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S.K.KHUSHU
In every generation, seekers have turned toward the Divine — some through the chanting of hymns, others through temple rituals, and still others through silent meditation in distant caves. The human heart, though clothed in time and circumstance, has always yearned for the Eternal. Yet, in this age of noise and restlessness, Paramahansa Yogananda, the author of the immortal spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi, offered mankind a luminous path that unites ancient wisdom with the practical demands of modern life — the path of Kriya Yoga.
The Eternal Quest and the Modern Mind
The modern individual, burdened by unceasing motion and mental turmoil, often feels that spirituality demands a retreat from the world — a life in monasteries, forests, or mountains. Yet Yogananda, echoing the ancient rishis, declared that God is as near in the marketplace as in the Himalayas. He taught that the divine experience does not depend on physical withdrawal, but on inner withdrawal — the inward turning of consciousness from the senses to the soul.
Through Kriya Yoga, this inward journey becomes a scientific reality. It is not a matter of belief or dogma, but of direct perception — the yoga of divine communion through the control and redirection of life energy (prana). Yogananda called it “the airplane route to God,” a precise, sacred technique that accelerates spiritual evolution.
Kriya Yoga — The Inner Temple of Realization
In temples and shrines across India, the devout pour water on the Shiva Linga, offer flowers, and light lamps — all acts of reverence symbolizing purification and surrender. Kriya Yoga transforms these symbols into inner processes. The devotee no longer offers water outwardly but pours the flow of life-force (prana) upward through the subtle spine, sanctifying the inner altar of consciousness.
This is inner worship — where each breath becomes an oblation, each heartbeat a mantra, and each moment of stillness an offering at the feet of the Infinite. As the practitioner advances, he experiences that the body itself is the true temple and the divine presence the ever-living deity within.
Yogananda explained:
> “Kriya Yoga is the science of controlling life-energy to unite the soul with the Spirit. It transforms ordinary living into a continuous act of worship.”
Beyond Ritual — From Form to Essence
Traditional temple worship, jal chadana, and pooja are deeply sacred when performed with devotion; they uplift the mind toward divine remembrance. Yet they remain symbolic — gestures of aspiration rather than realization. Kriya Yoga, on the other hand, leads the aspirant to experience that which rituals symbolize.
Aspect Outer Worship Kriya Yoga
Nature Devotional ritual, symbolic offering Scientific method of inner communion
Focus External deity or symbol Indwelling Spirit within
Means Water, flowers, lamps, chants Breath, concentration, and life-force
Goal Blessings, peace, and merit Direct realization of God and soul-union
Dependency Priest or ritual form Guru’s teachings and self-effort
Thus, Kriya Yoga is not a replacement for faith, but its fulfillment. It carries the seeker from the outer temple of stone to the living temple of consciousness.
No Need for Caves or Monastic Life
In earlier ages, spiritual attainment was often equated with renunciation of worldly life. The seeker would forsake home and hearth, retreat to the mountains, and spend years in meditation. But Yogananda’s divine mission was to show that renunciation is not of duties, but of inner attachments.
He demonstrated that one can lead a family life, engage in work, and yet live inwardly free — practicing Kriya Yoga daily, turning the home into a hermitage and work into worship. In his own words:
“Be calmly active and actively calm. Be in the world, but not of it.”
In the quietude of dawn or in a brief pause after daily duties, the Kriya Yogi enters into communion with the Divine — not as a remote abstraction, but as an ever-living Presence that guides and sanctifies every action.
A Path of Practical Spirituality
Kriya Yoga is uniquely suited for the modern age. It is a science, not bound by religion or nationality. Its practice brings tangible transformation — calmness of mind, clarity of thought, strength of will, and spontaneous love for God and all beings. It harmonizes the spiritual and the material, teaching balance rather than escape.
As the practice deepens, the practitioner begins to feel divine joy independent of outer circumstances — the unchanging bliss that underlies life itself. In that state, worship becomes unceasing; every act becomes sacred.
The Gateway to Kriya Yoga
Those who wish to follow this sacred path must first receive instruction in the preliminary meditation techniques, offered through Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS) — founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1917 — or through its international counterpart, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), headquartered in the United States.
After sincere practice of these preliminary lessons, one becomes eligible for initiation into Kriya Yoga, a sacred ceremony of divine empowerment, linking the devotee spiritually with the great Gurus of this lineage — Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswar, and Paramahansa Yogananda.
Interested seekers may visit:
Yogoda Satsanga Society of India: https://yssofindia.org Self-Realization Fellowship: https://yogananda.org
The Autobiography of a Yogi, available both free online and in all major bookstores, is the ideal introduction to this sacred science. It is not merely a book, but a living spiritual vibration that awakens the soul’s memory of its divine origin.
From Outer Devotion to Inner Realization
The time has come for mankind to move from belief to experience, from outer symbols to inner realization. The spiritual renaissance of the modern age will not arise from only new temples or dogmas, but from awakened individuals who live by inner communion with the Divine.
Through the daily practice of Kriya Yoga, one discovers that the Infinite is not distant. God is not confined to images or rituals but breathes through every atom, lives through every soul, and waits within each heart to be realized.
As Yogananda beautifully affirmed:
“Cease being a devotee at a distance; become a divine lover of God through the practice of Kriya Yoga.”
In this sacred realization, religion finds its fulfillment, worship finds its essence, and man finds his eternal Self.
(Author is Editorial Advisor, The Chancellor)
