Kriya Yoga Mega-Thread

[phoenix666]

6 hours ago, onacloudynight said:

@phoenix666

Yeah, I seemed to have had a massive ego backlash from this practice. I really tried pushing past it, but I kept running into massive rage which was causing me to become verbally abusive towards other people, which is why I stopped.

I have been on a 4 day hiatus, but will be resuming tonight. Hopefully without any setbacks!

wow, sounds intense! I wish you a good practice. let us know how it plays out for you.

[Viking]

8 hours ago, onacloudynight said:

@phoenix666

Yeah, I seemed to have had a massive ego backlash from this practice. I really tried pushing past it, but I kept running into massive rage which was causing me to become verbally abusive towards other people, which is why I stopped.

I have been on a 4 day hiatus, but will be resuming tonight. Hopefully without any setbacks!

 

[Iorga Camil]

Just got the book and started getting into it.

How do you guys proceed with the exercises ? I just got to the first one ( alternate nostril breathing ) and I was wondering what am I supposed to do after the exercise ? Meditate ? 

How long till you guys go to the next exercise? Do you meditate after practicing what it is written ? Thanks 

[Viking]

10 minutes ago, Iorga Camil said:

Just got the book and started getting into it.

How do you guys proceed with the exercises ? I just got to the first one ( alternate nostril breathing ) and I was wondering what am I supposed to do after the exercise ? Meditate ? 

How long till you guys go to the next exercise? Do you meditate after practicing what it is written ? Thanks 

in lesson 4 you will be introduced to the "meditation" at the end

[okulele]

I don't know much about yoga. I only heard a little from Sadghuru, about how yoga is supposed to safely and gradually align your whole system to ultimately ease into higher consciousness.

Is that the case with the yoga you guys are practicing? Are there any physical exercises? What is the goal, is is supposed to balance the practitioner emotionally and energetically also or just get you real high real quick?

[Viking]

15 minutes ago, okulele said:

I don't know much about yoga. I only heard a little from Sadghuru, about how yoga is supposed to safely and gradually align your whole system to ultimately ease into higher consciousness.

Is that the case with the yoga you guys are practicing? Are there any physical exercises? What is the goal, is is supposed to balance the practitioner emotionally and energetically also or just get you real high real quick?

kriya specifically as far as was mentioned in the book is meant to bring you to a state of samadhi, utter concentration and unity. the side effects are fulfillment, calm mind, delusional beliefs dissolve, religious experiences (getting high lol) and a bunch of more stuff

[okulele]

13 hours ago, Viking said:

kriya specifically as far as was mentioned in the book is meant to bring you to a state of samadhi, utter concentration and unity. the side effects are fulfillment, calm mind, delusional beliefs dissolve, religious experiences (getting high lol) and a bunch of more stuff

Thank you for your answer. Is the book you are using supposed to be read all at once or is it a gradual read as you progress?

[Viking]

2 hours ago, okulele said:

Thank you for your answer. Is the book you are using supposed to be read all at once or is it a gradual read as you progress?

gradual

[Guest]

On 4/24/2018 at 5:53 AM, phoenix666 said:

do you guys focus on medulla or bindu visarga during the first pranayama?

also I'm also a little confused.. I'm supposed to focus on medulla/bindu visarga, look at Brumadhya, use Ujjayi Pranayama, visualize energy through my spine and chakras and counting. how the hell am I supposed to do all of that? it's very difficult for me. my focus feels diverted, all over the place. turns out I'm extremely bad at multitasking (although I'm a girl) is it just me or is it normal to struggle a lot with that at the beginning? 

The book doesn't instruct you to do all these things simultaneously. You precede the exercise with Nadhi Sodhana Pranayama/ Ujjayi Pranayama (which you would be doing anyway if you are following the book properly). Then I believe the text is saying focus on Brumadya as another preliminary exercise, although after several weeks skip this step (the wording is a little ambiguous here, but I'm pretty sure I'm right). After these steps you move onto the the chakra visualisation/ om chanting, which includes focusing on medulla at the end of the sequence, as you would the first 5 chakras (i.e you shouldn't be concentrating on this point all the way through). In other words, there is only ever one point of focus. Hope this is helpful.

[Viking]

is it normal to run out of breath extremely often? when i do the pranayama im out of breath on the first two breaths and i have to take a few breaths to not suffocate and then continue. I do around 10 seconds and inbreath and outbreath, and then to 8 and 6 if i have to, but i still run out of breath. any suggestions?

[ULFBERHT]

Just got the book and have read up to lesson 3, although I haven't begun the practice.

I'm trying to keep an open mind, but damn, a lot of the techniques described seem outlandish and silly.  In lesson 2, the author suggests you do that weird thing with your hands. Why? Why can't I just plug my nose with one finger and then plug my nose with the same finger? Extending your thumb, ring, and pinky finger feels awkward.

And lesson 3 really got a reaction out of me. Firstly, the abdomen is not supposed to move inward while your inhaling.  When you breathe into your diaphragm, it's filling with air and expanding. Pulling my abdomen in while I'm breathing in doesn't feel natural at all. And secondly, the whole tongue stretching thing? To what end is that prescribed? What does the length of your tongue have to do with anything?

I'm going to do them anyway. I paid nearly forty bucks for the book. I'm just having a hard time suspending my disbelief.

[moon777light]

i have just got the kriya book and im a bit confused for the first lesson. It says to simply meditate for 20 minutes. What kind of meditation? Mindful? Think nothing? Does it matter

[Viking]

2 hours ago, ULFBERHT said:

Just got the book and have read up to lesson 3, although I haven't begun the practice.

I'm trying to keep an open mind, but damn, a lot of the techniques described seem outlandish and silly.  In lesson 2, the author suggests you do that weird thing with your hands. Why? Why can't I just plug my nose with one finger and then plug my nose with the same finger? Extending your thumb, ring, and pinky finger feels awkward.

And lesson 3 really got a reaction out of me. Firstly, the abdomen is not supposed to move inward while your inhaling.  When you breathe into your diaphragm, it's filling with air and expanding. Pulling my abdomen in while I'm breathing in doesn't feel natural at all. And secondly, the whole tongue stretching thing? To what end is that prescribed? What does the length of your tongue have to do with anything?

I'm going to do them anyway. I paid nearly forty bucks for the book. I'm just having a hard time suspending my disbelief.

I recommend you watch https://www.actualized.org/insights/dont-half-ass-yoga 

[moon777light]

Also, Rule #5 in being successful in Kriya according to Lahiri is to "Replace unnecessary practices with Kriya". Leo in his "dont half ass yoga" video and yoga video on youtube mentioned to keep continuing the consciousness work, like labeling/do-nothing and keep doing self-actualization.  But in the intro, JC Steven says that the reason why all the people he knew at the organization he was initiated into had troubles with their meditation/consciousness practice because they didn't follow these rules that Lahiri mentions ( the 7 mentioned in the intro). Now the examples JC Steven uses as unnecessary practices are chanting and visiting shrines, which are devotional practices. Do other types of meditation fall into this category? i ask because i am practicing labeling (mindfulness) daily and shamanic/holotropic breathing weekly, and i truly love doing them as i find them quite healing. I'm scared that i'll have to give them up if i want this yoga to work.

Also: Where do y'all get your japa malas? The websites i look at either charge 100$ for them or they look sketchy and i heard there are mannny fakes online (when it comes to rudraksha or woods)

Edited May 5, 2018 by moon777light

[ULFBERHT]

Thanks @Viking. Like I said, I intend to do the practice as described. Just felt some resistance bubbling up.

[Viking]

1 hour ago, moon777light said:

Also: Where do y'all get your japa malas? The websites i look at either charge 100$ for them or they look sketchy and i heard there are mannny fakes online (when it comes to rudraksha or woods)

I use the parts of my fingers to count, exactly 12 of them.

1 hour ago, moon777light said:

Also, Rule #5 in being successful in Kriya according to Lahiri is to "Replace unnecessary practices with Kriya". Leo in his "dont half ass yoga" video and yoga video on youtube mentioned to keep continuing the consciousness work, like labeling/do-nothing and keep doing self-actualization.  But in the intro, JC Steven says that the reason why all the people he knew at the organization he was initiated into had troubles with their meditation/consciousness practice because they didn't follow these rules that Lahiri mentions ( the 7 mentioned in the intro). Now the examples JC Steven uses as unnecessary practices are chanting and visiting shrines, which are devotional practices. Do other types of meditation fall into this category? i ask because i am practicing labeling (mindfulness) daily and shamanic/holotropic breathing weekly, and i truly love doing them as i find them quite healing. I'm scared that i'll have to give them up if i want this yoga to work.

it wasnt mentioned in the book that you cant do other practices, it was said that its unnecessary, which I actually disagree with, I think a rule more important than all other rules is to listen to your inner guide, if your inner guide tells you to meditate, do it, on a logical level i dont see how meditation can interfere with the yoga. I personally meditate after the yoga.

[moon777light]

31 minutes ago, Viking said:

I use the parts of my fingers to count, exactly 12 of them.

it wasnt mentioned in the book that you cant do other practices, it was said that its unnecessary, which I actually disagree with, I think a rule more important than all other rules is to listen to your inner guide, if your inner guide tells you to meditate, do it, on a logical level i dont see how meditation can interfere with the yoga. I personally meditate after the yoga.

thank you

 

[phoenix666]

@moon777light I'm not giving up other practices either. doing formal meditation sits is something that has changed my life so much for the better. it would feel wrong to give it up, so I don't.  I don't see where mindfulness/labeling/breath awareness meditation could interfere with Kriya. I've actually noticed those practices getting deeper with Kriya! 

[Guest]

I have a question regarding lesson 7 om japa, I wonder if anyone can help...

In lesson 6 the author describes ksetrams as 'points upon which to concentrate in order to bring awareness to the chakra closest to it', and says you can concentrate on either anterior or posterior depending on what quality of the chakra you want to perceive. However, he doesn't mention ksetrams in lesson 7. Should I be concentrating on a ksetram or point between them (the chakra itself)?

[Viking]

11 minutes ago, Stretch said:

I have a question regarding lesson 7 om japa, I wonder if anyone can help...

In lesson 6 the author describes ksetrams as 'points upon which to concentrate in order to bring awareness to the chakra closest to it', and says you can concentrate on either anterior or posterior depending on what quality of the chakra you want to perceive. However, he doesn't mention ksetrams in lesson 7. Should I be concentrating on a ksetram or point between them (the chakra itself)?

yeah I noticed that too.

what I do is just feel into the chakra without thinking about ksetrams and such, i just scan the area until i feel something