Kriya Yoga:
The Royal Path to God-Realization

by Brother Vishwananda
Excerpts from a talk at 2010 Convocation, August 4, 2010

Where are You Going?

'I set aside
All thoughts and cares
Of this material world
To go within
To be alone with Thee.'

Our Guru gave us these beautiful words; it’s sort of as if we’re here saying these words with him. SRF is bringing the original ideas of Christ and Krishna so all people can follow one highway to the infinite.

One day Bro. Vishwananda accompanied Bro. Anandamoy to LAX to receive a Bro. from India. He asked Bro. Anandamoy if he’d like to sit and Bro. Anandamoy said no. The plane was two hours late and Bro. Anandamoy stood at the railing watching people pass—finally the visiting Swami came out and Bro. Anandamoy said to Bro. Vishwananda “just think, one day they’ll all be free.” Most people don’t know where they are coming from or where they are going; they are lost. Bro. Anandamoy was seeing those souls as God sees them.

What is going on in this world? The world is in chaos with a crisis on every level: financially, spiritually, and educationally. Our need is to understand one of the greatest revelations of our teachings. Sri Yukteswar talks of the Yuga we are in. We are coming out of the darkest age and we are several hundred years aged in Dwapara Yuga. Mankind is evolving. Dwapara Yuga is magnified by us becoming more aware of electrical energies. Bro. used several examples of this including one of the first computers made in 1943 (it actually wasn’t completed until 1946) at the University of Pennsylvania. This computer weighed almost 50 tons.

Kriya Yoga

Mankind has become more aware of energies and Kriya Yoga is evidence of this. The science of Kriya Yoga is more than a technique: the science goes beyond the printed word. God sent a line of enlightened Gurus to bring this special dispensation to the world. God knew and knows what mankind is going thru. Kriya Yoga is a science based upon introducing the consciousness away from the material world to begin to experience the subtle energies in the body. The science of Kriya Yoga follows the 8 steps of Patanjali:

1) Yama
2) Niyama
3) Asana
4) Pranayama
5) Pratyahara
6) Dharana
7) Dhyana
8) Samadhi

Pranayama is the 4th step out of 8 and is a kriya yoga technique; the other four steps are experiences completely inside. 1) Yama is discipline and has the same latin root as disciple, meaning ready “to learn”; the corresponding Sanskrit word is tapas, which is heat, fire and purification: when you put something in the fire it gets purified. If we want to find out where mankind is going we need to focus on yama and niyama.

From the Holy Science: “Moral courage when attained removes all obstacles.” One comprehends his internal electricities. This state of mind is Dwapara and the heart becomes steady.

Where is mankind going? That’s the magic carpet ride—what God has given us—the means of salvation for this age. Bro. said that the roots of things that upset him are in yama and niyama. If you don’t follow these basics you will have a tug of war. This is the foundation of Kriya Yoga. Greed and lack of discipline are two huge problems.

Guru/Disciple Relationship

"The characteristic features of Indian culture have long been a search for ultimate verities and the concomitant disciple-guru relationship."

The first sentence in The Autobiography of a Yogi is a proclamation of truth. An integral part of finding God is the Guru/Disciple relationship. That we are willing to introspect, that we accept Paramahansa Yogananda as our Guru means we are higher on the steps of evolution. Bro. told the story of when Master was handing out roses. The woman didn’t want they yellow rose he gave her—she wanted the red rose. He said, “You take what I give.”

You take what I give—why? Because the Guru see us in ways we do not; we need a guide—someone who has walked that path. In past lives we have worked hard with the yamas and niyamas. The Guru is able to see us as we don’t see ourselves. We need the Guru as someone who understands subtle energies. Master knows our past and our past desires. Master knows our present and future needs. We need to understand what a Guru is. He knows our karma, our tests and trials. He knows what we need.

There are those who come to SRF who can’t commit to the guru/disciple relationship. Some people have the idea they can change gurus. People go through hurdles before taking kriya yoga . Oftentimes the hurdle is a distrust of organizations. People don’t know what goes on in organizations, but Bro joked that he did and said it wasn’t all bad.

In a meeting with Ma they were talking about being broad-minded. She said, “before you can be broad-minded, you have to be one-pointed. A true guru is one who is one with God who does not live in delusion. Guruji is very much alive in spirit—alive in God. You need a guru to find God and you can’t question a Guru’s teachings—that comes directly from God. You have to have the attitude that you are a child of God. You are not this body or this restless mind. You can’t go here and there. You need to follow your Guru. Positive thinking—I can do this. I am a soul and I have a true Guru.

Brother Bimalananda had an attitude. During a satsanga at MC , Ma was reading Master’s teachings and she asked “is there someone here that loves Divine Mother as much as I do?” Bro. Bimalanada jumped up and said, “Ma, I will!”. That’s an attitude. That’s a kriya yogi.

Sometimes life doesn’t seem to be fair. Life can be difficult and challenging even with the Guru’s teachings. Can two people ever agree on anything? There’s no perfection. No perfect plan. We live in a world of duality. Two people don’t agree on the same thing. There’s no perfection. No perfect plan. God sees the perfect plan. If we’re really following the teachings we will be able to see the plan of the Guru.

Persian carpet—one side is beautiful and the other side is crude. God sees the beautiful side.

The spiritual path isn’t that big. It’s only as long as the spine. Practice Kriya Yoga with an attitude like Brother Bimalananda’s. Ma said when dealing with people never let your consciousness fall below the heart chakra.

The purpose of life is to find your real true self.