Kundalini Kriya Yoga
The Kriya Yoga of Babaji (Excerpt from book Wings to Freedom)
By Yogiraj Satgurunath Siddhanath
The prana apana yagya is the sacred fire ceremony of the yogi whereby he offers the oblations of pranic breath into apanic breath and vice-versa, to equalize the two life currents and enter the state of kevali samadhi.
There never has been nor will be a time when man’s own nature shall cease to demand his best and foremost attention. The science of Yoga commends itself to the foremost minds of east and west. So vital is this inner science for the evolution of human consciousness that beside it, the greatest of human achievements pale into insignificance.
The science of Kriya Yoga pranayam offers the inhaled pranic breath into the exhaled apanic breath and vice versa. By this process the yogi neutralizes the two life currents of prana and apana. This results in the arresting of decay and growth in the body. This is done by rejuvenating the blood and body cells with life energy (prana) that has been distilled from the breath and moved into the spine and the brain. The Kriya yogi arrests all bodily decay, thereby quieting the breath and heart. This renders the purifying actions of the breath and heart unnecessary as they gradually slow down through persevering practice.
The Bhagavad Gita mentions this science of Kriya Yoga in chapter 4 verse 29. The Kriya Yoga pranayama called the prana-apanic fire rite by the yogis, teaches man to untie the cord of breath that binds our soul to the bodily cage. The soul is then released to fly and expand into the super-conscious skies of omnipresent spirit and come back at will into the little body cage. No flight of fancy is this, but a true experiencing of divine bliss.
Pranayama is derived from its Sanskrit roots, prana (life) and ayama (control). So pranayama is therefore life-force control and not breath control. In the larger sense, the whole world is filled with the universal life-force energy called prana. Everything is a differentiation of the modes of expression of this universal force. Therefore, universal prana is Para-Prakriti (pure Nature). This eminent energy is derived from the infinite spirit and permeates and sustains the universe.
Individual prana is an intelligent force but has no consciousness in the empirical or transcendental sense. The Soul is the conscious unit and prana is its basis. The consciousness through mind-ego dictates terms and prana follows the dictate. Neither grossly material nor purely spiritual, prana borrows from the soul its power of activating the body.
There are two main life-currents in the body. One is that of prana which flows from the coccyx to the point between the eyebrows. The nature of this life current is soothing. It introverts the devotee’s attention during sleep and the wakeful state, and in meditation unites the soul with the spirit in the third ventricle of the brain called the shiva netra or third eye.
The other main current is that of apana which flows from the third eye to the coccyx. This downward flowing extroverted current distributes itself through the coccyx center to the motor-sensory nerves. It keeps man’s consciousness delusively tied to the body. The apana current is restless and engrosses man in sensory experiences.
“Greater is the yogi than body-disciplining ascetics, greater even than the followers of wisdom’s path. Greater than the path of action. Be thou Arjuna a yogi!” (Bhagavad Gita, chapter 6 verse 46)
Kriya Yoga pranayama arrests bodily decay connected with apana, manifesting in the exhaling breath, by fresh inhalations of life-force (prana) distilled from the inhaling breath. This prana enables the devotee to do away with the illusion of decay and mutation. He then realizes that his body is made of “lifetrons” of congealed light. The body of the Kriya yogi is recharged with extra energy distilled from the breath and energized by the tremendous dynamo of energy generated in the spine. The decay of body tissues decreases. This ultimately makes unnecessary the blood cleansing functions of the heart. The heart pump becomes quiet owing to the non-pumping of venous blood and exhalation and inhalation of breath are evened out. The life energy unites in the currents in the spine. The light of pure prana scintillates from the six chakras to all the bodily cells keeping them in a spiritually magnetized condition.
Kriya Yoga is referred to obliquely in Yoga treatises as kevali pranayama or kevali kumbhaka. This is the true pranayama that has transcended the necessity for inhalation (puraka) and exhalation (rechaka); breath is transmuted into inner life-force currents under the complete control of the mind. When the breath stops effortlessly without either rechaka or puraka – that is kevali kumbaka (Hatha Yoga Pradipika II-73).
Of the various stages of pranayama (such as breathlessness), kevali is extolled by adept yogis as the best or highest (remember that Kriya Yoga is not breath control but life-force control). When one gets to the advanced state of Shiva Shakti Kriya, the breath ceases. Duly the cool ascending pranic current and warm descending apanic current are felt flowing in the sushumna nadi (spinal cord). This is an avasta (state) of kevali kumbaka.
Kriya is a process of converting breath into life-force and realizing the body as light. By the perfect performance of Kriya 1,728 times in one posture (that is, at one time) and by practicing a total of 20,736 kriyas a devotee can reach a state of samadhi (God contact). But Kriya cannot be practiced so many times by a beginner. When the body and mind of the yogi are prepared to accommodate the high voltage of so much Kriya Yoga, his Guru will advise him that he is ready for the experience of samadhi. If the kriyas are broken into several sittings, there is no harm. It will just take longer.
The Gita advises us to practice pranayama (life-force control) to enable us to realize that we are not made of flesh, but of life-force condensed from the thought of God!
More info on Kundalini Kriya Yoga on www.siddhanath.org