Kriya Yoga Mega-Thread

[pointessa]

On 1/27/2019 at 0:53 PM, Salvijus said:

There are things that you can do without initiation. 

But there are things witch you can never do without transmission. Transmission is a gift from your guru basicly. It's not your meditation anymore. It's only a seed that your guru gives you and you only have to nurture it and care of it. Then seed will sprout and bear fruits. If you're not initiated nothing will sprout because there's no seed. Maybe your lung capasity will increase only. Maybe some new sensations will arise in you. But your life will not change. Your behavior will not change. Your paterns will not change.

Sadhguru says Improvement can be made without any initiation. But if you want to transform yourself then you need initiation. Transformation means nothing of the old remains

For example when I was doing self-enquiry and mindfulness meditation for 3years I got some benefits like my mental clarity was better, I was becoming smarter, I would get insights about stuff. Something was improving but my life was not changing. My relationships were all the same. My anxiety problems were still the same. My depression didn't go away. I still couldn't open up to people. I was afraid of social interactions. My life was exacly how it was except I was more spiritualy educated and with a better mindfulness over my mind. But when I was initiated into shambhavi my life just flipped upside down in a moment.
Even on the very first day I was already a different person. I could see that I'm doing things I never even imagined doing it. Totally crazy things that were totally unlike me. I could dance, I could sing, i could finally express myself with people so effortlessly. These things were impossible for me. 

Such transformation was definitely not my doing.  It was all sadhguru's doing and his grace that made this happen. It's totally beyond my understanding...

Also don't get me wrong. I still see value in doing self-reflection and other things. It's just that there're things that initiation can do to you beyond your personal effors.

 

 

 

I believe having a guru/disciple relationship should allow for personal interchange between the guru and the disciple. The guru would be available to provide personal instruction specifically for the disciple that he/she knows well. If am not able to have that kind of traditional relationship with a guru than he/she is not a guru in the classic sense.

I believe that, sadly, for most of us the days of that kind of relationship are no longer available. The initiation process that once seemed essential is no longer necessary. Initiation is related to honoring the lineage of gurus and not sharing information. There was a time for that and I believe that time is over. Kriya has now been made available to the masses so to speak and I personally, rely on results to know if what I am doing is effective. Just my 2 cents. I am not sure it is a great idea to believe nothing you have accomplished would have occurred without the blessing of a particular person.

 

Edited February 7, 2019 by pointessa

[allislove]

I do 20-minutes of "do nothing" meditation and a few minutes of concentration technique daily. I am thinking about ordering the kriya book which Leo suggested in the "Real Yoga" video. Is it still the preferable way to get started with kriya?

[Salvijus]

@pointessa "Initiation is related to honoring the lineage of gurus and not sharing information."

The way initiations happen in Isha are purely to transmit knowledge. Not an objective knowledge that you see in books but a subjective knowledge that can only happen in a commited atmosphere and energy transmission.

I heard sadhguru once said that if you go through the program and you have 0 clue what he was talking about. If you have no understanding what was happening. After 6months of doing the practice you will understand everything that was offered in that program because they don't just talk and talk. They drill this information like a seed in your energy for life and when you do the practice the seed will sprout and you will realise everything that was said in the program from within. It will just sprout out of you. If the seed is not there. If the initiation did not happen nothing will sprout. 

That's why initiations are so fantastic. Because they drill meditation into you on such a deep levels that it's forever. You can't grasp these subjetive dimensions through books. It has to be transmited there's no other way. If it was possible to just write a book on it then his work would be 100times easier. 

@pointessa  "I am not sure it is a great idea to believe nothing you have accomplished would have occurred without the blessing of a particular person."

It's not a belief it's so overhelmingly real for me like my 5 fingers. It's not blessing it's total transformation. People who go through his advanced programs within 24h they transform so much that even their face will change. It's ONLY because of imense energy that's been invested in them through intense initiations. Some people need to be caried by volunteers because they can't stand anymore. 

Don't confuse initiations with stupid blessings you receive in churches.

Edited February 8, 2019 by Salvijus

[allislove]

It seems nobody wants to answer my silly question.

I try to make more authentic questions:
1) do you still recommend for the newbie to start from JC S's book or Gamana's book is enough? 
2) my ego is a bit afraid to start the practice; I imagine the situation that you may open the channels so fast that may bring huge suffering to life; is it really the case? or someone should practice yoga for years to achieve it?

[Sahil Pandit]

@dimitri start with theory and 1-2 exercises

[andyjohnsonman]

@dimitri Im using JC Stevens book and thats more than enough for a beginner. Its nicely detailed. After a year of JC Stevens I plan to move on to add some advanced techniques from Gamana's book like the Breath of fire.

[Widdle Puppy]

Hi, I would like to read JC Stevens book but I can't get it shipped to me. Does a digital version exist?

Is the other book fine to learn from for a newbie? There is a kindle version for that one. 

[allislove]

@andyjohnsonman, @Sahil Pandit, thank you, guys. 

Edited February 9, 2019 by dimitri

[allislove]

@Widdle Puppy Leo wrote in one book review that all the fundamentals to start a practice is in JC S book, so it looks like we need this book. 

[Widdle Puppy]

1 minute ago, dimitri said:

@Widdle Puppy Leo wrote in one book review that all the fundamentals to start a practice is in JC S book, so it looks like we need this book. 

damn hmmm

dunno how to get it

the other one isn't good enough?

[allislove]

Just now, Widdle Puppy said:

damn hmmm

dunno how to get it

the other one isn't good enough?

 

I don't know exactly. I may be mistaken. It seems it's too little theory in the other one.

[Widdle Puppy]

38 minutes ago, dimitri said:

I don't know exactly. I may be mistaken. It seems it's too little theory in the other one.

hmm yea true but it's better than nothing. I just need the technique and can try to then to fix it when I can get my hands on the big book. the short one seems to be distilled and probably can be good for getting my toes wet. 

[allislove]

14 minutes ago, Widdle Puppy said:

hmm yea true but it's better than nothing. I just need the technique and can try to then to fix it when I can get my hands on the big book. the short one seems to be distilled and probably can be good for getting my toes wet. 

Could somebody validate whether it's a good idea for a newbie to start from Gamana's book? @Leo Gura 

[kerk]

5 hours ago, dimitri said:

Could somebody validate whether it's a good idea for a newbie to start from Gamana's book? @Leo Gura 

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.

[kerk]

7 hours ago, Widdle Puppy said:

Hi, I would like to read JC Stevens book but I can't get it shipped to me. Does a digital version exist?

Is the other book fine to learn from for a newbie? There is a kindle version for that one. 

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).

Edited February 10, 2019 by kerk

[Leo Gura]

Gamana's books are designed for people who are already familiar with the core of Kriya. As a newbie you will be missing a lot of the foundation.

[MM1988]

@Leo Gura But what exactly? I mean as long as you do the techniques correctly what could you be missing?

[allislove]

Thank you guys, ordered. 

[Mart]

Recently i added Kriya Supreme Fire to my practice. I was curious how you guys go about this specific exercise. It's rather difficult for me to hold my breath for 90 seconds whilst holding the locks, especially the second round after just one inhale after holding the breath. 

I know a method that might help with this. Going about the exercise like Wim Hof Breathing. So before inhaling you take 30 fast breaths. Than after doing Kriya Supreme Fire, 30 more fast breaths, and than again. Doing this helps you holding the breath way longer. Now i am aware of the fact that making up your own technique might not be the greatest idea, especially while having little experience, but i really want to take my practice to the next level because i'm not really feeling it. Stuff changes within me but don't know if Kriya is really the cause of all that. Can somebody help me out with some tips/tricks? 

[Cocolove]

@Mart Use kriya bow to build up to being able to do kriya supreme fire, santata gamana's secret power of  kriya yoga has instructions

also I'm no expert but be careful mixing wim hof with kriya, I wouldn't do it.

@MM1988 comprehensive instriuctions, basic theory. You might get some results just doing basic practices. Gamana's books are likely gonna make no sense if you have no basic theory. 

Question time(just started reading gamana today):

Stevens says only to do yoni mudra at night, gamana doesn't specify. Is Stevens full of shit on this one? bc I do kriya a half hour after waking up.

Gamana says to sit cross legged, I can't(bad knees). Is it okay to do it in a chair straight back no backrest good posture.