“By the definite science of meditation known for millenniums to the yogis and sages of India, and to Jesus, any seeker of God can enlarge the caliber of his consciousness to omniscience to receive within himself the Universal Intelligence of God.”
— Paramahansa Yogananda
Wisdom, creativity, security, happiness,
unconditional love — is it really possible to find that which will
bring us real and lasting joy? Experiencing the divinity within our own souls, claiming divine joy as our own joy — this is what the Kriya Yoga teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda offer to each of us.
The sacred science of Kriya Yoga consists of advanced techniques of meditation whose devoted practice leads to realization of God and liberation of the soul from all forms of bondage. It is the royal or supreme technique of yoga, divine union. (Read “What Is Yoga, Really?”)
| Kriya Yoga’s History | ||
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The
illumined sages of India discovered the spiritual science of Kriya Yoga
in the long forgotten past. Lord Krishna extols it in the Bhagavad
Gita. The sage Patanjali speaks of it in his Yoga Sutras.
Paramahansa Yogananda has stated that this ancient meditation method was
also known to Jesus Christ, as well as to disciples such as St. John,
St. Paul, and others. Kriya Yoga was lost for centuries in the dark ages, and reintroduced in modern times by Mahavatar Babaji, whose disciple Lahiri Mahasaya (1828–1895) was the first to teach it openly in our era. Later, Babaji asked Lahiri Mahasaya’s disciple, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri (1855–1936), to train Paramahansa Yogananda and send him to the West to give this soul-revealing technique to the world. |
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Formerly available only to a faithful few who renounced the world and lived solitary lives as ascetics, the great ones of India have now made the ancient Kriya science available to all sincere seekers worldwide through the instrumentality of Paramahansa Yogananda and the spiritual organization he established (SRF/YSS).
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Meditation Techniques of the Kriya Yoga Path
Paramahansa Yogananda provides a description of Kriya Yoga in his Autobiography of a Yogi. The actual technique is given to students of the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons after a preliminary period of study and practice of the three preparatory techniques taught by Paramahansa Yogananda.
Taken together as a comprehensive system, these meditation techniques enable the practitioner to achieve the highest benefits and divine goal of the ancient yoga science.
1. Energization Exercises: A series of psychophysical exercises developed by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1916 to prepare the body for meditation. Regular practice promotes mental and physical relaxation and develops dynamic will power. Making use of the breath, life force, and concentrated attention, the technique enables one to draw abundant energy consciously into the body, purifying and strengthening all the body parts systematically in turn. The Energization Exercises, which take about fifteen minutes to perform, are one of the most effective means of eliminating stress and nervous tension. Practicing them prior to meditation is a great help in entering a calm, interiorized state of awareness.
2. Hong-Sau Technique of Concentration
helps to develop one’s latent powers of concentration. Through practice
of this technique one learns to withdraw thought and energy from
outward distractions so that they may be focused on any goal to be
achieved or problem to be solved. Or one may direct that concentrated
attention toward realizing the Divine Consciousness within.3. Aum Technique of Meditation shows one how to use the power of concentration in the highest way to discover and develop the divine qualities of one’s own true Self. This ancient method teaches how to experience the all-pervading Divine Presence as Aum, the Word or Holy Ghost that underlies and sustains all creation. The technique expands the awareness beyond limitations of body and mind to the joyous realization of one’s infinite potential.
4. Kriya Yoga Technique
Kriya is an advanced Raja Yoga technique of pranayama (life-energy control). Kriya reinforces and revitalizes subtle currents of life energy (prana) in the spine and brain. The ancient seers of India (rishis) perceived the brain and spine as the tree of life. Out of the subtle cerebrospinal centers of life and consciousness (chakras) flow the energies that enliven all the nerves and every organ and tissue of the body. The yogis discovered that by revolving the life current continuously up and down the spine by the special technique of Kriya Yoga, it is possible to greatly accelerate one’s spiritual evolution and awareness.
Correct
practice of Kriya Yoga enables the normal activities of the heart and
lungs and nervous system to slow down naturally, producing deep inner
stillness of body and mind and freeing the attention from the usual
turbulence of thoughts, emotions, and sensory perceptions. In the
clarity of that inner stillness, one comes to experience a deepening
interior peace and attunement with one’s soul and with God.How to Learn Kriya Yoga
The first step is to apply for the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons. In the first year of Lesson study at home, students learn three basic techniques of meditation (described above) and Paramahansaji’s principles of balanced spiritual living.
This gradual introduction has a purpose. A mountain climber seeking to scale the Himalayas must first acclimatize and condition himself before ascending the peaks. So the seeker needs this initial period to acclimatize his or her habits and thoughts, condition the mind with concentration and devotion, and practice directing the body’s life energy. Then the yogi is prepared to ascend the spinal highway of realization. After one year of preparation and practice, students are eligible to apply for initiation in the technique of Kriya Yoga, and formally establish the time-honored guru-disciple relationship with Paramahansa Yogananda and his lineage of enlightened masters.
If you have not yet enrolled for the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons, you will find on these pages some initial instructions on how to meditate, which you can use right away to begin experiencing the benefits that meditation brings.
Guru-Disciple RelationshipKriya Yoga is the diksha (initiation) or spiritual baptism of Self-Realization Fellowship. By receiving Kriya initiation, students enter into the sacred guru-disciple relationship, accepting Paramahansa Yogananda as their guru (spiritual guide).
Read more on the guru-disciple relationship.
Work of Paramahansa Yogananda:
Self-Realization Fellowship
www.yogananda-srf.org/
The
official organization founded in 1920 by Paramahansa Yogananda to teach
scientific methods of meditation and principles of spiritual living
that lead to ...//////
Autobiography of a Yogi
In 1946, Yogananda published his life story, Autobiography of a Yogi. It has since been translated into twenty-eight languages. In 1999, it was designated one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a panel of spiritual authors convened by Philip Zaleski and HarperCollins publishers.[25] In 2006, the publisher, Self-Realization Fellowship, honored the 60th anniversary of Autobiography of a Yogi "with a series of projects designed to promote the legacy of the man thousands of disciples still refer to as 'master.'" [26]
Autobiography of a Yogi describes Yogananda's spiritual search for enlightenment, in addition to encounters with notable spiritual figures such as Therese Neumann, Anandamayi Ma, Mohandas Gandhi, Nobel laureate in literature Rabindranath Tagore, noted plant scientist Luther Burbank (the book is 'Dedicated to the Memory of Luther Burbank, An American Saint'), famous Indian scientist Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Sir C. V. Raman. One notable chapter of this book is "The Law of Miracles", where he gives scientific explanations for seemingly miraculous feats. He writes: "the word 'impossible' is becoming less prominent in man's vocabulary."[3]
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Kriya Yoga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the Kriya Yoga taught by Lahiri Mahasaya. For other uses of the term Kriya Yoga, see Kriya.
| Kriya Yoga | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Mahavatar Babaji gave to Lahiri Mahasaya |
| Practice emphases | |
| Kriya Yoga Pranayama | |
Yogananda attributes Kriya Yoga to his lineage of gurus, deriving it via Swami Sriyukteswar Giri and Shyamacharan Lahiri from Mahavatar Babaji (fl. 1860s). The latter is reported to have introduced the concept as essentially identical to the Raja Yoga of Patanjali and the concept of Yoga as described in the Bhagavadgita.[3]
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Mahavatar Babaji
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mahavatar Babaji’s given name and date of birth are not known, so those who met him during that period all called him by the title first given to him by Lahiri Mahasaya.[2][6] "Mahavatar" means "great avatar", and "Babaji" simply means "revered father". Some of the encounters included two or more witnesses—discussions between those who met Mahavatar Babaji indicate that they all met the same person.[2][4][5]
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