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Paravastha, sometimes spelled Parabastha, is usually translated as After-Effect-Poise-of-Kriya. Yogiraj (Lahiri Mahasaya) coined this term. Some Kriya literature defines it as an advanced and ultimate state. But in practice I would suggest it is simply the good and tranquil feeling you have after Kriya meditation. Paravastha is not secret. It is not something you do; I have never seen any legitimate reference to "doing" Paravastha. Nor is it something to spend time on instead of other techniques. It is experienced as a result of Kriya practice. Lahiri did say that when it comes on, do not do Kriya - so I would say just sit and enjoy. Here is a story of Paravastha, about Nitai Charan (1894-1979) - disciple of Panchanon Bhattacharya and guru of Maheshwari Prasad Dubey (1936-2004).

Just my opinion and experience. 1. Not necessary to tilt your eyes up all the way. Sooner or later you'll feel your visual attention pulled up regardless of eye position. Do not strain. Raise eyes a little bit, be gentle with them, look with your mind to the center, relax physical eyes. Return visual attention to this place if it drops, but it is more attention than forcing your eyes. Also note what your eyebrows are doing. If eyebrows are raised and not relaxed, you may be working your eyes and face too hard. Relax face, let eyebrows go, continue to point your mind to the upper space in your visual field. This practice (Shambhavi Mudra) should give you some good response sooner or later. 2. The visualizing is really more inner sensing and feeling. Not so much making mental images. The Knutson videos get into this point in detail. Think of sipping up a drink in a straw. 3. Stevens page 53, 92, 124 may be helpful.

Oh various places. Here's a short version. Which lesson do they teach us Magic Kriya Face? I just know I'm gonna need that someday...

There are various strange and funny stories connected with the life of Lahiri Mahasaya and Panchanon Bhattacharya. If I can recall correctly, in one story Lahiri somehow got involved in a formal debate against some famous guru. Famous guru had fanatical followers who thought Lahiri was a nobody and hardly in a position to challenge their awesome master. Every time it was Lahiri's turn to speak, the followers would laugh and shout hysterically. Lahiri asked them to please allow him to make his remarks. Apparently this was ineffective. They continued to heckle him. So Lahiri asked their guru to quiet his followers. The guru asked them to please show courtesy and remain silent. This worked briefly but Lahiri only got a few words out and they started yelling again. At this, Lahiri twisted his face into a comical expression. This same expression now appeared on the faces of all the guru's followers. With their faces frozen in this position they could not make a sound. Lahiri made his statements which were said to be insightful and sagacious. The guru now humbly asked Lahiri if he would be so kind as to un-mojo his guys so they could talk again. Lahiri asked that each be given some water. After they got a few drops of water each was back to normal.

My perspective on this. Most human activities have a goal or purpose. Even just walking with no particular destination, looking at flowers, has a purpose - it feels good. There is nothing wrong with meditating because you expect to be benefited in some way. Where one can get into issues is where you expect this meditation to 'work' or to have some particular experience this time and that time. You can go for long periods without any apparent result. That's part of meditation, in my experience. The physically focused you is not entirely in control of this. You can do the best you can, but all legit Kriya sources have taught to not expect results. Over the long term however, they teach that Kriya helps bring samadhi, peace, and supraphysical experiences like Kutastha and the others. Those are objectives to fulfill one's desire for God, higher consciousness, meeting with greater Self or what you want to call it. They called it Yoga - union or connecting. So those are results. And depending on your life path you might receive a taste of that or a whole box of it, sooner or later. Another reason to not 'expect results' every time is that the results may well appear when you least expect it. I have had dull meditations that afterwards brought me days of happiness for no apparent reason. I have meditated while being connected to monitoring equipment under close examination by scientists, and sitting in an uncomfortable chair. While I thought it was an unremarkable meditation session, they showed me how my vital signs went into quiescence, so low that they wondered why I wasn't in panic or danger. But I was fine. I have faced a number of stressful incidents recently but started to find that 'steel' in the spine that Stevens talks about and that helped me so much in these situations. So I would say meditate because of your commitment, but don't hammer yourself for wanting something out of it. If you are doing the practices correctly -- especially getting your consciousness inside your spine -- you should see a benefit sometime in your life. Give it a good try before coming to conclusions. As Lahiri Mahasaya -- the 'polestar of Kriya' put it, 'Banat banat ban jai' (Doing, doing, one day done!)

It is a bad idea, as explained in this video.

Those of you who are into Kriya practice are asking real good questions. I believe if you are a serious practitioner, you would benefit from competent personal instruction. J.C.'s book is great, so is Nityananda Giri's book. But the detailed technique questions, in my view, should be answered by someone who knows you, initiated you and can guide you personally in Kriya. If you are in U.S. or Mexico and would consider connection with teachers of authentic Kriya lineage, I would be happy to point you in that direction via private message.

He mentions it in the letters exchanged with practitioners. I found it in six letters numbered 76 through 80 plus number 96. These have been republished in various places. They're on YogaNiketan.net, it's called Garland of Letters in the history section. Some of the exchanges may seem strange to those unfamiliar with the history of Lahiri Baba and Kriya. Lahiri discouraged people from worshipping him or thinking he was a sort of all-powerful being, but people did anyway. Even today in India some Kriya circles have elaborate shrines to Lahiri. Photos of these are various places on the web. According to the stories of that era, Lahiri apparently developed considerable psychic / ESP awareness and although he didn't demonstrate it egoically, his students noted it and this may have led to some believing him to be supernatural. In general these were very conservative and mystical people of the time. So the tone of some of the letters is admiring and awestruck. With Panchanon, Lahiri set up a small publishing operation (Aryya Mission Institution) to distribute his printed commentaries and Ayurvedic medicines. This is why the old letters and books sometimes refer to "oil" or other medicines. The Aryya Mission still has a website today.

Well ... yes and no and yes... First to get something straight. Kriya Yoga founder Lahiri Mahasaya was very against ashrams. He made it plain that no organization was to be formed around Kriya Yoga. And he did not want people to become renunciates (monastics -- swamis -- monks / nuns) though if they already were monastic, he welcomed them. This is why some Kriya luminaries are swamis and some are not. Lahiri's principal disciple, Panchanon Bhattacharya, was a swami but dropped that (literally, he threw his robes in the Ganges), started a successful business and got married. He wrote a book about all this. The rule about no ashrams, monks, missions, temples etc. is not followed today by the large Kriya organizations. Lahiri did host group discussions at his home, as did some of his disciples at their homes. But this was not ashram life at all and there were no group meditations. Kriya was always person-to-person and rather private -- even secret. A lot of this changed after he passed on. If you take the printed and online lessons from SRF, they include what you might call Japa in the form of Hong-Sau meditation. It is a powerful practice that basically combines mantra with Shambhavi Mudra (focus interior vision at center). Also included is the Om or Aum technique (sound current meditation) and a special physical movement sequence (not really part of Kriya and not taught by Lahiri). In SRF these are preparatory for initiation into Kriya Pranayama, which is taught in person. You have to do these for several months and write down and discuss your experiences privately with a monastic person. If they decide that everything is cool you are issued a Kriyaban card which gets you into the initiation ceremonies and follow up meetings. The regular practice of KP as taught by Lahiri combines the breathing with Om Japa at the same time. On this he was clear. He said that meditating without Om Japa was tamasic (look that up). The Stevens book kind of separates Om Japa from KP but that may just be the way the book is organized.

Knutson's Khechari Warnings & Tips video addresses some common concerns.

Best instructions for Mahamudra in my opinion. It's just a Kriya breath during the stretch. And in KY chanting is usually mental only. There might be some difference between the version in this video and the version in other lineages, but this version is fairly simple. If by old Indian word you mean "Om" or "Aum", it is an approximation of one of the sounds you can hear in meditation in deep states. It is used quite a bit in Kriya but if you don't like it, perhaps some other practice would be better for you.

Relaxation, release tension, use your mental gaze. Return to that location when you drift off. Over time you will get the rewards. And it's a necessary preparation for Kriya Pranayama. Matthew 6:22.

This is one of the reasons why traditionally, Kriyabans are advised not to compare experiences or report them to anyone but their instructor. Not saying you broke some big rule. But everyone's path and progress can be different. I suggest trusting that when your higher self wants you to have certain results, you'll have them. It's also a reason why personal instruction is best. I'm not a kriyaguru, this is just my opinion. Three months is not very long and one should be devoted to the basic practices and not rush to advanced versions. Although I just said that different practitioners' experiences can be different, there are at least two common experiences that one could use as guideposts. One is paravastha which could be sensed as a deep blissful state within the brain, especially the medulla. Maybe you get this in small doses or a big dose if you are fortunate. This comes from regular old Kriya Pranayama. It is believed to be from reversing the flow of prana so that it goes up the spine into the brain. The other is viewing the kutastha which is the symbol seen in the logo of several of the Kriya groups. Lahiri placed considerable emphasis on it. It is a perfect five-pointed white star on a field of blue or black. It may be surrounded by a gold ring (which may be seen by itself). Stevens accurately describes it. I don't know of anything ordinary in the human brain that would generate this astonishing sight. I tend to believe that it is a sort of welcome sign to the greater worlds. I have heard it described as the symbol of a being who generates the energy that sustains life. So there are various myths and stories. In my opinion this is best evoked by simple concentration practice.

Lots of people do Kriya meditation in a chair. This video is the best I've seen on the subject.

It is easy to do (with Kriya breath) and is a cornerstone of the practice. My point is not to trivialize it but simply to say that it should not be hard to do and it should feel good.

In some Kriya lineages, the Second Kriya or Second Initiation is only taught if the person can do Khechari. I'm not sure if that's true of all of them now. Is it important to be successful at Kriya? Look to your guru's advice on that.

The tongue exercise is just to stretch the bottom of the tongue, to prepare for Khechari which is part of the advanced Kriyas. Some Kriya systems do not teach the tongue exercise, at least not to newbies. The Mahamudra is a simple body stretch, that's all, it should feel good to do.

The tongue exercise Talabya is not done during meditation. So there should be no issue about it taking you out of the meditative state. Talabya is a preparation for Khechari Mudra. But Khechari is not required for First Kriya (which is what most kriyabans will do for years anyway). Lahiri said everything is in the first Kriya. There are good videos on YouTube about how to do it. Just search for Talabya Kriya.

Some Kriya instructions are to hold the hands on the ankle if you can't reach the foot. Other instructions are to bend the knee and grasp the toes. In my opinion bending the knee is much better. Mahamudra is about the spine, not the leg. You can get an excellent spine stretch with the knee bent. J.C. Stevens wrote, "If you cannot reach the toes, simply allow the leg to bend at the knee, just enough so that you can reach the toes." (Lesson 9). Amen to that.

This is simply Ujjayi breathing. It's easy and it becomes automatic when doing any part of Kriya. There are plenty of videos on how to do it, here's a good one. And here's Manoj demonstrating it; his material is Kriya oriented.

There's no Kindle version of the Stevens book as of yet. It's a large book with a huge amount of material and many illustrations. He was supposed to be working on something called Kriya Pocket Book but as far as I know it isn't yet available. You could read Ennio Nimis book which is free on the web in the form of PDFs. But I believe Stevens work is much better. As I said in another comment, it is easy to start with the SRF lessons which are sent by mail (although the Kriya technique is only taught in person). Most of the preparatory practices -- but not Kriya -- are already on YouTube in the Forrest Knutson videos, and he has a very good book called Hacking the Universe (also on Amazon).

If you want a thorough grounding, and to understand Kriya principles deeply, I believe J.C. Stevens book is the best. It's on Amazon where it has more than 100 reviews. Me, I would never recommend Gamana to anyone. I know he has fans. If you have a devotional orientation, you want to feel connection with God, and you want to spend time with other meditators, then I recommend the SRF lessons which are now extensively revised. They teach preliminary meditation practices, and then after 8 months one is eligible for Kriya instruction in person. They have hundreds of centers and groups around the world. If you want personal instruction but not from SRF, there are other sources.

You would be concentrating on the crown if that was what you were instructed (Hariharananda / Prajnanananda / KYIO teach this). More common is that you are focused on Bhrumadhya.

That isn't necessary, because the attention, rather than eye position, is key. At some point during the process you will likely feel a pulling sensation at Bhrumadhya that will gather your attention and you will have successfully disassociated your inner vision from your physical eyes which can rest. Moreover when you start seeing internally, it can mess it up if you are straining your physical eyes. You are not looking through them, let them be.

Imagining the Kutastha is not a basic part of Kriya Pranayama. You are referring to Bhrumadhya Kriya which Stevens explains is a variant, only for three specific occasions (page 96-97 and 99). Yogananda taught a similar technique for the same purpose. I can see how this can be confusing, because on the same pages Stevens is talking about two different practices, basic Kriya ("First Part" or KP1) and Bhrumadhya Kriya. Again, these are not the same thing. There is a ton of material in Stevens, much of it highly advanced and for most Kriyabans is probably more of academic interest than actually doing it. The basic practices in Stevens are the ones to do if one is new to Kriya. Opinion: I don't think there's much value in trying to imagine Kutastha as a regular part of your meditation, nor have I ever seen that given as a basic daily practice. It is real however. Seeing it spontaneously will beat any imagining it.