What is Kriya Yoga?

Kriya Yoga is for all – it is a system of meditation techniques and postures that prepares the human body for direct connection with Self and Spirit – within.

Kriya Yoga has been sent into the world after a long period of withdrawal due to humanities preoccupation with material experiences. The time has now come for humanity to reach for it’s birthright and evolve spiritually, after great intellectual and mental progress. The re-introduction of Kriya Yoga into the world heralded a period of spiritual rebirth in humanity.

In 1861 a Himalayan master, known as Babaji, made himself known to a young householder in India - husband and father. Babaji initiated this man who became known as Lahiri Mahasaya - the Fountainhead of Kriya Yoga. In turn Lahiri Mahasaya began teaching Kriya Yoga to anyone that asked for it. For the most part, Lahiri Mahasaya taught in his humble home. Lahiri Mahasaya taught Swami Sri Yukteshwar (Gyanavatar - Incarnation of Wisdom). Shriyukteshwar founded the famous Karar Ashram in Puri and taught Paramahansa Yogananda (Incarnation of Love), the famous teacher who brought Kriya Yoga to the West and founded the Self Realisation Fellowship in California, USA, where he wrote Autobiography of a Yogi, considered a spiritual classic amongst scholars. Whilst in India in 1936, he initiated Mahatma Gandhi into Kriya Yoga. Kriya Yoga continued to grow in India through Sanyal Mahasaya, Satyananda Giri and Paramahamsa Hariharananda, all of whom left their mark in their world – Sanyal Mahasaya co-founded an educational institution that became a famous University, wrote extensively and established ashrams; Satyananda Giri went to the aid of disadvantaged children in his area and introduced Kriya Yoga in discussions with Mahatma Gandhi. The successor to Satyananda Giri was Paramahamsa Hariharananda – the Guru of the current head of Kriya Yoga – hailed by our current Guru as the River of Compassion.

Like doctors are qualified through experience and training, so spiritual masters are qualified through their lineage of experienced and accomplished Masters. Paramahamsa Hariharananda said long before he met his future successor, “Whatever is started by me, has to be completed by him”. Hariharananda not only took His training from all the living Masters in those times – Shriyukteshwar, Yogananda, Sanyal Mahasaya and Satyananda Giri, He also became a great intellectual in the fields of Indian Scriptures, the`Torah, the Holy Bible, the Koran, the Buddhist Scriptures and ethical and metaphysical teachings of world religions. He took helpless orphaned children into His ashram caring for them and educating them so they could find their place in society. He travelled extensively in the west for 20 years, taking the Kriya Yoga teachings with Him, initiating thousands.

What is the Role of the Guru?

When one is ill one goes to the doctor. When one needs to learn to write one goes to school. When one is ready to find out about whom they are, who God is and what Spirit is all about, one requires a teacher. There are many. How does one know when you’ve found the right teacher? Quite simply – your intuition/heart/Higher Self will make known to you if this is the one. We’ve all met many teachers of spiritual practices and knowledge and found that they have reached their own level of development that has been right for teaching us at that time. We must remember we are all on the path of evolution but we may be on a different path and perhaps a bit further down the path than some and a little behind others. But we eventually come to a point when we need the guidance of someone who has reached the highest state of spiritual accomplishment – that is nirbikalpa samadhi. From this perspective the teacher is aware of our greatest need in our development and does what is required of him/her to be instrumental in the students progress.

Who is Paramahamsa Prajnanananda?

Paramahamsa Prajnanananda is the president of Kriya organizations started by Baba Hariharananda Maharaj and the current head of a great lineage of Kriya Yoga Guru Parampara. A disciple and the successor of Paramahamsa Hariharananda, He is an advanced yogi, teacher and proponent of Kriya Yoga, a path of self-realization and a scientific technique of concentration, meditation and breath control. He helps spread the message of Kriya Yoga around the world through public lectures, media interviews, seminars and meditation classes.

Paramahamsa Prajnanananda was born in 1960 in the state of Orissa in India. He is a former professor of economics, a prolific author and speaker, and a scholar of scriptures of the East and West. Paramahamsa Prajnanananda set up the Prajnana Mission in Cuttack, Orissa, in 1993. It is dedicated to the spread of Kriya Yoga through education. Its other roles are humanitarian in nature and consist of teaching poor and orphaned children and providing free health and dental clinics to the local community. It provides educational grants to the blind, to handicapped and orphaned students, and toward the construction of a high school library. Paramahamsa Prajanananda also set up the Hand in Hand Project in Vienna and America to support the Prajnana Mission to provide aid for victims of natural calamities. Orissa is frequentlyhit by hurricanes, cyclones and droughts. This selfless service of volunteers and aid from abroad is an example of selfless and spiritual service in action.

Paramahamsa is a title given to disciples by their masters. It means "supreme swan" and refers to one who has attained realisation of his true Self, and of the oneness of that Self with Spirit. The symbol of the swan is used because the swan is the only creature that can separate the milk from the water after it has been mixed. Here the spiritual master can differentiate between the Real and the Unreal, after attaining a state of nirbikalpa samadhi. This is the highest state of meditation where one is in union with Spirit and the body has no pulse or breath, the mind is no longer active in thought but merged in divine communion.

How do you know Kriya Yoga is for you?

You will know very quickly whether Kriya Yoga is for you or not. Remember all rivers lead to the ocean and we all have to find our path that is best for us. There are in fact no wrong paths or paths that are superior or inferior to others.

Paramahamsa Prajnanananda doesn’t just speak to our minds, He speaks to our Souls too. This Soul vibration will let you know. If you are still not sure, simply go within and ask your Higher Self/Real Self/Soul/Higher Consciousness/Spirit/God if this truly Self-Realised Master can guide you in your spiritual quest for Truth. You will get an answer.

Practicing Kriya Yoga doesn’t replace or fill your life with dogma, ritual and rules, it is a technique for acquainting you with your inner divine being. Therefore, it fits very well with all practices that are paths to Truth.

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