Serpents and the Clinic: Kundalini Research at the San Francisco-based Kundalini Clinic

This paper explores a key episode in the modern re-transformation of kundalini, focusing on the San Francisco-based Kundalini Clinic and the interpretation of kundalini as a physiological mechanism. By analysing previously unexplored data, it positions the Kundalini Clinic as a pivotal site of empirical kundalini research and treatment during the late twentieth century period. The historical significance of the Clinic lies particularly in its integration of kundalini into clinical settings and its classification as a disease pattern, the so-called “kundalini syndrome”. This paper pursues two primary objectives: First, to shed light on the San Francisco-based Kundalini Clinic, emphasising its far-reaching impact and enduring legacy in the clinical examination of rare psycho-physiological processes; and second, to investigate efforts to demystify kundalini through scientistic methodologies, framing it as a tangible physiological process rather than a subtle force.