Kriya Yoga 20th Century

Kriya Yoga
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This article is about the Kriya Yoga taught by Lahiri Mahasaya. For other uses of the term Kriya Yoga, see
Kriyā (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Karma yoga.
Kriya Yoga
Mahavatar Babaji
Founder Mahavatar Babaji transmitted to Lahiri Mahasaya
Established 1861[1]
Kriya Yoga (Sanskrit: िक्रया योग) is the active aspect of yoga. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2.1
defines three types of kriya (action):
The yoga of action (kriyayoga) is: asceticism (tapas), recitation (svadhyaya), and devotion
(pranidhana) to Ishvara (the lord).
It is also a modern school, described by its practitioners as the ancient Yoga system revived in
modern times by Mahavatar Babaji through his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya, c. 1861. Kriya Yoga
was brought to international awareness by Paramahansa Yogananda's book Autobiography of a
Yogi[2] and through Yogananda's introductions of the practice to the west from 1920.[3]
According to Yogananda the ancient Yogic text the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali contains a
description of Kriya Yoga in the second chapter II.49:[4] "Liberation can be attained by that
pranayama which is accomplished by disjoining the course of inspiration and expiration."[5]
The Kriya yoga system consists of a number of levels of pranayama, mantra, and mudra based on
techniques intended to rapidly accelerate spiritual development[2] and engender a profound state
of tranquility and God-communion.[5] Yogananda attributes his description of Kriya Yoga to his
lineage of gurus, Sri Yukteswar Giri, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Mahavatar Babaji. The latter is
reported to have introduced the concept as essentially identical to the Raja Yoga of Patanjali and
the concept of Yoga as described in the Bhagavad Gita.[5]
Practice
Lahiri Mahasaya (1828–1895).
Kriya Yoga, as taught by Lahiri Mahasaya, is traditionally exclusively learned via the Guru-
disciple relationship and the initiation consists of a secret ceremony.[6][2] He recounted that after
his initiation into Kriya Yoga, "Babaji instructed me in the ancient rigid rules which govern the
transmission of the yogic art from Guru to disciple."[7]
As Yogananda describes Kriya Yoga, "The Kriya Yogi mentally directs his life energy to
revolve, upward and downward, around the six spinal centers (medullary, cervical, dorsal,
lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses) which correspond to the twelve astral signs of the
zodiac, the symbolic Cosmic Man. 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."[5]
The process of performing Kriya Yoga is claimed to lead to a certain purification of the blood
which frees up the life force to withdraw into the spine. "Kriya Yoga is a simple, psycho-
physiological method by which the human blood is decarbonized and recharged with oxygen.
The atoms of this extra oxygen are transmuted into life current to rejuvenate the brain and spinal
centers. By stopping the accumulation of venous blood, the yogi is able to lessen or prevent the
decay of tissues; the advanced yogi transmutes his cells into pure energy. Elijah, Jesus, Kabir and
other prophets were past masters in the use of Kriya or a similar technique, by which they caused
their bodies to materialize and dematerialize at will."[8]
Swami Satyananda wrote "Kriya sadhana may be thought of as the sadhana of the 'practice of
being in Atman'".[9]
History
Yogananda wrote in God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita that the science of Kriya Yoga
was given to Manu, the first man according to the Vedas, and through him to Janaka and other
royal sages.[10] According to Yogananda, Kriya Yoga was well known in ancient India, but was
eventually lost, due to "priestly secrecy and man’s indifference".[5] Yogananda says that Krishna
refers to Kriya Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita:
Offering inhaling breath into the outgoing breath, and offering the outgoing breath into the
inhaling breath, the yogi neutralizes both these breaths; he thus releases the life force from the
heart and brings it under his control.[11]
Yogananda also stated that Krishna was referring to Kriya Yoga when "Krishna ... relates that it
was he, in a former incarnation, who communicated the indestructible yoga to an ancient
illuminato, Vivasvat, who gave it to Manu, the great legislator. He, in turn, instructed Ikshwaku,
the father of India’s solar warrior dynasty."[5] Yogananda stated that Patanjali wrote about the
Kriya technique when he wrote: "Liberation can be attained by that pranayama which is
accomplished by disjoining the course of inspiration and expiration."[5] A direct disciple of Sri
Yukteswar Giri, Sailendra Dasgupta (d. 1984) has written that, "Kriya entails several acts that
have evidently been adapted from the Gita, the Yoga Sutras, Tantra shastras and from
conceptions on the Yugas."[6]
Bhagavad Gita
Krishna instructing Arjuna

The Bhagavad Gita does not teach kriya yoga by name, though Yogananda claimed that the
practice was described there.[12] According to Paramahansa Yogananda in his book God Talks
with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita, Krishna describes kriya Yoga thus:
By the concentrated practice of Kriya Yoga pranayama—offering the inhaling breath into the
exhaling breath (prana into apana) and offering the exhaling breath into the inhaling breath
(apana into prana)—the yogi neutralizes these two life currents and their resulting mutations of
decay and growth, the causative agents of breath and heart action and concomitant body
consciousness. By recharging the blood and cells with life energy that has been distilled from
breath and reinforced with the pure spiritualized life force in the spine and brain, the Kriya Yogi
stops bodily decay, thereby quieting the breath and heart by rendering their purifying actions
unnecessary. The yogi thus attains conscious life-force control.[13]
The Bihar School of Yoga, which teaches similar techniques of kriya yoga, claims that the
descriptions of kriya yoga in the Yoga Sūtras and the Bhagavad Gīta are not related.[14]
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Patañjali statue (traditional form indicating Kundalini or incarnation of Shesha)
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2.1 defines three types of kriya (action):
The yoga of action (kriyayoga) is: asceticism (tapas), recitation (svadhyaya), and devotion
(pranidhana) to Ishvara (the lord).
The Yoga Sutras are generally viewed as a compendium of multiple traditions of yoga.[15][16][17]
According to Feuerstein, the Yoga Sutras are a condensation of two different traditions, namely
"eight limb yoga" (ashtanga yoga) and action yoga (Kriyā yoga),[15] the description of the eight
limbs being an interpolation into the text on kriya.[18] According to George Feuerstein, kriya
yoga is contained in chapter 1, chapter 2 verse 1-27, chapter 3 except verse 54, and chapter 4.[15]
The "eight limb yoga" is described in chapter 2 verse 28–55, and chapter 3 verse 3 and 54.[15]
According to Miller, Kriya yoga is the "active performance of yoga".[19] It is composed of part of
the niyamas, "observances", the second limb of Patanjali's eight limbs.[19] According to Miller,
Kriya yoga is a threefold discipline, involving ascetic practice, the study and chanting of sacred
hymns and syllables, and dedication to god.[19]
Miller also notes that some commentators regard the first five limbs together as kriya yoga, but
that Patanjali himself states kriya yoga to be a subset of the second limb.[20]

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Kriya Yoga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Not to be confused with Karma yoga.

Founder Mahavatar Babaji transmitted to Lahiri Mahasaya

Lahiri Mahasaya (1828–1895).

Krishna instructing Arjuna

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Patañjali statue (traditional form indicating Kundalini or incarnation of Shesha)

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