Kriya Yoga Mega-Thread

[kerk]

On 2/18/2019 at 2:41 AM, luckieluuke said:

It seems it´s purpose is to make you move the tongue better for future lessons so Im thinking it would be ok. The reason I want to skip it is that it gets me out of the medative state.

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.

Edited February 19, 2019 by kerk

[kerk]

19 hours ago, Hello from Russia said:

How crucial is to do "tongue" exercises and mudras ? It is the thing that repels me very much

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.

[Hello from Russia]

29 minutes ago, kerk said:

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.

Yeah. This Kechari thing is what triggers me. Is it important to be successful at kriya? I like breathing stuff and pranayamas

[pointessa]

Maha Mudra is not simply a body stretch. At least not in the Kriya Yoga realm. It is one of the cornerstones of the practice.  I am not sure where you got this idea.

Edited February 19, 2019 by pointessa

[Hello from Russia]

I have nothing against maha mudra, I was speaking mainly about kechari mudra or "tongue" mudra so to speak

[kerk]

5 hours ago, Hello from Russia said:

Yeah. This Kechari thing is what triggers me. Is it important to be successful at kriya? I like breathing stuff and pranayamas

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.

Edited February 19, 2019 by kerk

[kerk]

3 hours ago, pointessa said:

Maha Mudra is not simply a body stretch. At least not in the Kriya Yoga realm. It is one of the cornerstones of the practice.  I am not sure where you got this idea.

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.

[korbes]

Hey guys, just wanted to drop some inspiration in here.

I visited this Kriya Yoga "Ashram" place earlier in 2018, and found this super inspirational wall..

It was really a profound experience to see this "Ashram"-kinda place, and can only encourage you guys to visit that place one day, if you got time!
It's located in Benares / Varanasi in India, link to their website: https://www.kriyayogalahiri.com (I am not affiliated or anything with their website or "organization")

 

 

 

"Satyalok, Varanasi, August 15th 1995.."

"Without laying the foundation of a righteous life, Kriya becomes an escape and, therefore, has no value whatsoever. A righteous life is not merely the following of social morality it is indeed the freedom from envy, greed and the search for power. Without knowing the activities of the self, Kriya becomes a sensuous excitement and therefore of very little significance. Mind in Kriya is limitless, not only in its capacity to think and to act efficiently, but also in its sense of living in a vast space where one is a part of every thing. In the " Parabastha of Kriya ", a peculiar thing takes place which no drug or self-hypnosis can bring about. The mind enters into itself penetrating even more deeply and then depth & height lose their meaning. Every form of measurement utterly ceases. In this state there is complete peace, not merely contentment which comes about through gratification. Kriya is a movement from innocence to innocence. In the explosion of Kriya, the eyes are made innocent and love is then a benediction. Kriya opens the door to the incalculable, to the measureless. Kriya brings about the religious mind — the deep religion that is untouched by the Church, the temple and the mosque. Kriya is not an escape from the world but rather the comprehension of the world and its ways. Kriya de-conditions and thus frees you from your past Karma."

Edited February 20, 2019 by korbes
Words added

[luckieluuke]

@korbes wow thanks for sharing. Am actually planning a trip to India so will try to check it out!

[korbes]

15 hours ago, luckieluuke said:

@korbes wow thanks for sharing. Am actually planning a trip to India so will try to check it out!

Awesome! When do you plan on going?
They have tons of Vipassana courses in India btw!

[luckieluuke]

@korbes I know, unfortunately Ill only be there for like 3 weeks so Im sticking to the vipassana course here in my country. Im going next winter....Do you have any tips?

[korbes]

3 hours ago, luckieluuke said:

@korbes I know, unfortunately Ill only be there for like 3 weeks so Im sticking to the vipassana course here in my country. Im going next winter....Do you have any tips?

Yeah okay I see, I highly recommend you check out Varanasi, one of the most spiritual places in India  

Also, have tons of patience when you're there, it can be frustrating, and there's soo many people lol, it just surpassed China in population!

You'll definetely get a sensory overload.

Also, if you're on a budget, try to avoid taxis they'll rip you off, stick to train and busses.

When I came home after 2 months there, I was like.. I'm never ever going back to India again, most stressful place I've ever been to, but now I actually miss it - It's very common that people have a love/hate relationship with India

 

Sorry for getting a bit off-topic mods..

Edited February 21, 2019 by korbes
words

[pointessa]

On 2/18/2019 at 11:35 AM, Hello from Russia said:

How crucial is to do "tongue" exercises and mudras ? It is the thing that repels me very much

When I first started doing it, with the idea of placing my tongue in the nasal passage it seems kind of revolting. When I started working towards it, I no longer think about it. If you do something often enough you will get used to it.

It will be a benefit for you to be able to do Kechari, if possible. Don't let personal likes and dislikes get in the way of your progress.

[kerk]

On 2/22/2019 at 2:29 AM, Soulbass said:

how to meditate on a chair ?

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

[andyjohnsonman]

I just did a 50 minute Kriya session and during Navi Kriya I started laughing uncontrollably for about 10 minutes hysterically. What does this mean? Could it be that in my daily life i have been suppressing laughter and not fully expressing myself?  

[now is forever]

10 minutes ago, andyjohnsonman said:

I just did a 50 minute Kriya session and during Navi Kriya I started laughing uncontrollably for about 10 minutes hysterically. What does this mean? Could it be that in my daily life i have been suppressing laughter and not fully expressing myself?  

you could basically have suppressed anything - as laughter is just a spontaneous release for overshooting controversial emotions and thoughts. there is a phenomenon of people bursting out into laughter during funerals, that encloses this phenomenon really good - it doesn’t mean something has to be funny to release with laughter, sometimes situations are so tense or so sad that the body does that. it would be interesting for you to listen inside yourself what it may have been about.

Edited February 23, 2019 by now is forever

[-Rowan]

Hi everyone,

I'm on day 100 of Kriya, having just started to incorporate KP3 from J.C Stevens Book in the routine. I've read a lot on this thread about people having some small experiences (laughing uncontrollably, body twitches etc) and maybe some people having bigger realizations. 

I haven't experienced anything yet  I know, I am only just getting started really, and I'm only on day 100 of 365 (goal is to try it out for a year obviously) but I seem to be having slower progress. I definitely feel a subtle stilling of the mind, but nothing huge. Sometimes people talk about "feeling a surge of energy in the spine" or doing the pranayama up to Bregma as "too powerful", I don't get any of that, and only very occasionally feel a slight "adrenaline" type feeling around my lower back (Svadistana posterior area, but not exactly 'on the chakra'). I also don't see myself making 'more conscious choices', for example, I still have poor impulse control when I see a vending machine and usually fall into the temptation of grabbing a chocolate bar. 

Perhaps I'm doing something wrong? I wouldn't say I'm noticing no benefits or effects whatsoever, but I feel like my progress is slower compared to you guys, however obviously this isn't deterring me at all, and I'm enjoying Kriya as a method so far, but no direct experience yet to suggest "this is powerful" sort of thing. I can't do Kechari Mudra yet, perhaps that's something? I'll be going over an revising the techniques that Stevens outlines but I'm sure I'm following them all very accurately. 

Any thoughts are really appreciated. 

Thanks,

Rowan 

[Cocolove]

@Soulbass I sit in a chair like that except my lower legs are vertical from feet to knees in meditation and kriya. Works for me.

@-Rowan Are you doing any other techniques? Maybe if not you could benefit from something like self inquiry, to synergize with kriya 

I'm a month or two further in than you, and I've just started to get some cool experiences, so maybe it'll just take more time. Now that I think of it I've started to get cool experiences only after Kp3 and doing the Kriya Bow from gamana's book, have you tried that?

[-Rowan]

@Cocolove Thanks for the reply. No, before I started Kriya I was doing 1-hour watch the breath meditation. So now I just do my Kriya session which is one hour or thereabouts. Yeah, I've read people recommending a few techniques from the Gamana book, which I haven't yet checked out. I'll probably just need to keep going with it and I'll look into getting the book and implementing the techniques he says. Thanks! 

[kerk]

8 hours ago, -Rowan said:

Perhaps I'm doing something wrong? I wouldn't say I'm noticing no benefits or effects whatsoever, but I feel like my progress is slower compared to you guys

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.

Edited February 24, 2019 by kerk