What is Kriya Yoga?

Padma and I (and others) just returned from a four-day retreat at Ananda Village whose theme was the art and science of kriya yoga. Kriya Yoga is the central practice of the meditation teachings brought from India to the West by Paramhansa Yogananda and which are at the heart of the spirituality of Ananda worldwide. This article was sent to Ananda members in the Seattle area.

Kriya Yoga is an advanced form of meditation known and recognized throughout the world. It was re-introduced to the world in 1861 to a humble Hindu accountant, Shyama Charan Lahiri (aka Lahiri Mahasaya) by the mysterious Himalayan saint known only as “Babaji” who gave “Lahiri” permission to initiate any sincere seeker of any faith whether monk or householder.

Through the traditional transmission from teacher to student-disciple-teacher, the spread of Kriya Yoga was destined to encircle the globe. It is well suited to the modern age where the emphasis is upon personal experience over belief. Paramhansa Yogananda’s now famous life story, Autobiography of a Yogi, put Kriya Yoga on the world map of popular meditation techniques.

Both by tradition and by intention, Kriya Yoga (KY) has been given only to those who have received preparation and training using various preparatory meditation techniques. Traditional yoga training includes a healthy diet, right attitude and moderation in sense faculties, study of spiritual teachings, and physical exercises in addition to a spectrum of meditation and purification practices such as yoga postures and breath control.

The basic purpose of this training is both to test the aspirant’s sincerity AND to prepare the body, nervous system, and the mind for deeper and more advanced meditation practices and experiences. With the popularity of meditation ever growing, most people naturally seek physical and mental benefits. For this purpose, mindfulness techniques (such as the Hong Sau - "Watching the Breath" - technique taught by Yogananda) are more than adequate. Kriya Yoga is for those seeking enlightenment (using any number of other possible words or terminology).

The other prerequisite intended by the reintroduction of KY into popular use is the recognition ­— part in gratitude and part as a transmission of actual spiritual awakening — of the need for a God-realized guru or preceptor. Such a person is no mere ordinary spiritual teacher; nor is the intended transmission thwarted by the guru’s no longer being in living, human form. Any technique given as initiation, including the Kriya technique, functions as much as a “channel” for the transmission of higher consciousness as it does a technique of meditation. Without the former, the latter is only partly effective. As we are “Spirit” and not merely a body with a personality, so the spiritual freedom we seek cannot come through merely material means or psychological efforts alone.

The true Goal of advanced meditation practices transcends ego, personality, body and matter: it “lives” in a realm without second, without form, and in unconditional consciousness. Such a state is therefore its source and being beyond ordinary perception must be channeled and received bit-by-bit just as a computer or a cell phone conversation carries information bit-by-bit. The technique is to the goal as a cell phone is to the substance of a conversation. The cell phone alone cannot substitute for the conversation even as the cell phone makes the conversation possible.

But as the guru or preceptor is a transmitting station, a sub-station and transformer, for the ultimate Goal, we must recognize that the preceptor, too, has no substantive personality. Our “discipleship” is not to a person but to an “instrument” (a rather “conscious” cell phone tower, if you will) sending us transmissions from Infinity. In this somewhat limited sense, then, the technique itself can become our guide and guru because it allows the transmission of higher consciousness to reach us. As Yogananda said of himself in the role of guru, “God is the guru. I killed Yogananda long ago.” Just as we can no more pick up our cell phone and call the President of the United States, so we must call the switchboard and talk to one of God's reps! Eventually, by building a relationship of trust with those who have His ear, we’ll get through to “the top.”

Yogananda, as the guru, is no longer present in a human form. Far too much is made these days by prospective and otherwise sincere devotees of the fear or doubt surrounding a discipleship relationship with him since it must needs be an inner relationship alone. Recognizing that through kriya yoga practice one can consciously draw on the spiritual power of Yogananda’s omnipresent consciousness is hardly a threat, except perhaps to the obstructive, no-saying donkey we call the ego!

Nor does such a relationship prohibit the recognition of other God-realized channels, for in God consciousness, there are no distinctions and no competition for loyalty. Whether world teacher or unknown, a free-soul is no more, or no less, free in God.

Given, however, that few devotees, even among the most committed, can spend more than an hour or two each day in the practice of kriya yoga, it must be recognized that the company of other (and especially more advanced) devotees is one of the most important ways of drawing on that spiritual transmission. This outward “transmission” is necessary so long as we are “outward” in our consciousness and self-definitions. Serving the outward work of the guru’s transmission with fellow devotees is easily one of the most important ways to advance spiritually and transcend ego consciousness. It doesn’t necessarily mean being a teacher: there are many ways to serve, each according to what is best spiritually for him. If one’s life circumstances permits such association but one balks at this opportunity, one would do well to question his spiritual readiness.

A wonderful description of Kriya Yoga can be found in Chapter 26 of “Autobiography of a Yogi.” The book can be read online for free at www.Ananda.org. You can also watch several video presentations by Padma and I on our own website: www.AnandaWA.org/kriya-yoga/ .

Sincerely and with unceasing blessings,

Nayaswamis Hriman and Padma

Ananda : Who Are We?

This is an email sent to members of Ananda in Seattle, WA (USA) (today, May 20,2016)

Ananda: Who are We? Dear Friends, Members & Students of Ananda Seattle: Last Sunday, May 15, we officially dedicated the newly constructed Yoga Hall. We wanted to share with you that this new hall is more than a yoga “studio.” Hatha yoga is more than stretches with incredible (and increasingly proven) health benefits. More and more people recognize the mental health and well-being benefits of hatha yoga. Following this, more people are recognizing its original spiritual purpose and benefits. Ananda’s style of Hatha Yoga is what we call “Ananda Yoga.” We won’t go into a detailed description of Ananda Yoga because in outward appearance we use many of the classic yoga poses that are practiced and taught around the world and down through the centuries. We’ve added affirmations specific to each pose to help students tune into the consciousness from which the physical poses were originally sourced and which is the spiritual essence and purpose of each pose. We understand that Ananda is seen in various ways, some of which seem at opposites: to some, we are a specific spiritual path (kriya yoga) following the inspiration of a modern spiritual teacher (Paramhansa Yogananda). In this view we are not unlike churches or temples everywhere and in most faith traditions. Indeed, our legal name is Ananda Church of Self-Realization of Seattle! We are, in fact, recognized as a “church” by the I.R.S. However, when Paramhansa Yogananda was asked if “Self-realization” is a new sect, he replied, “We are not a sect.” Elsewhere he explained that this work is a “new dispensation of the eternal truths” taught by masters in every tradition, and especially in India and by Jesus Christ.  Yet to any person looking in from the “outside,” we do have specific practices, precepts, rituals, and tenets that characterize churches everywhere. What he meant was that we do not have a “sectarian” attitude and that is very much our intention, practice and affirmation. The teachings of ancient Indian, known since time immemorial as Sanaatan Dharma (the Eternal Religion), predate Hinduism and are as akin to philosophy as to religion. The core values of what we represent lies at the heart of the spiritual impulse embedded in human consciousness and which is expressed, variously, in all true faiths. Hence we see the niches in the temple sanctuary which present the symbols of the major faith traditions. Yogananda called his own temples a “Churches of All Religions.” To many of you and the public at large, and now represented dynamically by the newly opened Yoga Hall, we are a place where yoga classes, open to everyone, are offered! In between these two extremes —yoga and church — we are a place where meditation can be learned, and where interesting classes on philosophy and spiritualizing daily life are offered. For those who are inspired to make these teachings and practices central to their personal spiritual journey, we are a “church.” To those who want to benefit from hatha yoga or who want to learn to meditate, we are a meditation and yoga center. We are, therefore, legitimately different things to different people according to their needs and interests. Thus we “defy” easy categorization. As Yogananda said of his own life’s work, “I come to ‘dye you in the wool’ of your own Self-realization.” A new era has begun for the work of Ananda through the use and presence of the Yoga Hall under the auspices of the Institute of Living Yoga. Here we will hold not only yoga classes but vegetarian cooking classes and everything for uplifting daily life in between the two. The two buildings, while each symbolizes one end or the other of the spectrum of health to soul, are, in fact, interchangeable: sometimes yoga will take place in the sanctuary; spiritual holiday banquets will take place in the Yoga hall; how-to-live classes will take place in the temple building. In effect, we are ONE. Asking your blessings upon this new era of public service, Nayaswamis Hriman and Padma McGilloway Spiritual Directors, Ananda Seattle

This message was sent to hrimananda@gmail.com from: Hriman & Padma | friends@anandaseattle.org | Ananda Seattle | 23305 Bothell-Everett Highway | Bothell, WA 98021

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