To be a true kriya yogi you don’t necessarily need to read Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda or any other book as such. You need to practice gently seven kriya steps. According to Shiva Samhita reading useless books on yoga is the first hindrance of Kriya Yoga. The second hindrance of course will be looking for a Guru or Kriya teacher. All Kriya teachers are not good. Of course there are exceptions. You can judge that yourself on time, as you progress. There are plenty of books in the market, but spending too much time on books are not at all fruitful. Most of them will confuse you.
The best is, practice the steps slowly at a comfortable pace at your own.
Our body (Microcosm) is said to be a small sample of the universe (macrocosm). The whole body of a big tree is hidden in a tiny seed. In a small sperm lies the cast of the entire human body.
There are seven lighted jewels in our body.There are Seven steps in Kriya Yoga.
Step #1 : Know your Seven Energy Bodies
Step #2: Know Seven Bija Kriya Mantras for seven energy vortex
Step #3: Know Seven Astral Planes of existence
Step #4: Know Seven master Postures of Yoga
Step #5: Know Seven Yoga Foods to activate centers
Step #6: Know Seven Breathe and Mind fluctuation energy
Step #7: Know Seven Spiritual Grace centres in brain
Out which the sixth steps which is known as Kriya Pranayama is most vital is explained here.
Kriya Yoga practice is the pursuit of returning to the inner source. It involves systematically refining our internal energies physical, mental and spiritual. And provides us a means to better understand ourselves, the universe we live in, and our purpose in life. All energy is conserved – no energy gets lost. Only we need to transform the lower energy to higher energy. My spiritual masters taught me number of ways to transform lower energy to higher energy forms.
The harmony, interaction and connection of Heart and Kidney are crucial in Kriya Yoga.
Within Kriya Yoga there are structured guidelines and practice methods regarding the attainment of unity with nature. These guidelines and practice methods are divided into external energy yoga and internal kriya Yoga.
During the practice, you need to calm your mind and descend your Heart Fire to warm your navel. Which then changes into physical energy and travels through the small-energy loop at your back. When Yang Qi has accumulated in your Lower chakra, move the energy to the Middle chakra. Then place the spiritual energy middle chakra for cultivation. When you are comfortable gradually move the energy to the upper energy loops.
Kriya Yoga and Vipassana have the same purpose: adjust and balance the energy circuits.
I learnt the great art of visual khechari mudra from the Himalayan yogi Sri Amit Ray ji of Uttarkashi. According to him it is not necessary to cut your tongue to practice khechari mudra. Khechari mudra releases the subtle astral knot of the tongue. It is also vital to bear in mind that techniques alone can never give you enlightenment or liberation. However, khechari mudra is a significant exercise to wash away the past karmas, the impressions and the samaskars. It is also known as kechari mudra. It is part of kriya yoga.
Sri Amit Ray ji strongly advised that “For getting success in khechari mudra, it is not required to cut the frenulum (the soft membrane under the tongue). To get success you need to use your imaginative power that will connect the negative energy of the tongue with the positive energy of the third eye. That connection gives eternal bliss” According to him khechari mudra is a combination of mental and physical exercise. Role of physical tongue exercise is very little. During the process, you just need to fold the tongue to touch the upper palate and keep the tongue in a very comfortable and relax position.
Khechari Mudra Technique:
Mostly it is a mental visualization process. First concentrate on the tip of the tongue and then concentrate on the tip of the uvula, the little tongue. Gradually build the awareness around the little tongue. According to him building a visual micro loop around the third-eye, throat, tip of the tongue and the uvula is the secret of khechari mudra. It is much more than the physical tongue exercise techniques. Devotion, love, awareness and purity is the key to khechari mudra.
Paramhansa Yogananda in his book “little tongue” published in 1926 mentioned about khechari Mudra. He explained the role of khechari Mudra to achieve the deep spiritual states of consciousness.
In the ancient text Siva samhita it is mentioned “Pointing the tongue upwards, when the yogi can drink the nectar flowing from the two eye-brows, within a month he certainly would conquer death” [2.72] Of course it is not talking about the physical death.
I love winter exercise. Combination of kriya yoga, pranayama and free hand exercise are having wonderful effect on body mind and soul. Chair yoga is very good for relaxation. I tried that and it works. When I don’t have time in the morning I do evening exercise. Morning walking with yoga is good for relaxation. You may try innovative yoga postures for your relaxation. Good food and good sleep are must for yoga life. You may read Kriya yoga for stress relief to know more on this issue.
The concepts and methods of harmonizing body, mind, and spirit introduced centuries ago by Patanjali have been adopted by scientists, religious and spiritual leaders, and experts in the field of physical and mental health, as well as by the public at large. The concept of observing the breath and the tingling sensations of the body have been adopted by Gautam Buddha. Kriya yoga and vipassana are the two wings of a spiritual journey. If one is weak you cannot fly comfortably. God realization and stillness of mind both are important.
Buddha said “It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell. “ Vipassana is the art of conquering yourself.
Essence of Vipassana
Paramahansa Yoganandanin the writer of the spiritual classic,“Autobiography of a Yogi”, said “Meditation is the science of God‑realization. It is the most practical science in the world. Most people would want to meditate if they understood its value and experienced its beneficial effects. The ultimate object of meditation is to attain conscious awareness of God, and the soul’s eternal oneness with Him. “
In the teachings of the Zen masters we observed “What we call the body and mind in the Buddha Way is grass, trees and wall rubble; it is wind, rain, water and fire.”
Himalayan spiritual master Amit Ray of Uttarkashi in his book, “Yoga and Vipassana: An Integrated Life Style” said“There are three aspects in yoga, the first one is keeping the body and mind in harmony and healthy. The second one is stilling the mind and the third one is realising the inner sprit. Yoga deals with the first aspect of life. Vipassan is more about the stilling the mind and for the third one you need your own inner grace.”
Ramana Maharshi the master of yoga through self-inquiry mentioned that “self-inquiry is certainly not an empty formula and it is more than the repetition of any mantra. If the inquiry `Who am I?’ were a mere mental Questioning, it would not be of much value. The very purpose of self-inquiry is to focus the entire mind at its source. It is not, therefore, a case of one `I’ searching for another `I’. Much less is self-inquiry an empty formula, for it involves an intense activity of the entire mind to keep it steadily poised in pure Self-awareness.” Self inquiry is the art of knowing yourself.
Sri Aurobindo tried to amalgamate the older religions and said “Eevolution is the method by which it liberates itself; consciousness appears in what seems to be inconscient, and once having appeared is self-impelled to grow higher and higher and at the same time to enlarge and develop towards a greater and greater perfection. Life is the first step of this release of consciousness; mind is the second; but the evolution does not finish with mind, it awaits a release into something greater, a consciousness which is spiritual and supramental. The next step of the evolution must be towards the development of Super-mind and Spirit as the dominant power in the conscious being. For only then will the involved Divinity in things release itself entirely and it become possible for life to manifest perfection.”
Great yogi Ramakrishna Paramhansa taught ceaselessly for fifteen years the basic truths of all religion through parables, metaphors, songs and by his own life. He said “There are pearls in the deep sea, but you must hazard all perils to get them. If you fail to get at them by a single dive, do not conclude that the sea is without them. Dive again and again, and you are sure to be rewarded in the end. So also in the quest for the Lord, if your first attempt to see Him proves fruitless, do not lose heart. Persevere in the attempt, and you are sure to realize Him at last.”
Combination of kriya yoga, pranayama and free hand exercise are having wonderful effect on body mind and soul. In kriya yoga the kriyas should be practised in a very gradual and controlled manner. Kriya injects adrenaline hormone into your system, which gives boost to your moods. However too much practice of kriya, may put you into an agitated state and increase your stress. According to my yoga teacher, Sri Amit Ray, “Vipassana and kriya yoga should be practised together in a graceful manner. Vipassan will help you to observe the state of your mind and body. Kriya yoga will help you to eliminate your past karma blockages. Graceful Kriya Yoga with love is the way to enlightenment.” Your love towards family, friends and God is the way the reduces stress in life.
Graceful Kriya Yoga improves your heart rate and reduces your blood pressure. It boosts your immune system and reduces the muscle tensions. It will put you directly into a mental state of bliss. It helps you to develop better digestion and elimination process. According to great Kriya Yogi, Lahari mahasaya it is no the number of kriyas per day, which matters, but the quality of the kriya is important.
According to Sri Ramakrishna the life of a yogi should always be in fun and cheerfulness. In this regard, one of his students mentioned “In the Western world the idea of a religious man is that he never smiles, that a dark cloud must always hang over his face, which, again, must be long-drawn with the jaws almost collapsed. People with emaciated bodies and long faces are fit subjects for the physician, they-are not Yogis. It is the cheerful mind that is persevering”
So combination of fun, cheerfulness, pranayama, free hand exercises, a little bit of vipassana, Graceful Kriya Yoga makes the life happy and joyful and reduces stresses in life.
If you prefer the outdoor yoga, dress correspondingly and get out for a walking yoga. Walking through the snow might be a brilliant way of getting the heart rate up in the cold winter months. You can have an even better time if you join with your yoga pet for the walk.
If you do not like the traditional way of yoga, then you may pick up the snow shovel and go for shovel yoga. This is an excellent technique of physical activity. You will have a great time together with your children and family by practicing this shovel yoga.
Remaining active in winter is must. According to the Himalayan yoga master Sri Amit Ray “Activity, spirit and fun is the essence of yoga.” Get as much as you can to allow your body to produce as much seratonin as possible. Expose yourself to plenty of sunlight. Get plenty of sleep. Go to bed early and rise when the sun does.
If you are doing indoor yoga, turn the room temperature up to at least 100 degrees. During exercise the heat allows your body to be more fluid and flexible. You may sweat a lot depending on the humidity levels of your room, but heat is the key. If you are doing Vipassana yoga keep your awareness on the sensation of heat and cold. Just observe the feelings.
Lahiri Mahasaya was Yogananda’s guru’s guru explained the beauty of kriya yoga during winter. Great yoga teacher Sri Ramana Maharshi explained winter as the best time for concentration. Yoga Guru Sri Ramakrishna said “Repeat God’s name and sing His glories, and keep holy company; and now and then visit God’s devotees and holy men. “. Winter is the best time for that.
Arthritis is a degenerative condition causing wear of the articulating surfaces, resulting in pain at rest, pain with movements, restriction of movements and in severe cases, deformity.
The word “arthritis” means “joint inflammation” — the Greek “arthron” means “joint”, and the Latin “itis” means “inflammation. Arthritis is a term that covers many different medical conditions that affect the joints, and is the main cause of disability in older people.
With arthritis, something goes wrong with the joint, depending on the kind of arthritis — it could be that the cartilage is wearing away, a lack of synovial fluid, or it may be an autoimmune disorder, or a combination of factors. Joint injuries may also eventually lead to arthritis.
Osteo Arthritis
Types of Arthritis:
The most common forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
The most common type is osteoarthritis, which is wear and tear associated with ageing. It can be accelerated, or aggravated, or even caused by trauma, excess body weight, obesity, mal–alignment of the joints or congenital joint deformities (dysplasia).
The other common type of arthritis is called rheumatoid arthritis. In this disease, the immune system of the body reacts against the joints and musculoskeletal tissues. This causes inflammation of joints, and leads to wear and tear.
The other types of inflammatory arthritis are: aukylosing spondylarthropathy, Lyme disease, gouty arthritis, arthritis associated with connective tissue disease, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, etc.
Walking Yoga to Remove Arthritis
Now people are discovering that immobility is terrible for someone with arthritis. With sedentary people, even more degeneration and pain of the joints arises. To keep joints and muscles healthy and strong, they must be used. When they’re not used, they become weaker and more unbalanced with more likely-hood of injury and more pain and debilitation.
Regular gentle movement and walking helps to maintain mobility and it reduces pain, as well as promoting the health of other systems of the body. With regular walking yoga exercise there’s increased blood circulation which helps to reduce swelling and pain, and it improves the functioning of the immune system.
Walking Yoga to Remove Arthritis
Yoga Postures and Yoga Exercises to Remove Arthritis:
Regular yoga exercises help to keep the body stronger and more supple; increasing range of motion in the joints, while keeping the surrounding muscles strong and supportive. Some common yoga postures are as follows:
Neck Exercises:
Many people hold tension in their necks and shoulders, leading to stiffness, bad posture, and tension headaches. Yoga practice can ease tension, increase flexibility, and tone the muscles. The steps for neck exercises are as follows:
Bend your head forward, chin on chest, then back to original position.
Bend to the right, then back to the original position.
Bend backward, then back to the original position.
Bend to the left, then back to the original position.
Bend forward, chin on chest, move from right to the left, then move from left to right.
Standing Side Stretch Yoga Pose:
The Standing Side Stretch Yoga Pose may give you the look of a tree swayed by wind, though this pose offers more benefits than just a stretch on your branches. This side stretch will increase the flexibility of your spine, arms, and rib cage as it stimulates the liver, kidney, and spleen functions. Furthermore, the Yoga Pose will also help realign your spinal column and will aid the lungs to take in more oxygen. This is a simple Yoga Posture with a wonderful stretch in which one line of energy reaches upward from your belly and outward through the arm, and one line travels downward through the legs
Single leg raises Yoga Pose:
This Yoga Pose is performed in order to prepare the body for other exercises. It benefits the legs, lower back muscles, and abdominal area. In practicing the Single Leg Raise, one leg is raised while the other one stays on the floor.
Shoulder Stretches:
These are great in relieving stress and tension on your shoulders, as well as your entire upper back. Practice them daily for several weeks and notice the changes. Learn some basic stretches for the shoulders in this section.
Wrist bending:
Your wrists can also be affected by arthritis, specifically Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid Arthritis. Take good care of your wrists through stretching and bending. Learn how to improve the range of motion of your wrists by doing the Wrist Bending Exercise.
Ankle bending:
Repeated strain or sprain in the ankles can contribute to the occurrence of Ankle Arthritis. Manage stress and keep your ankles in good condition through therapy, having enough rest, and by doing the Ankle Bending Exercise.
Scientists from Johns Hopkins University found that Yoga is helpful for rheumatoid arthritis. They found that those who participated in eight weeks of yoga classes had significantly fewer tender and swollen joints than they did before starting class.
Physical activity is deeply valuable for bone health. Sure, walking is the greatest of all for the prevention bone density. But it won’t do much for wrist or spinal fractures, so we need free hand Yoga exercises to keep our upper body bones strong. Above all don’t smoke, get lots of exercise, eat lots of beans & green leafy vegetables, and cut out the fat to live a long life on this planet. Eat plant-based food, now, if you wait until your baseline nitric oxide supply gets too low, it may be too late. Use whole grains over refined grains and apples over apple juice. Take broccoli, arugula chard, other greens, beans, calcium-enriched non-dairy milk, tofu, dried fruits, kiwi, and soy yogurt. Amla, Aloe Vera and Green tea’s detoxifying properties helped to stay young with long life.
Chinese symbol of long life:
symbol of long life
You need about 500-700 mg of calcium per day. Don’t drink the milk much but walk for a mile every day. Do yoga exercise for at least 30 minutes per day. The social contact appears to be as important as the calories burned and the joints lubricated. According to my spirituals master Amit Ray “Most heartening is to increase the span of life either you should be like a child or you should be in contact with the children. “
Calcium supplement is not the answer. “We calculate that for every 1,000 people treated with calcium for 5 years, it will lead to four additional myocardial infarctions, four additional strokes, and two additional deaths, while preventing three fractures,” Dr. Ian R. Reid said. Click here for the press release.
Some simple tips for long life are as follows:
Always see the positive side of the life
Always stay with cheerful friends
Be ALIVE while you are living.
Often laugh long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
About 2500 years back, Lord Buddha re-established the Vipassana meditation techniques. Vipassana meditation helps effective utilization of mental energy and life force. It brings calmness, happiness and harmony in life. The life energy is not wasted or escaped in the continuous waves of thoughts. True Vipassana meditation provides enough energy to tackle all the problems of our everyday life. In the book Yoga and Vipassana: An Integrated Lifestyle, the Himalayan meditation master Sri Amit Ray of Uttarkashi, explained “Vipassana meditation is an ongoing creative purification process. Observation of the moment-to-moment experience cleanses the mental layers, one after another. Vipassana is searching deeply within, the deeper realities of all experiences. …. Vipassana arises as you pay awareness to the inner and outer experience unfolding at the present moment. Vipassana is not associated with any rigid formula or methods. Whenever you are aware of your mental or physical feelings like tension in the muscles, movement of limbs, stiffness, heat or cold, you have begun to develop special understanding of realities.”
Benefits of Vipassana meditation:
The rewards of meditation of Vipassana are many. It develops patience and liberates from all secondary and the dependences. The achievements of Vipassana can be felt to even the very first meeting. In the Pali language Vipassana means looking from the other side of the river. In Vipassana, you have to think beyond ten-day Vipassana retreat. Objective of Vipassan is to go beyond suffering, beyond the cycle of birth and death.
When you are aware of tension, movement, tautness, heat or cold, you have begun to develop special close understanding. Vipassana meditation strengthens digestion and keeps us free from toxins that clog the body’s channels and prevent the flow of vital energy in the body.
Hindrances in Vipassana Meditations:
There are five hindrances. First is sensual desire, it is the greatest hindrance to Vipassana, practice. Aversion or anger is the second hindrance. Sloth and torpor is the third hindrance. restlessness and worry is the forth hindrance. Skeptical doubt and criticism is the fifth and the last hindrance.
Rapture in Vipassana Meditations:
Mystical bliss, joy and rapture is part of integrated yoga and vipassana. When the mind is concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, free from defects, pliant, malleable and steadies this positive joy arises.
Vipassana Beyond Suffering:
If you practice Vipassana from a true master, you will never feel pain during the practice and after the practice. You will be always filled with joy and exhilaration. Your body will always feel cool, calm, and comfortable. You will always feel great love in the heart region. You will be at extreme mental balance and finally mind itself will come to a complete stop.
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