Concentration implies the focussing of one’s consciousness towards one point, either external or internal, to the exclusion of all other subjects or thoughts. Now this is not such an easv process, for our consciousness in connection with our minds is habituated to movement from one point to the next, from one object to another. Any attempt on our part to subjugate the consciousness and make it dwell on one point imposes strain on the mind resulting in tension and frustration at our failure to curb its wandering tendency. If you observe yourself you will find that your consciousness has a natural tendency to have a diverse perception and to move from one object to the next. Try to concentrate on one thing for a few minutes and you will convince yourself of this fact. You will be conscious of a never-ending stream of thoughts, some that seem related to each other and others that seem totally unconnected.
This occurrence of unconnected thoughts is known as distraction ( vikshepa) and is a limitation of the mind. Many systems of yoga tell you to place an object in front of you or to visualize an internal image, concentrate on it, and lo and behold you will start to explore the subconscious depths of the mind. Although the method is correct and can bring wonderful experiences, it takes no consideration of the wandering tendency of our consciousness, which makes concentration impossible for most people. Concentration is possible only if a person is very relaxed mentally and physically. Most people cannot relax, or if they do it is on rare occasions. For this reason the mind continually projects streams of differing thoughts to conscious perception. As such, to ask most people to concentrate is impossible. And if they try to concentrate, they will tend to try to suppress the disturbing factors in the mind and create more tension in themselves. Concentration is something that occurs spontaneously in a very relaxed mind and body. Until relaxation is achieved, concentration, real concentration that is, remains impossible.
A system is required which progressively leads a person to deeper states of relaxation, until concentration becomes the spontaneous activity of consciousness. This system is the system of kriya yoga. Before we talk about kriya yoga, let us briefly discuss where concentration, relaxed concentration that is, will lead us. The fruit or culmination of deep one-pointed concentration is the occurrence of the spontaneous state of meditation. Most people have heard of meditation, yet very few people have actually experienced it. It arises only under conditions of almost abnormal relaxation (yes, abnormal is the right word, for most people never experience deep states of relaxation; even during sleep they are plagued by subconscious worries, phobias, fears, etc.) of both mind and body, together with a high state of conscious alertness. Many people think that they are meditating, but in fact they are probably not. Modern scientific instruments can even show whether a person is in a state of meditation or not.
These instruments measure electrical wave patterns emitted from the brain. The frequency and amplitude of these brain waves indicate the inner state of mind. During concentration there is a continuity of consciousness and this condition allows our subconscious forces to rise up. The hidden psychological patterns in the subconscious mind start to manifest. Normally, because of our mental distractions, we are totally unable to contact or express our inner power. During deep periods of concentration we start to understand the deeper aspects of our being. So the fruits of concentration are substantial. Many people, whether they have experienced meditation or not, know that great things are in store for them if only they can concentrate deeply. Because they are not relaxed, however, they force their consciousness to dwell on one point. Of course they are only following the instructions of most systems of yoga or yoga teachers.
They don’t realize that the systems of yoga are correct, but that they presuppose a reasonable level of relaxation, something that is not attained by most people today. The result of this forced concentration is greater tension and frustration. Meditation eludes them. To repeat: it is not the method that is wrong; its failure to bring results in most cases is due to the fact that people are not ready for the system. Most people have too many disturbances in their minds to be able to concentrate. Once the deep-rooted complexes have been removed, the ones that most of us are not aware of, then relaxation becomes possible; it becomes natural and deep. Meditation starts to occur spontaneously. No effort is required. Questions arise such as “How can most people learn to explore their minds?” “If they cannot concentrate what should they do?” “How can one attain meditational experience?” This is where kriya yoga comes to the rescue.
Kriya yoga seems to defy or contradict the basic rules of yoga. It says that you should not try to concentrate your mind. Don’t make any effort to bring about one-pointedness. Leave your consciousness freedom of movement, but let it tiy to follow prescribed internal movements. Kriya yoga accepts most people’s limitations; if you are unable to concentrate then another method must be used to accomplish the same final result. Kriya yoga is more interested in awareness than concentration. What do we mean by awareness? By awareness we mean conscious attention of thoughts or of objects, either external or internal, without necessarily being one-pointed. Simultaneously, and this is most important, the word awareness implies that the individual knows that his attention is at a particular place or on a train of thought. The word implies a relationship between the activity of perception and the perceiver. If a person does not know he is perceiving something, then he is not aware.
Awareness implies that the individual does not try to suppress an ever-arising stream of thoughts, even if they have nothing to do with his direction of perception; he merely lets the thoughts arise and disappear, remaining as a witness to them. Other people might understand something different by the word awareness, but the previous explanation is what we mean. When a person is sufficiently relaxed, especially in the deeper layers of the subconscious mind, then awareness will lead to one-pointedness or concentration. Kriya yoga does not presuppose concentration or even withdrawal of your awareness from the outside surroundings. As such, it is more suitable for most people today, since they are habituated to extroversion and to an awareness which tends to move here and there, and not dwell on one point to the exclusion of others. If you cannot concentrate and your conscious perception jumps here and there, it doesn’t matter – just carry on your kriya yoga practices without becoming worried or frustrated. Kriya yoga doesn’t ask you to withdraw your mind to one point; it asks you to do just the opposite – to actually move your awareness, to rotate your consciousness from one point to another.
The very word kriya means activity or movement, and in this context activity or movement of awareness or consciousness. The word kriya also means practical or preliminary and in this sense it means the preliminary practice which leads to yoga; yoga here meaning the culmination, the union, the final result of practice, not the process as we normally understand it. Thus as we have already explained, in contrast to other forms of yoga, kriya yoga does not ask you to curb your mental fluctuations, but asks you to purposely create activity in your consciousness. In this way, mental faculties are harmonized and flower into their fullest potential, and coordination is brought about between the nervous system and the brain. The source of the practices of kriya yoga goes back into antiquity and slowly evolved over a period of time through practice and experience. Eventually the practices, or kriyas, were written down and can still be found in the numerous tantric texts.
These were written in Sanskrit, and to date only a few have been translated into other languages. The full form of kriya yoga consists of a combination of over seventy kriyas. Out of these kriyas, about twenty or so are commonly known. Kriya yoga has been taught to large numbers of people throughout the world. Many people have gained wonderful benefits, yet others have gained little or nothing even though they might have practised regularly and with enthusiasm. The fault generally lies in the sequence of the practices. If the sequence is wrong, then the system of kriya yoga loses its full power, for the different kriyas bear a close relationship to each other. As an analogy, consider music. There are a certain number of musical notes. If these notes are played in a certain order, then beautiful music can result. If they are played in another sequence, then ear-jarring noise can result. The sequence is of the utmost importance. It is the same with the kriya yoga practices. Another important requirement of successful practice of kriya yoga is the correct preparation.
Again, many people learn kriya yoga as their first introduction to yoga practices in general, and so gain little or no benefit because their bodies and minds are not ready and they lack the ability to perform basic yogic techniques. A full preparation is essential and includes the following: Body control and sound health. This is a basic aim and is achieved through hatha yoga. by body control we do not mean the type of control that people in circuses have developed, but sufficient to perform yogic practices, including kriya yoga, with ease. Health, needless to say, is of utmost importance, not only for more advanced kriya yoga practices but for everyday life. If you have some disease or pain it is very difficult to think of anything else, let alone try to practise kriya yoga or any other higher form of yoga practice. For this reason, the initial aim of yoga should be to make you radiate health by removing existing ailments or by improving your present condition of health. It is by doing asanas, pranayama and various body cleansing techniques, that we can attain this required state of vitality. Once we have attained sufficient body control and health, then the practices of kriya yoga become very easy, for your awareness can follow the kriya yoga techniques without being continually disturbed by body discomfort or illness.
We can actually forget the body and direct our awareness in other directions. Proficiency in mudras and bandhas. These will be fully discussed in forthcoming lessons. However, as a brief description, we can say that both mudras and bandhas are methods of stimulating nerve plexuses and endocrinal secretions and for activating bio-energies in the body. Mudras are also sometimes intended as symbolic expressions of inner mental or psychic feelings. This is a very basic description. Development of breath consciousness. What is breath consciousness? It is very easy and can be developed by anyone with practice. It is merely being aware of the fact that: “I am breathing in and I am breathing out”. This can be done even while you are talking, or working, or when the mind is engaged in other directions, as well as when you are sitting comfortably with your eyes closed. It can be done at any time and under any circumstances, even while you are reading these words and simultaneously understanding everything that is written. With practice it is possible to undertake all your daily activities and still maintain this breath awareness. Awareness of your breath implies that you are simultaneously aware of your consciousness. In other words, if you are aware that you are breathing then you are automatically aware of your own awareness. Most people forget the fact that they are aware or conscious; they are so wrapped up in their thought processes and actions that they do these things automatically. So by being aware of your breath you continually know that you are aware of your conscious being; you no longer lose yourself in mental and physical activity.
This is a very important point to remember. As a slight digression, consider the difference between an animal and a human being. An animal eats food, sleeps and performs various other activities during the course of its life. A human being also eats food, sleeps, etc. but has one distinctive feature: the capacity to know that he is acting, whereas an animal performs various actions without knowing it. There is also a distinct difference between various stages of human development. All humans think, yet some who are more aware are able to watch themselves thinking. They are able to stand outside themselves and watch the thinking process occurring within their mind. This is the aim of breath awareness: to continually remind you of your ability to be aware of your consciousness and to be a witness or a spectator of your mental and physical activities. Breath awareness is an essential part of kriya yoga. Location and familiarity with the psychic passages and chakras. A psychic passage is a pathway or channel in which your breath awareness, or psychic consciousness can flow or move. There are various different pathways, one of which is in the centre of the spinal column, from top to bottom. It is easy to describe the route of the psychic pathway, but the practitioner must develop and experience the flow of breath consciousness in the psychic pathway for himself.
One must be aware of the breath and feel the movement of breath in the passage. There is a good reason why this rotation or movement of consciousness is an integral part of kriya yoga. These psychic passages pass through various nerve plexuses in the body, particularly those pertaining to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The mere fact that you are aware of these places has a stimulating influence which awakens nerve impulses, which bring about psychological and biochemical changes in the body. This can be experienced even after a short period of practice in the form of calmness, tranquillity and clarity of thought. The reason for this result is that these plexuses are connected directly to brain centres and to endocrinal glands. Of particular significance are the two parasympathetic nerve outflows in the region of the base of the spine and the top of the spine. The parasympathetic nervous system tends to reduce nervous tension, in opposition to the sympathetic nervous system, which tries to produce tension and the readiness of the mind and body to withstand external events. Awareness of the lower and upper parts of the spine or the spinal psychic passages is an important part of kriya yoga. This brings about relaxation of the body and mind by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system. Additionally there are many other factors involved, however they will be explained later. Kriya yoga has been traditionally associated with secrecy, since its methods were always passed on from guru to disciple by word of mouth.
Because of this system of teaching, many myths have arisen. People have come to the conclusion that kriya yoga is a secret system, meant only for the few. Some people have begun to believe that one must possess many special qualifications to learn and practise kriya yoga and that one must be a celibate with strict abstention from sexual life. All these ideas are totally wrong. Kriya yoga can be practised by all people without exception. Why should it be limited to a few chosen persons? We do, however, emphasize that adequate preparation is essential for positive results; but in this sense it is no different from anything else that you learn or study in life. If you want to perfect any skill, whether it is mechanical, medical or whatever, you have to start from basic principles and techniques. Kriya yoga does not ask you to abstain from your sexual life. Why should it? Sexual activity is a natural part of life, so why abstain from it? Kriya originated from the ancient system of tantra, and of all the spiritual systems tantra is the most understanding regarding sexual life. In fact, under correct circumstances tantra has encouraged the use of sex as a means to evolve spiritually. Of course there is much written about the conservation of sexual energy and its sublimation into spiritual power.
This idea has been sadly misunderstood. When people write about sublimating sexual energy and directing it into higher channels they generally miss the whole point. The transformation of seminal fluid into ojas or spiritual power is often mentioned but again misunderstood. Actually it is the transformation of sexual thoughts into spiritual directions that is implied here. Many people waste enormous amounts of mental power and energy continually dwelling on sexual fantasies and so on. If this same energy could be channelled into spiritual pursuits, then many fruits could be gained. It is not necessary to abstain from sexual relations. Continue your sexual relations, but don’t dwell continually on sexual thoughts. Direct your mind in other directions, not necessarily spiritual; towards work, study or whatever you are interested in. In this way you will find new dimensions of power in your thinking and physical activities. This is the meaning of sublimation of sexual energy. The practice of kriya yoga definitely does not ask you to change your way of life. From the experience of teaching different techniques of yoga, we have noticed a distinct and remarkable difference between people’s reaction to kriya yoga and other systems that require concentrated effort. When people try to concentrate they tend to become more tense and develop headaches, the opposite, of course, to what is intended.
After a short time they become frustrated, start to lose interest in the practices and start to scratch, fidget and generally feel uncomfortable. They start to pen their eyes and their awareness begins to wander more than it did before the start of the practices. There seems to be a reaction to this concentration and their mind rebels and does exactly the opposite to what is intended. With kriva yoga, however, there is a noticeable difference. Because they are not asked to concentrate deeply, only to do their practices, the awareness seems to spontaneously become one-pointed and relaxed. The mind is like a naughty child. If you tell it to do one thing it will do exactly the opposite. So by asking it to concentrate, it wanders. In kriya yoga, by asking it to wander if it wishes, it seems to want to become one-pointed. From this state, meditation can spontaneously arise and your awareness can start to explore the vast layers of the subconscious and unconscious mind. When you begin to understand and to know what lies in the deeper recesses of your mind, the vast mental reservoir about which you are not normally aware, it is then that you can start to eradicate the phobias and fears, complexes and tensions which make your life unhappy. It is these subconscious, negative mental samskaras (impressions) which continually act below the surface of your normal consciousness and cause mental disturbances. Often you feel unhappy and depressed. Sometimes you may know, but generally you don’t understand why you feel this way, only that you do. The cause lies with these fears, phobias, bad memories, etc.
By becoming aware of them, by delving into the mind you automatically start to neutralize their negative influence on your life. If you don’t know what the root cause of your unhappiness is, how can you rectify the situation? The more of these problems that you remove, the happier your life will become. This is also the way to cure emotional imbalances, nervous disorders and all the different types of psychological problems that plague people throughout the world. Other methods of making people’s lives happier have been tried but there is only one sure way – relax your mind, know your mind and throw out the rubbish that exists there. The first obstacle in yoga is relaxation of the mind while being fully aware. If you can attain a sufficient degree of mental relaxation, then automatically your awareness will start to introvert, to explore the mind. This will probably occur on the superficial levels at first, but eventually you will start to see your deeper problems in the form of symbolic visions.
This is the stage at which you really begin to remove your deeper problems. If you relax the mind and then sleep, you will gain nothing because you will not be conscious of your mind and its contents. Your awareness is not there. We have found that the ideal method for the man of today is kriya yoga. Without suppressing the wandering tendency of the awareness and thereby causing more tension in the mind than was there to begin with, kriya yoga aims at making your awareness spontaneously one-pointed. In this way, your awareness automatically introverts and so starts to reshape the activities of the mind to eventually bring about a state of equanimity or tranquillity. Kriya yoga allows you to filter out the morass, the quagmire of complexes, fears, etc. in your mind which make life an unhappy affair. No strain or mental effort is required to remove these problems. You merely do your practices and in the course of time your mind will become clearer. There are no restrictions or barriers to those who want to practise kriya yoga. Your age, diet, social position, religion or whatever, will not bar you from practising. All you need is the interest and effort to change your life. It is our intention to make the system of kriya yoga available to everyone who is interested, because large numbers of people are now ready to reap the benefits of kriya yoga, yet cannot because they lack knowledge of the system. If you feel that kriya yoga is for you, then we hope that you will sincerely take up the practices systematically illumined in this book, and will start today to prepare yourself for the subtle science of kriya yoga.
http://moonladyyoga.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/an-introduction-to-kriya-yogaIn the science of yoga there are various systems: karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga, gyana yoga. Apart from these four yogas, there is laya yoga, mantra yoga, and a very important form of yoga called kriya yoga. If you make a careful study of these yogas, you will find that each and every path is intended to effect a reorientation or perfection in some part of your being.
Karma yoga helps you to unburden the load of karma which you carry all the time in your mind, so that, with a lighter mind, you can have inner experiences. Bhakti yoga helps you to adjust the surplus emotions on account of which you do not enjoy life, but suffer throughout. When the emotions are properly adjusted, there is automatic concentration of mind and dissipations come to an end. Raja yoga teaches you how to control the mind, how to control the mental force, and bring it to one central point.
Like this, there are various forms of yoga which train the different aspects of your existence. These yoga paths should be practised side by side, because you are a human being, a blending or a combination of body, emotion, psyche and intellect- head, heart and hand, let us say. If you follow a lopsided path, practising only gyana yoga or hatha yoga or bhakti yoga, and no other yoga, professing that this yoga is supreme, then you are making a great mistake insofar as evolution is concerned. You may become an authority on that particular system of yoga, but as far as the development or progress of your inner self is concerned, it will be lopsided. In order to avoid unbalanced development, it is very necessary to make a synthesis, a happy blending, of yoga practices. Man is dynamic by nature (rajasic), He is also emotional, psychic and rational. Some people are predominantly rational, others are predominantly psychic, emotional or dynamic. According to the prominence of your qualities, one type of yoga should be selected as the main yoga. This means that you may be a raja yogi, a bhakti yogi, or a karma yogi, but that side by side with this yoga you are practising other forms of yoga also.
However, when all the yoga paths are practised and you come to a point where you find that, although concentration has been achieved, inner peace has been experienced, and you are able to maintain total quietness of body, mind and spirit for a prolonged period, but still something is lacking, then there is definitely an important path for you called kriya yoga.
Expansion of mind and liberation of energy
Peace of mind, tranquillity, proper understanding, relaxation, etc., represent the positive accomplishments of man's spiritual life, but they are not an end in themselves. The important aim for which you practise yoga, and for which people have been practising yoga for thousands of years, is a change in the quality of experience, in the quality of mind and in the quality of perception. This is the ultimate purpose of the practices of yoga.All yogas definitely lead you progressively from one point to another. They bring about a great change in the order of your life. They help you to discipline your senses and your mind, and help to create a balance in the hormonal, endocrinal and emotional structure of your personality, but there is something which remains to be achieved. That is known as expansion of mind and liberation of energy. These are the twofold objectives which the yoga you are practising must ultimately fulfil. If you fail to fulfil these twofold objectives, then what you are practising is something other than yoga, or else it is a very preliminary aspect of yoga. So remember the expression, 'expansion of mind and liberation of energy'.
The quality of mind which you have is responsible for the quality of experience. You see a flower as a flower, a candle as a candle, an animal as an animal, but this experience is dependent on the mind and not on the nature of the object. This is the conclusion arrived at by modern science. Your experience of an object, whatever the object may be, is perceptible through the senses and designated by the mind. That quality of mind must change so that the quality of experience can also change.
If you read the stories of saints and sages, you will find that their values, their approach to problems, their deductions and conclusions, their ideas and predictions, were entirely different. Why, because they were mad? No, because their minds had crossed over the border of the senses, and when you go beyond that barrier, it is called expansion of mind.
Ordinarily your eyes see a banana or an orange and this knowledge is transferred to the mind. The mind then recognises that object as an orange or a banana. That is the border and that is the limit. Mind has to depend on the knowledge which is received through the senses. If you completely eliminate the senses as the middleman and as the medium of information, and let your mind function directly, then you will find that the quality of your experience is not the same as it was previously. This expansion of mind is the objective of yoga.
Now, when we speak about expansion of mind and liberation of energy, it is necessary to explain a little bit about tantra, because this is a science which is not understood by modern man. Tantra is a science which has evolved with the advent of man, and if you ask me how old it is, I would say it; is as old as man himself. Even then man had psychic abilities and with the dawning of awareness, he began to take notice of them. Of course, proper explanations were not given and wrong interpretations were presented even in those days. Often a person who was a clairvoyant, a telepath or a spiritual healer, was said to be possessed by a spirit. Later they found that these faculties were not the result of a spirit, of madness or of a drug. They were the consequence of an expanded state of mind which certain individuals had spontaneously developed as a result of their evolution.
With expansion of mind comes liberation of energy. When your mind is expanding by practices or by itself, then a certain type of energy is released. In yoga and tantra that energy is called kundalini shakti. Shakti and kundalini are the two terms used to denote this force which has to be liberated as you liberate butter from milk. Here I amusing me word liberation, but not in the religious sense. You know how butter is released from milk by a certain process. In the same way, the force or energy can be liberated from matter, because matter contains energy, or matter is a state of energy, and by a certain process you can extract that force. Beyond the body are the senses. Beyond the senses is the mind. Beyond the mind is the intellect. Beyond the intellect is the psyche. Beyond the psyche is the self, and beyond the self is the universe or the cosmos. This is how you have to extract the force from within this body and this person, and that shakti is known as kundalini.
Something about this force is known by most yoga teachers and practitioners, because nowadays people are talking about it and a lot of books have been written in India, America and everywhere concerning it. If you have not studied this subject, as an aspirant of yoga, I request you to do so, because kundalini is not a myth or a metaphorical poem. It is a force which is lying dormant underneath man's animal instinct. This force is supposed to be the evolutionary energy in man, but how do we tackle it?
Kriya yoga and kundalini
In tantra there are many methods which awaken kundalini, and out of them all, the practice of kriya yoga is considered to be most powerful. In India the science of kriya yoga was not known for many years, because it was never published. It was handed down traditionally from guru to disciple. Disciples, both householder and monastic, practised this kriya yoga and they found that through this practice, awakening of kundalini became a real and living experience.You know that in this physical body you have six main chakras, or junctures of energy situated within the framework of the spine. The first centre is at the root of the tailbone. (I am talking about the physiology.) The sixth centre is at the top, at the terminating point of the spine. In between these two, there are lour other centres, one in the sacral region, another in the solar plexus, another in the cardiac plexus and another in the cervical plexus.
These six centres are linked by three pathways of energy, which emanate from the first centre below the tail bone. They are known as pingala - the pathway for prana; ida- the pathway for mind and consciousness, and sushumna - the pathway for higher consciousness, that is, the Self. The purpose of kriya yoga is therefore to create awakening in these chakras, to purify these pathways, and finally, to awaken the kundalini shakti, the evolutionary force in man.
There are many kriyas, many practices, but out of all these, a combination of seventeen is considered to be most powerful and effective. These seventeen practices are divided into two groups. One group is to be done with the eyes open and the other with the eyes closed. You may have come across a reference to this theme in the New Testament of the Bible, which speaks of a ladder from earth to heaven, divided into seven rungs. And in the practice of kriya yoga you climb half these steps with the eyes open and the other half with the eyes closed.
What does this mean? It means that out of these seventeen practices, you should do nine with the eyes open. Do not close your eyes during the first nine practices; that is the central instruction of kriya yoga. When I taught kriya yoga I found that people have a general tendency to close their eyes because it feels more relaxed, but again and again we keep reminding them, 'No, do not close your eyes.' You may blink, you may rest your eyes, but every practice up to the tenth has to be done with eyes open. That is point number one and it is very important.
Point number two: if you feel uncomfortable and you want to change your posture during the practice of kriya yoga, you can change it. You do not need to maintain the same posture, if it is uncomfortable. Point number three: you do not waste time in trying to control the mind during these practices. This is considered to be the most important point in kriya yoga and in tantra.
A friendly mind is your best ally
Through and through the tantric practices, (not only in kriya yoga), the first instruction the guru gives you is, 'Do not quarrel with your mind. Do not try to control your mind.' What is this control? Whenever you sit for meditation, what do you do? You quarrel with your mind, with yourself. This seems to be a very revolutionary idea for those who believe in the conventional system of meditation. Those who follow a traditional system of practices say, 'Everybody is telling us to control the mind.' But if you think about this, you will realise that you are definitely making some sort of mental error.In the Bhagavad Gita, there is a statement made by Krishna to his disciple Arjuna, "O Arjuna, whenever your mind becomes restless and unsteady, then and there you must control this tendency and bring the mind under your subjugation." Of course, this seems to contradict our previous statement, but here you must remember that, according to Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita, the calibre of Arjuna was very high. So, what Krishna said to Arjuna was right insofar as Arjuna is concerned. If any one of us is like Arjuna, then let him also control the mind whenever it becomes restless or unsteady.
In Gita itself it is said that all people involved in yoga are not yogis. Some of them aspire to walk on the path, they are called aspirants. Some are already walking on the path, they are called sadhakas or practitioners, and some have achieved the goal, the end of the path, they are called yogis. These are the three categories of people in yoga.
Now, this technique of instant control as soon as the mind goes out of gear, applies to the second category of sadhakas who are already steadfast in the practices of yoga and who have overcome the effects of passion. For one who has over come the effects of anxiety, depression, elation, whose moods do not fluctuate from east to west like ft pendulum, this theory of mind control is applicable. But for one whole mind is constantly oscillating, who is smashed from side to side by his own passions and ignorance, the most important tiling is not to have any animosity towards his own personality. Otherwise, he will land in a mental hospital.
In every aspect of life, in every religious belief or philosophy, then; is a conflict between opposing forces, and both are a part of yourself. Wherever you go, people are always in conflict, in family life and in spiritual life there are conflicts, because this is a quality of the mind. A tussle between the ego and the superego is going on all the time. In kriya yoga you do not create this atmosphere of fighting between the ego and superego. Why create conflict at all? Even if these conflicts have some truth in them, even if they are necessary, drop them!
So in kriya yoga the third important instruction is : do not control the mind, just go on with your practice. If it is a practice of breathing, do it. If it is contraction of the perineum, do it. If it is contracting your abdomen, just do that, and if your mind is running riot, let it go, because sooner or later the mind can be controlled by the changes that take place in the body through the practices of kriya yoga.
The main contention of kriya yoga
All the fluctuations which take place in your mind are not necessarily caused by psychological factors. Your mind may be jumping because your hormones are imbalanced. You may be emotional today because this is your cycle. Or you may be depressed due to a little deficiency in the chemical proportion of the endocrine secretions. Why take it so seriously? Why not consider your mental behaviour as an effect of a physiological imbalance? That is exactly what we seem to ignore, and what kriya yoga deals with.The first practice in kriya yoga is called vipareeta karani mudra. Vipareeta means reverse, karani means action. Your car has a reverse gear hasn't it? What happens when you drive in reverse gear? The car goes back to the same point from which it has come. If you drive your car out of the garage and then you put it in reverse gear, it will go back into the garage, not forward to burn up its petrol on the road.
In Hatha Yoga Pradipika and in the tantric texts, there is a wonderful statement regarding this reverse action: "From the moon the nectar emanates. When the sun consumes the nectar, the yogi becomes old. His body decays and he dies. Therefore, by constant practice, the yogi should try to reverse the process. The nectar which is flowing towards the sun should be reversed and sent back to the higher centres." What will happen then? In Hatha Yoga Pradipika it says further: "When you are able to reverse the flow of amrita or nectar, it will not be consumed by the sun. It will be assimilated by your pure body."
When your body has been purified by hatha yoga, pranayama and a pure diet, this nectar is assimilated by the body, and as a result, you experience a high mental state. When the nectar returns to its source in the higher centres of the brain, and is not consumed by the sun, you begin to feel a sort of quietness. What is this quietness? It is a result of the assimilation of the particular secretion which this physical body produces. In yoga and in tantra, this particular secretion is known as 'amrita'. The word amrita comes from the Sanskrit root 'amar', meaning 'deathless'. That is the literal meaning, but amrita is translated as nectar or ambrosia which gives immortality. The point from which this nectar emanates is bindu. Bindu means 'drop' and its location is at the junction point of the inferior and the superior brain. It is exactly at that point where the Aryans and Hindus used to keep a lull of hair. They no longer do so because they consider it unnecessary.
It is from bindu, this cranial passage, that the drop comes. The cranial passage is like a very small piece of grass and it has a depression. Within that depression there is a tiny amount of fluid. It is so small I do not think it would even contain one drop. It is that particular drop of fluid which is known as amrita in yoga. Therefore, in tantra, the name of this centre is 'bindu visarga'. Bindu means 'drop' and visarga means 'falling'. So bindu visarga is the centre from which the drop of nectar falls.
Now, the effects of this nectar on the body, if it is not wasted, are two. One effect is that you become virile and produce children. I am a product of that and so are you. Other effects can be experienced also if you can stop the drop from falling and being consumed by the solar plexus. This is achieved through the practice of vipareeta karani mudra. The solar plexus which is in the navel, is the centre of the sun, of heat. In yoga it is the meeting point of two important forces in the body- prana and apana, the up-going force and the down-going force. If these two forces can be reversed, they are brought together, and the coalition takes place in the navel centre. Then the, effects of this nectar are felt by the higher consciousness, or by the subtle body or the astral body. As a result, you become calm and quiet, even if your mind was distracted, confused, wandering and vacillating a few moments before. Then everything stops and you feel total brightness. The eyes are open; you can hear sounds and see everything around you, but the mind does not move. It appears as if time, space and object have ceased, as if the whole universe has ceased to function. You feel a total full stop.
The main hypothesis or contention here is that you can influence the structure of the body, you can create a change in the energy forces, by altering the physical secretions. By altering the chemical proportions and the energy proportions in the body, you can create an effect on the mind which you may call shanti, dharana, dhyana or samadhi. This means that, even though your mind is totally undisciplined and you cannot handle it for a second, if you are able to create the correct proportion of secretions in the different areas of the body and mind, then the higher state can be achieved. Therefore the practices of kriya yoga do not require closed eyes and a steady posture. I am not criticising raja yoga because I teach that also, but I am talking about kriya yoga, and this is the main contention of kriya yoga.
Awakening of the chakras
Another important point regarding kriya yoga is the psychic centres or chakras in the body. There are six centres- mooladhara, swadhisthana, manipura, anahata, vishuddhi, and ajna chakra, situated at certain points. Why do you not awaken and energise them? Why do you waste your time quarrelling and fighting with the mind all day long, wrestling with yourself constantly, twisting your own neck? This is suicide! Awaken your chakras instead.How do you awaken the chakras? Kriya yoga says that by moola bandha you awaken mooladhara chakra, by vajroli mudra you awaken swadhisthana chakra, and by uddiyana bandha you awaken manipura chakra. By jalandhara bandha you awaken vishuddhi chakra and by shambhavi mudra you awaken ajna chakra. Why not try these practices? Once the chakras are awakened, experiences will begin to flow.
Expansion of the mind takes place within, the moment you start practising your mantra. If you do not have a mantra, use Om. Om is not copyright material, it is tree. Just practise Om in mooladhara chakra for one month, in swadhisthana chakra for one month in manipura, chakra for two months, in anahata chakra for one month. With practice you will strike at the right point. It may not happen immediately or even in ten, twenty or thirty days, but suddenly you will begin to feel it. After you have practised awakening the chakras through mantra or by concentration, there are many techniques in kriya yoga which you can practise.
These chakras are definitely the basis for the beginning of the expanded state of awareness, but for the most part they are beyond your reach. You cannot even bore a nail into them because you do not know exactly where they are. Each chakra has a contact centre. Swadhisthana has a contact centre at the root of the urinary organ or the clitoris. Manipura has a contact centre at the navel, anahata at the sternum, vishuddhi at the throat and ajna at bhrumadhya, the mid-eyebrow centre. Mooladhara and bindu have no contact point.
Now suppose you find yourself incapable of concentrating on manipura chakra or anahata chakra, you can utilise the contact centres. The contact points are switches and if you want to switch on this light, the contact point can be used. You should remember this.
Now we have some understanding about the chakras and contact points, but the problem remains, where is kundalini? Kundalini could have left its garage hours ago. Although the native town of kundalini is mooladhara chakra, we cannot be sure that it is still there, because incarnation after incarnation, the yoga minded people, the diligent aspirants, the disciples of gurus and the followers of faiths, have practised some sort of yoga in the form of religion or mysticism. By their practice in different lives and incarnations, they must have already undergone that event called awakening of kundalini. That is why I always tell people that, although the abode of kundalini is mooladhara chakra, she may not be there, but you will find her somewhere while practising kriya yoga. Maybe you will find her moving through swadhisthana, manipura or anahata, and then you can say, 'There she is!'
It is true that man is a spiritually developed being and the function of man during this lifetime is to go beyond and awaken that higher potential. That should be the prime purpose of everyone who wants to practise kriya yoga. So do not be afraid of awakening your kundalini. Man has led himself through thousands of adventures; he has spanned the oceans, climbed Everest, gone to the moon He has taken many risks. What is one more for a prize above all these?
http://www.satyananda.net/articles/introduction-to-kriya-yoga
Kriya Yoga in The Bhagavad Gita - Paramahansa Yogananda
Prana and Apana: Two Main Currents in the Body
This present Gita verse deals with two specific functions of life force in its differentiations as prana and apana. As there is a "tug-of-war" on the macrocosmic scale reflecting Spirit's projecting wish to create and His opposing attracting wish to bring the many back into the One, so does this same contest in duality take place on a microcosmic scale in man's body. One expression of this positive-negative duality involves the interaction between prana and apana.
There are two main currents in the body. One, the apana current flows from the point between the eyebrows to the coccyx. This downwardly flowing current distributes itself through the coccyx center to the sensory and motor nerves and keeps the consciousness of man delusively tied to the body. The apana current is restless and engrosses man in sensory experiences.
The other main current is that of prana, which flows from the coccyx to the point between the eyebrows. The nature of this life current is calm; it withdraws inwardly the devotee's attention during sleep and in the wakeful state, and in meditation unites the soul with Spirit in the Christ Center in the brain. There is thus an opposite pull exercised by the downwardly flowing current (apana) and the upwardly flowing current (prana). Human consciousness is pulled downward or upward by the tug-of-war between these two currents to bind or release the soul.
The vital current flowing outward from the brain and spine to the cells, tissues, and nerves becomes attached to and clogged up in matter. It is used up, like electricity, through bodily motor movements (voluntary and involuntary) and mental activity. As the life in the cells, tissues, and nerves begins to be exhausted by this motor and sense-perceptive activity—especially through excessive, inharmonious, non-equilibrated actions—prana works to recharge them and keep them vitalized. In the process of consuming life energy, however, they give off waste products, "decay." One such product is carbon dioxide excreted by the cells into the blood stream; the immediate purifying action of prana becomes necessary to remove the accumulation of this "decay" or death would soon occur. The physiology of this exchange is breath.
Breath — Cord that Ties Soul to the Body
From the opposite pulls of the prana and apana currents in the spine, the inhalations and exhalations of breath are born. When the prana current goes upward, it pulls the vital breath laden with oxygen into the lungs. There prana quickly distills a quantity of necessary life force from the electronic and lifetronic composition of the oxygen atoms. (It takes a longer time for prana to distill life force from the grosser liquid and solid foods present in the stomach.) That refined energy is sent by the prana current to all bodily cells. Without such replenishment of pure life force, the cells would be powerless to carry on their many physiological functions; they would die. The life energy distilled from the oxygen also helps to reinforce the life-force centers in the spine and at the point between the eyebrows, and the main reservoir of life energy in the cerebrum. The surplus oxygen from the inhaled breath is carried by the blood throughout the body, where it is utilized by the five vital pranas in various physiological processes.
As noted, bodily activity produces decay and the consequent waste product of carbon dioxide. This waste is excreted from the cells by the apana, or eliminating, current, and is carried by the blood to the lungs. Then the downwardly flowing apana current in the spine causes exhalation and pushes out the impurities of the lungs through the exhaling breath.
Respiration, activated by the dual currents of prana and apana, is accomplished physiologically through a series of complex nervous reflexes—chemical and mechanical—involving primarily the medulla oblongata and the sympathetic, or involuntary, nervous system. The intricate sympathetic system, in turn, is empowered by the prana and apana currents working through the vital branches of astral life currents that correspond to the physical sympathetic nervous system—the main branches of which are called ida and pingala. To study the physiology of breath without an appreciable understanding of the subtle life principles behind it is like studying Shakespeare's Hamlet while leaving out the parts portrayed by the character Hamlet.
Inspiration and expiration go on largely involuntarily throughout one's life. So long as the life current (prana) pulls the inhaling breath into the lungs, man lives; whenever the downwardly flowing current (apana) in the exhalation becomes more powerful, man dies. The apana current then pulls the astral body out of the physical body. When the final breath leaves the body through the action of the outgoing current, apana, the astral body follows it to an astral world.
It is thus said that the human breath knots the soul to the body. It is the process of exhalation and inhalation resulting from the two opposite spinal currents that gives man perception of the external world. The dual breath is the storm that creates form-waves (sensations) in the lake of the mind. These sensations also produce body consciousness and duality and thus obliterate the unified soul consciousness.
The Mystery of the Breath
God dreamed the soul and encased it in a dream body heaving with dream breath. The mystery of the breath holds the solution to the secret of human existence. There is even a direct connection between respiration and physical longevity. The dog, for instance, breathes fast and has a short life. The crocodile breathes very slowly and may live to over one hundred years. Stout persons breathe heavily and die prematurely. When through disease, old age, or any other physical cause the dream breath vanishes, the death of the dream body follows. Yogis therefore reasoned that if the body did not decay and toxins did not collect in the cells, breathing would not be required; that scientific mastery of breath by preventing decay in the body would make the flow of breath unnecessary and provide control over life and death. From this intuitive perception of the ancient rishis came the science and art of prana-yama, life-control.
Pranayama is suggested by the Bhagavad Gita as a universally suitable method for man to use to release his soul from the bondage of breath.
Kriya Yoga: Controlling the Current of Prana and Apana
The Gita states: "The yogi is greater than body-disciplining ascetics, greater even than the followers of the path of wisdom or of the path of action; be thou a yogi!" (VI:46). That it is Kriya Yoga pranayama that is referred to is evidenced not only in this verse IV:29, but also in V:27-28: "That meditation expert (muni) becomes eternally free who, seeking the Supreme Goal, is able to withdraw from external phenomena by fixing his gaze within the midspot of the eyebrows and by neutralizing the even currents of prana and apana [that flow] within the nostrils and lungs..."(A paraphrase translation; see V:27-28 for literal translation.) The ancient sage Patanjali, foremost exponent of yoga, also extols Kriya Yoga pranayama: "Liberation can be attained by that pranayama which is accomplished by disjoining the course of inspiration and expiration." (Yoga Sutras II:49.)
Breath, lungs, heart slow down in sleep but are not completely stilled. But by Kriya Yoga the breath is gradually quieted and the movements in the lungs and the body stilled. When motion leaves the entire body, owing to lack of agitation and to complete physical and mental stillness, venous blood ceases to accumulate. Venous blood is ordinarily pumped by the heart into the lungs for purification. Freed from this constant work of blood purification, the heart and the lungs are quieted. Breath ceases to go in and out of the lungs by the mechanical action of the diaphragm.
Kriya Yoga pranayama stops the bodily decay associated with apana, manifest in the exhaling breath, by fresh oblations of life force or prana, distilled from the inhaling breath. This practice enables the devotee to dispel the illusion of growth and decay of the body as flesh; he then realizes it as made of lifetrons.
The body of the Kriya Yogi is recharged with extra energy distilled from breath and reinforced by the tremendous dynamo of energy generated in the spine; the decay of bodily tissues decreases. This lessens and ultimately makes unnecessary the blood-cleansing function of the heart. When the pulsating life of the heart pump becomes quiet, owing to nonpumping of venous blood, exhalation and inhalation are no longer needed. The life force, which was dissipated in cellular, nervous, respiratory, and heart action, withdraws from the external senses and organs and unites with the current in the spine. The Kriya Yogi then learns how to commingle the upwardly flowing life current (prana) into the downwardly flowing current (apana) and commingle the downwardly flowing current (apana) into the upwardly flowing current (prana). He thus neutralizes the dual movement, and by will power withdraws both currents into one revealing sphere of spiritual light at the point between the eyebrows. This light of pure life energy scintillates from the cerebrospinal centers directly to all the bodily cells, magnetizing them, arresting decay and growth, and making them vitally self-sustained, independent of breath or any external source of life.
So long as this light is flowing up and down as the two battling currents of prana and apana—the breaths of inhalation and exhalation—they lend their life and light to the sensory perceptions, and to the mortal processes of growth and decay.
But when the yogi can neutralize the downward and upward pull of the spinal currents, and can withdraw all life force from the senses and sensory motor nerves,
and can keep the life force still at the point between the eyebrows,
the cerebral light gives the yogi life control or power over prana (Kriya Yoga pranayama).
Life force withdrawn from the senses becomes concentrated into a steady inner light in which Spirit and Its Cosmic Light are revealed.
Kriya Yoga pranayama the scientific method of neutralization of breath, has nothing in common with the foolish practice of trying to control life current by forcible retention of breath in the lungs—an unscientific, unnatural, and harmful practice. Anyone holding the breath for a few minutes in the lungs feels pain, suffocation, and heart strain. This adverse bodily effect should be sufficient proof that yogis would not recommend such unnatural practices. Certain teachers do advise unscientific, not to say impossible, lone retention of breath in the lungs—a practice completely tabooed by God-enlightened yogis.
Yoga, the highest knowledge of mankind, is not a cult nor a dogmatic belief, but rather commends itself to the greatest scientists of the East and the West.
True kumbhaka, or the retention of the breath mentioned in enlightened yoga treatises, refers not to the forcible holding of the breath in the lungs, but to the natural breathlessness brought about by scientific pranayama, which renders breathing unnecessary.
Kriya Yoga is referred to obliquely in several scriptures and yoga treatises as Kevali Pranayama or Kevala Kumbhaka—true pranayama or life control that has transcended the need for inhalation (puraka) and exhalation (rechaka); breath is transmuted into inner life-force currents under the complete control of the mind.
["When the breath stops effortlessly, without either rechaka (exhalation) or puraka (inhalation), that is called Kevala Kumbhaka."—Hatha-Yoga Pradipika, 11:73.
"The aspirant who can perform Kevali Kumbhaka, he only is the true knower of Yoga."—Gheranda Samhita, V:95.
"One who is adept in Kevala Kumbhaka, which has no rechaka and puraka, he has nothing unattainable in the three worlds."—Siva Samhita 111:46-47.]
Of the various stages of pranayama breathlessness (kumbhaka), Kevali is extolled by adept yogis as the best or highest. Though in principle it may be equated with Kriya Yoga, Kevali Pranayama is not as explicit as the specific Kriya Yoga science and technique revived and clarified for this age by Mahavatar Babaji and given to the world through Lahiri Mahasaya. (pg.499-505)
Nice Blog...
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