MountainCactus

Well I think everyone can have access to a guru. But one should not be impatient and should wait to find the right guru. Most spiritual mistakes are born out of impatience. As Christ said, judge the tree by the quality of its fruit. So you must interact with your guru a bit, see and interact with some of his students, and make sure he/she is a right fit for you. Be careful of the "Big Baba's" that care more about your money than your soul. So for those without a guru this is my recommendation: Take the SRF Lessons. This is done by mail, and anyone can do this. It's also fairly cheap. Practice the Hong-Sau and AUM techniques daily. When doing Hong-Sau practice breathing like describe in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEc6RLixpVs. These two techniques will teach you two of the most important things. First, how to properly breath in Kriya through practicing Hong-Sau w/ Clinical Mindfulness. Second, it will teach you to become absorbed in AUM. The astral sounds are a very important part of Kriya, so learning to hear them and become absorbed in them early on will greatly help your Paravastha, as it's in Paravastha where the magic really happens. The energization exercises you can take them or leave them. You can also substitute in any Hatha Yoga routine in their place if you so choose. This is really all a beginner needs. When I decided I wanted to get initiated I stopped practicing all the techniques in the book and went back to these techniques until I was initiated. I reasoned that the guru's would not want me to practice their techniques without initiation so once I had decided I wanted to commit to their path that it was best to wait and go through the proper channels. Hong-Sau and AUM have the ability to take you all the way to Samadhi if you practice them with enough dedication, time, and consistency.

Actually @Esoteric I'm going to take a small step back here as I think by backing up a little bit I can paint a bit more context that will help you and everyone else connect the dots. The ultimate goal of Kriya, as I mentioned, is to unite your consciousness permanently with the non-dual. Kriya is an Advaita Vedanta technique at its core. Self-Inquiry is easy to get some initial experience, but it's hard to make that experience permanent. Kriya is an easy and natural way to make that non-dual state permanent into what is called a state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi. In this way I see both Kriya and Self-Inquiry as natural complimentary practices, but that's a tangent for another day. Advaita Vedanta teaches that to reach Nirvikalpa Samadhi you have to go through all 3 bodies, that are comprised of 5 total sheaths (or the 5 Koshas if you want to research more into this). The physical body Annamaya Kosha or physical sheath. The subtle body Pranamaya Kosha or energy sheath. Manomaya Kosha or the mind sheath. Vijnanamaya Kosha or the subconscious/intuitive sheath. The causal body Anandamaya Kosha or the emptiness/bliss sheath. And finally when you move beyond all of those bodies/sheaths you reach the non-dual state. Each of those sheaths is an illusion, hence the word "Maya" used in each name. Even emptiness/bliss is an illusion. Far too many people reach this point and think they've reached the end, but the truth is there is still another layer below that. If one can observe emptiness, there is obviously still something lower and more subtle than emptiness that is observing it. So what are the chakras and how do they fit into this model? Like I mentioned above, the chakras are where the limbic brain projects into the physical body. So what sheath is the limbic brain in? It is in the Vijnanamaya Kosha. It leverages the Pranamaya Kosha to manifest the physical body. In other words, the chakras are where the subtle body becomes the physical body. So by energizing these connection points, you are strengthening the bond between the body and the subtle body. This is the opposite of what we want. The goal of the first Kriya is to do the Battle of Kurukshetra that Krishna described in the Bhagavad Gita. For those not familiar with the Gita I highly recommend Yogananda's "God Talks With Arjuna" for a very western friendly and Kriya specific version. His teachings in that book came from Sriyukteswar's writings, which were edited and approved by Lahiri. So through Kriya, we perform the battle of Kurukshetra and go beyond the body and the consciousness settles into the subtle body. Then from there, through Paravastha, Yoni Mundra, and the higher Kriyas we completely win this battle, and we are able to release from the subtle body into the Kutastha which is the causal body. It is at this point where you finally are at a full state of Pratyahara. Then through continued practice, and much time spent in the Paravastha state, you can go from Dharana, to Dhyana, and finally Samadhi where you ultimately merge your consciousness with the non-dual. Then, by reaching Samadhi over and over and over again, you slowly start bringing it with you outside meditation until Samadhi is a permanent state. This is the goal of Kriya; Nirvikalpa Samadhi. To get here, one must sever the link between the chakras and the body. This is the first major battle that needs to be fought. By strengthening these bonds, you prevent yourself from going any further in the process I described.

Excellent questions @Esoteric! Om Japa itself is calming to the chakras. Om Japa is not energizing. It's the other things added to the practice that create it energizing. Specifically, the attempt to control and force energy through the channel. I cannot be too specific or risk giving away the techniques, but I do think that most people should be able to figure out what I mean here without me coming out and saying it. Gamana's, or should I say Mukerjee's, technique of chanting just at the Ajna shouldn't be overly stimulative, but it can create some imbalance and does not fight the battle of Kurukshetra in the important lower centers. Also, some of the added techniques Gamana invented are strong kundalini stimulators that would work against you instead of for you in silencing the prana. The chakras are where your limbic brain projects into the body. By energizing the chakras you are energizing this connection to the body. An example of this is that a common side effect of Kundalini Yoga is increased sexual urges. This is obviously binding you to the body, through an energized second chakra. Each chakra has it's own unique side effects. The chakras are a part of the dual world, they are dual in nature, and isn't the true goal to reach non-duality? The real goal of Kriya is for the energy and projections to silence in the chakras, as this promotes freedom from the body, world, mind, and duality. It is only from this freed state that a yogi can fully enter a state of Samadhi. In energizing the chakras you are moving away not towards Samadhi. Samadhi is the goal of Kriya, so why would anyone practice something that would be a roadblock to that end? See my answer to the second question. Anything that is stimulative to the energy system and/or the chakras is a roadblock to Samadhi. It is moving towards the body, not towards the non-dual. The goal of Kriya is not to have crazy experiences. It's a proven path for a householder to follow to union with the non-dual.

This is not surprising coming from what is taught in the books. Like I mentioned, the books are energizing, where as proper Kriya is calming. Proper Kriya leads to incredibly deep meditations. Proper Kriya guides consciousness out of the body. The techniques taught in the books are indeed "very much centered and grounded in the body". I've said quite a few times that by energizing the chakras, you are strengthening your ties to the body and the world. This is a fundamental aspect of the chakras that is true in all cases. Energizing the chakras was originally an occult practice to try to achieve Siddhi's (supernatural powers). This is not the path to self-realization, it's a detour. Lahiri's techniques lead to the "stillness of Prana" as quoted from Lahiri Baba himself. With the proper techniques the state of paravastha is very easy and natural to attain. This is where you get that "transcendental kind of calm" through attaining full Pratyahara, and then easily drifting into Dharana, Dhyana, and finally Samadhi. With proper Kriya you don't need to practice meditation separately, because deep meditation is a natural byproduct of the practice. After proper Kriya I don't want to get up. I want to sit there and just easily let myself blissfully melt away into the non-dual. It's not unusual for a 2-3 hour long Kriya session to feel like 15 minutes...

Ennio's techniques are not what I was taught. None of the books are. They all add extra things into Kriya to energize the practice. Though I will say that at least for first Kriya Ennio's description is closer than Stephens or Gamana's, matter of fact I only have one gripe with Ennio's first Kriya (so for anyone that refuses to take on a guru I would recommend Ennio's first Kriya as the lesser evil) but Ennio's Higher Kriyas are still very far away; I've yet to see a book or website get close on the Higher Kriyas. Also, Kriya is a very subtle process. Just a description alone is not enough to truly get it. Every technique I've learned from my teacher I've had to go back and forth with him multiple times with questions or troubleshooting small issues. Even a small unintentional misinterpretation can have huge repercussions in Kriya. It is also worth mentioning that all the authors came from the Yogananda lineage, and they all adopt most, if not all, of Yogananda's alterations in their books. As I mentioned above, you can read the Kriya Stories book which tells a story of Satyananda Giri himself back in the mid 1900's on his death bed starting that the true practices were at risk of extinction, but that there will always be some small householder lineages away from the spotlight and organizations that stay true to the teachings. This is still true today. As far as I'm aware the Panchanon Bhattacharya lineage is the main lineage that has maintained purity of techniques; this branch prioritizes purity and non-alteration of technique above all. There are a bunch of branches of this lineage that exist in the U.S. and India that came from Maheshwari Prasad Dubey's hard work to try to save the original techniques from extinction. There are some branches in India through Lahiri's family that I hear still pass on the unaltered techniques. I also suspect from reading their books that the Yoga Niketan guys may have the proper techniques as well, though I do not know exactly what they teach so I cannot confirm. There are also some off the map type guru's that shun the public audience altogether that still pass on the unaltered techniques. However, none of the major organizations, books, or "Big Baba" popular public guru's that I am aware of pass on the pure, unaltered techniques. There are some small alterations that the Yogiraj taught to different people, but there are 2 specific things that Yogananda added to First Kriya that Lahiri Baba did not teach, that have been adopted by pretty much all the organizations, "Big Baba's", and authors. The real First Kriya technique is actually much simpler and much less complex than what you guys have learned from the books. It is also much less gross, less physical, and less forced. The First Kriya is supposed to be a very subtle, simple and gentle process. If you read both the Garland of Letters and Purana Purusha and hear the descriptions that Lahiri Baba makes about the practices, it's very easy to see that the practices in the books do not match what he describes. I can say that the techniques I was taught do exactly conform with everything he has said in both those books. This is how I personally verified that the techniques I was taught were legit, I didn't take it on blind trust. You all should not take my words on blind trust either, you really should read the books and come to your own conclusions, imo. I'm not keeping anything to myself. I believe that the one on one guru/disciple relationship is a major irreplaceable part of Kriya. Anyone is able to find a teacher to follow this path, nobody is keeping anything from anybody. Kriya is a path for all, but Kriya is a path for following a teacher. It is worth mentioning that the gripes that Ennio and Stephens have are directed towards organizations not a one on one guru/disciple relationship. Like @kerk mentioned, organizations are not the path that Lahiri Baba supported. He believed in a line of unorganized householders teaching one on one in person. In my opinion, if someone is really serious about Kriya, why would they not want to go through the proper channels in the tradition passed down by its founder? Why would someone want to go through a back road and read from a book written by someone who is not only not an authorized teacher, but might not even be fully self-realized? The true Kriya path is there for anyone that is truly serious about it. And the books are there for anyone that just wants to take a tourist trip and get some experience. The books can also serve as a gateway drug so to speak. I mean, without the books I wouldn't have found my way to the path I'm on now. So they are not all bad. But I do think from reading this thread that there are a lot of people here that are serious about Kriya that are very lost and confused and not getting the benefit from their practice that they expect, just like I once was, and it's to them that I'm speaking and trying to encourage to abandon the books and seek a one on one guru.

I was doing some reading through Purana Purusha this morning (the book that contains Lahiri Mahasaya's personal diaries) and something stuck out to me that really helps drive my point in the above post home. Over and over and over again he states that the point of the Kriya technique is to "silence the Prana". So one must ask themselves, are the techniques they are practicing silencing the Prana, or stirring up the Prana? He also specifically says over and over that Kriya has "OM japa in the 6 chakras" so again, one must ask themselves if the techniques they are practicing are chanting OM in the 6 chakras or only 1? These are words that Lahiri Baba wrote himself in his personal diary, and all are able to get the book to see for themselves. Any Kriya that does not check both of the above boxes is not the real Kriya. The differences between the techniques on paper don't look huge, but in practice, at least in my personal experience, they are worlds apart. The real Kriya is much more blissful, much less complex, much more natural, much more gentle handed, leads to deeper meditation, and leads consciousness easily and naturally out of the body. Kriya is such a subtle process that even small changes can make a world of difference. I also think it should be mentioned that the books invent a lot of techniques that are meant to really stir up the Prana, which really will work against true Kriya practice. Kriya is not about developing "supreme fire", it's about putting the fire out. Kriya is about moving beyond all the elements; beyond experience; beyond everything and anything that is dualistic in nature. I don't know why, but I feel like God has placed it heavily on my heart to share these things here. I'm sure there's at least someone out there that this will resonate with. I'm not at liberty to share the techniques I was taught, nor am I a teacher myself, but I am here and willing to help anyone in any way that I am able.

Oh boy, I could write a novel just on this alone, haha. Kundalini awakening is merely a step on the path, not the endpoint in and of itself. Kundalini also doesn't have to be an uncomfortable experience. Lahiri Baba specifically said that Kriya practiced properly has NO negative side effects. So all the people on this forum, and other forums, that are practicing Kriya and experiencing negative effects from kundalini are not practicing proper Kriya. Now, this is not surprising since proper Kriya is very difficult to find. Yogananda altered the techniques to be energizing. I'm not sure why he did that, but the fallout is that he became so popular and because of that all of the books and large organizations base their techniques off of Yogananda's altered technique, not the technique originally taught by Lahiri Mahasaya. In the book Kriya Stories which is freely available on the Yoga Niketan website Swami Satyananda Giri back in the mid-1900s said to the author's guru that true Kriya techniques were at risk of extinction, but that there are some small unorganized householder branches that still carry the tradition on. The real techniques are an endangered species these days. Kriya practiced with the proper techniques leads to a kundalini awakening that is slow, controlled, and comfortable. It also is a path of much deeper and more relaxing meditation that has much more carry over into changes for the better in day to day life. Mind you, there are less fireworks along the way, but the fireworks come with the tradeoff of negative symptoms as kundalini energy leaves the subtle body and enters the physical body. This is where all the common negative kundalini effects like headaches, spontaneous movements, insomnia, uncontrollable sexual urges, etc come from. In proper Kriya the energy stays in the subtle body and never enters the physical body. It still finds its way up to the sahasrara so it still promotes kundalini awakening, but it is a very gentle and controlled process not a forced one. This is my experience exactly, I started with the incorrect techniques in the same books that are popular here (and these books not only take Yogananda's energized techniques, but alter them further to add an extra layer or two of energization to them). I had some really bad negative effects, found a teacher in a lineage that has not altered the techniques, was initiated, and ever since I started working with my teacher I have taken off like a spiritual rocket ship and have had absolutely no negative side effects of any kind. I love Yogananda for his teachings. I think that every Kriyaban here should take the SRF lessons at a minimum for the wealth of information in them. The newly redone SRF lessons are especially good, and worth the small cost for the info alone. I also think that God Talks with Arjuna and Second Coming of Christ are gems and should be on the reading list for every western Kriyaban. But he did alter the Kriya techniques, and added quite a bit of his own creation to them including a large Bhakti (devotional) Yoga, and Karma Yoga practice, as well as encouragement for renunciation. I'm sure if someone renunciated into his monastic order and followed all of his techniques they could achieve full self-realization. But I'm sure all of us here are householders, and Lahiri's techniques were meant specifically for us. They are more powerful, have less negative effects, and there are less practices which means they are easier to schedule into a busy schedule. He also did not include any Bhakti or Karma Yoga practice as Lahiri Baba focused exclusively on the non-dual side of things. He said that Kriya led to union with the true guru which is the non-dual God; this union is the ultimate Bhakti, the ultimate Karma Yoga, the ultimate Jnana, and the ultimate renunciation. Any external Bhakti, Karma, Jnana, or renunciation paled in comparison to the internal one. So yes, your past experience is exactly what I would expect. Energizing and activating, not calming. It can be entertaining and fun, but ultimately anytime you strengthen your chakras you are strengthening your bondage to your body, mind, and ego so this does come at a cost. Everything in the dual world has a tradeoff. How can you achieve even a light temporary state of Samadhi in an energized and activated state? It's completely contradictory.

They're both connected. If you start doing OM japa from the front you will kind of notice the onion of the chakra starts to peel back over time. The chakra calms down and silences, and when that happens the place you really feel the OM starts moving back closer into the spine until eventually you enter the sushumna. Once you are in the sushumna you have entered a full state of Pratyahara, the body has completely faded away, and then the chakras can slowly retreat back into the medulla. From here you can enter the Kutastha, which is where you go from Dharana, to Dhyana, and finally to Samadhi. The goal of Kriya is the exact opposite of Kundalini Yoga, it's not to "open" or energize the chakras, it's to silence them and eventually to go completely beyond them. So even if you start at the front, you wind up in the same place. It's totally ok to start in the front, especially for someone who is new and still trying to find and lock in the position of each chakra. What you are doing with your OM japa is the Battle of Kurukshetra described in the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna says that you fight the battle in the body, and this is what you are doing in proper Kriya (now, unfortunately the Kriya described in the books and major organizations are not "proper Kriya"... but that's a discussion for another day). This is why Lahiri Baba said that Kriya without OM japa is tamasic... because OM japa is the heart of Kriya. Without OM Japa, there is no Kriya. Energizing the body and chakras leads to lots of psychedelic experience, but it is of little spiritual value. If you energize the body and the chakras you are strengthening your ego and your ties to your body and the world, and this is the opposite of what you want to do. You want to go beyond the chakras, beyond the ego, beyond the body, beyond the world, beyond kundalini... into true ever-lasting Nirvikalpa Samadhi, and the only way there is through the Battle of Kurukshetra which is the battle that the proper Kriya of Lahiri Mahasaya is designed specifically to fight.

Forget the body. Just feel for the location of the chakra. If it's higher than you expect, then it's higher than you expect. My teacher/guru told me to start from the front if I had to. The front of the chakra is generally easier to find than the root in the spine. Your 3rd chakra is where fear and anger are projected into your body. Think of that feeling you get in your stomach when you are angry or afraid. That is where Manipura is. Chant OM into that and over time follow it back into the spine. Navi Kriya would be highly recommended. The sacral chakra is where sexual feelings are projected. Start there and work your way back to the spine over time. This needs to become an intuitive process, not a physical process. So forget the body and locations and just feel.