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Samadhi in Kriya Yoga

APR 18 2010
(An article dictated by Paramahamsa Hariharananda to Rajarshi Raghabananda)
Source: The Essence of Kriya Yoga, by Rajarshi Raghabananda, May 2008 First edit
Kriya Yoga technique is the essence of karma yoga, rajas yoga and bhakti yoga me
thods propounded by Lord Shri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. Kriya Yoga is applie
d part of the yogic scriptures, that is why we call it the scientific method of
cultivating God-realization.
According to Lord Shri Krishna, he taught this immortal yoga to Vivashvan, (Sun
God), who conveyed it to Manu, his son, and Manu imparted it to his own son, Iks
hwaku. Thus handed down from father to son, this yoga came to the knowledge of t
he rajarshis, (royal sages). But, through a long lapse of time, it more or less
disappeared. Subsequently, the Lord taught this sacred yoga to Arjuna and the ot
her Pandavas. This yoga was fundamentally meant for householders for their Self-
Famous sages like Vyasa, Vashistha, Janaka, Valmiki and Parashara practiced this
Kriya Yoga in the midst of their family life and reached the divine goal. This
yoga occupied an important place in the Bhagavad Gita and in the earlier philoso
phical yoga taught by Lord Krishna yet it became neglected again and almost disa
ppeared due to chaotic conditions in the social life of India.
A new era was ushered in during the mid-19th century when the immortal Babaji Ma
haraj gave a scientific orientation to this yoga. Through his householder discip
le, Lahiri Mahashaya, he offered this Kriya Yoga for the spiritual betterment of
the human race. His disciple Swami Shriyukteshwar transmitted the Kriya Yoga te
achings to his student Paramahamsa Yogananda, who was destined to spread the tea
chings widely in the West after he moved to California in the late 1920s. Over th
e next 30 years Yoganandaji, initiated over one hundred thousand westerners in t
he first kriya technique. This powerful spiritual transmission laid the foundati
on in America for the popularity of the yoga movement, which is still blossoming
today. With the goal of deepening this process of soul cultivation, here is a b
rief description of all six kriyas as they were taught by Babaji to Lahiri Mahas
haya. It is impossible to practice then without the personal instruction from an
other evolved soul or a qualified Kriya Yoga master. But the knowledge of this p
ath may act as a beacon that guides you in your spiritual journey, and will assi
st you in understanding the practical yoga of God-realization taught in the Bhag
avad Gita.
First Kriya
APR 18 2010
In the First Kriya, by activating the God-realization process in the spine, you
can convert your ordinary mind into higher consciousness and experience the trip
le divine qualities of inner light, sound and blissful vibration. By touching yo
ur head to the ground, you magnetize the spine and the frontal lobe of the brain
and begin to feel the divine light there.
You watch the power of God travelling up and down the seven-story elevator, (the
seven major chakras of the body), giving power to our brain and soul. The first
five floors are the devil kingdom, where human ignorance and evil wanders about.
Floors sixth and seventh are the kingdom of heaven, where God is directly activati
ng everything. The first kriya draws the kundalini Shakti, (which is dormant, un
-evolved, divine or atom power), from the coccygeal center to the pituitary and
above. The meditator can feel that some divine current and light are moving up a
nd down in the spine.
Mahamudra, (a set of physical postures), cultivates the body, thereby charging y
our vital organs, as well as the cardiac, gastro-intestinal and other biological
functions. This enables you to gather the spiritual harvest of the entire body
and soul. When your mind, intellect and thought and ego are calmed, you can hear
the divine sound, the invisible talk of God. Through practice, you hear this so
und continually. This is anahat dhwani, or non stopping sound. In first kriya th
e meditator can get subhecha samadhi or deep desire for God-realization. This ar
ises when you get super sensation in the body and great calmness.
Second Kriya
APR 18 2010
In the Second Kriya you learn to perceive the triple divine qualities in each ce
nter. You realize that god is activating in all five of your lower centers, thus
controlling desire for money, sex, food, emotion and creativity. By this awaren
ess you transform your anger, pride and cruelty into love.
Gradually, as the power comes up the spine, in each center you will hear differe
nt types of divine sound. In meditation you may get flashes of light, vibration
and the twelve types of divine sound coming from the high heaven, the vacuum, fi
lling your whole brain. You meditate on the 50 lotus petals in the six chakras,
below the fontanel (sahasrara) numbered 4, 6, 10, 12, 16 and 2. These petals are
your extrovert life. Likewise, you study the 50 body parts and become aware of
the desire of God working through them. (All this done, to enable you, to feel d
ivinity in every atom of your body.)
Whenever you are engaged in practical life, such as doing your job, you will fee
l that God is functioning through a particular center. If some negative thought
or tendency arises, you will be able to remove that negativity. The samadhi of s
econd kriya is called vicharini samadhi. That means the power of God is moving f
rom one center to another inside your body and throughout your vital organs and
body parts.
Third Kriya
APR 18 2010
The practice of this Kriya is inside the cranium, in the third circuit. The cran
ium is the divine kingdom. The real You is hiding inside the pituitary, constantly
feeling the power of God as soul dwelling in your body. This is the perfection
of Third Kriya.
During meditation the only perception is of the triple divine qualities rotating
inside the cranium. The devote feels as if his soul is separated from the body
and is floating in a vacuum. In this stage the meditator feels that the soul is
all pervading and is going up to high heaven. You see the whole world inside yo
ur cranium. At your crown, thousand petals of light rotate inside your brain and
illuminate your soul.
In anything you do, even while engaged in busy worldly activities, you will feel
that some super power is doing the work through you. Yet you will remain detach
ed and be able to avoid any negativity that comes. The samadhi of the Third Kriy
a is tanumanasa samadhi. This means the mind is not roaming in the biological se
nse. It has achieved the introvert stage, where the ordinary mind has been trans
formed into knowledge. It is still roaming, but only in the philosophical sense,
as it perceives God-consciousness even as it remains in the world
Fourth Kriya
APR 18 2010
By practicing Fourth Kriya you feel some special movement of the soul inside the
forehead, Pons, and thalamus, and hypothalamus, pineal gland, in front of the p
ituitary and in the mid brain. You feel that the light is rotating around from t
he high heavens to the earth. This fourth level is called asamsakti samadhi; it
means you are roaming freely in super consciousness and perceive the living pres
ence of God in your whole body.
You see the Self as a deity experiencing divine illumination and the sensation o
f God. You may see thousand of sparks and flashes, even with your eyes open, tha
t light up your inner world. You can also literally see a super light above the
crown, lighting up the whole universe. In your body you can see seven types of l
ight, two fires in each of your seven centers, one ascending and the other desce
nding. You can see these lights both inside and outside your body. The body of t
he guru will appear dark, with illumination all around him.
Fifth Kriya
APR 18 2010
In Fifth Kriya the devotee mostly feels divine sensation in the cerebellum. You
are gradually coming close to the pineal gland and are trying your utmost to ent
er into it. As lightening strikes, accompanied by thunder and rain, so do sparks
fly up from your coccyx to illuminate your whole world with powerful sound, lig
ht, and vibration. Water (tears) will come, as an expression of your deep love f
or God. You cannot stop crying, because you are in the living presence of God.
This fifth level of samadhi is called sattapatti samadhi. Satta means soul. Patt
i meansappearing. Soul is appearing and trying to enter into the pineal gland. T
hat means you are near nirvikalapa samadhi.
With the Fifth Kriya practice you may also attain the sixth level samadhi, calle
d padartha bhavini samadhi. That means you are almost merging in wisdom. At this
stage you have no sense of the universe. You are feeling that the door of God i
s open part way, but you cannot yet enter. Through your meditation you are seein
g the power of God in each human being and in all plants, animals, trees in the
five gross elements underlying all physical existence. You are absorbed and merg
ed in God, in higher cosmic consciousness.
Sixth Kriya
APR 18 2010
Sixth Kriya is the divine kingdom. You are getting constant God consciousness. Y
ou have no sense of the world; it all belongs to God. You are living in wisdom.
This means you do not perceive the world, but only know the Truth. You have no b
rain. You are one with the Almighty. You have no brain from the world. You are o
ne with the Almighty.
You are living your daily life, but you are always remaining near the door of Go
d. At any moment you can enter nirvikalapa samadhi, the seventh level of samadhi
. This means you are both in the world and not in the world. You may enter at wi
ll the breathless and pulseless state. This introvert stage is also known as tur
iya samadhi which means to merge in God. In this state, there is no physical an
d psychological pain because there is no separation between your soul and God. I
n your daily life, you see God in all three bodies, physical, astral and causal
and achieve purification of each. You feel you are the child of God, the child o
f one Heavenly Father. You are constantly getting the real love from God within
you, within your whole system. So God is always very near and all around you.
Thus, sixth kriya gives full God-realization, constant emancipation and all roun
d development of body, mind and spirit.
The first six levels of samadhi are collectively known as savikalpa samadhi. You
r consciousness is remaining in the world, but you are detached in each center,
where your soul is in God. Through the third, fourth and Fifth Kriya techniques
you develop a love for God that is intoxicating, the way a newly married husband
loves his bride, a miser loves his money, or a drunkard loves alcohol. You are
exploring how your three bodies function in this limited human body and still pe
rceive your love for God in the outer world.
In the sixth kriya and seventh samadhi, you move beyond this and merge with infi
nity. A firm faith is god and the only ray of hope that penetrates the gloom of
fear and ignorance.