Meditation and Kriya (Part Two)

HONG –SAU

 The Hong Sau technique of the SRF lessons is the SRF variation of a common meditation technique. This is  actually a very good meditation technique and is often used with different mantras (or no mantras) in various yoga and martial arts classes. The good news is this:

It is just a breath watching technique. You do not have get it from an organization or Yogi-Christ. It is readily available to all.

I first learned this embarrassing fact in a Golds Gym. A martial arts teacher instructed the class in Hong Sau. At the time I thought it was a big secret technique from a God Realized Master and I was horrified to see this teacher using it. I assumed the teacher was an SRF devotee who was disclosing these sacred techniques to people without the Gurus blessing. YIKES!

After the class I spoke to the teacher. I can’t remember what I said but I do remember the look on the instructors face. Turns out that this is just a basic yoga exercise. I felt like I was the last kid in the class to find out Santa Clause didn’t exist. Here I thought it was something really special and it was just regular yoga. Available in various forms in all yoga classes.

...Sigh…

So anyway, the good news now is that if you know this technique in any form, you already know the best meditation technique SRF has to offer.

When I started this entry, I thought I would go over all of the pluses and minuses of various SRF teachings but it distracts too much from the point I really want to make.

The real problem is the techniques are long and laborious.  They are heavy on futzing with asana and arm boards and listening to random sounds in your ears and sticking your fingers in your ears, eyes and nose to keep the life force in and so forth... 

Where is God in all of that?

Meditation and prayer can and should be easier and more spontaneous than that.

There is some good and not so good information in the SRF lessons. It is difficult to know who or what the origins of it are. I thought that the stuff about diet and mind were pretty interesting, but now I am left wondering if they are from Yogananda or someone else. I have a Victorian Vegetarian cookbook and found some quotes from Ellen White inside. I will post them below. She died in 1915. They sound a lot like the stuff in the lessons. Did Yogananda have this same cookbook? I mean really after learning the truth about the energization exercises ANYTHING is possible.

I think the real point is that our relationship with God is about God and us.  SRF wants it to be about the Guru. And they want to sanitize him and make him a God. Even the chants, which are rather monotonous and Repetitive , are about worshipping the Guru. You repeat over and over phrases like “Thinking of my Guru’s lotus feet” or  “ Devotees may come Devotees may go but I will be thine always” and "Guru Lord I bow to you". You repeat prayers with a lot of old English style thee and thous (I think this is done to sound holy –its that putting on airs thing I mentioned in an earlier post) and Biblical verses that are out of context.

We were told not to go outside of the Gurus teachings or we might get spiritual indigestion. Here is what I have learned:  GET Spiritual Indigestion!  It is a GOOD thing. 
If you are inspired to feel God with you by walking, walk! If Johnny Cash songs inspire you then go for it! Mix it up! …And forget about the endless details of techniques and casting rose petals at the Gurus feet.

I am glad that I learned to Meditate but I am also glad that I took off the training wheels and moved on from the cultish practices.

KRIYA

I could say a lot about this but in the interest of moving this blog forward I will keep it short.

Bottom line:

It is a rather rigid and mechanical meditation technique. Some people get good results from it and some don’t. It is an active technique so it gives the practitioner something to do  besides watching the breath, but it is still just a breathing exercise. It combines active breathing with visualization. There are a number of Yoga techniques out there like this and many are available in books and on video. It is easy to incorporate them into your Spiritual practices and you do not need a Guru to do this.
In SRF those that receive Kriya have now become the prestigious “KRIYABANS’ and it becomes obligatory to give testimony to its greatness. In the time that I was in SRF I never saw anyone in the SRF temples that was more developed spiritually than people you would find in any other church or community service group. If anything the people in SRF had more social dysfunction and emotional problems than the general public.

There are many teachers and groups of different lineage that teach this technique in India and America. There are a number of variations and some are posted on the Internet. SRF has a simplified version. Some versions are pretty laborious, others not so much. I have tried the Internet versions and they are not better or worse than the SRF version. I did this thing for years and didn’t get much out of it. It was ok but certainly not the missile to  God that it was advertised to be. There are better ways to develop a relationship with God in my opinion.

When I first left SRF , I was shell shocked. Whenever someone would say Kriya Yoga I would recoil. It was like word association or a Rorschach inkblot test. I felt like I had to wear garlic around my neck to keep the Kriya away. This was a WAY OVER THE TOP REACTION.  Since then I have mellowed out and I have found that some people just give the technique away and don’t ask to be worshipped for it, so I am ok with that. 


The main point here is that it is available without having to sign your eternal soul away in blood to SRF. The primary thing I would say is this. Stay away from any group that glorifies the teacher or says their guy is a Saint or Avatar.

SRF tells you that the practice of Kriya without a “true”  Guru will burn you up like a million gigawatts through a 75 watt bulb.  Being an adventurous person, I tried teaching this technique to a novice. I kept a fire extinguisher handy in case of emergency. My novice Guinea pigs head didn’t explode, so I think it is safe to do it without a Guru and not have to worry about spontaneous combustion.

The other idea is that doing Kriya without a Guru will make you crazy, but I think doing Kriya with a Guru will make you crazier, so I leave it up to the reader to decide.

I almost forgot. Here are those Ellen White quotes from the Vegetarian cookbook.

Healthful living

At one point early in my life, I became a vegetarian. I have a very old Vegetarian cookbook with quotes from the prolific evangelical and Victorian writer Ellen White (1827-1915), a founder of the Seventh day Adventists.

 I was surprised at how much of Yoganandas health, diet and How To Live advice mirrored the work and recipes of Ellen White. At the time I chalked it up to the Unity of all Religions, but after seeing the Iron man books I am not so sure. Here are some of the quotes from this cookbook:

"Anything that lessens physical strength enfeebles the mind and makes it less capable of discriminating between right and wrong."

"Every wrong habit which injures the health of the body reacts in effect upon the mind."

"Right physical habits promote mental superiority. Intellectual power, physical strength, and longevity depend upon immutable laws."

"The brain nerves which communicate with the entire system are the only medium through which Heaven can communicate to man and affect his inmost life. Whatever disturbs the circulation of the electric currents in the nervous system lessens the strength of the vital powers, and the result is a deadening of the sensibilities of the mind"

"In grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts are to be found all the food elements that we need."

"The brain nerve energy is benumbed and almost paralyzed by overeating."

"The mind is not kept in a calm, healthful state for thought, but is, much of the time, under an excitement; in short, is intoxicated with the amusements it craves, which renders it incapable of close application, reflection, and study."

“Let it ever be kept before the mind that the great object of hygienic reform is to secure the highest possible development of mind and soul and body. All the laws of nature—which are the laws of God— are designed for our good. Obedience to them will promote our happiness in this life, and will aid us in a preparation for the life to come.”

Hmmm...Coincidence?

Peace and Best Wishes,

KD