Please see the videos below on a wide variety of discourses on meditation, Kriya Yoga, and other practices. For additional videos use the menu dropdown. If you have any questions, please contact info@modernkriya.com.
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Kriya Yoga and Modern Mindfulness
Kriya Yoga and modern Mindfulness practices have many similarities that make them extremely complementary. Both approaches share a common ground in that they emphasize self-awareness and the cultivation of inner peace. The development of insight (vipassana) through Mindfulness and the development of tranquility (samatha) through Kriya Yoga makes the synthesis of these two approaches a winning combination for one’s meditative practice.
Kriya Yoga and the Spiritual Ego
Many Kriya yogis who judge spiritual development on the basis of inner experiences do not understand the path to awakening. They may believe, for example, that samadhi (superconscious awareness) constitutes self-realization. This idea is incorrect. Rather, true awakening is the result of letting go of all impermanent concepts of the self (including the spiritual ego), until one contacts the Unconditioned Absolute, the result of which results in a permanent paradigm shift and understanding into one’s true nature.
Kriya Yoga New Year Resolution
It is helpful for Kriya yogis to look back at their practice in the past year and review their strengths, as well as determine aspects of their sadhana where work is still needed. This will make it clear where to make tweaks in their practice to help ensure spiritual progress in the coming year.
Kriya Yoga and the Inner Guru
In Kriya Yoga and many spiritual paths, the guru is considered essential for the student’s development. However, these worldly teachers are just preparations for meeting one’s inner guru. With the guidance of the inner guru, one develops a clear understanding of the nature of experiences in meditation or how to best live one’s life. This leads to the abandoning of attachment, dismantling of ego consciousness, and the realization of the Unconditioned Absolute.
Kriya Yoga, Krishna, and the Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna regarding the internal battle experienced by the spiritual aspirant. Krishna, as the voice of intuition, guides Arjuna to sacrifice his attachment to unwholesome tendencies and to experience direct perception of truth and intuitive realization.
Do You Have to Give Up Sex to Practice Kriya Yoga?
Some schools of Kriya Yoga believe that one has to give up sex in order to have success in Kriya Yoga. These same schools often laud the celibate life of the monastic as being superior to the householder yogi. However, this was not the opinion of Yogiraj Lahiri Baba nor his guru Mahamuni Babaji Maharaj, the deathless master. If the householder Kriyaban can engage in balanced, wholesome sexual activity that allows them to discharge their worldly duties while maintaining a balanced sadhana, these Kriyabans can attain the highest levels of samadhi.
Most Powerful Practice in Kriya Yoga
Many Kriyabans believe that the most powerful practice in Kriya Yoga is Kriya Pranayama and associated techniques. While these methods lay the groundwork for deep meditation, the most powerful practice is rarely formally taught in Kriya Yoga but is often done intuitively by high level Kriyabans. This most power practice is Right Effort (Samma Vayama), which is the abandoning of attachment to meditative phenomena. Through the use of Right Effort, one easily moves through progressively deeper meditative states to the highest levels of samadhi and beyond.
Kriya Yoga and the Jhanas
Although Kriya yogis often reference Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as a guide for progress in meditation, the stages of meditation are not well described nor understood. Fortunately, the Buddha clearly mapped out states of meditative absorption (jhanas) over two millennia ago and provided clear and concise descriptions of the characteristics of each jhana, as well as the factors needed for progressing through them. Therefore, familiarity with the jhanas and the dynamics of meditation that affect them provide Kriyabans with an invaluable tool to support their sadhana and spiritual development.
How Does Kriya Yoga Work?
Kriya Yoga is a very effective practice for suspending bodily distractions and bringing one into a low idle state. This tranquilization of the body and intentional thinking mind allows one to experience paravastha, which is the after effect state of Kriya Yoga. By having an open, spacious awareness that allows one to recognize distractions of the mind, and by abandoning them, one progresses naturally through the jhanas (states of meditative absorption) to the highest levels and beyond.
Top Five Questions in Kriya Yoga
Students in Kriya Yoga often have questions related to the need for a teacher, the length of practice, the numbers of Kriyas, the use of chakras, and the necessity of initiation. Understanding these subjects can help to clarify the learning process for students and support their development.
How to Accelerate Your Progress in Kriya Yoga
Kriya Yoga is an effective means of inducing internalization (pranayama) and meditative absorption (dhyana), but a more nuanced approach is needed to progress to the highest levels of meditation. If one is able to recognize the unwholesome intentions inherent in distracting thoughts in meditation with the help of the intuition, one can abandon those unwholesome intentions. This leads to a natural progression through deepening states of meditation and can rapidly accelerate one’s progress in Kriya Yoga.
How to Experience Bliss in Kriya Yoga
One of the primary processes for meditating deeply in Kriya Yoga is pratyahara (internalization). Some have claimed that pratyahara is a complete shutdown of the senses, but this is incorrect. It is only by understanding and utilizing the two components of pratyahara, which are tranquilization of the body and abandoning of attachment, that a Kriyaban is able meditate deeply, experience samadhi, and go beyond.
How to Meditate Deeply in Kriya Yoga
Kriya Yoga has been described by some as a path to bliss. This bliss begins with the onset of internalization in meditation and continues through successive states of absorption and samadhi. Learning how to abandon attachment and transition through the jhanas can incline the mind to reach the Unconditioned Absolute (Nibbana) and lead to self-realization and awakening.
How to Deal with Negative Emotions in Kriya Yoga
Negative emotions can manifest at any stage of the meditation process and often have an adverse impact on one’s meditation. Such emotions are usually rooted in one or more of the Five Hindrances of sensual craving, aversion, restlessness and remorse, sloth and torpor, and doubt. Recognizing that a hindrance has arisen, one can use Right Effort to let it go and this will result in spontaneous progression through states of meditative absorption.
Kriya Yoga Guru: Celebrating Lahiri Mahasaya
Yogiraj Lahiri Baba, also called Lahiri Mahasaya or Kashi Baba, is considered the father of Kriya Yoga. His earthly journey from birth was guided by providence and led to his initiation by the immortal Mahavatar Babaji in 1868. At the bequest of his guru, renouncing renunciation, he consented to live as a realized yogi householder, imparting wisdom and the power of Kriya Yoga sadhana to many. As a guiding light on the spiritual path, he continues to be an ideal example of those actively engaging in daily sadhana while living a householder life.
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