Kriya Yoga Mega-Thread

[electroBeam]

@Aimblack Already did, useful insights in there, but doesn't answer any of my questions.

I tried to not half ass yoga by trying really hard to follow all of the steps exactly. I even got out a compass and faced west because that's what Lahari strictly said to do. But honestly following everything to the nth degree seems impractical and even impossible, hence why I asked these questions on here. 

[Aimblack]

@electroBeam I'm not sure whether you are trolling me or not but in case you are not:

1.The book said to face east not west and though I'm sure that this is not that important, I think with many instructions in this kind of work the intentions matter most. It means to try your best to control the things you can, in order to have the maximum experience, and let go of the things you can't control. Now when the book says to face east and you face west instead, how much attention are you really paying? 

2. You don't follow all the steps exactly because you even admitted that instead of a mantra you replace it with a visualization, the point of mantra isn't the content of the mantra itself. You could replace Om for Orange if you wanted to(probably) the important part is to fill your internal talk space up so that you quiet down the monkey mind.  Now you are trying to feel and see things that you weren't instructed to but struggle to feel and visualize the things you actually should. Basically you made up your own exercise at the spot and wonder when you don't get the result.

3.You do 24 repititions of Kriya Pranayama 1 when you are clearly instructed to only do that when you can do the exercise and only after being familiar with it for months.

 

[electroBeam]

@Aimblack

1. I come from the southern hemisphere, so its the opposite for me.

2. Differences of opinion

3. Actually, Nimis is much more reliable than J.C. Stevens, every serious spiritual teacher will tell you that and if you do cntr + f and type in "24 breaths" you will see Nimis instructs you to (of Lahari's words) to start with 24. 12 is absurd, that wont get you anywhere, that's like 1 minute of work. "To start, you will practice 24 breaths. In time you will increase by 12." page 96

I'm not saying this to dispute you or argue, but to show you that your interpretation is not the correct one(mine isn't either), but a different one. I was instructed specifically by a teacher to face west because we are from the southern hemisphere, and my zen teachers I've had in the past had different views of what chanting was. 

I wont bother to continue my questions here, because I can see it will just turn into a debate rather than useful advice, but I'll just put this out here to show that just because someone practices a different branch doesn't mean they aren't following Lahari's teachings.

Edited March 26, 2018 by electroBeam

[Aimblack]

@electroBeam My bad I was under the impression that you were using the same book, my apologies.

[onacloudynight]

10 hours ago, brovakhiin said:

Which book are people using?

I have "Kriya Yoga: Synthesis of a Personal Experience" by Ennio Nimi

I'm using the one on Leo's book list.

[onacloudynight]

7 hours ago, see_on_see said:

Didn't expect it to have effects so early after just 3 days. I asked myself if it's self-suggestion, but it definitely isn't. Right after the session I got up and sat on a chair, I felt lightweight and I started laughing out of nowhere. Same kind of laughter as the very beginning of a trip, where you're like, "why the hell am I laughing?" but it just feels good. At some point while making dinner someone was talking to me and the dogs were barking, and I could barely control my laughter, for no reason at all. Keep in mind that I would usually feel quite annoyed at exactly the same situation.

Yeah I have noticed this too. I was laughing for a good 5 minutes after my session today. Who needs drugs when you can do yoga?

[Pallero]

@see_on_see Wow, good for you!

[Nexeternity]

Do you guys get like "light circles" moving upwards?  I start seeing that with my eyes closed when focusing upwards. 

[FrgttnDeer]

I don't understand 'lesson 4, concentration' in the book. Are you supposed to focus your eyes on the point between the eyebrows and at the same time concentrate on the back of the head? 

[DnoReally]

I just got my book today and wanted to start immediately. How did you guys go on about this?

It feels like the breathing technique (Lesson 2) is really easy and more like a warm up than a practice in and of itself.

Did you just "skip" and integrated further lessond into your routine? If not, what might be an indicator that I have fully "mastered" Nadi Sodhana

[herghly]

3 hours ago, FrgttnDeer said:

I don't understand 'lesson 4, concentration' in the book. Are you supposed to focus your eyes on the point between the eyebrows and at the same time concentrate on the back of the head? 

Yes , imagine you are looking from the back of your head forward at the point between your eyebrows 

 

@DnoReally I don't know about others but I haven't skipped anything.  I've skimmed through most of the book and what I think the author is doing is slowly progressing you to harder techniques.

Start slow , step by step 

Edited March 28, 2018 by herghly

[DnoReally]

@herghly How long then did you stick to the first technique only?

[Aimblack]

@DnoReally Most of the time there is a graduation paragraph which tells you when you can move on otherwise I just do until I feel like I got a grasp on the technique and don't need to think too much about it. Also I reread the lessons every couple of days to make sure that I'm not deviating bit by bit. And if you wanted to you could probably learn a couple of lessons at once because the first page tells you what requirements are needed to start the lesson.

[who chit]

I would suggest cutting back on the 30-40 minute concentration, to around 20 min.  There is such a thing as energetic overload,and having never engaged in energy practices,you're waking up a powerful energy that needs to be respected. I did the same thing when I first began doing Kriya 2 years ago. You get these powerful experiences and it is quite amazing what this energy is capable of. But if it's not respected it will lead to some pretty severe physical and mental symptoms like moderate to severe headaches,nausea,mood fluctuations,insomnia,"head pressure" which is hard to describe,but suffice it to say,it's not something you'll want to have to deal with,rises in body temperature which can feel like an inner sunburn. If you start to experience any of these or other uncommon negative symptoms,cut back on the number of practices,and/or, their duration, until you stabilize again.

I haven't looked at the book,but if you're doing kumbhaka (breath retention) and bandhas(body locks),these are really powerful kundalini stimulators and should be used with care. Pace yourself,don't overdue the practices,and they will benefit your life in wonderful ways.

[Monkey-man]

the only true/natural/transformative yoga is integral yoga of Sri Aurobindo. he's the only yogi who understood true implications of enlightenment and spirituality and jesus christ's mission for humanity. Everything else is for fun.  

Edited March 29, 2018 by Monkey-man

[herghly]

I'd really appreciate if someone with experience can help answer these questions for me. 

 

1) Ujjayi Pranayama i can not do 10-15 second inhales. I think right now im only doing 4-5 second inhales. Over time will this naturally progress ?

Since right now im only able to do 4-5 second inhales should my exhales also be the same ?

 

2) OM JAPA

While doing OM JAPA do you have to keep your eyes point up at Brumadya?

How long do you pause at each chakra, a few seconds? I''m having trouble smoothly repeating OM while moving onto the next Chakras. Every time i move to a new chakra i take a breath and start repeating OM again

Edited March 30, 2018 by herghly

[onacloudynight]

8 hours ago, herghly said:

I'd really appreciate if someone with experience can help answer these questions for me. 

 

1) Ujjayi Pranayama i can not do 10-15 second inhales. I think right now im only doing 4-5 second inhales. Over time will this naturally progress ?

Since right now im only able to do 4-5 second inhales should my exhales also be the same ?

 

2) OM JAPA

While doing OM JAPA do you have to keep your eyes point up at Brumadya?

How long do you pause at each chakra, a few seconds? I''m having trouble smoothly repeating OM while moving onto the next Chakras. Every time i move to a new chakra i take a breath and start repeating OM again

1) As you build more lung capacity you should be able to reach 10-15 seconds. Do as much as you can for now and yes your exhales should be the same length as your inhales.

2) Yes, your eyes should be pointed up at Bhrumadhya during the whole exercise. Pause at each chakra for 2 seconds. You don't have to control your breath during OM JAPA.

Edited March 30, 2018 by onacloudynight

[herghly]

@onacloudynight thanks for the help

[Nexeternity]

@Stefano Provenzi  Hey!  I think when Leo talks about no purpose and no intrinsic meaning he is talking from another perspective where there isnt even an individual, nor even an existence.  Its the perpsective that says there is no good or bad, nothing matters, everything is perfect, be totally free.

But yea from another perspective there are these laws of life, light, evolution, principles, ways of being intelligently, following your inner muse etc. which are talked about alot too.

I think its cause its good to follow your higher calling without any moralization, obligation, reasons and justifications for it... cause all those are egoic tendencies.  So yea... I think thats why you gotta talk about the inherent meaningless of existence.... just gotta watch out for the zen devilry and then go ahead and construct a positive meaning anyway     But not out of obligation.    

[Nexeternity]

Anyone get to lesson 15?  Hearing any sounds in the chakras??