One can achieve a fully concentrated mind only after getting free from all the worldly tensions. The prime reason behind all the physical problems is nothing else but mental issues. Till this disturbance exists in our life, we can’t create a balance between our mind & the body. This is the reason why most of the people today feel dissatisfied in life & always remains tired. The person no longer feels the surge of joy from within & due to this he feels weakness throughout the day & ages much earlier.
Kriya Yoga is not a very tough process which can’t be perfected by anyone. It is also not just meant for ascetics & sages. It is a way of living life which even a common person can follow in their daily routine. However, one must maintain a balance in life. Kriya Yoga is a unique path to activate one’s Kundalini power.
When a person starts to make progress in the field of Kriya Yoga, slowly changes start to occur within the body which leads to activation of Kundalini energy. In other words, Kriya Yoga is a Yogic process using which mind reaches to the state of Samadhi. It is a process of becoming divine from an ordinary person. Such a person feels fresh & energetic all the time in life.
In literal terms, Kriya Yoga means Yoga through action. Kriya Yoga consists of three aspects – Tapasya, Swadhyaaya & Eeshwarprannidhaan. Tapasya, Swadhyaaya & Eeshwarprannidhaan constitute the physical, mental & spiritual aspects of Kriya Yoga respectively. Tapasya or Tapa means achieving perfect control over body, mind & soul through regular practice. Swadhyaaya means chanting of mantra Om & the study of holy texts like Purans, Upanishads etc. Eeshwarprannidhaan means devoting the fruit of one’s efforts to the God. And the confluence of these three aspects of Kriya Yoga is mentioned in Gita as – Yogah Karmasu Koushalam.
The main process of perfecting Yoga is regular practice & avoiding useless things in life. However, only those with firm determination & a pure heart can profit through this method. The average human being whose mind is still caught in the desires of passions & worldly pleasures cannot succeed by these methods. Kriya Yoga is the way for those people who aim to sublimate their passions and propel themselves towards Samadhi through regular practice.
Tapa Naatapasvino Yogasiddhayati
According to this verse, Yoga cannot be mastered by one who doesn’t practice Tapa. The bad karma & the evil traits of past several lives cannot be wiped out without Tapa. Hence, for perfection in Kriya Yoga, the first stage is Tapa.
It is important to understand that this Tapa should be done such that it doesn’t lead to physical discomfort or pain. One should feel happy & joyous & is the one recommended by the holy scriptures. The exercise that helps one remain forever in a state of joy & mental peace in all types of conditions like heat or cold, hunger or thirst, joy or sorrow, respect or disrespect is known as Satvik Tapa. It is only through Satvik Tapa that one becomes concentrated in Yoga sadhana. There is no place for Tamasic Tapa in Yoga in which the body is tortured, and the mind is forced to obey the commands. This is because pain & discomfort only tend to make one sad and this proves to be an obstacle on the path of Yoga.
Just as gold when heated becomes free of impurities, similarly due to the heat generated by our Tapa, the body & our senses are purified, and the divine virtues of a person start to come to the limelight. Tapa can be of three types – Shaaririk (physical), Vaachik (vocal) & Maansik (mental).
Worship of deities, Guru and learned scholars and leading a simple, peaceful and passionless life is known as Shaaririk Tapa.
Yogic postures, Pranayama & a pure life are parts of Shaaririk Tapa. Leading such a life leads to the end of sorrows.
Yuktaahaarvihaarasya Yuktacheshtasya Karmasu,
Yuktaswapnaavabodhasya Yogo Bhavati Dukhahaa Yuktahaar
Yuktahaar means eating pure & balanced food. A yogi must be careful about the food he eats because food has a direct effect on the body & mind. The food must have been purchased through honest & pure means. One should not be a slave to the taste buds, rather one should eat food which raises one’s spiritual vibrations. The food must be good, healthy & pure & one should never overeat. Such a food habit is known as Yuktaahar or Mitaahaar or a balanced diet. The texts on Hath Yoga have described Mithaahar in more details.
One should not do excessive physical labor that could make one lazy when performing worship. Lack of proper exercise also leads to laziness, & this is an obstacle in proper worship. One should exercise just enough to keep the body fit & the heart joyful. This helps in quick progress in sadhanas.
Performing all the daily obligations without neglecting anything is known as Yukta Chestha.
Sleeping for limited hours & according to the need is known as Yukt Swapnaavbodh. One should not sleep too much at night. One should try to reduce sleeping hours without impacting the health.
Speaking the truth & being respectful to others through one’s words is known as Vachik Tapa. To gain control over one’s tongue, one should remain silent for a whole day at least once a week.
Control of mind is known as Mansik Tapa. Trying to keep baseless thought, thoughts of anger & violence & any other impure thoughts away and nurturing only thoughts of friendliness, affection & purity is known as Mansik Tapa.
Thus, not allowing freedom to the body, mind and the senses and exercising full control over them is known as Tapasya.
Swaadhyaaya means chanting the mantra Om, the names of the Lord and other mantras & study of holy scriptures like Gita, Upanishads & Vedas. This increases one’s devotion & faith and one start to make good progress on this path of divinity.
This too is a part of Yoga. To devote all one’s thoughts & actions to the Lord is known as Eeshwarprannidhaan. As per the famous verse,
Kaamatokaamato Vaapi Yatkaromi Shubhaashubham,
Tatsarvam Tvayi Sanyastam Tvaprayuktah Kanomyaham.
O Lord, I devote all my actions into your holy feet whether they are done selfishly or selflessly because my acts are nothing but your will & hence my actions are not even my actions.
Karmanyevaadhikaaraste Ma Faleshu Kadaachana
Ma Karmafalheturbhoo Ma Te Sangostvakarmanni
In the field of sadhanas, Ashtang Yoga or eight steps of Yoga has been prescribed for the sadhak.
Tapa, Swadhyaaya & Eeshwarprannidhaan are but three parts of these eight steps, yet they are most important for making life pure & sacred. Due to these three, the mind becomes pure & one makes good progress in Yoga.
Tapa purifies the body, voice & consciousness. Swaadhyaaya leads to gain of knowledge & concentration power.
Eeshwarprannidhaan leads to selfless actions, faith in God & helps to gain a divine grace in life. This is why, they are together called as Kriya Yoga & prescribed before one starts on to the path of Ashtang Yoga. Also, once a sadhak becomes perfect in Kriya Yoga, the other steps of Ashtang Yoga get covered automatically.
In today’s life, one must practice Dharana, Dhyaan & Tratak to attain first level success in Kriya Yoga. And when a sadhak starts these exercises the foundation of further progress in Kriya Yoga gets laid.
Making the mind concentrated through Pranayama & Yogic postures is known as Dharana. Pranayama is the most important part of Dharana. A healthy human being breathes fifteen times a minute. The process of breathing can be broken down into four parts:
1) Inhaling, known as Purak.
2) Holding the breath, known as Kumbhak.
3) Exhaling, known as Rechak and
4) Pausing again before inhaling again, known as Viram.
When a sadhak fully controls his breathing process, then all the activities of the body and all its energies come under his direct control. Such a sadhak becomes capable of viewing amazing events & scenes across this universe. He lives to a long age & can even choose his death.
Activation process of the Kundalini is speeded up & the mind becomes thoughtless & fully concentrated. Thus, the wild thoughts are brought under control!
The second stage of Kriya Yoga is Dhyan. When a sadhak becomes perfect in Dharana, through the practice of Pranayama & Yogic exercises, he starts to progress towards Dhyan or meditation. Concentrating the mind on some fixed point or subject is Dhyan.
For the practice of meditation, one needs a very quiet & peaceful place. There should be no noise or interference. The atmosphere must be pure & sacred and hence such a place can be a jungle, a riverbank or a separate room at home.
Tratak means looking at a point without blinking your eyes. For this, make a red dot on the wall at the level of your eyes & look at it continuously without blinking your eyes. A person who has mastered Tratak can look continuously for 32 minutes without blinking the eyes.
Through Tratak, the mind becomes still & peaceful. When the mind is wild, the thoughts are out of control & this leads to evil feelings. Tratak is a method of stopping the flow of thoughts & making the mind thoughtless.
Through it, one can enter deep meditation & thus one’s feelings become pure, sacred & divine. Also, one becomes free of all tensions and worries. Tratak also helps to guide all the energy within our body towards Muladhar Chakra & activates it.
When the mind is fully concentrated through Tratak & Dhyan, the state is called Samadhi. Samadhi means meditating without any effort on one’s part. One becomes fully merged with one’s deity or Guru and their image constantly floats before sadhak’s eyes. This is the true state of Samadhi. When it happens, a divine light appears around the sadhak.
Kriya Yoga has two aims – to enter into Samadhi & to put an end to one’s tensions & problems. Kriya Yoga leads to riddance from sins. It is because our senses are not under our control due to which our thoughts are not pure. This causes tensions in our lives. Only by getting rid of such thoughts, our tensions can be reduced. And when tensions end, one can easily progress towards Samadhi.
Now a question can arise in the mind of the readers – if Kriya Yoga can bring an end to tensions, then is knowledge useless? Or if tensions can be reduced through knowledge, is Kriya Yoga useless?
The answer is – without getting rid of tensions through Kriya Yoga, true knowledge can’t rise within, because till the time tensions exists in our life, one can’t have the realization of the absolute truth. Through regular practice of Kriya Yoga, one attains the state of Samadhi.
And through constantly being in the state of Samadhi, one realizes what knowledge is. The human weaknesses are completely wiped out through true knowledge and then one finally becomes one with the Supreme.
Kriya Yoga Diksha has been a highly desired Diksha across the globe. It is almost impossible to find true Gurus who can guide the disciple on the path of Kriya Yoga. Mahatma Gandhi himself had a great desire to get initiated with Kriya Yoga Diksha. It is our fortune to be blessed with a great SadGuru in our life who can guide us on to the path of Kriya Yoga & attain divinity. SadGurudev Kailash Shrimali Ji will be initiating the disciples with Kriya Yoga Kundalini Activation Diksha on this International Yoga Day to help his disciples gain success in this field and help them activate their Kundalini power.
It is mandatory to obtain Guru Diksha from Revered Gurudev before performing any Sadhana or taking any other Diksha. Please contact Kailash Siddhashram, Jodhpur through Email , Whatsapp, Phone or Submit Request to obtain consecrated-energized and mantra-sanctified Sadhana material and further guidance,
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