Kriya Yoga Mega-Thread

[MAHAVATAR_-_BABAJI]

5 hours ago, Ayham said:

@MAHAVATAR_-_BABAJI so what is your recommended beginner routine? 

Nothing I say is of any use as you won't execute it anyways.

Edited August 6, 2023 by MAHAVATAR_-_BABAJI

[Whitney Edwards]

Are there video tutorials and video resources? 

[Leo Gura]

1 minute ago, Buck Edwards said:

Are there video tutorials and video resources? 

The books give you clear instructions. Don't overcomplicate things. The basics of Kriya are quite simple.

[How to be wise]

3 hours ago, MAHAVATAR_-_BABAJI said:

And what is the definition of meditation? Which type of yoga?

Inquiring whether your beliefs are actually true or not.

[Cocolove]

If I did kriya for 3 years, and very occasionally had breakthroughs, and about half the time I did pranayama I would feel energy come up the spine to the top and it felt great and very meditative, am i doing things wrong? I feel like an hour a day for years and I should have got more. 

After 2 years or so off I've gotten back into it and am focusing on doing the techniques perfectly. But here it seems like Leo is saying I can just focus on doing the pranayama well.

[KaoDeo]

Hi guys, I've been following JC Stevens kriya guide book and I don't understand what he means by pulling the energy up to ajna chakra during maha mudra. He explained before that to access ajna chakra we need to concentrate either on medulla or point between the eyebrows. So, does that mean that I need to bring up the energy for instance to medulla? Or do I need to bring it directly at the center of the head? Do you guys have any idea?

 

The qusetion arised after I looked at the Yoni mudra practice. As we mostly use posterior ksetrams, I thought that Medulla was the endpoint in Maha mudra. However, in the description of Yoni mudra, the author says that if one can't find Ajna chakra, one should use Medulla instead.

 

That's why I got confused. We used ksetrams for accessing chakras and how come now I need to access Ajna chakra without using its posterior ksetram Medulla?

Edited August 12, 2023 by KaoDeo

[Cocolove]

@KaoDeo Yea I think you said it, use the medulla if you need to. No harm in it, but sometimes I can just go straight to ajna.

[Hello from Russia]

How about pumping stage with yogic breathing and then just use Buddhist techniques with drastically improved state? 

I found after enough pranayamas, there is such an ease in ability for concentration work

[Cocolove]

@Hello from Russia Yes you are supposed to just sit for at least 10 minutes after kriya

[MAHAVATAR_-_BABAJI]

On 8/5/2023 at 8:07 PM, Vibes said:

@Leo Gura For me it was a month or a little less to go under the first part, then as I practiced the Kriya routine I was able to slowly move up until I could feel 2 little round shapes, I can't tell where exactly it was.

I practiced this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjMEibcRJ0I&t=145s&ab_channel=ManojTheYogi

 

 

 

Took me about 2months 

 

[LSD-Rumi]

@Leo Gura From Santatagamana book

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by LSD-Rumi

[Javfly33]

@Hello from Russia Of course, literally in all yoga i´ve learn, meditation is only done AFTER the energy practices. So there is absolutely no 'effort' to meditate, you just sit there to reap the benefits of what you sew previously .

Meditation withouth intense activation of energies/awareness, is a kind of a waste of time imo. 

Edited August 27, 2023 by Javfly33

[Spiritedness]

@Leo Gura I've read a few pages in this mega-thread and I've seen that you talked about you never following a specific order for the techniques, about just doing what felt like it worked the most for you, building your own toolkit etc. This is different to the opinion you've expressed a few years ago in a blog video named "Don't Half-Ass Yoga!", where you talked about how the guys who constructed the lessons are spiritual geniuses and that we should respect them by following the order of everything as it's been illustrated to us - they knew what they were doing! Both opinions sound reasonable, I wanted to ask you...what are your thoughts now? What's your opinion about doing other yogic techniques along with Kriya, and also more generally (beyond just Yoga) what is your input regarding the concept of mixing different spiritual techniques in one's journey to Awakening? Does there always have to be a specific order to things that needs to be respected? Is it okay to spread a couple of spiritual techniques throughout the day/week/whatever (eg. do Kriya in the morning, then a few hours later do Self-inquiry, then do Vipassana etc.)? Will this 'mix' produce undesirable effects? Will one technique affect another and make it less potent? Is this ‘mixing’ more ideal/effective when it’s done with specific spiritual techniques from specific philosophies/systems? Or the mentality of "just doing what feels intuitively right and has produced results for you" suffices? Thank you for your enlightening content.

Edited September 1, 2023 by Spiritedness

[MAHAVATAR_-_BABAJI]

Yeah, doing whatever you want is stupid. Certain techniques come before others with a certain reason. But you also can do whatever you want.

It requires too much exertion of one's will to follow the recommended order. Most cannot do that. 

1. Read the book

2. Use first principles

3. Then do whatever you want following those principles

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by MAHAVATAR_-_BABAJI

[Spiritedness]

What exactly do you mean by 'first principles'?

[MAHAVATAR_-_BABAJI]

Read all of Aristotle works: E.i~ "physics, metaphysics, etc.(Loeb classical library is great, so are others.).

[Ima Freeman]

Hello,

After starting krya yoga again a week ago I have some questions about it. I guess this is the ideal place to ask 'em.

So, years ago I was initiated into Sadguru's Shambhavi Mahamudra krya.
At first I was hesitant to do the practice even though I wished to learn it.
I lived in an shared apartment and didn't like to chant AUM because I didn't want to attract the attention of my flatmates.
Besides that I had problems holding muscle contractions and doing the breath work.

I switched to doing mindfulness meditation and did that daily.
Because I really want to develop my consciousness, I stick to doing daily practices.
But plain meditation has it's shortcomings too, so I started the krya again.

What I notice from doing it, is that I have a calmer breath and am a little more relaxed afterward.
At the end of the practice you hold your breath while locking your bandhas. You do that as long as comfortably possible while holding the bandhas and after releasing them you should watch your breath.
Her is where I feel the most of the practice. I have some seconds of increased clarity and calm.
But after these 10 or so seconds my mind slowly takes over again and I'm hardly able to watch my breath carefully.

I'm skeptical about how much the practice is doing for me, because I don't really feel any different even after weeks and months of practice.
Roughly 3 months of daily practice is the longest I did if I remember correctly. Maybe a little more.
I do some intense heavy metal detoxification as well, which affects my consciousness state quite heavily, so it's hard to tell any subtle effects any practices have on my from the health symptoms I have. 


So, how do I know if krya yoga is doing something for me? How long does it normally take to see results, and how to they feel?

Do you have tips for doing krya yoga more effectively?

My mind is very dominat and I have difficulty concentrating. Is it any good to do krya yoga even if I'm mentally absent most of the time?

And maybe some of you know Sadguru's Shamhavi Mahamudra. Did any of you have had good results? What are your experiences?

Thank you in advance for your answers 

[ENRICO]

On 6/8/2023 at 6:47 PM, Socrates said:

@MAHAVATAR_-_BABAJI The "fail until you figure it out" attitude doesn't work in yoga unfortunately unless you're naive enough to ignore the risk of having irreversible energetic issues in that pursuit.

It is like giving a child a loaded gun and telling it to figure out how the gun works without taking into account that the child might shoot itself.

Unless you figure out the energetic aspect of spiritual pursuit you will be spinning your wheels doing practices you don't understand just because a book said so and then will come back crying about your ill health, not knowing you caused that to yourself.

in  kriyasadhana there is not the danger to have such permanent issue , unless one one has not damage himself and his psycofisical system with drugs and a varity of sustances...kriya is a REAL BLESSING...but is more a dedication to the DIVINE than a search for immediate effects and , after that, you give up if , after a few months , you d ont get immediate results...that doesn"t work...

[ENRICO]

On 12/9/2023 at 2:41 PM, Ima Freeman said:

Hello,

After starting krya yoga again a week ago I have some questions about it. I guess this is the ideal place to ask 'em.

So, years ago I was initiated into Sadguru's Shambhavi Mahamudra krya.
At first I was hesitant to do the practice even though I wished to learn it.
I lived in an shared apartment and didn't like to chant AUM because I didn't want to attract the attention of my flatmates.
Besides that I had problems holding muscle contractions and doing the breath work.

I switched to doing mindfulness meditation and did that daily.
Because I really want to develop my consciousness, I stick to doing daily practices.
But plain meditation has it's shortcomings too, so I started the krya again.

What I notice from doing it, is that I have a calmer breath and am a little more relaxed afterward.
At the end of the practice you hold your breath while locking your bandhas. You do that as long as comfortably possible while holding the bandhas and after releasing them you should watch your breath.
Her is where I feel the most of the practice. I have some seconds of increased clarity and calm.
But after these 10 or so seconds my mind slowly takes over again and I'm hardly able to watch my breath carefully.

I'm skeptical about how much the practice is doing for me, because I don't really feel any different even after weeks and months of practice.
Roughly 3 months of daily practice is the longest I did if I remember correctly. Maybe a little more.
I do some intense heavy metal detoxification as well, which affects my consciousness state quite heavily, so it's hard to tell any subtle effects any practices have on my from the health symptoms I have. 


So, how do I know if krya yoga is doing something for me? How long does it normally take to see results, and how to they feel?

Do you have tips for doing krya yoga more effectively?

My mind is very dominat and I have difficulty concentrating. Is it any good to do krya yoga even if I'm mentally absent most of the time?

And maybe some of you know Sadguru's Shamhavi Mahamudra. Did any of you have had good results? What are your experiences?

Thank you in advance for your answers 
first , choose ONE TECNIQUE or SISTEM of meditation and stickTO IT FIRMLY. you have to practice with FIRM DETERMINATION , making it a HABIT , and it takes time and discipline, without watching every moment to see if there are results or not . build discipline on pleasure , dont force it and keep the sessions pleasant and not tiring or stressful . let the practice enter your life in a relaxed way , do not create tension by looking for results and freaks .the PATH THAT LEADS TO GOD , Consciousness and Bliss is not a circus...  

 

[MAHAVATAR_-_BABAJI]

Kechari mudra is damn near impossible. I can touch the uvula but can't get behind it and go upwards without the tongue twisting. Any tips?