BuddhaTree

Self-Consciousness didn't have a beginning, because it is outside time. Time is within consciousness! I'm not writing about ego-consciousness (exists inside time). I'm talking about universal self-consciousness. @OctagonOctopus puts it very well.

Happiness is where you are timelessness.

Very intriguing information. I've been consistently practicing KSF for over a year, and I began by using the heart area as the concentration spot as well. And, funny enough, I've also intuitively shifted to the perineum over time. Now, if I concentrate on the perineum or merely perform the root lock (outside of practicing kriya yoga), I feel a current of energy rising in the spine towards my crown chakra, in a really powerful way. While I'm practicing KSF, I concentrate on the perineum, and in a couple of rounds, I begin to sense what I can call a spacious open-ended tube going from the root towards the head. It's somewhat similar to feeling the whole spinal cord at once, but the distinction lies in this: my consciousness gets sucked into that tube and I feel like a mass of pulsating "fire energy" performing the practice moving up and down that tube. At the end of the practice, that "fire" (it's not a fire but dunno how to call it) melts my physical body (I lose body awareness) and I dissolve into a blissful feeling, which overwhelms me. Interestingly enough, I also feel similarly when I practice Kriya Pranayama (it's less powerful but more of a "silk" feeling of energy going through the tube).

I practice and enjoy Kriya yoga very much. First of all, I’d say that if you are really interested in Kriya, you should read the whole Mega-Thread. If you don’t, that just tells me you are not really interested in Kriya, and I can guarantee you that you will not go far with it. Second point is that you must not take what is said in this forum concerning Kriya as a rule or as a fact. There are a lot of people that write here that have eloquent speech, but they are simply beginners, and unfortunately, some of them have been deluded by the modern guru-disciple romance or by contemporary organizations. I’ve seen some of that speech lately here (I’m more of a lurker) and it’s always the same thing: romanticized Kriya. Anyway I don’t want to push you away from the beauty of Kriya. It is beautiful indeed but that beauty comes with dogma, and it’s really hard to distill both. As a long term Kriya practitioner I’d suggest you read the Kriya books mentioned in Leo’s booklist and practice the Kriya laid out there. There are different variations, but you will figure out which one suites you. I agree with @Space. If all you do is read and practice according to the book mentioned in this thread, you will get a sense of certainty and security, but it will lead you in a shallow direction. You will be clueless. I have found some of the clues in the other Kriya books that you will find in Leo’s list, but the most important thing is to look at Kriya as a way of reaching enlightenment and not as the holy grail of spirituality. Because it is not. Godspeed.

If you were to "socialize" with the Buddha, Jesus Christ, Ramana Maharshi, Milarepa, Krishna, Rumi, etc, then that would probably be better than any meditation you can do right now. Socialization externalizes your attention towards others, while meditation internalizes your attention into yourself. Can't really compare both mate!

I have, through kriya pranayama + kriya supreme fire + parvastha (final special kriya). In parvastha, samadhi comes naturally if you've done the other 2 practices correctly! The first stills the mind, the second awakes kundalini, the third collapses my ego into awareness. But to reach this stage, I needed a lot of practice. Cheers.

Have you read all the books you recommend? And why do you prefer the sanskrit translation of ribhu gita to the Tamil translation?

https://realyoga.info/2019/04/energy-upward-spiritual-practice/

Thanks for the list! I'm interested in knowing your opinion about this: Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi is a great book, but it was written by Munagala Venkataramiah (Sri Ramana Maharshi's disciple) hours after the dialogs took place. It's been heavily edited by him because he had to remember quite a lot of details. It's typically the book given to "noobs" on Advaita, because the real deal is on Sri Muruganar's works such as Guru Vachaka Kovai (very advanced) or even on The Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi as you also point out. When a judge once went to take Ramana's testimony regarding some event that had happened on the ashram (I think it was about the ashram's land inheritance or something like that), an accompanying scribe also came with the judge and wrote what Ramana said down. When comparing the words the scribe wrote down (verbatim) to the words Munagala Venkataramiah wrote down, there are some obvious additions to the dialog by Munagala Venkataramiah. He basically colored a lot of the dialogs by his own interpretations and ideas. Self-inquiry is not even properly explained in this book (and it has over 700 pages!) So how can this be a good and recommended book? Don't get me wrong, I really like this book, and it helps me get a feel for Ramana's dialogs and the ambiance in the ashram at the time, but there are better books about Ramana's teachings out there as far as I am concerned.

@GreenWoods @John West I haven't heard anyone saying that Kundalini awakening can kill you besides dogmatic people. My own experience, and of other seekers that I have interacted with have shown me that kundalini can have both fantastic and terrible effects. But death? Not really. I also agree with @GreenWoods in checking Gamana's Kundalini Exposed. If you go by Stevens KSR, you will barely find any worthwhile info about kundalini. The last practice of his book is about raising and stabilizing the Kundalini, and provides no information or relationship between Kundalini and non-duality at all. Like @Inliytened1 said, Kundalini in its essence is 'Being', but 'Being' in 'movement.' It's powerful life-energy, Shakti!

Instead of seeing the present moment as having no duration, you can also see it has being infinitely long. Then you can have all change and movements within it.

@kerk I agree that more important than techniques, it's the connection with the guru, teacher, or better yet (for me), with the inner guru. @lostmedstudent That book is quite advanced. Check http://www.kriyayogainfo.net/files/English II.pdf as well. It'll help you. 1) exactly, like darth vader! I breath normally, but slowly. 2) I've received a newsletter a few days ago about this: check here. 3) Yes, Om. Some people also prefer "Ong", but imo either way is fine. 4) Yes, but you should do some asanas or hatha yoga to improve flexibility. Practicing cross-legged is so much better. Suggested readings: All Kriya Yoga books on Leo's book list.

Most of your posts on this forum are about Stevens in one way or another. Weird. Yet you didn’t answer my criticism of his book when I directly quoted you: https://www.actualized.org/forum/topic/19678-kriya-yoga-mega-thread/?page=50#comment-368329 I don’t understand why is it so hard to grasp that while Stevens’ book is good (I have it), it falls short on many levels? Anyone with a bit if insight can see it. I agree that for Kriya, having a live teacher showing you the techniques is great though. Stevens book is made to help you get started practicing Kriya, but it’s definitely not made to help you reach enlightenment. @Girzo is totally right.

Not really. I think anyone can do it if they have the motivation for it. Some practices I've read on Ennio book are much more complex like microcosmic orbit and some crazy kriyas.

Leo is definitely a modern mystic. Why? Because he uses his life to discover the mysterious nature of all this. I know that above anything else, Leo wants to find and recognize himself to be God, and that's the main goal of a mystic.