Kriya Yoga is an ancient meditation practice blessed unto us by the Will of God. It was not born of mind or intellect.
The most recent revival of Kriya Yoga occurred when the mysterious Avatar Babaji Maharaj passed on the technique to Lahiri Mahasaya in 1861. Babaji is a renowned yogi who is supposed to have lived in the Himalayas for many hundreds of years until the present time. Lahiri Mahasaya was born on the 30th September 1828. He was a householder with two sons and three daughters. He became an exemplary example of uniting spirituality with family life. He attained the highest realization whilst also being a caring husband and efficient parent.
Shri Lahiri Mahasaya kept the teachings of Kriya Yoga alive through his disciple Shri Yukteshwar, who was known as the incarnation of Wisdom. Shri Yukteshwar was born in 1855 on the 10th of May. He was highly disciplined and was married, with one daughter. He was initiated into Kriya Yoga in 1883. Later on when his wife died and his daughter had gone to live with her husband he accepted life as a monk.
Another lesser known Yogi who was initiated into Kriya Yoga by Lahiri Mahasaya and reached the highest state of realization was Shri Sanyal Mahasaya. He was born on the 20th of January 1877 and initiated into Kriya in 1893. Blessed with four daughters and two sons, he was destined to be a householder yogi, despite the strong urge he had to be a monk as a young Kriya initiate. He is alleged to be the youngest acharya [teacher] in the Kriya tradition.
Next in the tradition to be mentioned is the much loved Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the well known book “Autobiography of a Yogi”. Yogananda was Shri Yukteshwars most renowned disciple. He was born in 1893 to parents who were disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya. From 1910-1915 he spent most of his time in the company of his divine guru, and then in 1920 he left for Boston, USA. He travelled profusely throughout America, introducing Kriya Yoga and the Yogic way of life to the west. Yogananda set up the first Self-Realisation Fellowship in LA. The fellowship became established teaching a series of printed lessons which were compiled from Paramahamsas lectures, as well as teaching the techniques of Kriya Yoga. A number of Self-Realisation Fellowships have been set up world wide.
Alongside Yogananda we find Swami Satyananda, another outstanding disciple of Shri Yukteshwar. Born in 1896 on the 17 th of November, Satyananda was a philosopher, singer, composer, poet and social worker. He was a childhood friend of Yogananda and together they established an Ashram and resedential school with a strict spiritual discipline, first in Dihika, and then in Ranchi. Swami Satyananda was another realised soul, who contributed greatly ,as part of the Kriya Yoga lineage.
More recently we were blessed with the teaching of Paramahamsa Hariharananda. Born 27th May 1907, Baba Hariharanada entered Mahasamadhi [final conscious exit from the body] in December 2002. Prior to this he carried the Kriya message throughout the world, teaching tirelessly until the age of 95. During his lifetime he was blessed with the company of many masters, learning the various stages Kriya from Shri Yukteshwar, Yogananda, and Satyananada. He is known as the incarnation of Compassion.
We now come to the present master of Kriya Yoga: Paramahamsa Prajnanananda has taken on his destined role as the current head of the Kriya Yoga Institute. He was born in a village in the state of Orissa on the 10th of August 1960. Also on the 10th of August, but in 1998, the title of Paramahamsa was conferred on him by his master Paramahamsa Hariharananda. Paramahamsa Prajnananada ceaselessly travels the world teaching Kriya Yoga. He is a perfect example of the potential within each one of us. Eternally calm, loving and wise, having overcome the tyranny of the mind and the limits of the body, he constantly exists in Soul consciousness, ever aware of God within and without.