation of the whole cortex reflected by increased synchronization and coherence of brain wave activity within all frequency bands. As the energy flows from the thalamus to the cortex and awakens latent or unused parts of the brain (especially in the frontal lobes) the whole brain begins to pulse as a unit generating coherent, high amplitude brain waves within a broad frequency spectrum. During rest maximum amplitude will be in the alpha band but during intense focus high amplitude beta and gamma waves will prevail, especially in the frontal area.

Kundalini and modern physics
Interestingly this mechanism can be related to modern physics. A ‘condensate’ is a substance whose molecules have a greater order and coherence than normal. In a ‘Bose-Einstein condensate’ the molecules not only have a high degree of order but they also overlap and the condensate behaves like a unit. Examples of ‘Bose-Einstein condensates’ in inorganic matter are superconductors and laser beams. However a scientist by the name Herbert Frohlich showed that by feeding extra energy to the cell walls of living tissue, the cells would line up in the most orderly, condensed way we know – the ‘Bose-Einstein condensate’ – and the cell walls would start acting as a unit.

Apparently, when the brain is supplied with an extra amount of high grade energy (Kundalini) it becomes a ‘Bose-Einstein condensate’. Thus following Kundalini awakening, the brain turns into a super-conductor with a focus like a laser beam.