A New Life Through Kriya Yoga

Dear Kriya Yogis:

We had a good retreat at the Assisi Institute this past week. It was a joy to be there with you, to see many of you, whom I’d only known electronically, in person. It was also a joy to meet so many new people interested in changing their lives for the better and exploring an aspect (the spiritual) of life that is often overlooked in our modern world.

Now that we have had this time together, I’d like to encourage you to think about the months and days ahead. Like you, I found the gathering and the time together uplifting and inspiring. This has always been the case in my life, whether I was leading a retreat or participating in a retreat with my Kriya Yoga teacher, Roy Eugene Davis. The retreat itself can serve as a new beginning, or even an initiation if you will. New beginnings can be cultivated. The quality of those new beginnings can be encouraged to grow within our every day lives, from the time of their beginning forward.

The following is a small excerpt from the book Kriya Yoga Vichara, as it relates to the idea of new beginnings. “I often see initiation as a new spiritual start. What you do with that start will have a profound say on how it actually affects your spiritual realizations. Imagine that you have been living beyond your means.You have gotten yourself into great debt. You finally realize what you have been doing is wrong, and so you turn to a benefactor for help. If you are sincere, maybe the benefactor will pay off your debts and give you a large sum of money to rebuild your life. Now imagine you are cautious, careful and committed. You learn how to take that money and make it work for you, and you build a resourceful life.

That is what happens when initiated. Your debts are spiritually paid and you are given a small gift to get you started on your own work.

Imagine the opposite. Imagine you are in debt and you have no motivation to get out of debt or to stop doing what is putting you in debt. You go to a benefactor and he pays your debts and gives you a gift to start anew. Yet again, you waste it and return to your old ways. You have wasted the opportunity. You can continue returning to the benefactor, and he may, with hope in his heart, continue to assist you. But in time, he will see that you are not sincere and do not have the capacity to appreciate or benefit from his help. This is why seeking out initiations or new and different paths ultimately never works. It requires you actually have the honesty and sincerity to make the most of what you will be given. Initiation is a new start. What you make of it is up to you.”

We could all feel the current and grace during our time together. During the blessing ceremony, there were many tears and thundering hearts. I felt it. You felt it. It was very powerful.

We had the opportunity to explore many elements of the Kriya Yoga path. We focused on grace, truth, techniques, Kriya Yoga history, and the great cosmic time cycles. We also spent a good deal of time discussing how to integrate these realizations into your life. Before too much time passes, spend an hour or so a day, journaling or reflecting on what you have learned and how you can more fully integrate the learning into your life. In this way, the current we felt while together, can become a personal, constant experience. The spirit of the grace of our gathering is always available to us, when we take the time to remember it.

The energy we feel during spiritual gatherings is like a fire. It thaws out our hearts and illumines the life that is all around us. During the retreat we were given a small part of that flame. With devotion, we can learn to cultivate that flame in our own lives. We can build a place for it, and tend to it daily. Then we can grow that flame into fire, that not only illumines our own hearts but the hearts and minds of those who are receptive that are within our orbit.

I am encouraging you to explore and practice the Kriya Yoga Techniques you have learned. I am encouraging you to remember the chants or the spiritual songs we sang together. I am encouraging you to make a plan for your life, to have a sense of purpose and mission, based on what we spoke about together. Then, day by day, do one or two little things that aligns your actions with your new ideals. Let that grow with your intentions and actions.

Help the fire of your spiritual intentions grow and flow through every moment of your life.

Please see this collection of videos below. They are meant for review of the Kriya Yoga techniques. Technique is not everything, but it does help to know how accurately perform them. In the following video playlist you will find the precise techniques of Kriya Yoga, a 1-hour practice session to follow along with, and other important information to make the most of your practice.

Once again, I want to thank all of your who were able to attend our Kriya Yoga retreat at the Assisi Institute in Rochester. I also have special thanks for Isha Das, Swami Nirvanananda and all the people who contributed to make this retreat a very important experience in so many lives.

I must also thank the students of the 2-Year Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Program, the students of the Kriya Yoga Discipleship Course, and our “Journal of a Kriya Yoga Teacher” Patreon community. It is your support that makes it possible for this teaching ministry to reach so many.

Last but not least, we can thank the Kriya Yoga Teacher/Representatives that have kept this spiritual path alive through our current age: Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswar, Paramahansa Yogananda, Roy Eugene Davis, and their successors.

I look forward to our future times together. I have already begun planning events for 2023. See you then!

Love and All Blessings,

Ryan

For more information about the Assisi Institute please visit: https://assisi-institute.org/.

For more information about Swami Nirvanananda’s music and charitable work, please visit: https://www.nirvanananda.org/.