What's kriya done for you? - www.ezboard.com

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SRF Walrus > SRF Teachings and Ideals > What's kriya done for you?
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ugizralrite Registered User (10/30/03 3:55 pm) Reply	What's kriya done for you? My God but this is interesting for one who has quite a "history" with SRF. My polling question would be: "Which is better, a tremendous thirst for understanding, or kriya yoga?" What if you had it all to do over again and could only choose between intense desire for understanding or permission to practice kriya yoga. And what is kriya yoga anyway but slow hyperventilation? That extra oxygen can't hurt, has always been my attitude. Maybe it made my brain a little more healthy, God knows I needed that. But for every kriya minute I have spent many more on study and seeking and reflecting on experience, and given the choice I would definitely take the latter. I really feel that I needed to be hoodwinked into believing something extraordinary back when I was a dissipated Vietnam veteran totally disillusioned. My dispassion was not that of a philosopher or keen observer, rather one of a clueless idiot, and I am sorry to say that after 30 years and way more than a million kriyas, I am still very borderline clueless idiot. The upside is that I have no addiction, criminal conviction, spousal eviction, or self-destructive predilection in my history, things I feel I would definitely suffered had I not become an SRF cultee. And thats a good thing? Well, there are worse things, like the Alzheimer's experience mentioned in a previous posting. When you go through something like that and see the complete degradation of dementia, then I really had to say, "If God is perfect, then this has to be an illusion and unreal, and not to be taken seriously." And so I guess that is where I stand today in the classic "snake in a rope" Vedanta world-denial position. God makes this beautiful mess of a world in order to enter into and experience the good and the bad through us. The Walrus examination of SRF is fascinating for one like myself and yourselves who have invested so much in the quest. I really feel lucky to be a part of this. Its all about having a fortunate perspective. What has kriya done for you, seriously, I'm curious.
soulcircle Registered User (10/31/03 1:17 am) Reply	from the talk in the kriya trade 1) love beyond understanding 2) light 3) small dose of cosmic consciousness, largely in the form of laughter 4) and fourmost, oneness with all and all of you and all the above buried in the apparent universal guilt that kriyabans self-medicate or medically medicate, in the same way culture does, including the suicides among us
ugizralrite Registered User (10/31/03 9:21 am) Reply	Re: from the talk in the kriya trade Good and brave answer. Thank you soulcircle.
redpurusha Registered User (10/31/03 11:20 am) Reply	Re: What's kriya done for you? Brave and direct question. I haven't practiced long enough to answer. But I appreciate the other techniques and the teachings in general outside of pranayama.
KS Registered User (10/31/03 9:03 pm) Reply	Re: What's kriya done for you? Good but trick question. We can never know the answer. What changes did Kriya make in our lives? Kriya is a subtle tool. It may or may not change us but we will never know what we would have been like without it. A lot of things in life are like that. Are we practicing it right? The more interesting question is WHY senior nuns who have supposedly been practicing Master’s teachings and Kriya for 50 years are such awful people. Of all their sins the poor reflection on Master’s teachings they are generating is the worst and most long lasting. Generations may ignore Master because of what SRF has become. That is a shame.
ugizralrite Registered User (11/1/03 6:18 am) Reply	Re: What's kriya done for you? Redpurusha reminds and encourages me that the draw of Yogananda's life is still strong. IMO the following quote applies to how kriya yoga has been brought to the masses. Bismarck said it best: “Admirers of politics and sausage should never watch either being made.” But now the "cat is out of the bag" and any serious seeker today is going to see much more of what actually goes on and happened in the past. This is possibly a new stage in bringing kriya to the world. And to KS, I would suggest that it may be time for kriya for everyone who wants it anywhere, because obviously intelligence is a "two edged sword", and people of true intent and goodwill are needed to take up the task of self-realization to counterbalance misuse. If kriya was limited to saints, how many of us would have been allowed to practice in the first place? It is not a huge deal to play along with whoever claims to be legitimately dispensing kriya, and then see for yourself. The legitimacy is kind of a foggy area just now, so bravery comes up again, plus a scientific attitude (i.e.,let's see where this kriya leads).
rachelcorrie Registered User (11/3/03 12:22 am) Reply	we can never know the answer? KS Come again? rc Edited by: rachelcorrie at: 11/3/03 12:25 am
etzchaim Registered User (11/4/03 5:40 am) Reply	Re: What's kriya done for you? "Which is better, a tremendous thirst for understanding, or kriya yoga?" I'm still trying to figure out why you are contrasting the two. In my experience, they go hand in hand and compliment each other.
ugizralrite Registered User (11/4/03 3:06 pm) Reply	Re: What's kriya done for you? Good answer etzchaim. I wouldn't argue with that. I think that is my experience as well, but was polling to see how others saw kriya in their development. I really don't know for sure, but I think Kriya probably had a lot to do with positive changes in my life. If statistically kriya is a tremendous benefit then collectively we need to defend kriya in its time of trouble when one of its main disseminating organizations is under a cloud. How about a class action against the software firm that has reportedly bilked millions of our donations? I am really annoyed that this could happen. Who is to be trusted for kriya instruction and guidance? Or is it that physiologically speaking, waving ones arms about and concentrating on the spiritual eye or heart or crown of the head, as in falun gong stimulates intellectual and compassionate and spiritual qualities, and that this is a universal human response to that kind of stimulation call it what you may? Then there is the aspect of stimulating the spiritual imagination so aptly done in AOY, Mahabharata, or Rampa (The Third Eye) for example. Fact or fiction, these literary works impel some of us toward a search for spiritual understanding. So I guess I am striving to express unease when I see SRF on the ropes, because they did a lot for me by disseminating kriya and Yogananda's writings as best they could. I have a lot of problems with the consistency of the teachings, and thoroughly disagree on some of the most fundamental beliefs, but kriya has worked for me I'm pretty sure but not positive. If kriya can't be dismissed, then its preservation is of interest for the well being of all that exists. Certainly worthy of discussion here.
dawnrays Registered User (11/4/03 3:27 pm) Reply	Class Action That is actually an excellent idea. It was suggested once (several months ago) by Kriyananda when he briefly visited this board. It did not appear to be a spiteful suggestion. May I point out that several months ago when I started using this board, the general tone was very different and fear based? There was a definite atmosphere of paranoia about posting, identities and so on. That seems to have vanished for the most part. Is there anyone reading this board who has a legal background or who is a lawyer and is perhaps more knowledgeable about something like this than the average poster? dawnrays
etzchaim Registered User (11/5/03 12:08 pm) Reply	Re: What's kriya done for you? I don't know...lawsuites sound so SRF... I'm praying the place becomes just a nice, lovely, public park, and people lighten up a little and start to disseminate the teachings on a more personal level, like it's done in India. Since I'm from a different Kriya group, I find it really strange that people are so negative within (and without) SRF about people going off and teaching. I don't get it. At my Temple there are disciples of disciples of the Guru. The big guy's not taking any new disciples and there isn't the kind of negativity about his disciples going out and teaching others that I'm seeing coming out of SRF. We're supportive of each other. There's a bizarre negative zeigeist going on at SRF. Gives me the heebeegeebee's.
Mystic Traveller Registered User (12/20/03 8:00 am) Reply	Re: What's kriya done for you? Dear Etzchaim: Have you mastered "Ashta Siddhi" , or the eight psychic states of Raja Yoga? Unless you have reached that state, you should not be bothered about teaching others on Kriya. Unless one has the ability to enter "Nirvikalpa Samadhi" at will , it is dangerous to see oneself in position of instructing others. People who end up becoming Gurus never aspired to be ones. Guruship is lost as soon as it is sought. SRF has got its reasons for prohibiting its students from teaching Kriya on their own. And they are all very valid reasons.
chrisparis Registered User (12/22/03 12:10 pm) Reply	Re: What's kriya done for you? What a load! SRF has reasons to prohibit students from teaching kriya.... hardy har har! FOTGLMAO! Perhaps you would care to note someone who passes muster as a legitimate kriya teacher? In your opinion? Hmmmm? Have YOU mastered ashta siddhi? Or has your teacher?
Mystic Traveller Registered User (3/10/04 10:45 am) Reply	Re: What's kriya done for you? The mockery you display while responding reflects the mind of a bigot. Bigot is the one who is afraid of losing his faith in what he believes and uses mockery and ad hominem to defend his arguments against his own doubt If you are an ex-SRF monastic, it is good that you left...SRF is better off without you... Why is teaching Kriya to others so important to you ? When the flower is ready, bees would come on their own...When you are ready to be a teacher, being teacher is not important to you....aspirants flock around you like the bees around the blossoming flower...flower does not invite bees...they find it...
etzchaim Registered User (3/11/04 6:03 am) Reply	Re: What's kriya done for you? Mystic Traveler, first, I have to say that I find you rather in line with what is questionable about the current SRF organization and those 'trained' by it and I thank God for the good fortune to have been trained outside of that organization. My karma has been difficult in this life, but the one place I do find many blessings is in my spiritual life. Is it considered acceptable in SRF to discuss one's level of attainment? Can you tell a persons level of attainment from posts on the internet? Do you carry your 'measuring stick' around with you and use it to chastize those who do not 'live up to it'? Do you know, off hand, who I am, where I come from, who I was in previous lifetimes, what my experiences are and were; my relationships, if any, with any member of the Kriya lineage, and is this even something you should be concerned with? Do you know how many disciples I have, should I even have any, and how they have faired? Because I'm curious, why do you think it's your business? Have I, God forbid, harmed you in any way, or do you know of anyone I have harmed by 'teaching Kriya'? Most of all, for you, I wish a blessing of love. Real love, that does not make assumptions and attack people with judgments that are not based on true knowledge and even basic information gathered from experience. Etz
etzchaim Registered User (3/11/04 7:08 am) Reply	The measuring stick It occurs to me that it is recorded that Yoganandaji only reached Nirvikalpa Samadhi in 1950, or so. Someone more detail oriented about Yogananda's life may wish to pinpoint the more exact time for readers of this forum. As Mystic Traveler has pointed out, it is dangerous to teach before one reaches that level. This DOES provoke some thought. How many of Yoganandaji's current followers believe along the same lines as Mystic Traveler and how is the cognitive dissonance handled by them? Etz, who has seen the consequences of being a Guru, and certainly would not wish it upon anyone, including herself Run, baby Judy, run! Run to the wilderness! Edited by: etzchaim at: 3/11/04 8:58 am
MastersChela Registered User (3/11/04 10:42 am) Reply	Nirbikalpa Samadhi *Quote:* It occurs to me that it is recorded that Yoganandaji only reached Nirvikalpa Samadhi in 1950, or so. Someone more detail oriented about Yogananda's life may wish to pinpoint the more exact time for readers of this forum. It was 1948, actually, although I don't know where I got this information.
ranger20 (3/11/04 11:10 am) Reply	Re: The measuring stick *Quote:* As Mystic Traveler has pointed out, it is dangerous to teach before one reaches that level. This DOES provoke some thought. How many of Yoganandaji's current followers believe along the same lines as Mystic Traveler and how is the cognitive dissonance handled by them? Yogananda says in the Autobiography that his father first taught him Kriya, and there is no hint that his father was in the highest state at that time (Yogananda still in HS, prior to his meeting with Kebalandanda). RE: Cognitive dissonance. It used to say in the back of the SRF magazine that only the SRF President is authorized to give kriya, but the president may appoint other qualified monastics to do so. Although most in SRF probably believe that the president is self-realized, I don't think anyone believes it of all the monastics. I've never heard Mystic Traveller's view expressed before. Edited by: ranger20 at: 3/11/04 11:36 am
Mystic Traveller Registered User (3/11/04 12:40 pm) Reply	Re: The measuring stick FYI: Yogananda was first given the experience of "Nirvikalpa Samadhi" by Sri Yukteshwar much before he was authorized to take disciples and given title of a "Swami". Yogananda assumed Guruship through his Master's instruction. He did not start teaching others arbitrarily. Sri Yukteshwar was in turn instructed by Lahiri Mahshaya who received a similar instructions from the great Babaji. The disciple can spiritually act as the agency for this master if the latter had given him his blessing. After Master's passing , the responsibility was passed on to an organization collectively, given requirement of reaching out to much bigger populace globally . So long as the monastics of SRF are faithfully passing on Kriya to the world at large, without exceeding their brief and adding on their own things, they are a bonafide link in the chain of master-disciple relationship starting from holy Babaji. Now , I recognize that there might be other authorized Kriya lineages in India starting from other disciples of Lahiri Mahashaya and his other direct disciples. Aurobindo Ghosh was pretty good example of being exponent of Kriya from another bonafide Kriya lineage starting from Babaji. You can be a Guru, if you are a Param Mukta Siddha (have mastered Ashta Siddhis). You can be a Guru if you have been instructed by such a Siddha to act as his agency, even though you have not yet reached there 100%. The monastic system of SRF falls in the latter category. It is fully in synch with orthodox Hindu mystical orders. The "Nath" order has similar framework. When you become "Nath" ascetic, you can receive the teaching from an authorized disciple but you always regard Gorakhnath as your Paramguru. Among the "Naths", as in other Hindu orders, the Guruship is bestowed on the disciple by his Guru. No disciple can assume Guruship arbitrarily. The man who criticizes his Guru should be avoided like poison. The one who is without a Guru derogotarily referred as "Nigura" in Hindu tradition. Such a man, if claiming to be a Guru, is a snake.
etzchaim Registered User (3/11/04 12:40 pm) Reply	Re: Nirbikalpa Samadhi Thanks to both MastersChela and Ranger20 for the clarifications, particularly the point made that Yogananda received it first from his father. I knew that Yogananda did not enter into Nirvikalpa Samadhi until very late in his life - long after he began initiating people into Kriya. Also one of the changes made by the editors of SRF to the autobiography was to Yogananda's statement that people should receive Kriya from a Kriyaban. The change was to something akin to 'an authorized SRF minister', which falls in line with what Ranger20 has pointed out about DayaMata authorizing people within the organization. It's still extremely odd, though - no one else, even of Lahiri's line or other people within Sri Yukteswar's line would be able to initiate people!
etzchaim Registered User (3/11/04 12:54 pm) Reply	Re: The measuring stick Mystic, my friend, why are you assuming that anyone is arbitrarily choosing to 'be a Guru'? Do you think that I consider myself a Guru? You are making a strange assumption, if you do. I have never taught the Kriya technique to anyone and have no wish to be anyone's Guru. I'm also not interested in Siddhis and I have no reason to covet them. Also, being put into Samadhi by your Guru is far different from being able to enter into Nirvikalpa Samadhi at will, which was your original statement. Yogananda was teaching long before he could do that. Perhaps you might like hold back on the strong criticisms which are based solely on your assumptions.

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