I am doing research on this particular school of Yoga, and I am curious as to whether anyone here has heard of it or has experiences with it that they can share with me. I will be appreciative of any guidance.
Thanks, Sincerely, PC.
I have had little luck outside of the websites of Kriya Yoga disciples. It is not listed in any of the formal books I have either.
It seems the only book that details the path is by Yogananda. It would be wonderful if I could find info that supported his claims. But oh well. I'll manage.
Thanks for responding though. If I find anything, I will be sure to bring it here and share with everyone.
[QUOTE=purplecrow;74316]I have had little luck outside of the websites of Kriya Yoga disciples. It is not listed in any of the formal books I have either.
It seems the only book that details the path is by Yogananda. It would be wonderful if I could find info that supported his claims. But oh well. I'll manage.
Thanks for responding though. If I find anything, I will be sure to bring it here and share with everyone.
Thank you,
Sincerely, PC.[/QUOTE]
Hi, I have found some kriyabans who are outside the direct discipleship of Yogananda. If you do a google search, it's true the primary lineage of Lahiri Mahasaya and Sri Yutkeswar ended with Yogananda, although I am not talking about people pretending to be gurus and disciples of Yogananda. I am talking about other disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya and Sri Yukteswar, as well as Babaji.
I used to have the impression that the results from Kriya were such a one-in-a-million thing that it was only possible that anyone had samadhi, for example, but I have talked to advanced kriya practitioners. I would like to say more about even though the last post here was a few months ago.
Thank you for the direction Slacker. I had to take an extended break with a heavy load of studies, but I am back to Bnet for a little more than a month for now.
I agree with what you say, as I can not locate other guru's younger/more recent than Yogananda, making it difficult to get a real grasp of its followings. It doesn't help that Yogananda's group Self-Realization Fellowship split into two, forming the Ananda group as a result. It appears that his primary disciple, I think Kriyananda is the correct spelling, is with this latter group now. I think this split is why alot of the magazines that Yogananda started arehard to locate.
Thanks for the input, and if you come across anything else then please do share.
Sincerely, PC.
Sorry for any delay in getting back to this thread, but I have had a busy week thanks to being a featured profile. Someone else was asking me about Yogananda and Self-Realization Fellowship, and I wrote a lengthy email in reply. I might be able to post portions of it here if the person writes back and gives permission.
I used to think that the only "authorized edition" of Kriya Yoga came from Self-Realization Fellowship, for a couple reasons. I figured that since Yogananda said his entire lineage were avatars, that it was the best lineage and that the concept of yoga techniques as requiring some sort of bureaucratic sanction. Also, I was only familiar with what could be found with search engines and SRF. The internet is one place to do research on the authenticity of schools, but probably not the best.
It's funny how things work as if God clearly had a sense of humor, though. I left messages on semi-public forums, elsewhere and anonymously, about my own mental health, patience, and sense of ability to progress as far as I would like to in this lifetime. They were long, despondent messages. After one or two of those, I received an email from someone who lives in relative isolation and assured me there was hope in this lifetime. In the first email, he told me there is much insight to be gained from Samadhi in such a way that I had to ask: "Are you saying you have Samadhi?" I received a reply in the affirmative, and he also thought to add that it was not Yogananda who sent him to me-- an enticing way of putting it-- and we started corresponding and have been doing so for years. I also eventually talked on the phone for a couple hours with this yogi, who has something of an internet presence. When he answered the phone, his voice was a golden and resounding one. My previous experience with yogis had been Ram Dass, also a compelling presence to be near. I am sharing this information apropos of the epigram of Autobiography of a Yogi, "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe" (John 4:48). It is good to look for signs in the physiognomy, the eyes, the voice, the presence, and so on, of a yogi to estimate the authenticity yourself. I think the voice of the yogi I talked to could be explained by the breathless state of his Samadhi.
Anyway, the names that are credible with me include direct disciples of Babaji such as the Babaji's Kriya Yoga organization and Hamsa Yoga (Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath -- I've seen him in person twice and received one transmission), as well as lineages that branched off from paramgurus in the SRF lineage (namely, disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya and Sri Yukteswar). I also know of a very do-it-yourself yogi to whom Sivananda appeals, and after all, his name appears in the "praise for Autobiography of a Yogi" section of that book.
Other than the transmission from Gurunath (without going the next day to a Kriya initiation), I have experimented with Kriya Hatha Yoga. The lecture by Marshall Govindan on the DVD for that from Babaji's Kriya Yoga is very informative and can make for some auspicious goals. Even better, though, just looking at your profiles, it takes more work to get these other schools to send a form letter notifying you of their one-size-fits-all approach to God and Truth.
I have never heard of it. Has anyone heard of Yantra or LLantra? I have tried some of it. Very energy giving. It is very interesting; the effects of different types of yoga on the body-mind-spirit.
I have a dear friend by the name of Abdul K. Bashir who resides in Costa Rica and is a teacher of kirya yoga at the Center of Light and Life Purpose Center. Their website is being developed and right now it is in a different language, but it is http://centeroflightandlifepurpose.com/.
I have written to him to find out what email address I can refer to you for information, that is, if you're interested.
