About
Kriya Yoga
Babaji's Kriya Yoga is a scientific art of perfect God Truth union
and Self-Realization. It was revived by a great Master of India,
Babaji Nagaraj, as a synthesis of ancient teachings of the 18
Siddha tradition. It includes a series of techniques or "Kriyas"
grouped into five phases or branches.
Kriya Hatha Yoga: including "asanas," physical
postures of relaxation, "bandahs," muscular locks, and "mudras,"
psycho-physical gestures, all of which bring about greater health,
peace and the awakening of the principal energy channels, “the
nadis”, and centers, the "chakras." Babaji has selected a particularly
effective series of 18 postures, which are taught in stages and
in pairs. One cares for the physical body not for its own sake
but as a vehicle or temple of the Divine.
Kriya Kundalini Pranayama: is a powerful breathing
technique to awaken one’s potential power and consciousness and
to circulate it through the seven principal chakras between the
base of the spine and the crown of the head. It awakens the latent
faculties associated with the seven chakras and makes one a dynamo
on all five planes of existence.
Kriya Dhyana Yoga: is a progressive series of
meditation techniques to learn the scientific art of mastering
the mind - to cleanse the subconscious, to develop concentration,
mental clarity and vision, to awaken the intellectual, intuitive
and creative faculties, and to bring about the breathless state
of communion with God, "Samadhi" and Self-Realization.
Kriya Mantra Yoga: the silent mental repetition
of subtle sounds to awaken the intuition, the intellect and the
chakras; the mantra becomes a substitute for the "I" - centered
mental chatter and facilitates the accumulation of great amounts
of energy. The mantra also cleanses habitual subconscious tendencies.
Kriya Bhakti Yoga: the
cultivation of the soul’s aspiration for the Divine. It includes
devotional activities and service to awaken unconditional love
and spiritual bliss; it includes chanting and singing, ceremonies,
pilgrimages, and worship. Gradually, all of one's activities become
soaked with sweetness, as the "Beloved" is perceived in all.
Guru Mantra
Om Kriya
Babaji Nama Aum
(The guru mantra of Babaji's Kriya Yoga)
Om is
pranava, the primordial sound of the Universe that runs through
the prana.
Kriya is ”action with awareness,” which
is both the vehicle and the destination of practitioners of Kriya
Yoga, by making all of our actions the object of awareness.
Babaji is the Guru of the Kriya Yoga
tradition, who synthesized its ancient teachings and who has disseminated
them in modern times. This is the same Babaji referred to in Paramahansa
Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi.”
Nama is Salutations or “I call to you”
Aum the primordial sound resonating
within
This guru mantra, Om Kriya
Babaji Nama Aum, has the power to connect our pulse to the
pulse of Babaji, tuning us into the Grace of the legendary Himalayan
Siddha, Kriya Babaji Nagaraj. Through the mantra he reveals
himself to his Devotees. Through its repetition the inner guru,
or supreme intelligence abiding in the crown chakra becomes accessible.
The mantra is shakti, conscious energy. It has power, as the Guru
transmits his shakti through the mantra and the shakti enters
the disciple through the mantra. The root of the mantra is the
guru's word, and indeed, the mantra is a form of the guru himself.
Kriya Yoga
is “Action with Awareness.” It is a means of self-knowledge, of
knowing the truth of our being. Babaji's Kriya Yoga
incorporates “awareness” in the practice of asanas, pranayama,
meditation, mantras, but also teaches us to incorporate awareness
in all thoughts, words, dreams and desires, in all actions. This
sadhana has the enormous potential to make us more conscious human
beings. It requires, however, the willingness of the body, mind,
heart and will, to align with the soul’s aspiration for purification
and perfection. The sadhana of BKY is a collection of 144 exercises
and spiritual practices for Self realization and transformation
in all of our five bodies: physical, vital, mental, intellectual
and spiritual.
The first objective of Kriya
Hatha Yoga is deep physical and mental relaxation. The
body can become purified of many disorders and irregularities
by asana. The variety of asana grants flexibility, lightness and
buoyancy in the body. The practice of the 18 asana series awakens
the energy centers along the spine and kundalini, our
potential power and consciousness.
Kriya Kundalini Pranayama
deals more directly with the subtler vital parts of
the nervous system. The first objective of pranayama is to purify
the nervous system and to circulate life energy through all the
nerves and subtle energy channels without obstruction. Ultimately
these pranayama will awaken the sushumna and direct kundalini
upward through it.
Babaji's Kriya Yoga
Dhyana, demands that truth realized in our inner consciousness
penetrate into our waking consciousness and become effective there.
The level of our consciousness determines the nature and quality
of the life we live. So, rather than trying to stop thoughts and
drop into a void, our meditations focus on dynamic methods of
strengthening the power of the mind, the power of visualization
and stimulate a ready flow of intuition and inspiration, which
can be used in our life. The meditations help us to develop our
power of concentration, in order to orient the whole of our consciousness
towards our soul.
Kriya Mantra Yoga is
silent repetition of powerful chakra seed syllables and sound,
which stimulates divine qualities. This practice tunes one's whole
being and turns one's consciousness turned toward the Divine,
and opens one to the a flow of divine energy and grace.
Through
the practice of Babaji's Kriya Yoga , one begins to study oneself
and to let go of negative habits, desires, fears and other forms
of disturbances. One gradually establishes oneself in
a new inner Witness perspective, full of peace and joy. As one
lets go of the old egoistic perspective, one’s personality is
transformed, and one begins to experience oneself as an instrument
of love and as a superior creative intelligence, engaged in bringing
joy to others and making the world a better place.
Babaji's Kriya Yoga is a spiritual tradition, wherein one “wakes
up” from “dreaming with one’s eyes open.”. Babaji's Kriya Yoga
is a path of Self-realization which is comprehensive, as it integrates
all of the dimensions of our life. It is a path of self discipline
which enables one to live in the world with open-hearted compassion.
The Origin
of Kriya Yoga
This tradition flows directly
from the Yoga Siddhas, the perfected masters
of Siva Yoga. Kriya Babaji Nagaraj synthesized his Kriya Yoga
from techniques taught by the Siddhas, Agastyar and Boganathar.
Babaji initiated a great yogi, S.A.A. Ramaiah into these techniques
in 1954 and 1955, near Badrinath in the Himalayas.
In 1983, Yogi Ramaiah gave to
Marshall Govindan a set of stringent conditions to fulfill as
a condition to teach the 144 Kriyas or techniques of Babaji’s
Kriya Yoga. Marshall. Govindan had, by 1983, already been practicing
Kriya Yoga for more than twelve years, for at least fifty-six
hours per week without a break. In addition, in 1981 he had completed
a year long silence in retreat, alone, by the seashore in Sri
Lanka, engaging in a non-stop practice of Yoga, known as tapas.
He told Marshall Govindan that if he fulfilled these conditions
he would be authorized to initiate others into the 144 kriyas
of Babaji’s Kriya Yoga. It took Govindan three more years to fulfill
all of the additional conditions. At that time Yogiar told him
simply to wait. Yogiar had often said that once he had brought
his students to the feet of the “Guru,” his work with them would
be finished. On Christmas Eve, 1988, in a series of profound spiritual
experiences, the message came that Govindan was to leave his teacher's
ashram and organization and begin initiating others into Kriya
Yoga.
Henceforward, Marshall Govindan's
life was directed by the Light of the Guru, (with continuing guidance,
inspiration and intuition and insight), which focused on “showing
the path to others.” Beginning in 1989, his life moved in this
new direction; doors opened automatically, and everything facilitated
a new mission. Govindan began to share Kriya Yoga with others,
first, on weekends, in Montreal, and then in 1991, after the publication
of his first book on Kriya Yoga, to persons all over the world.
It has been a joy for him ever since to personally share this
“light,” this precious spiritual scientific art with more than
10,000 students in more than twenty countries, and to train over
sixteen advanced students to do the same.
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