@smm,
I fully endorse what you say. You may include the Himalayan Master swami Rama.
[QUOTE=prasad;69499]@smm,
I fully endorse what you say. You may include the Himalayan Master swami Rama.[/QUOTE]
Yes, lol. That guy who claimed to have been offered the position of Shankaracharya, but declined it and comes to the west to spread universalism/ super secret tantra and sleep with young american ladies. 
I must say I have a lost a lot of faith in Yoga and yogis after returning from India. I use to really buy into the Yogananda and babaji, Jesus in India, ascended masters stuff, and this is what partly fuelled my desire to go in search of masters in India, but my time spent in India was a wake up call, that bought me back to reality.
The last person I read to jump on the ‘Babaji, true Kriya Yoga’ bandwagon, is Sri M, a Muslim yogi who claims to have been initiated by the legendary Babaji. His autobiography makes Yogananda’s look trivial. He too is setting himself up as a guru right now. Apparently, it is a lucrative business in India now days! Great time to set yourself up a guru and invite Westerners to attend Yoga, Vedanta and Ayurveda courses to make them feel ‘spiritual’ Each one doing one better than the last succesful one. If the last one talked about the “8th super secret chakra”, the new one adds 14 more -7 inside and 7 outside 
If the last one talked about channeling Sananda(Jesus’s new-age asecended master name) the new one talks about his meeting space-shifting, neon-glowing naga beings visiting them in space ships(Sri M)
What is alarming, hundreds of thousands of Westerners fall for it hook-like and sinker every year!
Sure thing.
Basically, you come across two kinds of people in this day and age.
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Business minded people who distort Indian wisdom to generate an easy income.
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Christians who are envious of Hinduism, but want to appropiate everything from it, so that they claim it as their own.
What is alarming, hundreds of thousands of Westerners fall for it hook-like and sinker every year!
In regione caecorum rex est luscus.
In the realm of the blind, the king has one eye.
The last person I read to jump on the ‘Babaji, true Kriya Yoga’ bandwagon, is Sri M, a Muslim yogi who claims to have been initiated by the legendary Babaji. His autobiography makes Yogananda’s look trivial. He too is setting himself up as a guru right now. Apparently, it is a lucrative business in India now days! Great time to set yourself up a guru and invite Westerners to attend Yoga, Vedanta and Ayurveda courses to make them feel ‘spiritual’ Each one doing one better than the last succesful one. If the last one talked about the “8th super secret chakra”, the new one adds 14 more -7 inside and 7 outside If the last one talked about channeling Sananda(Jesus’s new-age asecended master name) the new one talks about his meeting space-shifting, neon-glowing naga beings visiting them in space ships(Sri M)
That is too funny!
[QUOTE=Surya Deva;69523]If the last one talked about the “8th super secret chakra”, the new one adds 14 more -7 inside and 7 outside [/QUOTE]
Six are the major ones, but there are further minor ones along your subtle body.
The seven lower chakras are: Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Rasatala, Mahatala and Patala. They are centers of sub-human consciousness and have a correspondence with the tail we humans have in a certain stage of development inside our mothers womb.
This is no new-age bullshit.
Further chackras above Sahasrara is new to me.
The seven lower chakras are: Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Rasatala, Mahatala and Patala.
This is indeed new-age bullshit. Atala etc, are names for the 7 hells in Puranic mythology, not name for chakras. New-age just mixed up the Tantra chakras with the Purana mythology. Please provide me a non new-age reference that mentions them as chakras.
Actually, they are mentioned as the lower chakras by Shivaya Subramaniam Swamy of the Himalayan Academy who is a follower of a branch of the Shaiva Siddhanta sampradaya.
It does make sense if you look at the anda pinda theory (yat andam, tat pindam: what is in the universe is in the body.)
But I do not have any references from the agamas or tantras about this. I’d be interested to hear an exact reference to the scriptures if anyone knows.
“Kundalini Tantra”, by Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati.
Chapter 16: Evolution through the Chakras.
Yeah, and the Himalayan academy is a new-age Hindu Shivatte group. They also claim to be channeling material from the Akashic records from the lost continent of Lemuria 
Satyananda Sarwasti is a great intellectual and I have nothing but respect for the wealth of information he shares in his books, but even he is suspectible to holding onto wrong views, such as his acceptance of the Aryan/Dravidian divide and the universal religion of Tantra that existed everywhere in prehistory
I want you to find me a classical text which mentions the existence of these additional 7 lower chakras.
It is a good practice to always try to find the source in the shastras, otherwise it is too easy for people to make up stuff as they go.
Gentlemen, you are incorrect on this matter. Kriya Yoga, it’s teachings, history, branches and lineages, are not mythological; they are real.
I do not recommend Kriya yoga for everyone, on the contrary - of all of my personal acquaintances, whether it be a friend from childhood, a co-worker, a family-member etc. - I have only recommended Kriya Yoga to 1 person. I have however talked freely about meditation, prayer, beliefs in God, etc. to hundreds of people.
Kriya Yoga is a preserved branch of the Bhakti-Karma-Raja yoga sages/teachers of ancient Vedic India. It is not something new or made-up by Yukteswar, Yogananda, Satyananda, Shibendu Lahiri, Dharmendra Vats, Hariharananda, Gurunath, Shailendra, etc. etc.… These are just some of the many HUNDREDS of people that have exploited Kriya Yoga to greedily provide an undeserved luxurious lifestyle.
It’s origins came from times immemorial. It is the ancient yoga practiced by brahmin saints and sages that accompanied and guided the understanding the Vedic scripture. It’s basics and fundamentals were then further explained in the texts of Kashmir Shaivism, Upanishads, Puranas, Itihasa etc. etc.
Now jumping ahead… keeping in mind world history and man’s general tendency to corrupt and defile anything truly beautiful or powerful and turn it into a crazy dogmatic misery-machine… Ignorant people began exploiting the sacred practices in order to make money. People began making a big “show” out of everything, and the deeper, internal, true meaning of the teachings were forgotten by the majority. The uneducated and the poor were suffering greatly from this ridiculous elitist exploitation.
In the mid-1850s there was a man that over time became famous for his state of being - Shama Churn Lahiree, or better known by the world as “Lahiri Mahashaya”.
Shama Churn Lahiree’s duty and work was similar to that of the Natha order of ancient Vedic sages (which is not the order that claims to be ‘naths’ today). That is to say, his directed purpose for existence was to remind and refresh everyone of the original, essential and only true religion: the intelligent and sensitive inquiry into the awareness of the breath (…and in due time, the awareness of what lies beyond that breath). Sat-Chit-Ananda.
It is this Shama Churn Lahiree which generously gave Kriya initiation to a man that later changed his name to “Sri Yukteswar Giri” - Lahiree initiated Yukteswar, and instructed him to stay a common man, to live the life of a householder. Yukteswar inevitably broke this instruction from his guru, and started dressing up like a swami with orange robes, lots of jewelry, etc.
In addition to breaking this previous instruction, Yukteswar took it upon himself to start initiating people into what became his version of ‘Kriya Yoga’ - Lahiree quickly heard about this, and even mentioned Yukteswar as an example of insufficient yogi when communicating with other students.
So the Yukteswar lineages only account for ONE broken branch of Kriya Yoga. People often make the mistake of assuming Kriya Yoga originated from Yogananda and his guru, school, organization, etc. etc.
There are few good yogis that are alive and teaching this ancient religion. Most that are living are doing so in peace and solitude in the beautiful hills and mountains of India, working on their own meditation and dissolving their own karma. I can’t say I blame them, for there is such a giant mess in the spiritual ‘market’ today - especially when it comes to the WORDS ‘kriya’ and ‘yoga’ - they live without unnecessary disturbances and are very old in physical age.
There could be some unbroken lineages dating directly from Lahiree; that is for you to do your own research and decide (and this goes beyond Google, you might have to speak to actual humans). No one cares if you reach salvation or not. You can spend however many years you want to; chasing this or that guru, getting this or that initiation, deluding yourself into thinking you are enlightened etc. etc. - Those in the after-effect poise of kriya yoga are unaffected by self-inflicted mental miseries. The yogi must first have mastered non-reaction and true observation, listening, understanding, concentration, physical fitness/endurance and meditation in order to even understand the basics of what Kriya is and what it does. Otherwise, it is just a petty little practice of the ego-imagination.
It’s origins came from times immemorial. It is the ancient yoga practiced by brahmin saints and sages that accompanied and guided the understanding the Vedic scripture
Provide evidence
Evidence of what nature? Of Kriya yoga being ancient, dating from pre-history? Or evidence that this is what Vedic yogis practiced daily?
In the future I might be able to compile a work that a person with a mind such as yourself would perceive as ‘evidence’ - until then, if you read the entire post, I already have stated that it is for YOU to research and decide on your own! I do not care how you choose to spend your life, or if you choose to research Kriya in any way.
I already have stated that it is for YOU to research and decide on your own!
Yeah, I’ve done my research and decided Kriya Yoga is a modern tradition, not an ancient one.
According to you it is an ancient tradition, so share your research with us. I cannot find any reference to Kriya Yoga or Babaji prior to modern times. Nowhere in the Vedas, Upanishads, Gita or the shastras. The only tradition I can trace Kriya Yoga’s techniques to to is Tantra, and Kriya Yoga seems to be a late development within the Tantra tradition.
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Yes, Kriya Yoga is a re-calibrated sect of original Tantra-yoga, which by all accounts dates back to approximately 5000 BCE. This is what I refer to as ‘ancient’.
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There is indeed references to this yoga in the Vedas, Upanishads, Gita, etc. etc.
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‘Babaji’ is a myth created by people interested in gaining attention/followers/money/sex etc. It is an empty word with no meaning whatsoever.
I hope this illustrates things clearly. Please feel free to comment or ask anything else.
Jai Yoga
It would be a waste of our time to research this fictious tradition with no direct mention in the shashtras. What is known as kriya yoga is simply tapa, svadhyaya and ishvara pranidhana as is mentioned in the yoga sutra. Everything that has been written by and about Lahiri Mahashaya, Yukteshvara, Yogananda and other kriya yogis has as much historical value as Harry Potter and the lord of the rings.
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Tantra dating back to 5000BCE based in the Indus valley civilization is a controversial claim, because there really is no evidence that what we know as modern tantra existed back then. The earliest tantra literature we have dates to medieval India, and principal classical texts like of the Natha tradition like Hatha Yoga Pradipika are a relatively recent development.
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Where? I have these texts at hand. Just give me the reference to where in these texts it is mentioned so I can take a look myself.
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This is a very interesting opinion you have shared as somebody who is defending the lineage of Lahriri Mahasaya, Yuketshwar and Yogananda - doesn’t this whole Babaji myth actually come from them?
[QUOTE=Surya Deva;69529]Yeah, and the Himalayan academy is a new-age Hindu Shivatte group. They also claim to be channeling material from the Akashic records from the lost continent of Lemuria ;)[/QUOTE]
You are right, the himalayan academy is a very controversial group. They even charge people a percentage of their income after initiation. Also when when Sivaya Subramuniyaswami stated his opinion on the Bhagavad Gita, he clearly demonstrated his ignorance. I didn’t know about all that channeling stuff, but that is simply whacko.
Have you considered that the practice could be old but it could have acquired that name recently?
To me KY could be a variant or evolute of Laya Yoga.
It is not the label what matters, but the practice itself.