• Kriya Yoga and Kriya Yoga: Comparisons between the Kriya Yoga of Satyananda and Yogananda
• Part 2. Doing Kriya Yoga

Kriya Yoga and Kriya Yoga: Comparisons between the Kriya Yoga of Satyananda and Yogananda

The basic features of kriya yoga output in outline

Paramahansa Yogananda's kriya teachings put into perspective.

This is aimed at those interested in learning kriya yoga, which is referred to in several places in Autobiography of a Yogi.

Kriya yoga is a system of techniques, and there are many of them. The basic part of kriya yoga is a form of gentle breathing coupled with some other things. This is to say that the core part of the wide kriya system is "breathing calmly and attentively in and out": pranayama. If carefully and skilfully done, such breathing induces meditation. There are good sides to kriya yoga, kriya research shows. The basic technique is here: [Core method].

There are several alterations in the kriya system that is taught by Yogananda's fellowship. There are also many other traditions for teaching kriya yoga, and almost every known of these traces their origin to the mystical guru Babaji.

One such kriya line is traced back to Babaji through Swami Sivananda and his line of disciples from Swami Satyananda Saraswati (1923-2009) [Ets 89]. He has authored over 80 books. Some of them are systematic manuals. In this line are Swami Janakananda Saraswati in Sweden; Swami Anandakapila Saraswati in Australia; and Swami Nischalananda Saraswati in Wales.

In other guru lines related to Babaji are Shibendu Lahiri in India and Swami Satyeswarananda Giri in the United States. I have commented on output by these two here and there.

In the West, kriya dissemination was formerly much dominated by Self-Realization Fellowship, SRF, which was termed a sect by a former main SRF editor, Tara Mata. I will compare sides to Satyananda's kriya as it is presented in some of the books published by the Yoga Publications Trust, and Yogananda's kriya. Now there are differences and nuances in how Yogananda's kriya is performed also, depending on what line of disciples is into it.

Background information

My sources are briefly: I have been initiated in the four kriyas of Yogananda, and have had access to further readings from SRF. I also took part in forming an SRF meditation group long ago, with access to much SRF literature. I visited SRF groups in Scandinavia, London, Berlin, and Paris, apart from SRF centres in California (Hollywood and Encinitas, mainly). This makes me an SRF insider, and I can talk from own experiences rather consistently. I eventually left SRF, severely disappointed with the fellowship after initial enthusiasm, and have not joined any other kriya tradition after that. I practice TM.

I know of other techniques than those practiced in SRF and other recensions. I have met and conversed with performers of Satyananda's kriya yoga, looked into research made on that form of kriya, and accessed literature about Satyananda's kriya yoga.

For each heading below I will add my comments from my vantage point. Also, I was once trained in research and standards that go along with it. I was working at a university then. The purpose of telling what I tell, is to present facts so that those interested in learning kriya yoga, at least know they have a choice, and learn to know some vital points of what they are heading for in SRF, if they become members there. For the differences between the two lines of transmission amount to different life-styles. The SRF life-style is not free, and may be scaring too, once you know the details (below are some). For example, the much restricted sex life of a devoted Yogananda follower may suffer, and that of his or her mate too. There are examples.

❖ There are various forms of kriya yoga, and different organisations to spread them.

1. Satyananda's kriya is taught without ugly authoritarian sides whereas SRF's kriya is dominated by submission to authoritarianism

I will tell about SRF, that is, Yogananda's Self-Realization Fellowship first. It is dominated by and favouring blind submission to authority, and is structured to concentrate power in a leader or a leader group that consists of monks and/or nuns. They decide some sides to the organisation, but claim they obey their leader, Yogananda, are devoted and humble, and that sort of speech that serves monastics, but not free people.

However, they obey their long gone leader selectively and not gently enough for all monastics either. Around 2002 one third of the SRF monastics left the SRF premises, for example. Some of them have had severe adaptation problems afterward.

Monastic structure of SRF demands submissiveness by degrees. First, while you are a non-committed "student" and not initiated in kriya, there are few express do's and don'ts. Aftewards the reins are tightened, as you may see further down the page. Satyananda's kriya focuses on practices, and integrates different yoga branches into a unified system, sahaja yoga. You get step-by-step guidelines, and may try for yourself if yoga can help you - kriya or other sides to yoga. The aim is higher awareness, not doctrines to believe and follow faithfully (ie, in curbed manners), as with Yogananda. You start from basic practices and may slowly gain more awareness, clarity. What is aimed at is yoga fitted into the daily routine, and that is your own business. "We do not presume to change your beliefs through any type of dogmatic preaching. We are only interested in helping you to gain maximum happiness and fulfilment in life." [Cy 3]

❖ Select your own good business instead of succumbing to authoritarian deals.

2. SRF seek to influence the sex life of lay members too, by don'ts and divine authority, whereas Satyananda's kriya tradition does not interfere with having normal sex.

I once talked with a woman, the wife of an SRF member. "I hate Yogananda," she said. "He ruined my marriage." And how? Because SRF tells members to have sex sparingly, for example once a month. SRF imposes other restrictions on life too, and teaches in part antiquated and low propaganda about "conserving your fluids".

In A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya, Satyananda teaches opposite to this. He explains that kriya yoga is part of tantra, and does not ideally teach you to curb this and that, but to gain awareness linked to the movement of the breath. "Kriya yoga does not ask you to abstain from your sexual life," writes Satyananda. "Sexual activity is a natural part of life . . . under correct circumstances tantra has encouraged the use of sex as a means to evolve spiritually." "Continue your sexual relations, but don't dwell continually on sexual thoughts." "The practice of kriya yoga definitely does not ask you to change your way of life." [Cy 12-13]

So in SRF they influence you to abstain from marring sex to get evolved, and be faithful (etc.), and not to get evolved along with having ample or normal sex, independently of it or actively using it for good.

One tradition negates sex, the other has a way of life where it can fit it.

❖ Favour yoga methods and yoga organisations that don't curb your sex life and other natural, all right drives.

3. Learning kriya in SRF means you become a member of a Church with its authoritarian facets whereas learning Satyananda's kriya may be done in freedom, by following courses or buying a book or three, or borrowing them.

In SRF and other churches, dogmatism rules. Much of the dogmatism in SRF seeks to bridge Krishna teachings and those of Jesus, claiming they are of one mind. However, many such SRF claims are neither true nor in accord with Christian teachings of the New Testament, and so on. SRF is a modern cult. Cult life is not ideal or fit for mature ones.

You can learn Satyananda's kriya from publicly available books, which may be quite daunting, frankly, in that you may find you need to be non-fat and supple to do all the exercises involved, including preparatory exercises [Cy; Kta]. However, all the preparatory gymnastic exercises are not really needed to do basic kriya: you just breathe for it. Yes, the basic kriya method is a special form of gentle breathing. You can learn it for free here; no strings attached: [Free kriya]

Maybe you get some other options too, such as public kriya classes in Satyananda's tradition. In Satyananda's kriya it is further taught: "A full preparation [for kriya] is essential." A question is what "full preparation" entails. After all, what you do during the main kriya method, is to sit and breathe in quiet.

Now awareness of your breath helps awareness. You can be aware of your breath and breathe gently, attentively, to combat common stress. You can do it while walking, talking, working on routine tasks, or while sitting comfortably. Breath awareness is recommended in Buddhism too. The aim of breath awareness is to be (better) aware of your consciousness as a spectator or witness. Breath awareness is an essential part of kriya yoga. [Cy 11-12]

In Satyananda's tradition you are told to do the practices, relax well, and gain tranquillity. "There are no restrictions or barriers" as to age, diet, religion or whatever. They do not say, "No preparatory exercises are absolutely needed for gentle kriya breathing either," but I think they should. The needed thing is interest enough to put for effective effort to reap the benefits. [Cy 13-14]

❖ To learn kriya through classes is recommended above learning it from books, and lots of preparatory exercises seem uncalled for, really.

4. SRF binds you by an oath, whereas Satyananda's tradition does not

The SRF's kriya pledge is shown and elaborated on on another page. The battering SRF oath serves to tie you to Yogananda for the rest of your lives (!). There are many and severe downsides to such an arrangement. [More]

Satyananda's tradition teaches yoga courses in public, and kriya may be learnt in courses too. One of the free-standing kriya organisations in his tradition is Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School. It is located in Sweden. Also, Satyananda's kriya is explained in detail in books, most notably these two: [Cy; Kta]. By studying them, you get a notion of the kriya lifestyle entailed. Your freedom, isn't it worth taking care of?

❖ Oath-binding takes away human freedom and is not necessary for good progress. There is a great risk of loss of human dignity for the oath-bound.

5. SRF's Yogananda teachings contain Superego dogmatism whereas Satyananda's school tends very well to the rational mind, the Adult instance of the personality

Yogananda's kriya instructions are secret, so I will not divulge as much as might be desirable with his course as the source, that is. But others have written about their frustrations in his cult, notably monastics that felt offended and left the SRF premises about six years ago. Some of them appeared frequently on the SRF Walrus, a discussion board meant for these Yogananda devotees, and many subjects were brought to light by former monastics.

Dissatisfaction with do's and don'ts (superego dangers), old, outdated Yogananda instructions on sex moderation, a dogmatic faith that is much at fault, guru worship, and much rigmarole calls for submission, maybe infantilisations too. It depends on how "devoted" and "faithful" you end up.

The lesson course of Satyananda, or kriya classes in his schools, has another tenor in thatit does not bind you, does not call for submissive boss servility, does not seek to make you boss-ridden or boss-worshipping, but lets you mind your own business and your own faith too.

❖ Hate-repressing worship of bosses, superego-dominating dogmatism, and ceremonialist focus are not signs of elevated spirituality, actually, and there are hardly any needs for such non-frivolous outlets of faking either.

How are SRF people?

Briefly stated, I was initiated into all the four kriya yogas of SRF and spent time on the first SRF group in my country, I have had contact with SRF members in Scandinavia, and visited SRF meetings in London, Berlin, and Paris. I translated a few of Yogananda's works in manuscript format, and also stayed for some time in SRF's Hollywood ashram, Encinitas facilities, the desert retreat in Twenty-Nine Palms, I got some impressons of the officers and the crew, so to speak. I have talked with many previous monks, spent some weeks with enthusiasts trying to get into the monastic part of the organisation, and have got a lot of letters from members via email and otherwise the last twelve years. Not all of it has been unwelcome. This is the basis for these statements:

Rubens. Bacchanal (1615). Detail. Symbol of "clear dissipations" and the like.

SRF people may be found to be good and decent neighbours and proficient people of commerce and business too. Their various relationships may not be marked by clear dissipations and indulgences in harmful substances. They can be generous, friendly, kindly, very patient and discreet. The film actor Dennis Weaver, another TV personality - is an SRF member. SRF lay people may prefer not to make a show of how Yogananda-dictated and devotion-ridden they may be in the privacy of the home, and that is their own business too. It seems to me that those who make a show of devotion, are not quite "there" yet, and need to go deeper. Also, SRF members may be found to indulge themselves in sayings of Yogananda over and above trusting their own wise judgements as to what to do in certain circumstances. I have mentioned Yogananda's tough take against quite usual sex. It may sound too hard, but if those who enter SRF cannot afford having a bit sex, or having sex at all, the tough regulation required could suit them.

It has come to the fore recently that those who head the world-wide organisation indulge in secrecy. For example, the monks and nuns of the headquarters did not even know that their current president (leader), had kept away from the place for twenty years to live at a villa somewhere else. When the news broke, it probably contributed to the mass exodus of monastics mentioned above - one third of the "inmates" left the SRF premises, and some may have left Yogananda too. The scenario is not made lighter by added information, such as this: The renouncers would stay away from "the world" - degrading influences - by living in a sheltered environment (ashram) together. And then it was seen that their leader found their company too unsuitable too, but not a villa where she lived with a carnal sister and a view to mountains.

In SRF they submit as a main strategic stride. All submit to Yogananda's dictates or guidelines, and lay members submit to the clergy, as is common in congregations and cults otherwise too. In actual practice SRF makes much of the difference between monastics and lay members. Monastics head the organisation. Monastics are the "officers", and lay members are the "crew" that is asked to donate money to the cause, the great cause. The lay members, the fine neighbours that refrain from drugging themselves and from having sex as they might have preferred, are taking on the complementary roles of dutiful subjects who will get rescued, and superbly so. One of the means believed in, are restraints to avoid dissipations, also dissipations of attention. Yogananda talks against brutish and blantantly speculative television, to be sure.

To drive home such fine points, SRF has published literature. One of the books is called The Master Said [Tms; Say; Spa] (Later editions called: Sayings of Yogananda and Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda). One may glimpse from it that in SRF they are greatly Yogananda-focused. His edited sayings are given weight, and the guru is called Master, Yoganandaji or Paramahansaji, and this looks like part of SRF's "serious business" of promoting Yogananda and his statements too. One repeated message is loud and clear: he is a parental figure in the cult. From The Master Said I quote:

A television set was given to the Master. It was set up in a room where it could be used by all the disciples. They were going there so frequently that the Master said to them: "So long as you have not found God, it is best not to be interested in amusements. Seeking diversion means forgetting Him. First learn to love Him and know Him. Then it won't matter what you do, for He will never leave your thoughts." [Tms 101]

Every year, on the day before Christmas, the disciples would gather with the Master at the Mount Washington Center for meditation. The sacred session would usually last all day and into the evening hours. During the Christmas meditation in 1948 the Divine Mother* appeared to the Master, and . . . Suddenly he cried:

"Don't go! You say the subconscious material desires of these people are driving You away? Oh, come back! Come back!" [Tms 75]

The Divine Mother construct of SRF contains this:

"The Lord in the form of the Cosmic Mother appears in living tangibility before true bhaktas (devotees of a Personal God).

"The Lord manifests Himself before His saints in whatever form each of them holds dear. A . . . Hindu beholds Krishna, or the Goddess Kali, or an expanding Light if his worship takes an impersonal turn." [Tms 106]

Also, Yogananda decrees his followers to cry for her till she appears. The practice calls for frustrations and may be dangerous to mental health, since: "You cannot summon God by a little cry; it must be unceasing." [Ak 447] "To the naughty child who cries and cries for Her, She will come . . . first you must prove to Her that you want Her alone. You must cry urgently and unceasingly." [Ak 450]. It is not wise to fall for dualistic concepts and their decoys, but it looks like "the way of the world" that "Nothing is so laughable that it does not find worshippers (German)."

Such "baby-cry-ballyho" works against the basics of sound and deep meditation, as Yogananda is into too in his way: "You won't find God anywhere unless you find Him within [Jse 292]." "Discover Him within yourself [Ak 171]."

Should you "seek God," then, as Yogananda often urges followers to. Frankly, the guru Lahiri Mahasaya that Yogananda officially venerates, repeatedly teaches not to. One thing is verbal veneration of a guru by cenermonialist means, another thing is living up to that guru's essential teachings. And not seeking God is one of them. You may find it hard to believe, but see if ther are not plenty of good reasons for it. One is mental. If you form concepts, however grand they appear, these thoughts tend to limit your development of inner awareness and adjustments. In proficient meditation you are supposed to transcend (go beyond) those concepts. Ramakrishna was taught this too by the naked, wandering Totapuri, in a memorable scene. [Link]

The expert attitude is to look forward to good results accruing in time, provided the practice is sound, well balanced, and free from dangers. However, during a meditation session, the good work not to get tied to lower levels by induced concepts and expectations linked to them, but to go beyond those chains. During such spells it is fit to abandon expectations, focus on the drill, provided you have learnt a good and fit method, like Transcendental Meditation. It has been documented to work, and according to currently available research findings it looks like the over-all best method. [Link]

The art of meditation is to glide within and transcend lots of concepts. Such is the way of deep and proficient meditation. Emotionalist ballyhoo and rigmarole - as that of Yogananda's fellowship - tend to act against fit meditation and higher states it tends to open up to, and is at best Kindergarten yoga. It should be good to rise above it.

Here are a few Lahiri samples:

The fault is to desire; therefore, renouncing desire[,] be happy. [Gv 56].

Kriya should be practiced not for benefits but rather abandoning expectations for results. [Hw 132].

Tranquility (Sthirattva) is attained eventually by sincere Kriya practice which abandons the expectations for results therefrom. [Iv Back cover]

Some devotional-emotional or crank Yogananda-added words surrounding kriya yoga meditation counteract that inward glide through deep meditation. It is best to realize that Yogananda often talks against himself, on many issues, and even on the art of meditating deeply and proficiently. It seems that a devotionalist structure of his mind got the better of him after spending years with Americans. Folly developed, suffice to say. And there is no need to glorify it and its rigmarole either.

It has been obserbed by Anandamoy of SRF: SRF conformity hardly suits those of independent attitudes. It should perhaps be added: There are sides to it that hardly suit anyone in his right mind, and other elements that are of too little value for a serious practitioner of meditation.

SRF people and others in the Lahiri tradition are told to get rid of their "ego" too. This side to the widespread kriya teaching is suspect. Mental derangement may be brought on. A person needs his or her ego (in the psychoanalytical sense) to fight and bear fruit. There is a great need to clarify just that.

Gurus in the SRF line dare to call themselves "I", yet having got rid of the ego. "I" is the ego, and also a part of the name of the Lord in the Bible. It boils down to that. What is more, the Lord's self-presentation, "I am what I am" in Exodus 3:14 is about the same as "I". "I am" and "I" are not so different, for unless you are, you are no I. Unless you are, you cannot be. The one requires the other, thus. In other words, to be requires someone to be: an I.

Now Ramana Maharsi has a say about the value of I in good enough yoga too: "Awareness is itself the "I". [Tb 24] Many essential meditation methods are designed to help awareness, in other words a deep and fulfilling sense of "I". It can become jubilant.

❖ An organisation led by monastics will usually go for prestige and resources from such as lay members, in the name of "spiritually fattening" or better, much better. At least better-sounding. We should not fall for glorious-gilded decoys.

Rescued and rescued

Some think they get rescued from bad things by entering Yogananda's cult. Also observe the organisation may be reluctant to admit to being a cult, even though it conforms to main criteria of cults. I do not say a cult may be all bad, only that it is authoritarian. Further, cult membership may suit those whose personalities are patterned similarly, perhaps. But you should know a cult when you see one.

Some come to see Yogananda teaches inconsistently and interprets religious teachings tendentiously and unfoundedly as suits himself. He makes much of his visions, telling Jesus is one of the six gurus, and explains the Holy Spirit as Aum, and so on. That is, he transforms Christian thought to fit ancient Hindu concepts without fair consideration, and SRF stubbornly upholds his wrong views. It is better to be aware of these things before you are stuck in the cult and feel too scared to leave SRF and also drop Yogananda, for example. This said, I have also got letters from SRF members who were content.

Yet, if you do not want to submit to elements that may bring on neuroses, try to sort out what kind of rescuing you can profit from. Do you want self-help? Yogananda's teachings are not ideal for it. Do you want submission and dependency and perhaps retrogression? Why not try to improve, rather than conform to unsound cultishness?

Satyananda's branch of kriya yoga grants you freedom, albeit it may influence your lifestyle and thinking too. There are few or no dictates, but there are rules and regulations for those who do kriya, rules and regulations for the yogi-fit life-style.

There is a difference between kriya and kriya in the SRF tradition too. Yogananda simplified parts, altered parts, and SRF does not teach exactly the same kriya now as it did back in 1933. Moreover, different disciples of Yogananda were allowed to teach kriya too, and some of their instructions differ.

It is also significant that whereas the guru's kriya system largely prepares for meditation, Transcendental Meditation (TM) is meditation. In some further, delicate states of dhyana (meditation) kriya breathing can come naturally and spontaneously, though. That sort of delicate, very gentle breathing is called ujjayi in yoga literature, and is the core of basic kriya too. And TM brings better results for meditators than other researched methods, says ▫David Orme-Johnson.

A nice combination of gentle breathing awareness altenating with TM (a form of mantra yoga) could be good. Among the essential factors are timely, correct, adapted practice with gentleness and as much ease as you manage to get, and not overdoing it.

❖ Many inherently unsound cults offers beginner "wonderful aids" and meditation techniques, only to start limiting member's freedom once the goodies are hooked.

Part 2. Doing Kriya Yoga

Discerning between the essential and less helpful is great help.

Kriya yoga is a set of many techniques. Satyananda's tradition tells there are 76 kriyas, and teach 20 of them by stages. Satyananda describes them in the books A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya [Cy, passim] and Kundalini Tantra [Kta 284-315]. Thus, twenty kriyas are described in publicly available books. The Yogananda line operates with four kriyas, yet several subsets include a bundle of what the Satyananda tradition calls kriyas too, so the proportion is not 20 to 4. And the core technique of kriya yoga is given here.

Yogananda, the Hindu monk that made kriya yoga well known in the West, learnt kriya yoga in another line from Babaji, and he went on and simplified the kriya yoga he had learnt. First Lahiri Mahasaya (1828-95) simplified the kriya system, Yogananda tells, and later he himself removed some practices and changed the names of others. You may wonder if Yogananda's kriya is well simplified. Satyananda's tradition does not teach simplified kriya yoga, but rather kriya with additions by Satyananda, who culled the additions from scriptures.

The core part of Satyananda's kriya yoga is breathing in a particular way, a form of pranayama. It is a publicly known way of breathing called ujjayi ("victorious", also called "ocean breath"), This calming and vitalising breath may further"self-integration", and has common elements with the Tu-Na breathing in Taoist Qi Gong practice. One may build on the simple practice, and even make it a form of light meditation.

Judged from Yogananda's public writings, I have no reason to tell that Yogananda's kriya breathing differs a lot from one of the ujjayi variants. So maybe you should seek to learn ujjayi. Freedom is what Yogananda and SRF may take away from you against guru words like "Don't be bound by anything. That philosophy will save you." [Yogananda, Dr 26].

❖ Core kriya yoga is offered freely on this site. It is not secret at all. There are no strings attached.

The Rising Serpent Power

In Kundalini Tantra Satyananda tells that for hundreds of years people have been talking about an experience called nirvana, . . . self-realization, . . . without understanding it properly. [3] He puts it into perspective by what is called kundalini awakening.

Kriya is first of all for awakening the kundalini, a dormant, potential force that usually resides at the root of the spinal culumn. Consciousness is aligned with it too, and levels of consciousness. Kaivalya, liberation, nirvana and so on, result from making the dormant energy rise to the head and then on to the heart, so to speak. Mantra japa is one means to awaken the kundalini. There are other means too, and kriya breathing is just one of many. [Kta 13-15]

Along the pathway(s) or of the rising serpent power (kundalini) are six chakras or "wheels" that are "stringed" to the course. The chakras are mental centres, and not physical ones, yogis inform. From bottom [Kta 127] these are counted in:

1. Muladhara - the root centre around the perineum.

2. Swadhistthana - sexual organs area

3. Manipura - navel

4. Anahata - heart

5. Vishuddhi - throat

6. Ajna - eyebrow-medulla. [Kta 23-25]

The top of the head is the seat of the Sahasrara chakra, the "thousand-petalled lotus". Each chakra is a vortex of bioplasma, and talked of as a lotus, padma, with coloured petals and with their own mantras too. That is the teaching.

❖ Mantra yoga is a fine way. TM is mantra-yoga fit for many.

Descriptions and false beliefs blend in Yogananda's line

The Yogananda line draws in astrology signs in their teachings too, and teach that one round of kriya equals one year's evolution. Or do they all? Perhaps not, for as it turns out, Yogananda changed teachings he got from his own guru, Yukteswar, in ways that look suspect. It appears that their descriptions on how to "move the attention up and down the spine", is different too. I have come across three disctinctly different versions in the kriya tradition of Lahiri Mahasaya. He taught one thing, his disciple Yukteswar taught another, and Yogananda a third. It has to be told: Better foretold than stuck in the mud of sad doctrine later, even if it is called divine wisdom.

You do not have to include belief in astrology and all sorts of additions to do your gentle breathing. But Yogananda teaches:

The kriya yogi mentally directs his life energy to revolve, upward and downward, around the six spinal centres (medullary, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses) which correspond to the twelve astral signs of the zodiac, the symbolic cosmic man. One-half minute of revolution of energy around the sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution; that half-minute of kriya equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldment.

. . . The scriptures aver that man requires a million years of normal, diseaseless evolution to perfect his human brain sufficiently to express cosmic consciousness.

. . . In three years, a kriya yogi can thus accomplish by intelligent self-effort the same result which nature brings to pass in a million years . . .

The kriya beginner employs his yogic exercise only fourteen to twenty-eight times, twice daily . . . A yogi who dies before achieving full realisation carries with him the good karma of his past kriya effort; in his new life he is harmoniously propelled toward his infinite goal.

[Autobiography of a Yogi, chapter 26, "The Science of Kriya Yogi". Excerpts.

Do we have problems with that teaching? Maybe we should, for there is no good evidence of it, actually. And besides, the guru's teaching in the matter changed greatly from his first years in the US. After he had dispensed with parts of kriya that were held to be vital by his gurus, introduced extraneous elements and simplified the key kriya yoga practice too, he boldly declared that ordinary evolution could at best lead man to cosmic consciousness in a million years, whereas his guru Yukteswar has written twelve million years - longer than humans have surfaced the earth, according to latest studies of mankind's history. How difficult it is to ascertain Yukteswar's and Yogananda's homespun-looking claims!

And if such anomalities in the kriya teachings are not enough, the early Yogananda (before 1925) taught that one round of kriya equalled a month's diseasless evolution. After 1925 one kriya round equalled a year's evolution. He bolsters up his outré claims by "scriptural authorities", but never shows which seers and scriptures teach as he does. And his own guru and guru's guru do not. All of it made me, for my part, smell a rat. Such vital points are debated on some other pages here, and exact references are given there. However, a very brief summary of these facts was felt to be good at this point. [Link]

In higher yoga you are permitted to have sound, reasonable doubts and question the teacher. Deal with your doubts too. There are many good ways to do it toward proficiency."When in doubt, win the trick", Edmund Hoyle says. That is fit, and far better than succumbing to blind faith in false teachings. Buddha teaches how to doubt in a fit way instead of being credulous [Kalama Sutra].

• Yogananda teaches kriya is scientific, that it works like mathematics, and so on. But when people confronted him or complained that they had done so many kriyas that they should have had cosmic consciousness by now, he said, at least to one, "But your attitude was not right." Attitudes may not influence mathematics like that. Yogananda lined up to science and Christianity in ways that were unwise, in order to spread a message.
• The teaching of "revolving" vitality up and down differs from just channeling it up and down. And such somewhat different ideations are hardly necessary at all for good results of gentle breathing. [More] Maybe you can do away with "superimposed thrash" on your gentle breathing (pranayama), and just focus on the thing itself. That should be good.
• As for the astrological connection, remember to ask Yogananda for evidence. If that is lacking, do not settle for authority-fostered mere belief. That is general advice.
• As for how fast kriya boost inner evolution, his guru, who taught him kriya yoga, teaches one thing and Yogananda quite another. Yogananda's great-sounding ideas of cosmic consciousness and boosted evolution may be inspected on another page. [More]
• Yogananda also tells karma (samskaras) is said to be made ineffective by kriya. So how can you then carry with you good karma after doing kriya as he tells? Yogananda does not tell.

So beware of what Yogananda teaches you, for he brings "warbled" teachings. You soon end up in confusion and frustration if you seek to make sense of them all. Better be forewarned. This does not mean that he does not teach neat and useful things in between the others, though.

What we ought to realise on top of Yogananda is that simple yet effective yoga methods - kriya is an example - gets variants and a body of teachings that may or may not contain truth, may or may not contain distortions or gross foolishness, and calls for belief. And entering the cult of Yogananda, SRF, equals super-serfdom, that is, outright dependency for life after life. Maybe you should let it go.

❖ Yogananda made a living of declaring astounding things without proof. Better be forewarned.

Biomagnetic charge - root cause of effects

Kriya yoga makes the life force, or prana, go up and down "in the spine" and thereby magnetise the organism, is a general teaching given. The Satyananda tradition teaches that kriya effects your biomagnetism or bioplasma by what is generated from careful, successful practice. If kriya is done well, the head very soon takes on an extra charge of positive biomagnetism - and it can be felt too - and the root of the spine gets more negative biomagnetic charge also. The organism is polarised. As a result brain waves get altered as well. The brain waves get more coherent, unified, and the wave patterns improve. And there is some research on kriya yoga(s) that speaks of up to remarkable effects. [Kriya research]

How to make prana, vitality, ascend somewhat "along the spine" - that is, in a subtle (fine) thread or channel called sushumna nadi, which may not be seen by current scientific apparatus? How to do it properly? There are many methods. Kriya is one of several methods of breathing, or pranayama, to such an end. To do a little kriya is really comfortable, and pleasant too. It is important to realize that ascent of the kundalini does not have to manifest as visions of chakras, but is to be accompanied by higher levels of mind.

You do the easy method, and let the results take care of themselves. That is all there is to it, basically. However, much is added or clustered around the basic method of breathing in and out in particular ways, in the different kriya yoga traditions.

Now, since Satyananda's kriya (he learnt it from Sivananda, who learnt it from Babaji according to a Satyananda book [Ets]) is made public, there is perhaps little or no harm in giving a bird's-eye's view of the basic doings, and what is most profitable. The aim is greater awareness, and to instruct ordinary people to to become masters of the spiritual realm, says Satyananda. As soon as consciousness transcends (goes beyond) sense experience, that is what may happen, one day at a time. Put in other words, higher awareness develops. [36, 50-51]

In tantra, sahasrara, the crown centre, is the highest, body-related point of awareness. [192]

❖ A fit aim, says Satyananda, is increasing awareness.

Kriya Practice in Perspective

To do kriya you need to know exactly what to do, and be purified too. [173]

Some divide kriya into preliminary and advanced techniques. There is nothing wrong with that. [197] They set forth sensible, averagely founded rules of when and where to do kriya, what to eat, how to sit. The delicate problem is you have no evidence as to what is really needed, as judged from facts, and what is the result of shared opinions in a group. I just draw attention to a delicate point, to your possible benefit.

See for example the traditional yogic attitude to onion. Some Indian yogis refuse to eat it out of prejudices masked as "teachings" of a tradition. They have been taught that onion grows in dirt, and therefore is dirty, and that it stimulates sexuality. There may not be good proof of any of it, and many other yogis eat onion as well. There are similar food prejudices in Norway too. Vaccinium uliginosum (Bog Bilberry or Northern Bilberry) is a very common, blue berry, for example. In Norway it was thought to be afrodisiacal, so people refused to eat it (!). In Denmark and Iceland it was different. The berry may replace blueberry in prepared products like jam, juice, and contains three more vitamin C too. Today people buy afrodisiacs rather wildly, but not this berry, because it has no such documented effects. [Vib 52-56]. It is the same with eating onion - it should not arouse much sexual energy apart from possible, shared placebo effects as to which foods cause what.

You are advised to sit straight, yet relaxed, and that is probably good. Maybe you wonder, "Can some get awakened without sitting straight?" In the tradition there are tales of such people. Among them is a woman who was milking her cow when it happened. You may wonder whether there are many such cases. Maybe there are, but the standard advice is still to sit straight and yet relaxed while breathing in and out. There should be no harm in that.

Ordinarily, kriya yoga - which is gentle breathing with some features added - is put into the eight-limbed yoga of Patanjali.

❖ Other yogis eat onions too . . .

The Eight Limbs of Traditional Yoga and the Place of Kriya in It

1. Yama (abstentions) - (1) non-killing, (2) truthfulness, (3) non-stealing, (4) continence, (5) non-receiving of gifts.

2. Niyama (regulations) - (6) cleanliness, 7. contentment, 8. austerity, 9. study, 10. polite and fit inward-attunement first is the greatest surrender

3. Asana, posture: There are for keeping the spine and neck steady and essentially upright, and other postures too.

4. Pranayama, or control of the prana (vital energy) - Here is where kriya yoga comes in, at least the simplest, lowest level of it. It is for preparing the body-mind for the next stages. By focusing on the eyebrow area and breathing in particular ways, one may eventually feel charged in the head, so to speak. Intense focusing in this way may activate "snake power" in the scrotum area or wherever it is hid.

5. Pratyahara - withdrawal of the mind from the senses. Inwardturning of the mind, making the mind turn inward, is what happen when falling asleep. During meditation one retains conscious awareness.

6. Dharana - When the mind has become interiorised, the next to do is keeping the mind steady so. in the interiorised position (or mode), maybe fixing the mind on a spot, for example the heart and eyebrows at the same time (You can do it).

7. Prolonged dharana is called dhyana, or deep meditation.

8. Samadhi is still longer, deeper meditation. Samadhi is what we experience when the mind soars free from senses, when the consciousness transcends (goes beyond). Prolonged, deep meditation is the fundament for samyana, 'together-control', which is holding one's attention steady on something in the superconscious state. Various attainments are taught to be attainable in this way, and they are often called miraculous powers. Patanjali enumerates many of them.

❖ The eight limbs of Patanjali work toward samyana, where the practitioner seeks to use and direct higher states of mind to some end.

Aiming at Simple Measures

You should not think that you have to start from bottom and gradually work your way upwards through the system. If you want to meditate, meditate. If you want to prepare the body-mind too, that may work well.

In Transcendental Meditation this is a great service: It takes you directly to the main thing. In kriya yoga, also a simplified system of it, you may be taken to the threshold of meditation, but need not get into 76 variants, really. They take time to learn, and may be dispensed with, almost all of them if what you want is to charge your body-mind for meditation and work by some deep breathing with a few elements added. That is how it is.

"It does not have to be so simple," you may rightly say. But check how much spare time you have and are willing to invest in good yoga and meditation. The simpler it is, the easier to carry through, and the less time it should consume. By giving attention and time to the main things, you could go deeper, get substantial progress faster and easier. But that is your business. If you feel a desire to contort your body in a hundred body postures, learn locks and other means to prepare for meditation, that is feasible too, at least for those of young and supple bodies. But I doubt if it is needed. A little yoga is good, it may help, it may prepare for kriya too, but see to that preparations do not consume most of the time available. And when you learn kriyas, see to that the 76 variants do not crowd out maximum time spent on the best things.

Satyananda's kriya tradition publishes a program of 36 lessons [Cy], starting with simple ones to train in, and then go on to more difficult ones to master, by stages. Also, the time spent on various practices is increased in time. You are also taught to combine various elements from the simpler practices. Also, simpler techniques are replaced by more advanced ones. There is a whole lot to learn in the traditional yogi way. And this may be added: The books by Satyananda on kriya and yoga nidra are admirable as to structure, clarity and thoroughness of presentation. They cover a wide range of traditional methods, give precise instructions, and do not seek to indoctrinate you at every turn. All this means I like them.

The question is now: How to simplify kriya yoga or a similar breathing method to work along with Transcendental Meditation, TM, which seems to be the best meditation method of our time, according to much research? Can the simplified kriya or similar methods advance cosmic consciousness, or is that part of the Yogananda's teaching a big bait? One reason for getting suspicious in the matter is that he teaches with two mouths. On the one hand he teahes that the purpose of life is to evolve ego-consciousness, on the other hand he teaches "kill the ego". Can you have your cake and eat it too? Can you kill the ego (rational mind) and still evolve it into cosmic consciousness all the same? Do not get confused. [More]

❖ Consider whether it seems plausible to you to get Cosmic Consciousness (God) by some delicate breathing (kriya) and sitting still. I think there are many who do not get It soon. You are free to try as far as I am concerned.

Suggested

Below are three nuggets.

1. In Satyananda yoga you are taught several of of the other parts of the kriya system, for example "the closing of the seven gates". Two eyes, two ears, two nostrils and the mouth are closed during the practice. [258]. Such "plugging" is done along with the kriya, during retention of the breath after breathing in. There is to be no strain, no discomfort.

2. Also, you start with simple sides to yoga and kriya, and goes on to listen to subtle sounds of your prana system, according to general Tantra yoga teachings [254-57]. There are methods for it. You plug your ears in some described way, and start listening. After some time you may detect the Om sound, a medley.

3. Satyananda's line also teaches another of the techniques of kriya. A mantra is mentally intoned for each chakra while breathing. However, this kriya practice is not among the twenty kriyas Satyananda normally teaches. It is taught in the kriya system that came to Yogananda as navi kriya, but he dispensed with it. Various mantras to chant mentally at the chakras are mentioned. They are as Satyananda kriya-guru Sivananda taught them. What you do is to bring your attention to each chakra and mentally repeat a different mantra for each. In this way you learn several mantras - the practice is done to prepare for kriya . . . but may be done away with, then [272-74].

❖ You "plug your ears", but do you "get to God" by it? Anyway, there is a method - with variants - used for such an aim.

No strain

As you practice the preliminaries and perfect the practice, you move on to the next set of practices to perfect yourself in, and told that all the rules and regulations enumerated, apply to kriya yoga too. There are twenty practices that are called integral for breathing in and out in the kriya way - and they are described in detail in a book. It is claimed it is essential that you master them, and that you will get very little benefit from kriya unless you perfect the twenty other methods. [Cy] [280]

Among the sensible counsels is: "Do not strain physically or mentally under any circumstances." "Do not hold the breath for longer than is comfortable." "Check that you are doing all the steps and that they are being done correctly." [282-83]

❖ Specific details help only if their over-riding methods are helpful.

The Core of These Tidings

For meditation, kriya is preparatory, and may consume very much time. There is also a kriya-ic way of breathing that occurs spontaneously in deep meditation toward transcendence.

Among the many kriyas, some methods are core methods. One common feature of the core methods is special breathing, just as in the silent variant of the traditional breath technique that is called ujjayi.

Thus, learn yogic deep breathing and add the most delicate verson of ujjayi to it, and there you are. You have to find out just how much you can do of this "almost adult kriya". do not overdo it.

This is to put deep yogic breathing and ujjayi into perspective. It goes along with body postures, and also with kriya yoga as taught in the Satyananda line. The rather inaudible sound made during this breathing method come close to the sound of doing basic kriya as taught in SRF, but there are a few small differences too.

You may cut to the chase unless you want to be involved in advanced kriya or need to be bogged down by SRF teachings:

Combine the better part of simple, sensible deep breathing and unheard ujjayi to get benefits. You may find that just one very simple kriya method may do before meditating on a fit mantra, actually.

Safe enough, simple yoga postures are commendable also. Hint: A series of consecutive asanas are here: [Link] However, they do not have to be that many, and are not mandatory. Asanas are, rather, additional for those who like.

A simple kriya along with mantra meditation is indeed feasible for most people, and may give benefits many are after. [284]

Satyananda and Yogananda teaches variants of the same mantra method (ajapa jap). In one, the mantra hamsa - spelled "hong-saw" - is silently thought along with breathing in and out naturally. "Hong" or "hang" accompanies the inbreath, and "saw" the outbreath. It is all done in a non-directive manner. [Cy 583]

It may be good for many to realise that simple ways may work well. Transcendental Meditation, TM, is a good example. And combining it with a gentle breathing method is nothing new either. What may be new is the breathing technique's delicate details.

The bottom line is that what you may need, is meditation, and preparations may not take much time, at least the first few years. After you have experienced what meditation can do for you , you may add to your methods, refine some of them, and incorporate other sides of yoga that you feel for deep inside.

So take heart. Meditation and yoga do not have to be complicated and much time-consuming. The better the methods, the better results are had in a shorter time.

You decide how involved you want to get, and how much time you are willing to spend. Do not strain, and do not overdo it.

❖ Transcendence is indeed possible, although there are some meditators who have not got that far yet.

Ak: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Man's Eternal Quest. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: SRF, 1982.

Ay: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 1st ed. New York: Theosophical, 1946. Online. [oaks.nvg.org/pv6bk12.html]

Cy: Satyananda Saraswati, Swami. A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya. Munger: Yoga Publications Trust, 1981.

Dr: Yogananda, Paramahansa. The Divine Romance. New ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1993.

Ets: Satyananda Saraswati, Swami. Early Teachings of Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Paperback ed. Munger, Bihar: Bihar School of Yoga, 1988.

Gv: Satyeswarananda, swami, tr. Complete Works of Lahiri Mahasay Vol. I: The Gitas: The Vedic Bibles. Guru Gita. Omkar Gita. Abadhuta Gita. Kabir Gita. 2nd rev. ed. San Diego: The Sanskrit Classics, 1992.

Hw: Satyeswarananda, swami, tr. The Commentaries' Series Vol. III: Hidden Wisdom. With Lahiri Mahasay's Commentaries. 2nd rev. ed. San Diego: The Sanskrit Classics, 1986.

Iv: Satyeswarananda, swami, tr. Inner Victory: With Lahiri Mahasay's Commentaries. San Diego: The Sanskrit Classics, 1987.

Kta: Satyananda Saraswati, Swami. Kundalini Tantra.8th ed. Munger: Yoga Publications Trust, 2001.

Say: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Sayings of Yogananda. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1958.

Spa: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda. 4th ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1980.

Tb: Osborne, Arthur ed: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi in His Own Words. New ed. Rider. London, 1971.

Tms: Self-Realization Fellowship. The Master Said: Sayings and Counsel to Disciples by Paramhansa Yogananda. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1957.

Vib: Ulltveit, Gudrun. Ville bær (Wild Berries). 4. opplag. Oslo: Damm, 2001.

Yn: Satyananda Saraswati, Swami. Yoga Nidra. 6th ed. Munger: Yoga Publications Trust, 2001.