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SWAMI SADHANANANDA AND THE MYSTIC WORLD OF KRIYA YOGA

BY DR.KALYAN BHATTACHARYYA

Swami Sadhanananda Giri is coming to the United States bearing the sacred offerings of Kriya Yogain August 2009. This is the same Kriya Yoga that Paramahansa Yogananda, author of 'Autobiographyof a Yogi' himself used to practice. This ancient technique was revived and passed down fromgeneration to generation by eternal Babaji Maharaj through Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswar Giri, andSwami Bhabananda Giri to current living master Sadguru Swami Sadhanananda Giri. Unbrokenspiritual lineage is considered important in this yogic tradition.

What is Kriya Yoga? This is a question that can ultimately be understood by its practice. In the West,yoga is commonly thought of as various postures and stretching exercises. But those are components ofHatha Yoga. The word 'Yoga' covers immense ground, but it generally means Divine union. Thepractice of Yoga is the method of liberation of the soul. Yoga has many branches. Karma Yoga impliesunion with the Infinite or God through work or action. Jnana Yoga seeks union with the Absolutethrough practice of spiritual wisdom. Bhakti Yoga achieves the same goal through devotion.Mantra or Japa Yoga enables one to perceive the Divine through persistent utterance of sacredwords. Raja Yoga comprised of eightfold path, as outlined by Patanjali, (e.g. yama, niyama, asana,pranayama etc.) leads one to the same Divine goal.

Kriya Yoga belongs to the school of Raja Yoga but it encompasses significant parts of other Yoga

schools so deftly that its practitioner achieves maximum benefit with minimum effort. Pranayama orcontrol of subtle life currents constitute the basis of Kriya Yoga. The spiritual aspirant maneuversthe breathing process to calm the mind to a point where an awareness of the Divine graduallymanifests within himself.

The secret techniques of Kriya Yoga (to be learnt from a Sadguru), dissolves the personal ego and bodyawareness into the realization of eternity and ultimately union with Cosmic Consciousness. Physical,mental and intellectual upliftment happens spontaneously. Apart from a healthy and lustrous body, asublime feeling that the Supreme Self is nestling within us in the form of divine light makes one freefrom the woes and anxieties of life and one can attain a serene and sublime calmness. Some aspirantsfeel divine vibrations in the entire body. Some become aware of the holy sounds, not perceived byordinary human beings. But as an aspirant advances, he or she gets completely lost in the luminous

spiritual third eye. The negative qualities gradually disappear. In this sublime stillness, one experiencesthe palpable presence of the Absolute, and one can understand why, in the Psalms (46.10) it is said, -"Be still and know that I am God".

Sadhananandajis Guru Bhabanandaji used to say very often: Breathing is not the property ofanyone or of any country, community or religion". He meant that anyone can attain the SupremeReality through the breathing and energy techniques of Kriya Yoga. And that is why we can say thatthere is no communal or sectarian narrowness or discrimination in the Kriya Yoga tradition. Anyindividual can pursue this sublime path and can reach the summit of human attainment. Thereremains only one condition for success: sincere practice.

There is however one other critical factor: that without the blessings of a Sadguru or an authorized

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