The earliest references to yogic ideas appear in the Vedas, especially the Rig Veda and Atharva Veda passed down through memorization 3000 years ago, until Patanjali recorded them in the Yoga Sutras. Here, “yoga” (from yuj, “to yoke or unite”) referred to discipline, focus, and the union of human consciousness with the divine. The practice offers a universal path toward inner freedom.
This article begins with a narrative of this seeker’s path.
Then it goes into the lineage and how this seeker came across various lineages. You can skip to the tidbits about the lineage and organizations Here.
Then, we will delve in to the essence of yoga.
There’s a little bit of yoga history, followed by basic information for preparing for kriya yoga. and how various organizations within the same lineage approach initiation differently.
One Seeker’s Path
My name is Emmy. I was born into a scientifically-minded, academic-oriented, skeptical, anti-religious household. I was the youngest, blessed with regular home-cooked meals, a stable home, music lessons, and the privilege of world travel. From a young age, however, I stood apart from my family. I was contemplative and intuitive, quietly witnessing the joyful, connected churchgoers on the island of Barbados where we lived for a few years. My family did not value church, because of the historic atrocities that dogma had engendered, so we never went. Our family spent recreational time playing in the ocean, practicing piano and tennis, and developing individual hobbies. Without being encouraged to do so, I was drawn to the teachings of Jesus and Buddha, and I adopted compassion and love as guiding values, but without a formal spiritual practice.
Raised in a secular environment that often mocked religious groups, I learned to suppress my spiritual curiosity. But with the rise of the internet around 2000, I began exploring world religions, seeking common ground and crafting my own spiritual philosophy. I had no fixed religious identity, which gave me freedom to synthesize ideas… but I still did not meditate. Along with the rise of the internet came all the distractions and pitfalls of the internet, too!
Years later, as a Hatha Yoga teacher, I taught classes infused with positive psychology and mindful movement. I experienced the transformative power of yoga asana… but again, I did not meditate. Life was full, but beneath the surface, I was restless and lacking the stillness through which divine wisdom could pour through.
The Dark Night of the Soul
Eventually, my willy-nilly, self-directed spiritual compass led me into suffering, illness, and disconnection. The image I prompted AI to make above is what was happening in my mind, body, and soul after at my lowest point, my partner handed me Autobiography of a Yogi and the Bhagavad Gita. These two sacred texts changed my life. Two years later, prayer and chanting (both once foreign and awkward) have become deep sources of joy and transcendence. I can now lift my gaze upwards, settle my mind, and if my general daily actions are habitually aligned with the principles of Yoga, then I can enter into a place of bliss beyond space-time that I previously could not even imagine. I’m not established in this space like the masters, but I’ve had a taste, and I’ll never give up until it’s my Modus Operandi. This is why I started Kriya House, and why I tell you this story.
Jai Guru
I began studying Paramahansa Yogananda’s lessons through the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), and in the summer of 2023, I started meditating daily. On the third lesson, I learned how to listen for God’s response to my prayer. In the fourth lesson, the Hong Sau lesson taught me how to focus my mind on my breath and the thought that I am That / That I am… Hong Sau /So Hum.
What a miracle, the teachings worked right from the very first lesson where I sat quietly in a posture. I felt more peaceful, though as my discipline continued, I had to sit through the discomfort of cathartis. Sitting quietly, energies surfaced that had been long buried. It wasn’t always easy, but I felt unmistakably that I was finally on the right path. In the fifth lesson I learned energization exercises that brought prana to every cell of my body. I’ve embedded the Ananda community’s version of it below…
The regularity and discipline that Self-realization fellowship provided was crucial for my own habit-development and scientific experimentation of exploring: Does this work? Can I get out of my self-created hell using these techniques? Through the beautiful stillness of meditation, my nervous system calmed down. My heart became more compassionate, calm, peaceful, and helpful wisdom would come out of my mouth and help those suffering in this realm alongside this body.
SRF is a big, worldwide organization run by a central headquarters in LA with publishing company and many volunteers. Along with their original mission to bridge Hindu and Christian, they model their organization after christian monastic orders, and they have to adhere to procedures that help them run a big organization, but can make them feel a bit stuffy to a free spirit like myself. The above video was created by Ananda, an organization founded by Yogananda’s disciple Kriyananda. He personally started the Ananda communities with Yogananda’s blessings. His communities are a blend of monastics and householder devotees. They are rich with music, gardens, and communities around the world. SRF did sue Kriyananda for copyright infringement, and they won the right to his written works. There are many other organizations that come from the root of the practice, Lahiri Mahasaya, who has grandchildren who run Kriya Ashrams in India… not to mention Lahiri baba’s disciples and Sri Yukteswar’s disciples who, many of them, became advanced yogis.
The man pictured below is Lahiri Mahsaya, to whom Kriya Pranayama was revealed. He said his guru, Mahavatar Babaji, “I pray that you permit me to communicate Kriya to all sincere seekers… The tortured men and women of the world… need special encouragement.”
Babaji gave permission to “Give Kriya freely to all who humbly ask for help…” And by God, they did, and we are so grateful they came all the way to Lakewood, Colorado.
What a beautiful gift that Lakewood Colorado hosted not just the Self-Realization fellowship, my foundation for meditation, but Kriya Internationals Rocky Mountain range ashram.
My Kriya Yoga path deepened as I became initiated by Sri Nidhi Baba (pictured in white) and Paramahamsa Prajnananda (in orange).
Here were these men who had attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi. They probably go into that state within moments of concentration. Here at the Temple of Peace, we could be guided in our practice, ask questions, and go deeper. This is a place where the Swami’s and Acharya’s lead by example and guide the community.
The chants of Yoganandaji that I learned at SRF were equally loved there. Their organization being smaller meant they were also more flexible with plenty of room for improvement. I could see right away they needed help with website maintenance. Their celebrations were also in need of music, so my partner and I gladly filled the void with many notes. Here we are below, with behind us our newly appointed resident Swami, Chadrupananda.
The Essence of Yoga
Yoga is far more than the physical exercise that mainstream yogis ascribe to. It is an ancient, systematic path of self-realization refined over thousands of years. The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, meaning “to yoke” or “to unite.” Yoga unites body, mind, and spirit with the Divine essence within. In an attempt to secularize Yoga in gyms and schools in the West, the elements of devotion and prayer have been stripped from American Yoga practice.
Its foundations can be traced to the Vedas, Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita, which all describe yoga as a path toward union with the ultimate reality, Brahman. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras later articulated this path into eight limbs, providing a practical map for spiritual growth:
- Yamas – Ethical restraints (nonviolence, truth, non-stealing, moderation, non-greed)
- Niyamas – Personal observances (purity, contentment, discipline, self-study, surrender to the Divine)
- Asana – Steady, comfortable postures for health and meditation
- Pranayama – Breath & life-force control
- Pratyahara – Withdrawal of the senses inward
- Dharana – Concentration
- Dhyana – Meditation
- Samadhi – Superconscious union with the Divine
These limbs work together to cultivate ethical living, embodied presence, concentrated awareness, and ultimately, spiritual realization. I love this image that BoYoga has created, which illustrates how they are not separate branches or gradual steps, but elements of Yoga that synthesize together and become stronger and deeper with practice.
Paramahansa Yogananda and the Modern Bridge
In the early 20th century, Paramahansa Yogananda, following in the wake of Swami Vivekananda, brought the spiritual science of Yoga to the West. How opportune and necessary of a contribution, during the dawning of the hectic and disconnected lifestyle of the industrial revolution! Through his book Autobiography of a Yogi, lectures, and the establishment of the Self-Realization Fellowship, Yogananda introduced millions to meditation and universal spiritual principles. You can read his book* and watch the documentary “Awake” to learn about his personal journey and the growth of his organization, Self-Realization Fellowship.
He described God as beyond intellectual grasp but directly accessible through inner experiences of peace, love, calm, sound, light, vibration, wisdom, and joy. His teachings are practical, universal, and deeply experiential: “Experiment on yourself,” he urged, “and you will find God.”
Introduction to Kriya Yoga
Lahiri Mahasaya said, “Kriya Yoga is the quickest way to reach God,” while Yogananda called it “the most effective method of attaining union with God; it is the science of the soul.” If you have issues with religion, Yogananda’s first lecture in Boston is now a published booklet called “The Science of Religion.” He defines religion there as the science of finding lasting happiness — the inner quest common to all souls, and the path to which is laid out in religious scripture, though often hijacked by dogma. And in Lesson 3 of the SRF lessons, he describes how we can experience God directly, though the entirety of God is ineffable, our experience of God comes as light, sound, vibration, love, peace, joy, calm, and wisdom. Defining it as such, you may proceed without the healthy skepticism that’s kept you grounded in the 21st century!
Originating in ancient India and revived in the 19th century by Mahavatar Babaji through Lahiri Mahasaya, Kriya Yoga combines breath control (pranayama), meditation, mudras, chanting, visualization, and devotional practices. It focuses on the subtle energy in the spine, offering a “spinal highway” to higher consciousness.
“For one who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, the mind will be the greatest enemy.”
— Bhagavad Gita, 6:6
Kriya Yoga is not for everyone at the outset. It requires daily devotion, inner stillness, and sincere preparation. But preliminary meditation, breathwork, and asana are accessible to all, and they form the fertile soil in which the powerful seed of Kriya can take root. This preliminary meditation is something that we at Kriya House often guided our friends and visitors through. Sometimes these preliminaries are so simple, yet the results are so profound.
Preparation for Kriya
Before initiation, sincere aspirants are encouraged to develop:
- Regular meditation and preliminary pranayama practice
- Familiarity with yogic ethical principles (yamas and niyamas)
- Emotional stability through self-reflection or therapy
- A clear intention to practice consistently
- Connection to a supportive spiritual community or satsang
I’m going to list many sources of information, but the above tendencies will develop naturally on the path anyway. Jump in anywhere it calls you!
The Self-Realization Fellowship’s 18-lesson correspondence course gradually prepares students for Kriya initiation, introducing theory, lifestyle, and meditation techniques step by step. I already referenced lesson 3, which had a profound impact on my experience of “God.” After completing the lessons, students meet with monastics to assess readiness and make a pledge to meditate daily—morning and evening—before receiving the sacred Kriya initiation and further lessons. SRF emphasizes gradual preparation through lessons and formal initiation. Volunteer-led temples exist all around the world, and you can likely find one near you.
The Temple of Peace hosts 6 weekend initiations a year, and this requires no preliminaries! However, they teach you 8 techniques all at once that can take an hour to complete, and this can be overwhelming. It would have been for me. But it’s also a valid path that I would recommend.
The Ananda organizations path to kriya yoga is much like SRFs, with 4 successive courses totaling in 44 weeks of courses preparing you before initiation.
Swami Satyam has a Youtube channel where he offers initiation in both Hindi and English, and welcomes anybody to come to his ashram’s for no charge.
Roy Eugene Davis’ disciple Ryan Kurzak hosts the Kriya Yoga online, which has a podcast on youtube and patreon, and hosts classes and workshops, too. He doesn’t take on many full-time students, but he is a good source of online information.
The kriya international also has a womens ministry of kriya yoga that has a podcast.
The organization descended directly from Lahiri’s bloodline is run by his grandson Shri Ujjwal Lahiri, who carries it on from his father Shibendu Lahiri. This family tradition known as Vansha Parampara (dynastic lineage) keeps with the ancient Rishi tradition, and believes that “Truth cannot be organized.” Consequently, teachings are offered freely without set fees (relying only on voluntary dakshina), centered around the private family shrine and temple, Satyalok (“Abode of Truth”), in Varanasi, India. They deliver this through an immersive, three-day initiation program where Day 1 is Swadhyaya (self study, self-inquiry), Day 2 is Tapah (the practices) and day 3 is Ishwara pranidhan (surrender to the divine.)
Kriya Practice and the Effects of Burning Karma
Kriya Yoga accelerates spiritual evolution by intensifying the purifying effects of meditation. Practitioners often experience heightened awareness and a deepening sense of inner peace as karmic patterns—habitual mental, emotional, and energetic cycles—begin to dissolve.
Difficult emotions or physical sensations may arise as energy clears. These are natural and temporary, best met with patience, grounding practices like walking or gentle asana, and guidance from teachers or spiritual friends. Over time, the practice cultivates equanimity, intuitive clarity, and devotion.
Kriya Lineage and Diversity
After Lahiri Mahasaya’s passing, his disciples carried forward the teachings in various ways. Some emphasized strict orthodoxy; others adapted practices to modern contexts. Some focused on public dissemination, others on quiet personal transmission. This diversity reflects the Divine Mother’s love for her many children: different souls resonate with different flavors of the same essential truth.
Rather than debate lineages, practitioners are encouraged to honor all authentic paths, recognizing that the essence is one.
Invitation to Practice
Yoga and Kriya Yoga are not merely philosophies to study. They are disciplines to live and experience. Begin where you are: with breath, stillness, and sincere intention. If you feel called to go deeper, the path of Kriya offers a structured, luminous way to accelerate your growth and communion with the Divine.
Kriya House joyfully endorses all of the paths above as authentic avenues for initiation and practice. We started Kriya House to dissolve any tensions between organizations and to promote cross-pollination of various communities. You are warmly invited to join our community meditations, deepen your practice, and prepare for initiation at your own pace. We do not personally initiate anyone, as we are still babies on the journey! You can access the initiation programs through our community-events calendar !
“In meditation, the soul begins to understand its unity with all beings, leading to the realization of God.” — Paramahansa Yogananda
Om. Shanti. Peace. Amen. 🌿
Resources
- 📖 Read Autobiography of a Yogi
- 🕊️ Enroll in SRF Lessons
- 🪷 Temple of Peace Initiation Programs (You can also drop by any Sunday at 11:30am to hear the lesson and discourse, usually followed by lunch.)
- 🧘 Join us at any of these events hosted or attended by the Kriya House family (basically Ryan and Emmy, and whoever we inspire along the way.)