Kriya Study 5
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- Fit for troubleshooters
- Suggestions
- Who is Responsible for Sour Grapes and Unripe Figs?
- Smoothly - Summary
Kriya Issues
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| By these words you may be taken by surprise. |
When the state of After-effect-poise of Kriya is consolidated, the seeker is established in the eternal Tranquility of the ultimate Self. [Shyama Lahiri]Deep issues and great problems may go hand in hand. A successful outcome of good schooling and training depends on more than not over-training, not getting outsmarted, not being taken by surprise, and not be made a victim too.By this . . . Kriya, when you become one with the supreme Person, you are eternal Being. In other words, You become the supreme Being. - [Shyama Lahiri's text and comment on the Omkar Gita, v 16.]
Fit for Trouble-shooters to Come: Enigmas
WE HAVE to study, train ourselves, and be alerted to look behind scenes and words. Otherwise, advancing like a herd is not the big thing it seems to be to some.Puzzles may be divulged, and yet be hard to inform well about. Kriya yoga is soft pranayama (mind-breath synergy control) techniques. It consists of prolonged and 'elevated' pantings of a sort. Kriya is a carefully regulated, almost inaudible gasping - more goes into it also - and is also called a fire rite that means there is some sacrifice into it. Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) writes:
Kriya Yoga is the real "fire rite"
This is indeed the true yogic fire ceremony, in which all past and present desire are fuel
the sacrifice of all human madness
His metaphorical bones stripped
his karmic skeleton bleached
he is clean at last.
[Ay ch 26; Ha 244; Sleka]
- Do not have too many irons in the fire. [American proverb].
The advanced methods that some call kriya, require initiation. The original kriya training may be rigorous and tough, requiring a whole deal of time and effort. Shyama Lahiri spent much time on explaining that, and often statements of his look puzzling. Sayings attributed to Lahiri Baba come through the Autobiography and various translated commentaries. To understand him in the right way is not always easy. Our hope is that the right sort of proficiency clears the mind. When that happens, hitherto enigmatic outlooks could later seem crystal clear through broader perceptions or insights.
Some suggestions
Sailendra Bejoy DasGupta has written on the gurus of kriya yoga. He affirms:More emphasis should be laid on the intellectual and theoretical aspectIt can be awfully hard to discern what is of genuine worth in the waters we are in, where "The wrong way is not made right if many walk it [Norwegian proverb]."
instead of cherishing a loving and devoted memory of the illustious one
to be able to comprehend the inner depths and wider perspectives
Kriya Yoga system is an inheritance of utmost value and possibilities
for the good of mankind.
[Kriya Yoga, ch 5. Sleka]
Outside the church you are free to understand for yourself in exegetical matters.
- Good tact is not second-hand, not barbarian, not cheap, but solvent.
Hard counsel
The best-dressed woman usually arrives with the least [American proverb].Refrain from investing much time and energy in anything that degenerates your all-round fare thriving, and your solid doings and presentations of yourself. There are kriya gurus who state publicly they are the man-eating Hindu goddess Kali, but what does Shyama Lahiri refer to when he says he is Kali? In the traditional depictions Kali is wearing a garland of skulls of victims, a picture of womanhood not only for idol worshippers.
In Indian iconography Kali is far from endearing at all times. She is the destructress, lovely and delightful to some.Kali Goddess
Major Hindu goddess, blue or black, with many arms
associated with death, sexuality, violence,
grace, motherly love, and ecstatic secrets.She evokes interest particularly in the United States
among feminist-oriented scholars who may have noted
she sprang from the angry brow of another goddess, Durga.
[Ebu "Kali"]
How to become the black sheep of the family
The ousted member of the family may be in for a hard time. Many artists
may.Kriya teachings are attuned to Patanjali's ancient yoga primer on delving and boring inside oneself and get proficient in samyama. Samyama is well applied focus, delicately attuned.
Yoga tenets work to your loss if you get deranged from them. "In the matter of likes and dislikes we are all crazy," says Yogananda [Ak 425]Yoga Training
Worthwhile to some
yoga training can be risky business
of magical powers and how to get things a bit differently.
[Coco; Yolt; Via etc.]
"The trouble is that all of us, as Paramahansaji used to say, are a little bit crazy, and we do not know it," says the fellowship's president today, Daya Mata [On, "Qualities of a Devotee"].
She is a woman.
Married Man's Advice
"Woman is the destroyer of man.
Do not look at her, at any cost,"
decreed Lahiri Mahasaya,
he was married with children. - Saying 77)
Yogananda's disciple Durga Mata, Crazy?
One of Yogananda's close woman disciples, Durga Mata ((1903-93) had often heard him praise a man for doing many Kriyas a day. She thought that if the guru was pleased with him, maybe she should be able to do likewise. One day she gleefully asked Yogananda, "Sir, can I do a hundred Kriyas a day?"He shouted, "Are you crazy?" [Abridged from Durga Mata's book "My Life and Service to my Guru"]
Here it may be fit to think: Do not look at women at any cost, and do not try to do many kriyas at any cost. But how can you find a way of not looking at women? Maybe wearing very dark glasses is good for you.
"At any cost". But mediocre fellows and lickspittles may not feel jeopardised where non-married women ignore and define rules together.
In SRF they "do not find fault with Paramahansa Yogananda's guidelines. Since we believe that he had attained complete union with God and therefore his wisdom is flawless," wrote a nun.
Ah, but what if they are all a little bit crazy and do not know it, just as Yogananda teaches - flawlessly?
Stay careful and circumspect. Even if you are not hailed as king, feel free to make up your own mind.
There should be room for at least two partiesIn the Bhagavad Gita 10:31-6 Krishna says he is the gambler's fraud, and death. Shyama Lahiri asserts he is Krishna, and that his guru, the old father (Babaji) is Krishna too. Fraud and death is now repeated.
in a yoga deal and guru-disciple deal,
not just stupefied submission for all newcomers.
- On the one hand Self-Realization Fellowship's kriya yoga is tied in with official aims like "To teach that the purpose of life is the evolution, through self-effort of man's limited mortal consciousness into God Consciousness (SRF Aims and Ideals, 2nd paragraph; it is on-line). Kriya yoga is presented as the method.
- On the other hand, if you remove your ego, as Yoganananda repeatedly goes for, how can you develop?"
- "Fraud and death" come to mind once again. How?
There is an ego in San Diego
Now 'ego' is an integrated part of 'Diego'. Must you kill the ego, choose that one. SRF has a stronghold in Encinitas, a village in northern San Diego county. If teachings are confounding, resist them well and get rid of the matter.We should take care, and young ones do not find that easy.
One bad feature may spoil much. Watch out for the "domino effect": One card falls over its neighbour, and so on.
The varied value of insults, huts and houses
Yogananda writes that his kriya guru Yukteswar said he would give him his houses and huts. But Yukteswar's blood relatives got them through a law-suit.What does it mean?
One should not get outsmarted.
The guru Yogananda also tells, "The guest is God." [Pa 144] Not all guests are decent and kind. There is every reason to be circumspect, as the Norse poem Havamal tells. Be prepared like sober scouts and think of the hidden, long-term effects of being duped.
Many big-sounding words merely rattled off do not suggest that authenticity matters a lot.
A Lesson of Trees: "Eat Dirt or Die"
It could be that kriya followers live through being "stuck in the mud" in some way. An army of trees that do that, have withstood the test of time in their own right. A lesson from what goes on beneath the surface might be: "I eat dirt, I absorb nutritients through my hidden roots." Not better, not worse. What about it?We should learn to inspect. Then maybe the best fruits of our labours will not get wasted. Watch out for this:
At any rate, there can be a different angle and different perspective that comes to the fore in brainstorming, but not brainwashing. Yes, maybe the wise saying holds water: "Where all think alike, none thinks well (Saying against morbid conformity). There are occasions where it does not fit, though.Learn to inspect; do it yourself
Many proverbial frogs together canonise faultily
in part on top of whims and verbiage
without solid expertise.You can hardly be too circumspect
when it comes to Yogananda teachings:
He also says the world is an illusion.
The book Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and others may appear to give a lot, but what if there are tricks and awkward elements in it that you hardly ever detect?. There can be skerries you do not see in a rough sea or at high tide.
If you cannot trust yourself, can you date well?
Yogananda: "You are already enlightened [Say, index]." He also says "You cannot be with the Lord just by thinking you are divinely enlightened [Ak 163]." Some who resign in dire distress do not know it.
In the Autobiography Lahiri Baba is reported to have ideals. To learn Yogananda's kriya you swear to remain faithful to six guru avatars.They are Jesus, Krishna, Babaji, Shyama Lahiri, Yukteswar, and Yogananda. Yogananda tells you all of them are Christs. Look to the deeds; not just words on yoga matter. We bring the evidence on other pages.
Avoid a Rape
New Age Christs.
And Jesus that goes against some of his own core statements in the Bible,
God the Son against his own word.
Who is Responsible for Sour Grapes and Unripe Figs?
Babaji is reported to say, "Whose work is all this, and Who is the Doer of all actions? ... the Lord [Pa 344]." Shyama Lahiri and Yogananda teaches the same.At times their teaching boils down to: "A hardened criminal pops up and shoots the guru in his face, God is the doer and the victim, and all is for show (Sanskrit: lila, play). Passers-by may not realise it, and blah-blah-blah.
That bisarre-looking teaching is in the Bhagavad Gita for what it is worth. "The one who thinks that Atma is a slayer, and the one who thinks that Atma is slain, both are ignorant, because Atma neither slays nor is slain [Bhagavad Gita 2:19]." For practical purposes, think differently.
Jesus says the soul can get lost and that he who causes that is to be feared [Matthew 10:28]. Yogananda teaches the soul is indestructible. His outlooks tie in with Hindu teachings about the world as unreal.
Glass of water
In a story a certain follower went into a village to get his guru a glass of water, met a nice woman and fell in love, forgot his set purpose, got married, had children, and next his family and belongings were taken by a flood. They all drowned. Then his true guru stood over him and said:"Where is my glass of water?" [Retold]
- "Our ancestors knew, when they ceased to desire offspring" [Ancient upanishad. Puh 294]
Modern hokku poem
teachings of belonginggarbage? Yogananda was good at impressive words.
Shyama Lahiri says, according to Yogananda, "A Christian should go down on his knees several times daily, praying to God and then reading the Bible." [Pa 332] Allow for some variation. Here is another version: "The Saheb should at least twice a day kneel and read the Bible to Christ and pray and if this done he will be well [Gle, ltr 59]."
Now a 'sahib' is not any Christian. And "reading the Bible" presumably means not reading the meaningless descendancy lists in it. In one of them the Son of God is credited with being a Son of David through Joseph too - a trick that seems to disregard his own Father God blatantly. It was overly important to impress with ancestry then, the right sort of ancestry, not Mayflower passengers. You cannot have it both ways. If you claim ancestry through men who did not father you, you are on the wrong track.
We should have time for tall endeavours of living, not just gulping up bible ancestry lines. [Pa 332] "Solve all your problems through meditation." [Pa 333]. What if meditation is your problem? Then you must change it.
"Every man may find a way through Kriya Yoga". - Mohan Lahiri (grandson). [Pa 338] - "A way to what and how far? - very lasting as well?"
"The omnipotent Paratman [explained as "Supreme Soul"] can heal anyone, doctor or no doctor!" - Lahiri Baba. [Pa 299] He said if after he had resurrected a disciple [Pa 194].
Jesus said to an Samaritan woman:
He also foretold there would be false Christs, such wolves.Salvation is from the Jews.. . . the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. [See John 4:22-33]
He appears to have talked with two mouths too:
On the other hand, he told his disciples:
"I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? " [John 18:19-21]
Could long gone prophets long for hearing future secrets of Jesus when Jesus said nothing in secret? (Koan). We doubt it to our heart's content.
"Even when Lahiri ... was silent .... or when he conversed on other than strictly religious topics, I discovered that nonetheless, he had transmitted to me ineffable knowledge," said Sri Yukteswar. [Pa 121]. It sounds good; does it sound good enough?
Transference of thought is being studied in the USA. In some cases it seems to be fact.
"I have transmitted the Cosmic Vision to a number of Kriya Yogis in the East and West." - Yogananda. [Pa 153n]
This signals the public secret of Yogananda as one of the Yogi-Christs.
A genuine vision of the crooked, twisted or warped universeWell, would you know.
Its borders and interior seems so little understood
among men and women of science today.
Modern science has not reached the level of Yogi Christs of
superconscious forces in the spinal shrine [See Pa 250-1]
Someone
I have a real problem swearing allegiance
I don't want to have to spend years buying "lessons"
Comment
1. Good food hardly goes against the tenet of Jesus: "Do not swear". The SRF guru "ever in communion with Christ" should he have ignored that impasse? Think twice.2. Maybe two thirds of the content of the SRF lessons are in their published books today.
3. Frau Being-Forced is stupid enough to swallow the bait and get fished. To preserve freedom is good:
At its center stands Krsna as the full manifestation of god and the continued presence of Krsna ... the great lover of the gopis [milkmaids and married such ones], the perfect partners in his love. - A Survey of Hinduism p 240.Dr. Klostermaier's words enforce the faith that Krishna made love to married women and many others, abducting 18.000. Jesus accepts robbery in a gospel passage, but is not too fond of adultery. It is hypocrisy and hypocrites he cannot stand. In SRF altars pictures of Jesus and Krishna stand side by side in the middle. The Jesus picture is a Hoffman painting, if it matters.
Check with your local minister before you admiringly get yourself a harem. Even if Jesus does not say no to it, there are other persons and worldly laws to consider. And further, the arrangement with Mormon mistresses may not work perfectly. Consider that all of them may have lots of relatives, and that you have to placate them or offer food to them rather often. Not even that, your twelve children by different women may drag in friends. There will be a lot to take care of, probably.
Why waste your resources on a baffled harem? You can live up to Yogananda counsels against having a good sex life, still be considered decent or worthy, be solidly sparing and keep more of your assets intact.
Smoothly - Summary
What were you told on this page? You were not told that stealing is right. You were informed of some of the perceptions of Shyama Lahiri, and the sleka presentation should work well for your memory. Let us hope that. However, you have to be firm to keep insights too.Bear in mind: "Understanding is one thing, remembering is quite another." Understanding and recall function differently. A presentation that serves recall (memory) tends to be more fit than one that ushers in parcels of understanding. The accommodation process to the new topics matters too. There are some ways to rally both recall and understanding nicely. Good study methods teach how to. Maybe you should learn what you can about them.
Leaving the valuable tips on memory-assisting presentation aside, in Hinduism there are goddesses to reckon with, and not everyone trusts a Kali worshipper when he says "We are all a little bit crazy".
How can you find a way? How can you develop instead of going backwards through submission to guru plots of membership?
If you cannot trust yourself, strive to asses the deeds of others before you put faith in all their words. The "Christian" in Yogananda's rendition appears to be "sahib". It says so in a letter by Shyama Lahiri. In colonial India a sahib was a "sir, master". The word was used when addressing or speaking of a European of some social or official status. Hence, "Let the official European with status at least twice a day kneel and read the Bible and pray." But seek to do better, so as not to be outsmarted:
In the kriya yoga tradition they tell you to sit cross-legged in meditation with a straight back if you can. If not, other postures are detailed. Thus, it may not be an either-or issue. Such a lenient approach is taught by Yogananda.
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| Literature | SECTION | First Page |
Ay: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 1st ed. New York: Theosophical, 1946. Online. [oaks.nvg.org/pv6bk12.html]
Ebu: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD. London: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2006.
Pa: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Autobiography of a Yogi. 11th ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1971.
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© 1998–2006, Tormod Kinnes. All rights reserved — October 2006.