Kriya Yoga school

Kriya Yoga (Sanskrit: क्रिया योग) is a yoga system which consists of multiple levels of pranayama, mantra, and mudra, intended to rapidly accelerate spiritual development and engender a profound state of tranquility and God-communion. "isolation," the isolation of purusha (consciousness, spirit) from prakriti (nature or matter, including the human mind and emotions), or the unification with God. According to Jaerschky, kevali-pranayama leads to kevala kumbhaka, "the natural state of breathlessness, which is the goal of all deep yogis."

Yoga

The Sanskrit noun ' is derived from the root ' () "to attach, join, harness, yoke" (yoga is a cognate of the English word "yoke"). According to Timothy Miller, the term yoga may designate various spiritual practices in Hindu traditions, translating it as "union" or "discipline". In the context of the Yoga Sutras, to which reference is often made to explain the name Kriya Yoga, the root yuj samādhau (to concentrate) is considered the correct etymology by traditional commentators.

Kriya

A kriya may refer to any kind of practice in the context of yoga, and teachers of psychophysical practices often use the term. Philip Goldberg writes that, as a brand, Kriya Yoga generally refers to the lineage that Yogananda represented. He cites the following definition from Yogananda's autobiography:

According to Jones and Ryan, kriya Yoga may be literally translated as "yoga of ritual action," noting that it "is contrasted with jnana (learning) yoga and equated with karma (action) yoga in the Trishikhi-Brahmana Upanishad."

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2.1 defines three types of , namely tapas ("heat," ascetic practices), svadhyaya (study or recitation of the Vedas, or “contemplation, meditation, reflection of one's self”), and (devotion or surrender to God). In the Kriya Yoga school, 'ritual action' involves breathing techniques (pranayama) revolving the life energy (prana) "upward and downward, around the six spinal centers" and upwards to the crown-chakra.

As inner fire ritual

Tanya Lynne Brittain further explains that while "Kriya yoga is 'usually understood to mean 'yoga as practice' or “practical yoga,' [...][it is] also associated with the vocabulary of initiation and sacrifice." The kriya yoga pranayama practices are a form of kundalini-practice, which culminate in kriya, the "inner fire rite," the internalized Vedic fire sacrifice. Yael Bentor further explains that in the Upanishads this internalized fire ritual is associated with the maintenance of life, through breathing and eating. Where the Brahmin maintains the world order by his sacrifices, for the yogi the breath becomes a perpetual ritual. The internalization of the fire is also associated with tapas, "heat," burning away the defilements, and with pranayama, the control of the breath. These concepts were combined in the yoga of the subtle body.

Yogananda writes:

History

thumb|upright|[[Lahiri Mahasaya (1828–1895).]]

The origins of the present-day forms of Kriya Yoga can be traced back to Lahiri Mahasaya, who said he received initiation into the yoga techniques from an immortal Himalayan yogi called Mahavatar Babaji. The story of Lahiri Mahasaya receiving initiation into Kriya Yoga by Mahavatar Babaji in 1861 is recounted in Yogananda's 1946 book Autobiography of a Yogi. Yogananda wrote that at that meeting, Mahavatar Babaji told Lahiri Mahasaya, "The Kriya Yoga that I am giving to the world through you in this nineteenth century, is a revival of the same science that Krishna gave millenniums ago to Arjuna; and was later known to Patanjali, and Christ, and to St. John, St. Paul, and other disciples."

Through Lahiri Mahasaya, Kriya Yoga soon spread throughout India.

Practice

thumb|right|Simplified diagram of the mode of action of Mudras and Bandhas on the Sushumna, leading to liberation in Hatha Yoga philosophy. The subtle fluids affected have numerous names including prana, bindu, and amrit.

Kriya Yoga, as taught by Lahiri Mahasaya, is traditionally learned exclusively via the Guru-disciple relationship, and the initiation consists of a secret ceremony. 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." Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi mentions the practice of Kriya Yoga, but it doesn't provide details about how to practice specific techniques. Rizwan Virk writes that "The purpose of the book was to inspire readers to take up the yogic path by opening their minds to spiritual possibilities."

In Yogananda's 6 October 1920 speech at the International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston, he said that the Kriya Yoga of his lineage "consists of magnetizing the spinal column and the brain, which contain the seven main centers, with the result that the distributed life electricity is drawn back to the original centers", thus liberating the "spiritual Self" from physical and mental distractions. Yogananda used the word centers in place of the term chakras. Philip Goldberg writes that Yogananda described Kriya Yoga in essentially the same way in Autobiography of a Yogi. Yogananda wrote:

Satyananda Giri writes that "Kriya sadhana may be thought of as the sadhana of the 'practice of being in Atman'.

There are many higher kriyas in the kriya yoga tradition. According to the Autobiography of a Yogi, Lahiri Mahasaya divided Kriya Yoga into four parts. The second, third and the fourth Kriya are known as higher Kriyas, Thokar Kriya being one of them.

According to Yogananda, Kriya Yoga was well known in ancient India, but was eventually lost, due to "priestly secrecy and man’s indifference". According to Yogananda's commentary, Krishna describes Kriya Yoga thusly:

Yogananda also stated that Krishna was referring to Kriya Yoga pranayama 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."

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2.1 actually uses the term kriya yoga when describing a "yoga of action (kriyayoga)," defining three types of kriya (action):

According to George Feuerstein, this kriya yoga is contained in chapter 1, chapter 2 verse 1-27, chapter 3 except verse 54, and chapter 4. The "eight limb yoga" is described in chapter 2 verse 28–55, and chapter 3 verse 3 and 54.

According to Barbara Miller, Kriya yoga as described in the Yoga Sutras is the "active performance of yoga." It is part of the niyamas, "observances", the second limb of Patanjali's eight limbs.

Yogananda stated that Patanjali wrote a second time about the Kriya Yoga pranayama technique when he wrote: "Liberation can be attained by that pranayama which is accomplished by disjoining the course of inspiration and expiration" (YS 2.49). Yogananda said that his writings, especially those compiled in SRF's home-study course (the SRF Lessons), would facilitate the spiritual instruction of disciples after his death. When questioned about the succession of SRF/YSS leadership, Yogananda answered, “There will always be at the head of this organization men and women of realization. They are already known to God and the Gurus. They shall serve as my spiritual successor and representative in all spiritual and organizational matters.”

According to the Kriya Yoga Institute, their lineage includes Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswar Giri, Shrimat Bhupendranath Sanyal Mahashaya, Paramahansa Yogananda, Satyananda Giri, and Hariharananda Giri. Hariharananda Giri was a disciple of Sri Yukteswar Giri and managed one of Yogananda's ashrams in India until 1959. He began visiting the United States in 1975 and established the Kriya Yoga Institute in Homestead, Florida.

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