Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Kriya Yoga Freedom Fighters

I'm often told that I have violated Kriya Yoga secrecy by publishing my videos on YouTube. The reason for the secrecy is based on the idea that a student must attain the right level of advancement before a particular technique would offer them any value, and more importantly, be safe for them to practice. This sounds reasonable, but who is qualified to judge that a student has reached the appropriate level? Upon reading Ennio's book and the experiences of many others, it is clear that this judgement has been lacking in many organizations.

It should also be clear that a person keeping a secret has power and control over any person wishing to learn that secret, essentially robbing them of their freedom and making them a slave. Does this sound like the behavior of an enlightened person? People wonder why God allows humans to torture and kill each other, and they ask, "Is this the act of a loving God?" Well, yes it is, because any intervention would turn those humans into slaves, and God is not a slave master, God is a freedom fighter. Freedom is love, and control is slavery. Ennio, and the other Kriya Yoga Freedom Fighters that have joined him, understand this.

For many years, Ennio stood alone in the fight, but now more and more people are joining the cause. Of particular significance is Swami Nityananda Giri, in the lineage of Swami Shriyukteswar Giri, and the first Swami to fully reveal almost all of the techniques in his book Kriya Yoga: Science of Life-force. Below is an excerpt where he shares his thoughts on Kriya Yoga secrecy.

Kriya-yoga has now become a household name among westerners and urban elites of India though people still do not have a clear-cut understanding of it. Though we find many books on Kriya-yoga the lack of clear exposition on its philosophy and practice is still felt very much. So many myths and mis­understandings are gaining ground regarding name and techniques. One of the reasons may be that present day masters of the tradition are more interested in teaching this in the west rather than in India. Though humanity is one and seekers from the west have equal rights, then in the same logic the seekers from India must not be neglected. A true master belongs to the cosmos.

The second reason is the secrecy involved in the techniques. The secrecy was introduced with a view that a precious gem cannot be sold in the open market thereby bringing the suspicion of genuineness and the danger of having fallen into the hands of undesirable and not-so-serious people. Again secrecy developed interest among the masses to learn and practice it. So the purpose of secrecy was not to hide but rather to give to the public. Another aspect we learn from history is that in the name of secrecy, the teachers of yoga and tantra have only helped in the extinction of the precious techniques for knowledge. This sometimes brings additions and alterations that are not in accordance with the spirit of the scriptures though additions and alterations, which facilitate progress and adhere to the teachings of scriptures, are always welcome.

Over the ages it has been seen that due to hiding the techniques distorted variations appeared and, particularly in the name of tantra, many practices diametrically opposed to spirituality were introduced and are still in practice giving a bad name to a system that has nothing to do with those things. But we have to see that we are now in a completely revolutionary age of information and technology, which was not even thought of twenty years back. Now due to the development of technologies and various other factors the techniques are no more hidden and it is not even possible to keep them hidden. Moreover the scriptures have already described these techniques. A reader will find how the scriptures describe these techniques in this book in general and on the fourth chapter of the book in particular. So question arises since the scriptures do not hide the techniques then why should a book written on the subject does not describe the techniques. Hence it is time to discuss rather than hide and a middle way is to be accepted to keep the balance. I know many masters and organizations will not agree with me but I tried to act according to my conscience. Readers are always advised to learn them not from books but from a master and those who do so from a book it is at their personal risk. The book is only to clarify and help.

I also discovered that Swami Nityananda Giri has recently created a YouTube channel, and I would like to wish him a warm welcome! Below is his video on Kechari Mudra.