Kundabuffer and the Personal Self

[The Gurdjieff Legacy]: There is a latent force of meaning hidden within this idea of Kundabuffer which, at certain moments, when we pause long enough for it to touch us, can penetrate to another level of our consciousness—to a level where it is able to disturb us. To disturb us in a way we know and intuit that we need to be disturbed.

Yet such moments are rare. Why? Because the shock inherent within an objective truth so easily gets deflected, neutralized, by one or another form of buffer—that is, through that unseen predisposition by means of which we are 'protected' from the discomfort of having to deal with what otherwise would be disturbing to our familiar and cozy frame of reference.

The various and sundry forms of these buffers are beyond count, but, for our purpose here, two will suffice. One is to inwardly genuflect to the authority of the personage who has communicated the shock, thereby sidestepping its intrinsic awakening force. The other is all too readily to 'agree' with the formulation within which the shock of a newly revealed truth is hidden—on however superficial a level. After all, who of us is not able to generate a virtual litany of absurdities of human behaviour? Having thus 'agreed', we are then at liberty to proceed as usual, and thus to escape the thrust of the new revelation....read more>>>...

The Kundabuffer

New Dawn Magazine: One of the primary ways forces influence mankind is through that strange organ known as the Kundabuffer.

The Kundabuffer is described by Gurdjieff as the creator of illusion – it causes us to daydream and believe we are awake when we are actually asleep. It creates buffers or denial mechanisms that stop us seeing the world as it really is, and allows us to be controlled by the ebb and flow of the planets (and other forces).

The term Kundabuffer is seen by many as an adaptation of the Vedic concept of Kundalini. Kundalini is a psycho-physical force located at the base of the spine; it controls the organism on psychological, etheric and perhaps even physical levels through the seven Chakras.

Kundalini and the Chakras operate like cosmic antennae receiving influences from the planets and beyond. Initiates can use these forces to great benefit, but in the average person they are simply mechanisms of control.
 
The chakric system has both positive and negative potential. While most New Agers see the Chakras and Kundalini in a positive light, both Traditional Tantra and Gurdjieff are more critical. Kundalini is the power of Kali, the goddess of gnosis and also illusion. She spins the web of Maya (illusion) and deceives mankind, inviting them to awaken and see through her game. As Maya she is the goddess of destruction and is depicted in either a four-armed or ten-armed form. Her skin is dark blue and she has red eyes filled with lust and rage. She has fangs and her tongue lolls. She wears a skirt of human arms and a garland of heads. Woe to those who approach her without gnosis, but to those who see through her illusion she becomes either a mother or a lover. The two forms of Kundalini are important as they represent the human condition, enslaved to illusion and controlled by the planets, or awakened and in a state of self-awareness....read more>>>...