There is a surge of inspiration worldwide
among millions of meditators to find ways to become visible and to offer the “meditation
solution” to a world in desperate need of change.
Ananda, the worldwide network
of communities and centers based on the practice of kriya yoga meditation, has initiated
a campaign called, BE THE CHANGE: I Meditate. At the website, https://www.meditationpledge.com/ meditators
around the world have an opportunity to pledge their meditation hours as an
affirmation of their personal commitment to meditation as the solution to affecting
a shift in worldwide consciousness towards peace, harmony, and cooperation.
The term “kriya” has always intrigued me for the simple
reason that its literal meaning is simply (more or less): action. In Chapter 26
of the "Autobiography of a Yogi," Paramhansa Yogananda interprets the
term as “union (yoga) with the Infinite through a certain rite or action.” Very
generic is his explanation, in other words.
Swami Kriyananda may have been the first swami ever to take
the spiritual name “kriyananda.” At the time, as I understand it, his intention
related to the practice of kriya yoga. But inasmuch as Paramhansa Yogananda described
Swamiji’s life as one of “service, and (he paused), meditation,” Swamiji also
opined that his name has a double meaning: not just action as kriya yoga
meditation but action as in service!
Why is it that Babaji and/or Lahiri Mahasaya used this
singular, generic term (kriya) to describe the technique that they have given
to the world? In our times every teacher goes out of his/her way to brand his
own form of meditation or yoga with a trademarkable term! Were they simply
ignorant of the benefits of trademarks and branding? (I can’t answer that for
them, of course.)
The term they chose is generic because creation at large and
the human body specifically are generic. The way to enlightenment and to
liberation is universal and not dependent upon belief or religious affiliation.
The soul’s awakening gradually withdraws identification from the three
bodies (physical, astral, causal) step by step going in reverse order and enter
the kingdom of God through the channel(s) through which we came. The technique
which they called “kriya” does precisely this.
There are innumerable variations
in terms of describing and practicing the technique itself. Thus it is that
Yogananda claims that “St. Paul knew kriya, or a technique very similar to it…….”
It’s the channel and the process that is universal. The details of the
technique are important both as to the effectiveness which results by practicing the technique correctly to energize these channels AND as to the grace and
power that comes through the guru and the instructions given by the guru.
Thus I come to my main thesis: as “kriya” refers to action,
it is time for kriyabans (practitioners of kriya) to take action, to become
Kriya Emissaries. I don’t mean we should rush out and teach the technique
itself on the street corners. Meditation itself is “kriya” when understood in
its broadest context. Ananda’s BE THE CHANGE initiative and campaign is the
first level of our taking action. Sign up and pledge your meditation. Let’s achieve
those million hours of meditation and help shift consciousness at a time in
history when it is desperately needed.
But I would also hope that individuals, two by two
(preferably), could with the support and guidance of their spiritual teacher,
organization, or like-minded friends, go for a weekend; a week; a month; or
more, and travel locally, regionally or internationally to share the BE THE
CHANGE message and the practice of meditation.
As most of my readers are likely
affiliated with Ananda, this message can and should include sharing information
on how and why the practice of kriya yoga can powerfully aid in this shift of
consciousness. Paramhansa Yogananda wrote in "Autobiography of a
Yogi" that the kriya technique is destined to spread around the world so
that “all…may come to know that there is a definite, scientific technique of
self-realization for the overcoming of all human misery.” Later in the "Autobiography
of a Yogi," he writes, “Through use of the Kriya key, persons who cannot bring themselves to believe in the
divinity of any man will behold at last the full divinity of their own selves.”
Whether we leave our town or city or not, we CAN be Kriya
Emissaries. Sharing with others that we meditate need not be an imposition upon
others. It can be done subtly: a picture at our desk; a book on a table; a
suggestion to a friend. For others, taking a meditation teacher training course
will not only help your meditation practice but it will empower you with
confidence to share simple techniques with friends, family, children, or more
formally in classes at work, fitness center, church, or other public venue.
“The only way out is IN!” The solution to humanity’s
pressing issues today is a shift in consciousness. Leadership is needed but
consciousness is by definition individual. This is the age of Self-realization
which has come, as Yogananda put it, “to unite” all sincere seekers (not under
the umbrella of any single organization or creed but under the shining stars of
Superconsciousness!). Let us vow to ourselves, as Yogananda did when his guru, Swami
Sri Yukteswar challenged his resistance to public service, “to share with my
fellows, so far as lay in my power, the unshackling truths I had learned at my
guru’s feet.”
Joy to you,
Swami Hrimananda
