What is Kriya Yoga?
Kriya Yoga, as described by Yogananda,
"The Kriya Yogi mentally directs his life energy to revolve around the six spinal centers (medullary, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses), which correspond to the twelve astral signs of the zodiac, the symbolic Cosmic Man, upward and downward."
The Kriya yoga method consists of several levels of pranayama, mantra, and mudra based on practices designed to hasten spiritual growth and induce a profound state of calm and God-communion.
Sri Yukteswar Giri, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Mahavatar Babaji are among Yogananda's lineage of gurus who helped him describe Kriya Yoga.
The latter is said to have presented the notion as fundamentally identical to Patanjali's Raja Yoga and the Bhagavad Gita's description of Yoga.
Kriya Yoga, as taught by Lahiri Mahasaya, is historically only studied through a Guru-disciple connection, with a secret initiation ritual.
"Babaji trained me in the old rigorous laws which regulate the transmission of the yogic technique from Guru to pupil," he said following his entrance into Kriya Yoga.
The practice of Kriya Yoga is said to purify the blood, allowing the life energy to retreat into the spine.
One half-minute of energy revolution around man's sensitive spinal cord causes subtle development in his growth; one year of natural spiritual unfoldment is equal to half-minute of Kriya.
Kriya Yoga is a basic psycho-physiological strategy for decarbonizing and recharging the human blood with oxygen.
The additional oxygen atoms are converted into life current, which rejuvenates the brain and spinal areas.
The yogi can minimize or avoid tissue degeneration by halting the buildup of venous blood; the accomplished yogi can transform his cells into pure energy. Elijah, Jesus, Kabir, and other prophets were masters of Kriya or a comparable method, which allowed them to control the materialization and dematerialization of their bodies."
"Kriya sadhana may be understood of as the sadhana of the 'practice of being in Atman,'" wrote Swami Satyananda.
INITIAL KRIYA YOGA TECHNIQUE
The Sushumna nadi, which goes up the body from the Muladhara
chakra (at the base of the spine), passes through the spinal column, and
pierces the bases of the skull.
It splits at the larynx, with the anterior
portion going to the ajna chakra (the region between the brows) and the
posterior piece going beyond the skull to the Brahma chakra (at the top of the
head)
Sit cross-legged or in lotus pose in a chair, feet flat on the floor.
Straighten your head and neck, then place your hands in your lap, palms
upwards. Close your eyes completely or partially. Maintain a steady stare on
the ajna chakra (the point between the eyebrows). The neck should be expanded.
Directions for pranayam:
- 1. Breathe deeply and slowly via your nose, generating the
steady sound of "AW" deep in the enlarged throat. Feel a chilly
current being dragged up the sushumna as you pull in the breath to a count of
10 (or up to 15). Feel the coolness in your throat and hear the sound
"AW," and mentally transport these feelings and sounds to your spine,
as if a cool breath were coming up the sushmna with a "AW" sound.
"AW's" sound should be detectable but not too loud.
- 2. After drawing the cold stream up to the ajna chakra, take
a little rest; three counts should enough.
- 3. Slowly and quietly exhale through the nose to a count of
10 (or up to 15), generating a consistent "EE" sound high in the
enlarged throat. Feel the breath moving down the sushumna as a warm, delicate
(threadlike) stream. Feel the warmth in your throat and concentrate on the
sound of "EE," then mentally transfer both the sensation of warmth
and the sound of "EE" to your spine, envisioning the warm breath
flowing down your spine with the delicate sound of "EE." Exhalation
and inhalation should both be gradual and even.
Repetition is key. Concentrate on the chilly or warm
currents you sense in the sushumna. Take a mental journey down the spine. Put
all of your thoughts and feelings there. If you're feeling agitated, start your
meditation by repeating the soham or another mantra to quiet your mind. The method
should then be practiced (listening to the Om sound). Kriya should be performed
on an empty or minimally full stomach.
MAHA MUDRA
1. Take a seat on the floor, upright.
2. Bring the left leg back under the body, with the sole of
the left foot supporting the left hip.
3. Pull the right leg up against the body, bringing the
upper half of the leg as near as possible to the chest and the sole of the foot
flat on the floor.
4. Wrap your hands around your right knee, fingers clasped.
5. Inhale deeply into the extended throat, generating the
sound "AW" and carrying the cool stream up the sushumna.
6. While holding your breath, lean your head forward and
downward until your chin hits your chest, while releasing your grip on the
right knee and lengthening your right leg forward till it is straight on the
floor.
7. Holding the breath, grab the big toe of the right foot
with the interlaced fingers of both hands and gently draw it toward you,
mentally counting from one to six in this bent stance.
8. Sit up straightening your spine and raising your right
knee until it is back in the initial position (see items 3 and 4 above).
9. Exhale with a high "EE" sound in the wide
throat, allowing the heated circulation to go down the sushumna.
10. Reverse the leg positions such that the right foot is
tucked behind the right hip and the left leg is brought up toward the body.
11. Sit with your left and right legs drawn up toward your
body and your hands clasped over your knees.
12. Breathe deeply and carry the chilly stream up the sushumna,
generating the sound "AW" deep in the throat.
13. While holding your breath, bow your head forward and
downward until your chin hits your chest, then release the clasped hands and
stretch both legs forward until they are straight out in front of you.
14. While still holding your breath, wrap your hands over
the great toes of your left and right feet and draw them toward you, counting
one to six.
15. Stand up straight with your back straight, both legs
brought up close to your body, and hands clasped around your knees.
16. Exhale and send the heated current down the sushumna,
generating the sound "EE."
17. Repeat steps three times.
Relax the muscles that go down the spine. The extended leg's
knee should not be bent.
JYOTI MUDRA
1. Sit upright on a straight chair with your feet flat on
the floor, cross-legged, or in a lotus position.
2. Place the thumb of the left hand over the left tragus and
the thumb of the right hand over the right tragus. (The tragus is the
cartilaginous protuberance in front of the ear's entrance or hole.)
3. Lightly push the index fingers of each hand over the
closed eyelids' outer corners with a moderate pressure.
4. Place the middle fingers towards the nostrils on the
sides of the nose.
5. Place the fourth and little fingers over and below the
corners of the.
6. Inhale with the sound of "AW," pushing the cold
river upward via the sushumna while staring at the ajna chakra with your
fingers softly in these locations.
7. Close the ear, nose, and openings entirely and keep the
eyeballs locked in the upward-gazing posture by holding your breath and
knitting your eyebrows firmly and swiftly. At the same time, apply strong yet
mild pressure with all of your fingers.
8. Watch the rotating light of the spiritual eye—the
spiritual aurora borealis—while continuing to hold your breath for a mental
count of 1 to 12 (or as long as you can hold your breath without pain).
9. With the sound of "EE," release the pressure on
the fingers (without removing them from their places) and exhale, releasing the
warm current downward down the spinal tube. Rep three times more. When you see
the spiritual eye in its entirety, you'll see a five-pointed star in the
center, surrounded by a blue light, which is encompassed by a halo of golden
light.
When holding the breath during Jyoti Mudra (see point 8 in
outline), the rib-cage tenses reflexively in order to sustain the chest
expansion.
During this section of Jyoti Mudra, the Kriya yogi might improve his
or her results by intentionally relaxing the chest. If his attention is deep
and peaceful, he may notice that the epiglottis relaxes (i.e., opens), letting
air into the. The escape of air (and consequent deflation of the chest) is
avoided, however, since the fingers securely block the and nostril holes.
THE SECOND KRIYA
- Place your chair in front of a table high enough that you
may comfortably rest your elbows on it while sitting with a straight spine and
cover your ears by pushing the tragus of both ears with your thumbs after doing
Kriya Yoga, the First Initiation.
- Then press the tips of your forefingers into
the closed eyelids' outer corners.
- Rotate the fingertips on the corners of the
eyes gently with slight pressure, while simultaneously contracting the muscles
below the muladhara chakra.
- Focus your focus on the constricted muladhara
chakra while listening for the sound of the bumble bee. Sound and light will be
produced as a result of positive attention on the negative muladhara chakra.
It's a lot easier to make the sound.
- To perceive the ray-petaled lotus-stars or
chakras, you must have a high level of development. The spiritual eye, on the
other hand, may take on a dark reddish color, or orange, or blue, depending on
the vibrations of the five centers below, and will reflect in the sixth
spiritual center, or taluka chakra.
- Keep your eyes closed and your
concentration on the muladhara chakra muscles until you hear the bumble bee,
then relax your eyes and the muladhara chakra muscles.
- Allow your attention to
travel up the spine an inch or two, contract the swadhisthana chakra muscles,
and rotate the fingertips on the closed eyes' corners softly but slightly,
listening for the sound of a flute. Then watch how the hue of the spiritual eye
changes.
- Then mentally go up the spine to the manipura chakra opposite the
navel, relaxing the swadhisthana muscles and your eyeballs.
- By jerking the
navel, you may pinpoint the exact location of this spot.
- Hold the tension in
the manipura chakra while slowly spinning the fingertips on the closed eyes' corners
with a mild pressure; then listen for the harp sound.
- Relax your eyelids and
the manipura muscles.
- Bring the shoulder blades together and concentrate on the
spine opposite the heart to find the anahata chakra.
- Rotate the fingertips on
the closed eyes' corners gently and with a gentle pressure, noticing the color
shift and listening for a deep bell sound.
- The shoulder blades should be
relaxed, and the eyes should be pressed together.
- Raise your mind to the
Vishuddhi chakra. Moving your head swiftly from side to side produces a
cracking or grinding sound in the Vishuddhi chakra vertebrae, which you may
feel.
- Listen for the sea roar at that precise location. Gently rub your hands
over the closed eyes' corners, observing the shift in color in the spiritual eye.
- Continue to concentrate until you hear the sea roar emanating from the
Vishuddhi chakra, and then relax.
- Then, opposite the taluka chakra, tension the
rnuscles at the rear of the head. Concentrate on the symphony of the bumblebee,
flute, harp, bell, and sea roar by gently rotating the fingertips on the closed
eyes' corners.
- Try to see the spiritual eye as well. Muscles and eyes should be
relaxed. Finally, knit your brows and gently spin your fingertips on the closed
eyes' corners with slight pressure, with your closed eyes centered at the spot
between the brows.
- Visualize the golden ring surrounding the blue center with
the diamond star while doing this, and focus on the symphony of sounds from the
five centers under the taluka chakra. Then let your brows and eyes relax.
- Repeat the above procedure 6-12 times while moving. Mentally move your
attention downward and then upward down the spine, focusing on the various
sounds emanating from the various centers until all of the centers' positions
are well established in your mind.
- Finish your practice with an upward movement
to the ajna chakra. If you don't hear or see the light from each center right
away when you concentrate on it, try deepening your focus there for a few
seconds longer. If you still don't see or hear anything, move on to the next
center.
WHERE DO YOU FIND THE CHAKRAS OR PLEXUSES?
1. Ajna chakra (Spiritual Eye). By squeezing the muscles
between the brows, you can find it.
The "two-edged sword" is the
Taluka chakra, which has two petals or blue and gold rays. Tensing the muscles
at the base of the skull will help you find it.
3. The lotus-star of sixteen
rays of the Vishuddhi chakra. By rotating your head and hearing the
"cracking" of vertebrae, you can find it.
4. lotus-star of twelve
rays anahata chakra Contract the muscles in the spine opposite the heart and
draw the shoulder blades together to locate. Locate the
5 manipuralotus-ten-ray
star by squeezing the muscles in the spine opposite the navel.
6. swadhisthana
lotus-six-rayed star By compressing muscles in the spine an inch or so above
the muladhara chakra, you can find it. The lotus-star with four rays is the
seventh muladhara chakra. Locate the muladhara chakra, or base of the spine, by
squeezing muscles in the spine.
THE THIRD KRIYA
- The popular krisha mantra, Om
namo bhagavata vasu devaya, is utilized in the Third and Fourth Kriya.
- Take a
seat in a straight chair and sit up straight.
- Maintain a straight spine,
shoulders back, chin parallel to the floor, chest out, abdomen in, hands interlaced
and put over the navel, eyes closed or half open, eyeballs tilted upward, and
gaze fixed between the brows without effort.
- Practice Kriya twenty times before
moving on to the third initiation.
- For the first three months, stick to this
timetable, and then repeat the third introduction twelve times.
Instructions
- First, take a full, cold Kriya breath, slowly drawing the
current up the sushumna with the sound of AW.
- Mentally recite the following as the current ascends from
center to center in the spine:
- 1. At the muladhara chakra center, say Om.
- 2. Swadhisthana
chakra, at the swadhisthana chakra
- 3. At the manipura chakra, Mo
- 4. At the
anahata chakra, Bha
- 5. Ga is located at the vishuddha chakra.
- 6.Va is located at the
ajna chakra.
- Continuously use mental pressure to force the breath from the
lower region of the belly, gradually pushing it up to the breast bone and into
the chest, while chanting mentally and pulling the cool breath and stream up
the sushumna.
- At the ajna chakra, hold the breath and current. Consider the point
between your brows as the source of all physiological energy and breath.
- Then, while holding your breath, slowly jerk your head to
the left shoulder and mentally say Ta, focusing on the taluka chakra and
feeling the current reach it.
- While keeping your breath held, slightly jerk
your head to the right, envisioning the current traveling downhill to the
Vishuddhi chakra. C
- hant Va in your mind while keeping your concentration and
subtle current focused on the vishuddhi chakra.
- While still holding your breath,
swiftly lower your head forward until your chin lands on your chest. Feel a
gentle current reaching the anahata chakra, like a thread of warmth. Mentally
recite Su-as to achieve this.
- At the anahata chakra, feel the breath and
current resting. Continue to convey the warm thread of breath and current
downward with the sound of EE (as in Kriya during exhale), mentally reciting Da
at the manipura chakra, Va at the swadhisthana chakra, and Ya at the muladhara
chakra.
THE FOURTH KRIYA
The highest of the initiations, the fourth, varies from the theory and practice of the preceding initiations only in a little but crucial technicality, which is highly fundamental to the eventual achievement of samadhi.
This fourth initiation uses the same strategy as the third,
but with the following modification:
- Instead of spinning the head once while
you mentally chant Ta, Ba, Su-(with the breath held), rotate the head three
times, repeating Ta, Ba, Su with each revolution and holding the same breath
throughout.
- For six months, practice this fourth introduction, turning the head
three times. After then, progressively increase the number of revolutions to
twenty-five, as long as you can hold your breath easily and without strain
throughout the entire series of revolutions.
- The exercise is mentally chanting
Om, Na, Mo Bha, Ga, Va to bring the breath, life current, and awareness upward
to the ajna chakra, and then holding the breath and spinning the head while
mentally repeating Ta, Va, Su.
- The technique's trick is to increase the amount
of times you rotate your head while holding your breath and mentally reciting
Ta, Va, Su.
- The head is transformed into a spiritual magnet as the number of revolutions
rises (while holding the breath as long as possible without discomfort).
- This
cerebral astral magnet draws all currents traveling through the neural system
upward as one through the six cerebrospinal plexuses, concentrating them in the
pineal gland, medulla oblongata, and cerebrum, where they are ready to flow out
through the medulla oblongata into the Spirit.
- The more attentively the pupil
increases his head rotation and chanting of the Ta, Ba, Su while holding his
breath, the stronger his brain magnet gets.
You may also want to read more about Yoga, Yoga Asanas, Kriyas, Pranayama and Mudras here.
