Shaktipat (pat, descent, of Shakti, spiritual energy) is an act found in TANTRISM and tantric-derived tra-ditions such as that of Swami MUKTANANDA’S SID-DHA YOGA, in which the GURU confers the grace of spiritual transformation upon the adept through touching. This touch is intended to awaken and make the KUNDALINI force rise from the base of the spine. The touching is usually done by the hand, but sometimes with a feather or other object, upon the adept’s head.
Further reading: Swami Muktananda, Kundalini: The Secret of Life South (Fallsburg, N.Y.: SYDA Foundation, 1983); ———, Play of Consciousness: Chitshakti Vilas: A Spiritual Autobiography, 3d ed. (South Fallsburg, N.Y.: SYDA Fdn., 2000); Swami Sivom Tirth, A Guide to Shak-tipat (Thune: Devatma Shakti Society, 1985).
Encyclopedia of Hinduism. A. Jones and James D. Ryan. 2007.