kriya-yoga

Kriya Yoga : mixture of personal experience...............
What is Kriya Yoga?.. Kriya Yoga is one of the oldest forms of Yoga. It finds mention in many of the ancient texts of India including the Bhagwada Gita. In fact, the techniques used in Kriya Yoga are said to have been handed down from the Gods to the sages who developed and practiced the art of Yoga in ancient India thousands of years ago. Kriya Yoga was considered to be one of the highest forms of Yoga in ancient India. However, much of the knowledge about this therapeutic practice was lost in the mists of time.
Kriya Yoga was eventually revived in the late nineteenth century by the Yoga guru Mahavatar Babaji and his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya. “Autobiogrpahy of a Yogi”, a book by Paramhansa Yogananda further catapulted Kriya Yoga in to the limelight. He is also credited with introducing Kriya Yoga in the West in the twentieth century.
How does Kriya Yoga work?.. All yoga techniques allow the individual to tap in to the spiritual energy that resides deep in the spinal column, either directly or indirectly. Kriya Yoga is so effective because the techniques taught in Kriya Yoga allow the practitioner to directly tap into this spiritual source through the practice of specialized breathing techniques (Pranayama).
It has been said that practicing only half a minute of these specialized Kriya Yoga techniques allows the individual to attain a year of spiritual and mental growth. These techniques help the individual to open the hidden energy channels in the spine and to balance them. With practice and dedication, a Kriya Yoga practitioner is eventually able to control this spiritual energy and use it at will.
Of course, this takes years of practice and hard work under the watchful guidance of a guru. Kriya Yoga cannot be learnt from books and DVDs. These powerful techniques have to be taught by a guru who is well-versed in the intricacies of Kriya Yoga. In fact, the student is not even taught these special Kriya Yoga techniques in the initial phase of training.

Kundalini Yoga

Kundalini (kuṇḍalinī, Sanskrit: कुण्डलिनी) literally means coiled. In Indian yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent coiled at the base of the spine, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent power'.
Yoga and Tantra propose that this energy can be "awakened" by Guru, but body and spirit must be prepared by yogic austerities such as pranayama, or breath control, physical exercises, visualization, and chanting. It rises from muladhara chakra up a subtle channel at the base of the spine (called Sushumna), and from there to top of the head merging with the sahasrara, or crown chakra. The awakening is not a physical occurrence. It consists exclusively of development in consciousness. With awakening of the Kundalini our consciousness expands and we become more aware of the truth. When Kundalini Shakti is conceived as a goddess, then, when it rises to the head, it unites itself with the Supreme Being (Lord Shiva). Then aspirant becomes engrossed in deep meditation and infinite bliss. The arousing of kundalini is said to be the one and only way of attaining Divine Wisdom. Self-Realization is said to be equivalent to Divine Wisdom or Gnosis or what amounts to the same thing: Self-Knowledge.The awakening of the Kundalini shows itself as "awakening of inner knowledge" and brings with itself pure joy, pure knowledge and pure love.
However, like every form of energy one must also learn to understand spiritual energy. In order to be able to integrate this spiritual energy, careful purification and strengthening of the body and nervous system are required beforehand.
Kundalini can awaken spontaneously or be awakened through the grace of a Siddha-Guru who awakens the kundalini shakti of his discipline through shaktipat, or blessing. A Siddha Guru is a spiritual teacher, a master, whose identification with the supreme Self is uninterrupted.