Kriya Yoga (Sanskrit: क्रिया योग) is the active aspect of yoga. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2.1 defines three types of kriya (action):

The yoga of action (kriyayoga) is: asceticism (tapas), recitation (svadhyaya), and devotion (pranidhana) to Ishvara (the lord).

It is also a modern yoga school, described by its practitioners as the ancient yoga system revived in modern times by Mahavatar Babaji through his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya, circa 1861.Kriya Yoga was brought to international awareness by Paramahansa Yogananda‘s book Autobiography of a Yogi and through Yogananda’s introductions of the practice to the west from 1920.Kripalvananda, a yogi from another lineage, was also a significant influence on the kriya yoga community in the West.

According to Yogananda the ancient Yogic text the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali contains a description of Kriya Yoga in the second chapter II.49:“Liberation can be attained by that pranayama which is accomplished by disjoining the course of inspiration and expiration.

Patañjali statue (traditional form indicating Kundalini )

The Kriya yoga system consists of a number of levels of pranayama, mantra, and mudra based on techniques intended to rapidly accelerate spiritual development and engender a profound state of tranquility and God-communion.Yogananda attributes his description of Kriya Yoga to his lineage of gurus, Sri Yukteswar Giri, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Mahavatar Babaji. The latter is reported to have introduced the concept as essentially identical to the Raja Yoga of Patanjali and the concept of Yoga as described in the Bhagavad Gita.^[

Babaji simply means “revered father.” Though the great master’s birth name and date are unknown, his subtle spiritual influence is felt throughout the world.

It was he who re-introduced the ancient science of Kriya Yoga, which had been lost through the dark ages due to “priestly secrecy and man’s indifference,” as Paramhansa Yogananda put it.

“Kriya Yoga is the jet airplane route to God.”

—Paramhansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi

Babaji was a great siddha, one who had overcome ordinary human limitations, and who worked silently, behind the scenes for the spiritual evolution of all humanity. Paramahansa Yogananda also revealed that it was Babaji who taught a powerful series of yogic techniques, know as “Kriya Yoga,” to Lahiri Mahasaya, around 1861, and who subsequently initiated many others, including Yogananda`s own Christ-like guru, Sri Yukteswar, some thirty years later. Yogananda spent 10 years with his guru before Babaji himself appeared to him, and directed him to bring the sacred science of Kriya to the West.

Again, according to his autobiography, shortly before Yogananda left for America in 1920, Babaji came to his home in Calcutta, where the young monk sat deeply praying for divine assurance regarding the mission he was about to undertake. Babaji said to him: “Follow the behest of your guru and go to America. Fear not; you shall be protected. You are the one I have chosen to spread the message of Kriya Yoga in the West.”

Yogananda fulfilled this sacred mission from 1920 to 1952, when he left his body and attained the yogic state of mahasamadhi.

As a final tribute to the efficacy of Kriya Yoga and the blessings of his lineage, the body of Yogananda did not deteriorate during the 21 days it lay exposed, before being interred in a crypt in Los Angeles. March 7, 2002 marked the 50th anniversary of Yogananda’s remarkable passing. When his remains were transferred to a permanent “samadhi” shrine in March 2002, millions around the world remembered with gratitude what Yogananda’s legacy has given to them.

THE PATH OF KRIYA YOGA

Kriya Yoga is a meditation technique that quickly accelerates one’s spiritual growth — though ancient, it was first made widely known by Yogananda in his autobiography.

“Kriya,” he wrote, “is the easiest, most effective, and most scientific avenue of approach to the Infinite. In contrast to the slow, uncertain ‘bullock cart’ theological path to God, Kriya may justly be called the ‘airplane’ route.”

Kriya is more than a simple technique. It can be learned from Ananda Sangha and other groups and in fact represents an entire way of life.

With Kriya Yoga, Paramhansa Yogananda taught three other techniques of yoga and meditation:

BABAJI’S REVIVAL OF KRIYA YOGA / Tamil (VASI YOGA)

Babaji revives Kriya Yoga, which Siddha Patanjali refers to in his famous “Yoga-Sutras.” Patanjali wrote his classic text of yoga about the 3rd century A.D. In it he defines Kriya Yoga in II.1 as “constant practice (particularly by the cultivation of detachment), self-study and devotion to the Lord.” However, along with what Patanjali described as Kriya Yoga, Babaji added the teachings of the tantra, which includes the cultivation of “kundalini,” the great potential power and consciousness, through the use of breathing, mantras and devotional practices. His modern synthesis of “Kriya Yoga,” includes a rich variety of techniques. It was in 1861 that Babaji initiated Lahiri Mahasaya into his powerful Kriya Yoga system.

OTHER TECHNIQUES OF KRIYA YOGA ARE REVEALED BY BABAJI

During a six month period in 1954, at his ashram near Badrinath, in the Garwhal Himalayas, Babaji initiated a great devotee, S.A.A. Ramaiah into a complete system of 144 Kriyas, or practical techniques, involving postures, breathing, meditation, mantras and devotional techniques. The latter blossomed as a yogi, and began a mission to bring this system, referred to as “Babaji`s Kriya Yoga” to thousands of aspirants ALL AROUND THE WORLD.

Fortunately, Babaji comes out from behind the veils of anonymity which he finds so useful for his work. Babaji has appeared to Swami Satyeswarananda in the Kumaon Hills of the Himalayas, in the early 1970`s and given him the assignment of translating and publishing the writings of Lahiri Mahasaya. This he has done in a series, the “Sanskrit Classics,” from his home in San Diego, California. Babaji gave his “darshan” on the vital plane to the author, M. Govindan, in October 1999, on two occasions. This occurred 30 kilometers north of Badrinath, at an altitude of nearly 5,000 meters, at the source of the Alakananda River. During these visitations, Babaji appeared as a radiant youth, with copper colored hair, clad in a simple white “dhoti” or waist cloth, and allowed Govindan to touch his feet.

Kriya Yoga is an ancient method of living and meditation that cultivates body, mind, intellect, and awareness of the soul using powerful meditative and yogic disciplines. It helps
us to experience the three divine qualities of light, vibration, and sound by using techniques of concentration, posture, and breathing. This develops a one-pointed mind, which
enables us to penetrate the deepest levels of consciousness and to change our lives. Kriya Yoga teaches that any action – kri, is done by ya – the indwelling soul. It is a universal spiritual discipline that crosses all divisions and boundaries.

Kriya Yoga is an ancient meditation technique of energy and breath control, or pranayama.

Kriya Yoga, the highest form of pranayam (life force control), is a set of techniques by which complete realization may be achieved. In order to prepare for the practice of Kriya
Yoga, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are to be studied, the Eight Fold Path learned and adheared to; the Bhagavad Gita is to be read, studied and meditated upon; and a
Disciple-Guru relationship entered into freely with the Guru who will initiate the disciple into the actual Kriya Yoga techniques. These techniques themselves, given by the Guru, are to be done as per the gurus instructions for the individual. There are also sources for Kriya that are guru-less.

The goal of life is
happiness, peace, love and
enlightenment. The desire
for perfection comes from
the Self, the image of God
which seeks to express
itself through all
humanity.
KRIYA YOGA is a
scientific art of perfect
God truth union. It was
revived in modern times
by a great master of India,
Babaji Nagaraj, as a
synthesis of the teachings
of the 18 Siddhas. It
includes a series of
techniques.

Kriyayoga: How to Practice Kriyayoga

He initiated Lahiri Mahasaya into the liberating and sacrosanct techniques of Kriya Yoga. By Mahavatar Babaji’s limitless divine power, Lahiri Mahasaya entered the deepest level of God-realization, the state of nirvikalpa samadhi. Crossing the successive stages of Self-knowledge, he remained anchored for seven days in the deathless realm of brahma loka. The compassionate Babaji Maharaj instructed him to go back to the world and perform his worldly duties as an ideal yogi householder, blazing the path of liberation for worldly people and sannyasis alike who earnestly sought God-realization. In this way Babaji taught that liberation was no longer the monopoly of a few select sannyasis, and that worldly people could attain godhood without abandoning their duties. By seeking the soul at every moment during all activities, we can achieve God-realization.

Babaji Maharaj tested the depth of love and determination of an American devotee who was searching for him along the inaccessible crags of the Himalayas. Glimpsing Babaji Maharaj, the devotee’s face lit up with joy, and tears streamed down his face. The devotee implored Babaji Maharaj to accept him as his disciple. Babaji Maharaj sternly declined, and the American devotee suddenly jumped from the cliff into a rocky chasm below the ledge. Babaji Maharaj instructed his disciples to collect the corpse. With Babaji’s divine touch, the American devotee came back to life and was accorded the rare privilege of being Babaji Maharaj’s disciple.

Like a director who remains in the background instructing the actors, Shri Babaji Maharaj oversees the worldly stage, appearing only rarely. At Kumbha Mela, he addressed Priyanath (Swami Shriyukteshwar), the dear and close disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya, as “Swamiji,” to Priyanath’s utter astonishment. He instructed Priyanath to write a book combining the essence of Indian metaphysics with that of the West, promising to meet him the day it was finished. True to his word, Babaji Maharaj visited him on the day the assigned work was completed, as Priyanath exited his bath in the Ganga at Shri Rampur.

Lahiri Mahasaya, Babaji Maharaj, and his sister, Mataji, appeared from a flash of light at the Dasahwamedha bathing ghat to Ramgopal, who had been told go there by his guru, Lahiri Mahasaya. When Babaji Maharaj desired to shed his body, his sister Mataji said, “As there is no difference between being ensconced in Brahma and the deathless form, pledge before me that you will never relinquish your body form for the liberation of the entire human race.” Listening to her prayer, as a hallmark of his great compassion, he promised it would be so.

Babaji Maharaj’s divine majesties and the cosmic enactment of his dream are endless. He roams forever in the vast ethereal canvas of divinity, transcending limitations of worldly distinctions such as caste, class, religion, culture, history, and geography. He brought the message of Kriya Yoga to the West through Paramahamsa Yogananda and Paramahamsa Hariharananda, who were brought by his direction into close contact with Swami Shriyukteshwar for spiritual grooming and stewardship. He appeared before Paramahamsa Yogananda before Yoganandaji’s voyage to the West.