WHAT IS KRIYA YOG?
By Paramahansa Atmanandaji
The Scientific Way of Simultaneous Benefits to Body, Mind, Intellect & Soul
Kriya Yog is the scientific way of simultaneous benefit to body, mind, intellect and Soul. I will now discuss briefly the meaning of Kriya Yog and then I will explain the use of term simultaneous. The two important aspects of Kriya Yog are the following: Perform all your actions, lovingly and mentally offer those actions to your Inner Self or the Soul. The other aspects are the Kriya Yog techniques. These are a combination of Physical Yog, Mental Yog and Spiritual Yog. It includes Mudras, Pranayam and Meditation.It is not a very farfetched idea that you can perceive the power of God working through this limited form of the body. Each religion teaches us how to find God, wealth, and peace. Whereas Kriya Yog can show you how to get calm mind, healthy & strong body, sharp & penetrating intellect, excellent memory, prompt understanding and ready wit, along with, God realization.
Now, I will explain what simultaneous means in detail. Realization of one’s own Soul or Self, as mentioned in some of the ancient scriptures is a time-consuming process. Human longevity as mentioned in the scriptures, in the Indian yogic scriptures, the Upanishads, Vedas etc. ranges from 100 to 120 years of life. That has been curtailed due to various abuses we impose upon ourselves in day to day life, diseases, irregular habits of food, lack of exercise, and so many other minor transgression. In this one hundred years let us say it is cut down to 70 or 80 years In our daily life we see that six to eight hours goes in sleep, eight hours goes in our job, the reminder goes mostly to our enjoyments, recreation and relaxation. Then very often people become sick, go to hospitals and spend time and money there. So, where is the time for us in this life to realize the Self? So, we have to be particular in our judgments that we follow those techniques which will give us Self realization in this life without jeopardizing our own day to day life style. We cannot afford to retire to an ascetic hermitage or to Ashram. We have to live in this very life among our family, friends and relatives and among our colleagues. At the same time, we should enjoy perfect health, good health, vigorous health, and then a calm mind an unruffled mind. Next should come the power of judgment, no confusion in making decisions what is right and what is wrong. We must be able to tell quickly and then follow the right path. At the same time, in every action of ours, in every thought of ours, in every word of ours, we must realize that the all Pervading, Almighty Divine is activating us. These are, in short, some aspects of Kriya Yog.
Importance of the Body
Why do I mention the body? The soul transcends the body that’s okay, but the scriptures say “Sariram Adyam”. First, you keep your body healthy and strong. Through the body vehicle we perform all actions, including spiritual action, Yoga practice, and to improve our condition in this world. About the body the Yoga scriptures say we have got three types of bodies physical, astral and causal. They also say there are two types of bodies. One is a physical body, a nonliving body; you can call it a robot, the other physical body, this is our gross body. It is doing work that is the “Kri” body. The other is a living body, the divine body, which is the master of this robot, body that is called “Ya”. At the level of the eyebrows and above is the living body, the divine body, the all controlling body. Controlling means that it controls the entire universe. Each human body is a little universe microcosm. Then below this line at the level of eyebrows and from the neck down to the arms, chest, abdomen, thighs, legs and feet is the non-living body. You can call it a robot activated by the brain. It is the, human brain which is all powerful, which is living. Every point of this body is represented in the human brain. One spot of infarction caused by thrombosis or a little hemorrhage can cause paralysis or a little hemorrhage can cause paralysis in half of the body. A little section of the spinal cord in the neck or the back can cause paralysis in half of the body. A little section of the spinal cord in the neck or the back can cause paralysis of the whole body and you cannot move. We are sitting here, counter-balancing the force of gravity. It is not pulling us down. At the same time, we are sitting on the surface of the earth. We are keeping a balance, not leaning to one side or another. Hundreds of ideas are coming and going, and we are reacting to the environment, internal and external. We are making critical judgment. Then we’ll decide whether to take a particular spiritual practice or not.
Why Should We Do Spiritual Practice?
Why are animals not practicing spiritualism? Four things are common to human beings and animals; “Ahara” means food, “Nidra” means sleep, “Bhaya” means fear and “Maithuna” means sexual enjoyment or sexual activity. These four things are common to human being and animals. So, why are human beings crazy for God realization? Why are they doing so many explorations? Why are they so eager for going into deep space and exploring planets etc? Why do they want to meditate at all? Is it necessary? Why do they philosophize? Why do they think about the higher things of life? Why do they speculate that in this human form there is a formless power? This is determined by the front portion of the brain. The front portion of the brain is known as frontal lobe and a little area in this frontal lobe is the area where these centers for such thinking are located. Surgeons can cut it off; the person will not be the worse for it. He can eat, he can drink, he will enjoy, but he cannot philosophize. He cannot do abstract thinking. He cannot have the power of understanding, no intellect at all. So this is the area we have to cultivate.
As I have already explained, the entire human system is represented in the Brain. Even though the eyes may be healthy, if a small area is damaged in the rear portion of the brain, you’ll be blind. Eyes are the external organs of sight, but the real experience of sight is inside in the internal organ of the brain. Now, if that’s all, then what is the question of Soul? And what about the mind that is in between? The brain processes all information from the outside that it receives and presents it to the mind. The mind presents it to the Soul. The Soul determines and gives order. As you know, there is a hypothetical line at the midpoint between the eyebrows, four inches deep within. At the same time, there is another line from the top of the head, four inches deep; down to the mid-point between the two ears. That, according to yogic experts, is the seat of the Soul from where the Soul acts. The Soul gets this information and refers again to the mind; thus action is executed. The entire body reacts upon being directed by the Soul through the mind and brain.
Health and Disease & Kriya Yog
How does Kriya Yog produce fine health? Kriya Yog gradually prepares your field, your body, to perceive the higher powers of the mind. By improving the blood circulation and oxygenation of the brain, Kriya Yog keeps the brain young. Most people know that, after the age of 40, brain cells start dying rapidly. Everyday, our body cells in all systems, cardiovascular, gastro-intestinal, nervous system, and in the skin system also die off. We are not the same person that we were two minutes back. Millions of cells have died. Again, millions have been regenerated. This is not the case with brain cells. They are highly specialized cells that cannot be replaced. It is only through the exercises of the Kriya Yog technique that, by channeling the biological force in the spinal cord, you can improve the circulation, as well as improve the energy of the brain and spinal cord. The biological force is converted into spiritual force, which, in turn, changes the entire constitution and “Pranic” vibration of the brain. Thereby, the degeneration process is very much curtailed. This is the only way you can rejuvenate, in a redictable manner, all the system of the body. You can delay your aging process. Your lustrous youth can be prolonged, and you can improve your body’s resistance to disease. There is no medical science, no technique or medicine in the medical science of the world, which can enhance your immune system. In AIDS, disease and cancer, there is no treatment or at best only partial treatment exists. So, what to do? The only thing to do is to improve our body’s resistance so much that our body’s “Pranic” vibration entirely changes, and it doesn’t grow old faster. We can withstand stress and strain of the mind as well as the environment, food factors and toxic matter much better.That is why in Kriya Yog it is said that there are three most important things; the Soul, without which life is not possible, the brain, without which the soul cannot activate the system, and the spinal cord without which the brain cannot control the body. Kriya Yog teaches certain exercises by which we can simultaneously improve the blood supply and improve the vitality and life force of the body as a whole. You never know when somebody is going to have a stroke. It cannot be predicted. You never know when a small tiny tumor or cancer seed is growing in any part of the body. Medical science cannot diagnose it until and unless it becomes quite advanced. By the time it is diagnosable, it is beyond complete recovery or cure. So the best thing is to practice this Yog to prevent such disaster. Prevention is better than cure. In short, the brain and the spinal cord are the most vital. We have to prevent the degeneration of the brain if we want to give our talent to the nation and to humanity through a very old age. You can’t imagine a person of seventy years of age, brilliant scientist or brilliant doctor or engineer or lawyer with so much experience being incapacitated. They can write books, they can be authorities, but everything is lost if they get premature senility or brain degeneration prematurely. Why should they get degeneration at all?
The Breathing Air Is Brahmam
The next important thing, through which the brain is alive, is oxygen. Oxygen is life. Life is not possible on other Planets because there is no oxygen. And the body takes up oxygen through inhalation. If there is no Soul, then there is no inhalation or exhalation, no life, no enjoyment of emotional feelings, no spiritual activity and no question of Self realization. That’s why it is said ‘Breath control is sense control, breath control is mind control, breath mastery is Self-mastery and breathlessness state is deathlessness state. Here one may ask a question - You say oxygen and breathing are very vital and at the same time you say that the breathlessness state is the deathlessness state? Prepare the field, channel your vital force, transform your energy requirements, and form your body into a different body. People will see the same person, but there is a different inner person altogether. I will give an example of how we are misusing our latent power in breathing. Efficiency of machine indicates that. It should do less work and give more production and less wear and tear. Each human Inspire Breath contains 300 ml of air and of this 20% is oxygen of which 4% the body retains. So, in 18 respirations per minute, we retain about 210 ml. of oxygen. Please remember, there is another terminology or explanation, i.e., Vital Capacity. Vital Capacity is that amount of air, the body can retain after full inhalation following the deepest possible exhalation. I exhale fully, maximum, then I inhale deeply. I take about 4,500 to 5,000ml of air in. Of air; 4% of it is about 200 ml. of oxygen. See how we are misusing our capacity. Instead of one inhalation, which will meet our requirement of one minute, we are taking 18 inhalations i.e. our body working 18 times more than we need. This is inefficient use of our body machine. So, Kriya Yog teaches smooth respiration, rhythmic respiration and maximum utilization of oxygen; also, there is no discomfort, no hardship and no unnecessary strain on the lungs. At the same time, there is a transformation of the biological force into spiritual force. The other aspect is: where does control of mind come in with respiration? As you know, under excitement our respiration becomes hurried, faster. If you are angry or under sexual stimulation or very much anxious, respiration becomes more and more rapid. But when a person is
very calm, respiration is slower. When a person is solving a mathematical problem very minutely and attentively you can observe that his respiration has become very small and short, almost imperceptible. They conserve energy that way. The yogic experts in ancient times observed that emotion gives rise to a change in the rhythmic pattern of respiration, causing excitement. Can we do the reverse and control the emotion? Can we change our respiration pattern or rhythm and control our emotions? That is “Pranayam” (rest of Prana, life force), the regulated control of the breath which controls the senses and emotions and thereby controls the mind. If the breathing is very hurried, the mind becomes restless. If the breathing is calm and rhythmic, the mind becomes calm. This is where the great yogis have taken help of the breathing to control the mind. Only after controlling the mind can you have a thoughtless state and a 100% thoughtless state is the state of “Samadhi”, perfect concentration of the mind, where there is no thought in the mind at all, only pure consciousness (“Chitta”).
Pranayam and Behaviour
Psychology is involved. It involves the psychiatrist, clinical psychologist and the medical scientist. But, until and unless you can control your own behavior and mind how can you control the mind and the behavior of others? If a person arrives in an agitated mood it is contagious that’s why you must develop mind control and sense control before you can effectively control or manipulate the behavior pattern of others. You can do this easily and sooner by Kriya Yog. “lndriyanam Mano Natha”. The master of the senses is the mind. So, to control the mind we have to control the senses. Can you resist looking at a beautiful thing? Can you resist some beautiful music? If you are hungry and beautiful dishes with nice flavor arrive, automatically there will be saliva. Can a vigorous young person resist the sexual desire? We might not want to resist but it can be regulated. You can transform that energy to introvert the mind to tap the infinite sources of all energy that is the divinity within you. By controlling the mind you can do it. That’s why it is said that the master of the senses is the mind.Now “Mano Nathastumaruta” (Lord of the mind is air or breath). How to control the mind? This has already been spoken of in detail, that is, by regulating your breath or inhalation and exhalation you can control the mind. How to control the breath? Concentration in any action will regulate your breath; it will calm down your breath. It will conserve energy. It will transform this biological force into spiritual force.How to get concentration? Our mind is so fickle. Some saints have described the mind as a restless monkey having taken a full dose of an alcoholic intoxicant, at the same time possessed by a demon. A monkey is usually restless; if you give alcohol to him you can imagine how restless he will be. If a demon enters in, you can well imagine. So, the human mind has been compared to a monkey in this condition. But there is an easy way to achieve calmness and concentration, the Kriya Yog way. That concentration is dependent upon the divine sound. Divine sound has been described by Paramahansa Yogananda as the vibration of the cosmic motor. It is the sum total of the creative power of God. It is pervading everywhere. The moment we can introvert our mind, we can hear the divine sound. This musical sound has a regenerative property, a curative property. That infinite power manifests in three forms. One is the DIVINE SOUND; OM sound, Amen sound, second is DIVINE VIBRATION and third is DIVINE LIGHT. If you practice the techniques of Kriya Yog you can get results within three to five minutes time. Of course, you need body purification and Kriya Yog masters have given this experience to many persons, thousands and thousands all over the world. The most adamant disbelievers could also experience it. That’s why it is scientific. It is open to personal verification. You practice the technique you will get the experience.
Why Are You Not Hearing The Divine Sound Right Now?
Those who are practicing Kriya Yog most of them are hearing it. I will give an example. Broadcasts from all the radio stations in the world are in the atmosphere. We cannot see them and we cannot hear them right now. But if we get transistor set and switch on to CNN or NBC or TBS or BBC or New Delhi station we can hear that broadcast to which we have switched on. If you are not correctly tuned there will be static and disturbances and an unpleasant situation. Our situation is like that. If we can give our attention to the vital element in our
body, by the Kriya Yog technique, within five minutes we can hear the divine sound. The moment you hear the divine sound you will forget the external world, you go into a state of “Samadhi” and your entire mind and mood will change, will be divine. You will be so calm, so much calm and quiet and soothing and pleasant experience you get. I have done some limited experiments in my clinical practice with this sound. To some of the high blood pressure patients, who do not respond to high doses of any hypertension drugs, I teach this technique I gave them twenty minutes, and then their blood pressure comes down I have followed up a couple of cases for three or four years and the medicine requirement has gone down by 90 percent. This is so effective technique.Then, as regards vibration, it is a matter to be perceived in each of seven centers. These are; The wealth center - The Sacrococcygeal nerve plexus; The sex center - The Hypogastric nerve plexus; The food center - The solar plexus; The heart center -The Cardiopulmonary plexus, The throat center -The Laryngo pharyngeal plexus; The soul center in the heart of the brain. These centers correspond with anatomical structures and physiologic functions. Thus you can transform yourself from biologic limitations to spiritual liberation in the top chakra, the seventh center which is the power of the divine presence in every human being. The consciousness existing here is above any awareness of the nervous system air pressure in the lungs or the rhythm of the heart.
Hepatic Health
Now I mention in brief about the benefits Of Kriya Yog for the liver. The function of the liver is to manufacture special items of food and nutrition for the body which we do not get in our diet. Also the liver detoxifies toxins which enter us with food and drinks. When we consume poisonous material, bacteria etc. the liver kills them and neutralizes them. All the food that we consume goes to the digestive fire within the stomach and then goes into the small intestine. The essence of that food is absorbed into the portal vein and on to the liver to be metabolized into energy and waste product. The waste product is discarded through the blood and through the urinary function
and the energy is channeled to the entire system. Without energy we cannot even think. The most subtle manifestation of energy is thought force, which is within our perception, and the grossest is muscle function. So, we have intellectual power and muscle power and this keeps our body functioning so that we can realize our spiritual power. Without food, none of this is possible. However, due to the poisons or toxins within our air, water, and food the liver gets damaged easily from hepatitis and cirrhosis. Once it is damaged it is irreparable. So, there are certain practices in Kriya Yog which can stimulate, energize and message the liver without creating any further
damage. This practice also massages and spleen and other internal organs.
Disease Prevention
It can improve your body’s immunity. This practice also gives the body the ability to produce adequate amounts of white blood cells and boost up your immune process. Many persons exist with suppressed immune reactions or a suppressed immune system Kriya Yog is one of the best techniques which can boost it up. Then there is the pancreas secreting insulin which cures diabetes. So, if a person is diabetic, he must practice Kriya Yog techniques, because it will control diabetes. This is, to a greater extent, better than injecting insulin. If the practice does not cure you completely, it will reduce your drug requirement in all types of diabetes. Sometimes people get insulin reactions. How can we tackle this problem? Insulin is the drug. In many cases, insulin resistance is there. It can be overcome by exercise of Kriya Yog techniques. Female diseases like painful menstrual periods, abnormal pregnancies, miscarriages most of these are due to pelvic organ disorders. You will never get constipation or irritable bowel syndrome or different types of colitis, which are mostly psychosomatic. Peptic ulcers you will never get if you practice these things correctly, daily, sincerely. These are some of the benefits of Kriya Yog techniques. But one thing I must remind you of at this stage are that the greater achievement of this practice is the attainment of extreme love and positive attitude, love for God, love for the spiritual masters and love for all beings. That is the main thing without that, without the love for the one Soul, and without realizing your own soul; these will be mere exercises giving limited benefits.
Spiritual Practice and Food
Then, question will arise as to what food you will take, what should be the food, what should be the drink, what should be the life-style, should we smoke or not & should we take alcohol or not? In the cold countries and with their tradition, if I say that you should not drink, that may not be practical. You can drink as little as possible, not more by which you will damage your brain and liver. It is best to avoid it altogether. So, in essence, the practical point is that limitation in your drinking is a good idea. Then there is the food. This is a question I face very often in many places. In India as well as in Western countries the question is whether you should be a vegetarian or nonvegetarian. The food which you can digest, the food to which your tradition has made you habituated food which is fresh, soothing, gives strength and vigor, and which gives calmness of mind that food is good for you. This means that you should eat the food you can digest nicely and gain the nutrition which will benefit you. If you eat a non-vegetarian diet, you are not going to lose your spirituality, if you do spiritual practice. If you eat vegetarian food and grains and vegetables in plenty, it is not that you are going to be spiritual automatically if you don’t practice Spirituality. So the diet approach is a common sense approach. We do not insist that you eat this or not eat that, but we ask that you please do not smoke. We ask that you please do not take drugs like cocaine or heroin and all these they are dangerous ,they will damage your brain; they will bring about degeneration faster. They will not give you any constructive idea or energy. We depend on our inhalation and oxygen for our life breath. Smoking partially deprives us of this available oxygen. Carbon particles get deposited in the lungs in the trachea and bronchi. This may subsequently give rise to focus of cancer; growing there silently you may never know. And, though nicotine is a stimulant temporarily it can cause brain damage. It can also slow down circulation causing risk of vascular thrombosis, stroke etc. So you should go without it; it is not necessary. Kriya Yog and deep breathing techniques are really stimulating to the brain. If you are having fatigue in your office, if you are tired, if you are depressed, I suggest you sit up in your seat wherever you are sitting ,exhale deeply, take a deep inhalation and hold and focus your attention in the soul as long as you can comfortably. You experiment once or twice and you will feel the difference. There will be a remarkable difference in your refreshing attitude and the freshness of the brain and the mind. Fatigue will go away. By taking drugs and smoking you are whipping a tired horse. If you whip, only one end is possible for the tired horse; it will fall down. So, this life is lost and any other life is lost, because any action you are doing in this life gets deposited in the subconscious and becomes seeds (“Samskaara”) and works out in future lives. So by practicing Kriya Yog, daily, sincerely and with “Sraddha” you can influence your destiny and reach perfection sooner.
OM TAT SAT
