Re:KY Kriyas - CONCEPT OF KRIYA IN KUNDALINI YOGA AND HATHA YOGA

[Guest guest]

Sat Nadh Singh,

Regarding the "rigidity/flexibility" question.

First off, you have some room for "creativity" during the warm-ups. You

also have a tremendous amount of flexibility on what you do with your

mind, breath and focus during the exercises and during the rests in

between. In Yoga we are challenged to draw on our inner resources and

anchor with what is infinite rather than what is finite. You can also

always do Kripalu as a separate session before or after a Kundalini set.

One other thing. Once you have decided what it is you need or want to

accomplish, either as a focus on growth or perhaps you have a health

concern, then you have the comfort of knowing that a given Kundalini

Kriya will work to open up a channel and give one the freedom to

manifest a more integrated and empowered presence and sense of being.

To some extent you *are* giving up some some short term freedom and

flexibility for the a long term and more robust freedom and

flexibility. Tune in with the ADI Mantra deeply (I'll repeat it 5-10

times in my private practice) so that you feel connected to the golden

Chain. I'll also do Japji, and or, Bound Lotus Kriya before my regular

practice so that my ego will rest and take a back seat. Stillness is

the objective, at any rate.

 

The below is from an earlier KRI manual. It will help open up your

thinking on what a Kriya actually is.

 

Blessings all around,

Dharam Singh

Millis, MA

 

CONCEPT OF

KRIYA IN KUNDALINI YOGA AND HATHA YOGA

 

You’ll find the word kriya

used frequently. Kriya yoga,

kundalini kriyas,

and Kriya shakti. The root

word kriya means action, but it has

very specific connotations. In Kundalini

Yoga, Kriya shakti is the power of the soul to manifest itself into

each realm

of experience: the realm of the mind

through proper thought; the realm of the body, through proper movement,

shape,

form; and the realm of action through the power of the will to manifest

creativity that serves the Infinite.

Kriya is also often called tattva

shakti, which is the ability of the great soul of the universal

self to

create new categories, levels of manifestation in mind body and in the

world. Kriya is not just any reflex or

action, but an action that leads to a complete manifestation; that lets

a seed

come to bloom, a thought come into actuality, a desire become a

commitment.

When you learn to act with kriya, then action

becomes

synchronous with the larger pattern of the Self. We

get into kriya by the removal of blocks,

attachments, blindness and ego that hold us back from acting when we

ought to

act.

To act with kriya is a state of spontaneous flow. It’s free of all of the blocks. You

apply great effort just when great effort

should be applied. You apply great

relaxation just when great relaxation should be applied.

There is a perfect match between the inner

and outer, between the inner resources and the outer demands. There is no gap of doubt, no hesitation, no

partial support of the action by only one area of your mind and not

another. That sense of wholeness and

appropriateness to the action creates a grace in your body, a central

power in

your thought, and a projective ability in your mind.

Mastering kriya brings with it a sense of grace,

power, and

the ability to complete things. You act

both timelessly and timely. Kriya is not

a random collection of actions. As you put together a transmission in a

car--there’s a number of gears that have to be in place and they have

to be

there in a certain sequence and then the power that’s in the motor can

be

transferred to the wheels and you can go where you need to--just so, a

kriya in

yoga is a sequence of postures, breath, and sound that are integrated

together

to allow the manifestation of a particular state. When

you do a Kundalini kriya, the result of

its repetition is the access to, and mastery of a particular,

predictable and

stable state--a facet of your awareness.

 

terrarium44 wrote:

 

Sat nam!

Thank you everyone in helping me deepen my understanding of KY. I'm in a bit of a dilemma at the moment, wondering about whether I should pursue the KY teacher training or the Kripalu teacher training. Although I resonate quite strongly to the mantras and song (hence my spiritual name, Nadh or "Naad"), and also to the exercises, I feel a bit of resistance when it comes to the rigidity of the kriyas... other types of yoga offer a flexibility in the asanas--I can, for example, choose to take out cobra pose if I want to one week, and replace it with mountain pose. I find this to be a very creative process.

Is there any way that KY can offer me the chance for me to express my creativity?

Thank you again!

Nadh