Overview
I want to say some nice things about Gene Kieffer, my old mentor, who died in 2018 and some humorous cranky things about him as well.
I don’t know when I met Gene. It was likely some time in 1982, and I was an associate with him for about ten years.
Gene Kieffer was a prominent figure in the field of Kundalini research, known as the founder and director of the Kundalini Research Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to studying the phenomenon of Kundalini awakening and its related spiritual experiences. He was one of a group of Westerners who went to visit the Pandit Gopi Krishna, of Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man, Shambhala [1997], and he was known by his words, “The literary heir of Gopi Krishna”.
I do know that he had many private papers and literary works from Gopi Krishna, and he shared most or all of them with me. It was quite an honor. He really preserved some really important history, I consider Gene a giant too.
But alas, I was one of his ‘overheated California crazies as he called me later in our association. He was constantly telling me not to trust myself, not to trust my perceptions, and to let them ‘bake in’.
AND HE WAS RIGHT.
I’ve lived with ‘an active Kundalini’ for over 60 years now, and I must admit that only in the past few years have I truly become stable, and in my opinion I’m now ready to speak a bit on this topic. Though for me ‘Kundalini’ is not what people think that it is, and I don’t focus my life on it even though in a sense, “KUNDALINI IS MOST OF WHAT EXISTS”.
But I don’t push ‘Kundalini’ or Yoga.
We need to go BEYOND ‘Kundalini and Yoga’.
But back to Gene.
He always told me that “Kundalini is the mother of deception” and so She is.
But I didn’t want to believe him.
I WAS WRONG.
“Kundalini IS DECEPTION.”
Yet, how do people say that “Kundalini can ‘enlighten you in a single lifetime’ and IN A SENSE THIS IS TRUE. It is a fascinating story to be sure. In large part Platonic Surrealism answers that quite plainly.
He also told me that Kundalini is consciousness itself, and he was correct about that as well.
But it took me decades to realize just how correct he was in these matters.
Now, Gene was also famous for being ‘super cranky’. If you didn’t agree with Gopi Krishna, and I mean 100% and memorize all his words, it was like YOU WERE THE ENEMY.
Now Gopi Krishna WAS a giant, and we all, in the ‘mystical community’ stand on his shoulders whether we know it or not.
But also.
Gopi Krisha was obsessed with religion and in fact was at least 50% wrong. But that means that he was 50% right!
So, this leads to another story about Gene.
Gene told me that if I READ EVERY LAST SCRAP OF WHAT GOPI KRISHNA HAD WRITTEN and could understand and quote all if it, that he would listen to my views.
So, I did that.
He then urged me to scientifically prove how Kundalini works.
So, I took the first step of that.
(The genetic heritage required for successful Kundalini is GENERALLY Asperger’s Syndrome,
and in fact Gopi Krishna almost certainly HAD Asperger’s Syndrome).
So of course, Gene was incensed and thew me out of the organization, and he was in fact going to parade me around like some Jiddhua Krishnamurti.
None of that happened, and I have spent more than sixty-years alone, mostly just me and ‘Kundalini’ (the Phenomenon).
I consider that a very fortunate thing, as HE WAS RIGHT, I had a lot of ‘baking in’ to do.
I now consider that I’m fully baked in.
I doubt that Gene would agree, but I think he’d be excited that I am honoring both him and Gopi Krishna, and his/their ideas need top be discussed.
I wish you the best Gene Kieffer, you miserable old goat. (that’s how students often talk about their mentors). You were the only mentor I’ve ever had, and a horrible one, and the one who DID give me exactly what I needed.
Be warm in those other planes of being I sent a sweater for you to wear.
With love and appreciation,
Kevin Cann
1/12/2025