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

Om and the T-angle

Om and the T-ANGLE


The T-angle Arm Rest in the Aum technique:
Chanting the mantra Om is a common fundamental meditation practice (japa yoga) in Indian religions. It is used in many Eastern faiths. It is said to be the first sound. There is a lot about it in the Upanishads.

Now with reference to the body. Let a man meditate on the udgîtha as the breath (in the mouth), for he goes sounding Om 

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe01/sbe01022.htm


This entry is about the SRF version.
They do not actually chant om but instead plug their ears and listen to the sounds in their right ear.

This T-Angle armrest is a board with a handle used to rest your arms on while listening to the aum sound in your plugged ears. You are supposed to be able to hear it in your Right ear. The aum is a cosmic sound of creation. According to Yogananda it is the "Holy ghost" as in "Father, Son, Holy ghost".  This claim does not seem to be supported by the Vedas (or the Bible either but more about that below). If you listen you can hear the om which is kind of like the holy ghost whispering in your ear. Since God didn't make us with a built in arm rest we were compelled to use this board when practicing this technique.

SRF did not want us to bring these boards to Sunday group meditations or use them in public places. Therefore we proudly snuck around with them, to conceal them from public view.

disassembles for easy handling

As with every technique you first pray to the Gurus of SRF before starting. To do this technique you put your thumbs in your ears and your pinkies on your eyelids, then you hum "om" inwardly without moving your mouth or tongue.

stick your thumbs in your ears, keep your mouth still, pinkie on the eyes and be careful where you position that arm rest handle

All I ever heard was the pressure building up on my eardrum, movement of my fingers, buzzing tinnitus and the pulse in my thumb culminating in a symphony of thumping and ringing that MIGHT have been a ghost for all the popping and racket going on. If I tried harmonizing with it I could imagine it was an om sound. If I really tried and really, really, really believed.... 

According to the SRF lessons with the "help of your Guru" you will feel the om sound as the rotating of the Earth and all of the feet walking on it and cosmic space! So maybe that is what all the noise was about, I don't know...

Yogananda says it is "the comforter" but I never found the technique very comforting.

Yogananda sites passages from the Biblical book of Revelation as referring to the Aum sound. I'm guessing he never actually read Revelations and possibly not the Upanishads either.

Even the bad review John of Patmos gives the lukewarm Asian Laodicean Church (Revelation 3:14-22) is considered "proof" to Yogananda of the unity of East and West via the om sound.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laodicean_Church

John sitting on the volcanic island of Patmos writing about what is wrong with every church in the area.

7 Churches of The Revelation

Actual Ruins of the city of Laodicea

Solid Proof that you should put your thumbs in your ears

Ommm....

This is an example of Yogananda taking things out of context and repackaging them.  These little 'holy snippets' he presents in the SRF lessons are out of context and his interpretations don't mean squat. There was no Holy Ghost mentioned or even implied in the Upanishads and there was no Om mentioned or even implied in the book of Revelations.

Anyone who takes a minute to read either book can see that there is zero unity between the two. 

I do not have an opinion as to what the om is or isn't. Maybe some people can hear it when they stick their thumbs in their ears. I do not have an opinion of what the holy ghost is or isn't, you would have to ask a theologian.  I do know that the stuff Yogananda is putting out there in the lessons as "proof" is totally nonsense.

This technique is actually a short term sensory deprivation technique.

People experiencing sensory deprivation often report perceptual disturbances such as hallucinations, especially over extended periods of time. However, there is little evidence concerning short-term sensory deprivation and whether its effects differ depending on the individual concerned, and in particular their proneness to psychosis. This study explored whether perceptual disturbances could be elicited by a brief period of complete isolation from sound and vision in both highly hallucination prone and nonhallucination prone groups. Greater psychotomimetic experiences taking the form of perceptual disturbances, paranoia, and anhedonia were found across both groups when under sensory deprivation. In addition, hallucination-prone individuals experienced more perceptual disturbances when placed in short-term sensory deprivation than nonprone individuals. This result is discussed in terms of difficulties in source monitoring as a possible mechanism involved in proneness to hallucinations.

http://journals.lww.com/jonmd/Abstract/2009/10000/The_Psychotomimetic_Effects_of_Short_Term_Sensory.11.aspx 

Peace and Best Wishes,

Katie

Boys will be boys, Girls will be girls, Gurus will be Gurus

Pictured: Tara Mata ('Star Momma')

SRF : A blend of Hinduism, Mormonism and the New Age.

While in the process of building his Spiritual Guru-land business, Yogananda attracted a number of Mormons (mostly very young girls from polygamous families*) to his ashram.

TARA MATA 
Among them was Laurie Pratt (Tara Mata). She was a descendant of Orson Pratt. 

Orson Pratt

Orson Pratt was one of the original 12 disciples of Joseph Smith.  Joseph Smith was founding father of the Latter Day Saint (Mormon) church. He was the man who found the vanishing golden tablets.

Here is a picture of Joseph Smith receiving the golden tablets and silver spectacles with seer stone lenses from the angel Moroni

Example of an early Mormon family after much begetting

Orson Pratt had about 10 wives. After much begetting and a complicated family tree, Laurie Pratt was born (note of interest: She was a distant cousin to Mitt Romney). She met Yogananda in 1924. Taking up the family business of creating a religion around magic tales, disappearing  golden tablets and disappearing golden castles, she commenced the work of making Yogananda into a Prophet of God and spreading his message to the masses. She was the editor of the Autobiography of a Yogi.


CAYCE READINGS
Tara had readings with Edgar Cayce. From what I understand (though I haven't spent much time investigating) Edgar Cayce was the father of New Age Religion. He channeled beings (were they from the lost city of Atlantis?), who gave him information and made future predictions and Health cures. 
These include:  

VIOLET RAY GENERATOR 

Another

VIOLET RAY GENERATOR 
Also

CURES FOR HEMORRHOIDS 


 The predictions that Atlantis would rise from the ocean in the 1960's and Arizona would have ocean front property (after California falls into the ocean) are attributed to him. I have not read the origin of these predictions or if he actually made them. 

According to SRF Laurie Pratt was a Saint.

I am not sure why she needed readings from Cayce since she had a personal relationship with an all knowing, God Realized Yogi-Christ and she was a saint herself.

Tara  Mata was an expert on the history of Plato's  Atlantis and wrote about it for Yogananda's INNER CULTURE magazine Atlantis and Lemuria. She was also an expert on Astrology and Higher age Yugas.



TELEPATHIC UFO EVENT
She and Yogananda reportedly watched a UFO land one starry night. (According to one account; Brother Achalananda once told people at Hidden Valley Ashram that Tara Mata was quite interested in UFOs. 

Authentic UFO photo from the Billy Meier collection

One day, while in the desert, Master telepathically asked one to land for her, and it did). 

I have never heard what variety of Aliens they were,

Possibly a "Grey" Alien?

I do not know whether bright lights or anal probes were involved in this close encounter, so I really have no additional information to share on this subject.


HIGHLY ADVANCED

In 1929 Tara Mata became pregnant. She had at least one child (Mona, pictured below) after taking her monastic vows.

Bookends

Tara Mata was so super-awesomely spiritually advanced she didn't need to meditate (everyone else had to do hours of meditation morning and evening and worship continuously at the Guru's feet). Yogananda moved her into a private house at the Mount Washington ashram. 

The Yogi-Christ Yogananda (God's right hand man) set a place up in heaven for her as a reward for editing his Autobiography. 

He said:

"It is not necessary for her to meditate in this life. By editing my writings, and because she came here a highly realized soul, she does not require this. I have already set her place for her in heaven."

 I guess he meant she was on a first class ride on the Astral plane to Hironyaloka to be saved by the Christ Yukteswar... Or maybe she was so advanced she got her own planet to be savior of...Or maybe she was destined to eternal life with Jesus but didn't need to do the soul liberating, air plane ride to the Divine via Kriya Yoga...Or maybe she just dissolved into infinite bliss and became one with the universe.  


I am not sure where he set her up in Heaven, but on Earth she was set up in a private home in Los Angeles.

There is a lot of gossip about his relationship with her. I say this to point out that they were likely just ordinary people and possibly not the celibate virgin Saints they would have you believe.

ORIGINS OF HIRANYALOKA
Hiranyaloka is an Astral planet from the Autobiography of a Yogi. Chapter 43. It is highly Spiritually advanced and peopled with millions of astral beings who have come from the earth, and also with myriads of fairies, mermaids, fishes, animals, goblins, gnomes, demigods and spirits, and possibly unicorns and Hobbits. 


They eat luminous raylike veggies. Flowers and fish can change themselves into Astral people. Communication among the Astral beings, fairies and mermaids is completely by Astral telepathy and television.
There are also Astral planets where gloom drenched dark angels go at each other with mental rays and lifetron bombs and vibratory rays. 

GOBLIN

Possibly One of Yukteswars Goblin disciples in the Astal world

Yukteswar is the Savior Yogi-Christ of the highly advanced spirits, Mermaids, goblins etc. on Hiranyaloka.

I do not know if it is possible to get there by riding the Hale-Bopp comet with the Heavens Gate bunch or if we have to get on board the Kriya airplane.

You may be thinking;

 'Yikes! I was hoping to go somewhere BETTER when I died! Now you tell me the best I can hope for is eating luminous ray salads with a Mermaid while dodging lifetron bombs? Whats up with that?

Well cheer up. Maybe after a few million lifetimes on Hironyaloka you will eventually be "liberated" and dissolve into the infinite.

HOLY TOLEDO! Where did all of THAT come from and was Spielberg involved?

The belief in advanced planets with Mormon descendants governing them is part of the Mormon religion. Kolob is a God planet first mentioned in Joseph Smith's mistranslation of an Egyptian funeral text.

Kolob  

I think this is the origin of Hiranyaloka in the Autobiography of a Yogi. 

MIAMI 

At some point around this time Yogananda was run out of Miami by a group of angry husbands who accused him of having improper relations with their wives. There is an article about it in the TIME magazine archives and also from local newspapers of the day.


THE WRIGHT STUFF
Another group of Mormons who came to live with Yogananda were the Wright family. 
According to her own accounts, Faye (Daya) was just 17 or 18 years old at the time. Her brother Richard, her younger sister (I have been told she was just a very, very young 14 years old ) and their Mother all came to live at Yoganandas ashram.

Little girls are playful and fun to be around

Their grandfather was Abraham Reister Wright, another polygamous founder of the Mormon Church. I do not know who their father was and I am unable to find a reference to him.
When Yogananda and his successor James Lynn died, the Wright family took it over, and along with Tara Mata (and a small governing board), continued to build it into the successful Amway- esque business it is today. 


We were told that Daya scans the mind of every Monastic and member nightly while they are sleeping. She then knows everything they are thinking and doing. Kind of a  Big Brother is always watching you at all times mind game. Apparently she missed the affair between Brother Arjunananda and his lay disciple Patricia Lyons. This reportedly cost the SRF organization over $300,000 in hush money to Miss Lyons. 



Currently, at the time of this writing, Daya is the President of SRF. The President of SRF is to SRF what the Pope is to Catholics. The President is thought to be a perfect channel to the Guru, and the Guru is 'one with God'. Many SRF Devotees keep pictures of Daya and pray to her for divine intervention.
She is elderly (if she is still alive) and reportedly lived with her sister in a million dollar home in California until 5 years ago. Over the years that I was in SRF she was rarely seen or heard from among the rank and file members. (I left SRF in 2005). The story was that she was too Spiritually advanced to endure our worldly vibrations.

I have no reason to doubt that she is a sweet little old lady. A sweet old lady, yes, but I doubt she is a "God realized saint".

No better, no closer to God and no Holier than the rest of us. 

Peace and Best Wishes,

KD

*Tara Matas Grandfather, Orson Pratt wrote about polygamy in The Seer. He wrote that 
Mary, and Martha her sister, and Mary Magdalene were all holy women and the wives of Jesus. Secret spiritual marriages were considered not only normal but a necessary path to God. This is the shared tradition of the "Crisp young women" who had rooms adjacent to Yoganandas . One Christ with several holy wives.