Mukalinda Unveiled:The Secret of Gautama the Buddha

Most people love to what they see and consequently got attached to it.In order to commemorate their spiritual founders/leaders, religious people erected temples,churches and mosques which is made of stone,wood and metal to make a place for pilgrimage and worship.As we can see, many sacred sites have been considered the navel of the earth by different religious traditions. The ancient Greeks regarded the egg shaped stone in the oracle chamber of Apollo’s shrine at Delphi as omphalos or the navel stone. In other traditions, mountains are considered the sacred centres of the earth. While the Old Testament speaks of Mount Gerizim in Palestine as the navel of the earth, the Hindus, Buddhists and Jains consider the Mount Kailash in Tibet as the centre of the cosmos. In the Semitic world we have an interesting parallel to compare with. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is regarded the axis of the world by Jews, Christians and Muslims. Bearing in mind the historical and archeological importance of these places,there is no harm to make a tourist visit to our religious founder’s place of birth,crucifiction,enlightenment or ascension to heaven.The important thing is we don’t have to worship at these places.



Most religious people don’t know that the “real” place of worship and pilgrimage….the ultimate and “real” temple,church or mosque is within themselves.Moses,Buddha,Lao-Tzu,Jesus, Mohammad and many other sages,saints and spiritual teachers didn’t teach us to worship things that are visible to our naked eyes.What they taught us is to go back to our “original essential being”….the “living God”…the “temple of God” which is within each of us by meditative,prayerful or contemplative life. One of our greatest religious/spiritual teacher is Gautama the Buddha.Also known as Shakyamuni and Siddharta.Many people made a pilgrimage to the place…the Bodhi tree where Siddharta sat under in meditation and attained the Enlightenment and become the Buddha,the Awakened one.It was 8th of December,when he was 35 years of age that the former prince became Buddha.But most people,especially the Buddhists didn’t know the real factor and significance of his attaining Enligtenment.It is the Mukalinda,the name of a Naga (a snake-like being), who protected the Buddha from the elements after his enlightenment.


Here is the account of the Buddha under the Mukalinda tree: Then the Blessed One, at the end of those seven days, arose from that state of meditation, and went from the foot of the Agapâla banyan tree to the Mukalinda tree. And when he had reached it, he sat cross-legged at the foot of the Mukalinda tree uninterruptedly during seven days, enjoying the bliss of emancipation.
At that time a great cloud appeared out of season, rainy weather which lasted seven days, cold weather, storms, and darkness. And the Nâga (or Serpent) king Mukalinda came out from his abode, and seven times encircled the body of the Blessed One with his windings, and kept extending his large hood over the Blessed One’s head, thinking to himself: ‘May no coldness (touch) the Blessed One! May no heat (touch) the Blessed One! May no vexation by gadflies and gnats, by storms and sunheat and reptiles (touch) the Blessed One!’

And at the end of those seven days, when the Naga king Mukalinda saw the open, cloudless sky, he loosened his windings from the body of the Blessed One, made his own appearance disappear, created the appearance of a youth, and stationed himself in front of the Blessed One, raising his clasped hands, and paying reverence to the Blessed One.
And the Blessed One, perceiving that, on this occasion, pronounced this solemn utterance: ‘Happy is the solitude of him who is full of joy, who has learnt the Truth, who sees (the Truth). Happy is freedom from malice in this world, (self-)restraint towards all beings that have life. Happy is freedom from lust in this world, getting beyond all desires; the putting away of that pride which comes from the thought “I am!” This truly is the highest happiness!( Vinaya Texts,Part I (SBE 13) Mahavagga-First Khandhaka # 3)


This highly symbolic story of Gautama the Buddha have a hidden truth in it…a secret teaching that few, if ever discovered.I discovered it’s significant meaning after I attained enlightenment when I was 22 years old in the afternoon of September 1993.When we rearrange the letters of “mukalinda” minus the letter “m” and “a”,we get the word “kundali”.By decoding the word “mukalinda”,we discover it’s intimate connection with the word “kundalini” ,in Sanskrit literally means “coiled”. In Yoga, it is a “corporeal energy”- an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, envisioned either as a Goddess or else as a sleeping serpent coiled at the base of the spine. Kundalini is considered a part of the subtle body along with seven major chakras (energy centres) and nadis (channels). When Kundalini (Mukalinda,Shekhinah,Sakina,Tao,Holy Spirit or Presence of God ) at the base of the spine is conceived as a Goddess, then, when it rises to the top of the head, it unites itself with God/Creator/Supreme Being (Ein Sof,Yahweh,Jehova,Allah or Shiva ). The aspirant becomes engrossed in deep meditation and infinite bliss.