u/kriya_yogi5674

"The breath is life," said my guru, Yogi Deenbandhu.

And so it is. Life reveals itself through motion. It is action and vibration, that signal the presence of life in the organic and the inorganic alike. Yet one who walks the path of yoga knows that the distinction between alive and dead is a concept of the mind, not a truth of existence. Everything is alive.

Souls move through forms continuously and unconscious, being at the core one within cosmic consciousness, until the moment they remember what they are.

That remembering is called Yoga. While Yoga means union, I would even say, there is no a real union, while the "I" is more related to the body and mind, and was always, an identification tool which at the core it does not exist as we imagine.

So there is a remebering of what we are beyond the "I" being the Ego and beyond the mind.

But because we use language and personas, we have to give names and terms to objects of perception in this manifestation.

Why Souls Take Form

To know the whole manifestation, not as an idea, but as a lived truth, the soul must, for a time, forget itself. It must enter form. It must take on a body, a shape or form of life, whether on this earth or elsewhere, and through the senses of that body, it must feel, perceive, and experience. That human body needs to breathe on this planet.

As a human, the soul also carries a mind, which is a refined instrument for translating und understanding experience, memory, learning, and energy from the perspective of an apparently separate being.

This is not a limitation. It is a design.

At the level of cosmic consciousness, there is no separation to be experienced. One simply knows and feels oneself as all that is. But the soul that has not yet realized itself, veiled by fear, karmic patterns, belief, past experience, or the movements of the mind, takes all of this to be utterly real.

And that, too, is not a mistake. These experiences are not distractions from the path. They are part of the path. They bring genuine, felt knowledge to the cosmic mind, not as philosophy or mental impression, but as living reality.

Experience is the Teaching

The experience itself is the teaching. Not the goal. Not the concept. Not the comparison with others.

A human being can be made, logically and convincingly, to understand the unity of all life. The words can be arranged perfectly. The argument can be flawless. But until that unity is felt in the body, in the breath, in silence, nothing truly changes.

Perception does not shift. Behaviour does not really change. And this, we observe in moments of tension.

The one who has realized the self moves through life differently and that not because they have learned more, but because they are no longer entangled in reactions.

The Role of Breath

The breath is the carrier of prana. When the breath becomes refined, the mind becomes still. When the mind becomes still, the soul recognizes itself.

This you know already.

Now, the breath without prana does not exist. It is prana that has the power of transformation. This is why, for us as Kriya Yogis, what the modern world calls "Breathwork" remains a surface concept, a marketing concept, meant to atract people entangled in the physical world.

The breath, who carries the prana, can move a practitioner outward, toward fear, reactivity, and entanglement..... or inward, toward stillness, freedom, and knowing. The direction depends entirely on how it is guided, and by whom.

When the outward breath ceases to be driven by external effort, something shifts inward.

The practitioner begins to identify not with the body, not with the mind, but with the witness within. And when the breath is transcended entirely into Kevali Kumbhak, one touches the remembrance of what one has always been.

The breath is the key to realization. But it is a key with two sides, the outward breath and the inward breath. By one we experience the world,as being separated from us, and by the other one, we remeber what we are...

What is the Inward Breath?

The inward breath is not something that can be taught in a workshop or explained in a book. It arises, after years of sincere, dedicated practice, on its own. It is not a physical in-and-out movement.

It is closer to breathlessness. In that absence of outward motion, the astral breath is born. This is inner movement. Subtle. Profound. Unmistakable to the one who has touched it.

How does one arrive there? Through practice. Through patience. And through guidance that is genuinely wise.

Wise, not as a compliment, but as experience. A guide who truly knows the breath understands the boundaries and capacity of each student. Without that understanding, the breath cannot be led safely beyond the physical.

It must first be refined, through Maha Mudras, through Kriyas, through Omkar. The 144 Kriyas and beyond are not the destination. They are the preparation. They cleanse the astral body and make the vessel ready for what is to come.

Many years of sincere practice lead eventually to the subtle breath. The subtle breath, in time, opens the door to the astral breath.

One great help to trancend to inner breath is the higher Kriyas.

Progression on the Path

In our lineage, the transmission of a higher Kriya is not a reward for effort or a randome step on a fixed timeline. It is a matter of subtle breath and inner maturity.... is capacity and consistence. The conditions under which such way of breath is taught and practiced, are to be discussed between the guru and the student and not for open discussion.

There are, however, souls of unusual advancement who may receive a higher Kriya before the full capacity has been built. This is rare, and it does not happen by request. It happens by the grace and responsibility of the guru, who in giving the transmission, takes the student's development fully upon himself or herself.

Some lineages offer higher Kriyas within months or after a single year. This is their way, and it may suit certain individuals, particularly those who have already practiced deeply in another lineage or other traditions over many years.

But in general, without the foundation of built capacity, such transmission tends to produce nervousness, disorientation, and a quiet, persistent sense of hopelessness. The practitioner feels the power but lacks the ground to carry it. Anger and frustration may show up.

The path cannot be rushed. It can only be walked in it`s own tempo.

The breath, therefore, is the key to realization together with deep devotion, not as mechanic taught separated, but as a living, complex mechanism that gradually transforms the mind, purifies the prana, and dissolves the veil between the soul and its own nature.

Over the years, I have encountered more and more Kriya practitioners who slowly lose enthusiasm for their practice while life itself begins to feel meaningless, joyless, or disappointing. Some are married, some are single, some are successful in the world, and some are struggling. Yet many experience the same underlying condition: dissatisfaction, sadness, and sometimes even depression.

Why does this happen?

The deepest root is Avidya—ignorance of our true nature. But in practical terms, there are several recurring causes that I see again and again.

The first is expectation.

Many people begin Kriya with the hope that something in life will finally complete them. Some seek a partner. Some seek success. Some seek recognition. Others seek spiritual experiences. They already carry an image in the mind of how life should unfold in order to be happy.

The problem is that expectation itself becomes suffering.

The vasanas awaken, desires arise, and desires give birth to expectations, promising happyness. This is always about the false promise.

Behind every expectation is the hidden belief that something is missing. The mind says, "When this happens, then I will be happy." But when reality fails to match the image, disappointment follows.

Many practitioners also develop greater intuition through Kriya and begin to see through appearances. They notice selfishness, superficiality, falsehood, or unconscious behavior in others. This too can become a source of disappointment. But the problem is not the world. The problem is the mind and its endless demand that reality should be different from what it is.

Do not entertain the mind with endless "what if" scenarios. There is no "what if." There is only what is. Learn to see it clearly.

The second cause is comparison.

People compare their relationships, careers, finances, spiritual experiences, and even their progress in Kriya. This is a complete waste of energy. What you see in others is only what they allow you to see. Behind every appearance there is a hidden reality, hidden struggles, hidden fears, and hidden karma.

Every human being carries a unique karmic path. Why compare your karma with someone else's karma? What exactly are you comparing?

A garbage truck and an ambulance are both vehicles, yet each serves a completely different purpose. Likewise, every life has its own destiny, lessons, and responsibilities. Comparison is not wisdom. It is simply ignorance disguised as intelligence.

The third cause is assumption.

Most of what people know is second-hand knowledge. They hear, read, repeat, and believe. Very little is directly experienced. The senses report information, the mind interprets it, and then we call the result reality.

But how much of what we believe is actually true?

Assumption is easy because investigation requires effort. Most people prefer conclusions over truth. The sincere Kriya practitioner should learn to observe rather than assume.

Use the mind as a tool, not as a master. Use it to organize your life, perform your duties, and practice Kriya properly. Do not use it for endless speculation and daydreaming.

The fourth cause is the desire to control life.

What exactly are you controlling?

You do not consciously control your heartbeat. You do not control digestion. You do not create your thoughts. You do not create your emotions. Most reactions appear before you are even aware of them.

Yet people exhaust themselves trying to control destiny, karma, relationships, outcomes, and circumstances.

Your freedom is far smaller than you imagine. You can act, but the results are never entirely in your hands.

This struggle to control what cannot be controlled creates enormous suffering.

Ultimately, all four causes point back to the same source: the mind.

The mind is not self-knowing. It depends upon the senses, and the senses provide only a limited perception of reality. The mind then builds conclusions upon those perceptions and demands that you believe them.

Why give such authority to something that is so often mistaken?

Practice Kriya sincerely. Do your duties. Create, organize, and plan where necessary, but do not become attached to the results.

Do not expect.

Do not compare.

Do not assume.

Do not try to control everything.

Place the bow and the arrows at the feet of God and have faith.

What must come will come.

What must leave will leave.

The more deeply you understand this, the lighter life becomes. The less you understand it, the more you will find yourself fighting shadows created by your own mind.

And no one has ever won a battle against a shadow.

Do not take your mind as being the highest authority. It will produce mostly suffering.

I’m noticing more and more how many people are drawn to Kriya Yoga and begin practicing without proper initiation or personal guidance.

A group like this can be beautiful for sharing inspirations and reflecting on experiences gathered through many sitting sessions. And yet, I also see a growing tendency to use forums as a substitute for learning with a teacher, sometimes even with the idea that teachers are “gatekeepers,” and that Kriya should be practiced as “Kriya without secrets,” “debunked,” or “shared with everyone.”

This often creates more harm than good.

Kriya is not an IT exam where we collect “correct answers from Internet or books.” It is not built on generic information, but on living, individual experience. The questions and replies online naturally tend to become general—and in spiritual life, almost nothing truly is general.

Society trains us to standardize: to think similarly, to have similar references, to function with a shared “database” of knowledge. That may be practical for daily life on this planet, but it’s not the highest way to live—and it’s not how authentic inner work unfolds.

Many people, especially younger practitioners, approach Kriya as if it were “New Age yoga”: read a book, do some techniques, add a few postures and breathing exercises, and assume that’s the path.

But most books are not meant to replace initiation or guidance. They are often meant to remind us that Kriya exists, to inspire us, and to help us decide to walk the path sincerely.

A book does not know you and does not answer further questions.

At the same time, we live in an era where techniques are sometimes published for attention, marketing, or sales which is more “clickbait” than care.

And some people try to hijack the Kriya stream by framing secrecy as something automatically suspicious. Ironically, secrecy is often accepted when it belongs to institutions or governments, but questioned when it belongs to spiritual traditions.

Yet many authentic paths like Daoism and Buddhism included but also other traditions like Sufism have always had “inner” teachings, shared over time, through relationship, responsibility, and readiness. For a sincere yogi, nothing remains hidden forever. What is needed is seriousness, practice, and the right guidance at the right time.

In every true yogic tradition, it has always been understood that the teaching must be applied differently for each individual, because each one is unique. Over-generalizing is often a sign of spiritual immaturity...not because people are “bad,” but because the inner world is subtle, and subtlety requires the right perception.

You also can’t really ask deep questions about your sadhana without precision, and without a relationship to someone who can actually see you: not only the story you tell, but your energy, your tendencies, your blind spots, and your real capacity in this moment.

Kriya is not dogma. Still, sometimes lineages (or individual teachers) can turn living teachings into rigid doctrine. That can be dangerous, because every teacher expresses truth in a particular way—one “dot” in a vast cosmic dream. There are many realized beings, and there are many approaches.

But one thing remains consistent: traditionally, Kriya is transmitted through personal guidance, often 1-to-1, honoring the individuality of the student. So when serious questions arise, the best place for answers is your initiator or a qualified teacher and not a subreddit or a Facebook group.

We should understand: learning techniques from a book or online does not automatically mean we are on a safe or complete path. Ideally, the initiator is the guide. Sometimes a teacher leaves the body and another teacher supports the student. Sometimes a student needs a different mentor because the right information isn’t coming through. These things can happen naturally.

But a book or social media group is not a teacher—and usually cannot replace what a real teacher-student relationship provides.

So if you feel called to this path: find a teacher, receive proper initiation, and work with that guidance. If it’s not possible to stay close to your initiator, then at least receive initiation sincerely and continue by finding a qualified mentor or guide.

Whether money is involved or not is not the main point. The main point is to walk with someone who has real knowledge and realization.

Don’t waste your lifetime with peanuts. Make the best out of it.

And yes, maybe there are not many Kriya teachers available to you. In that case, it may be that a self-realized teacher from another authentic tradition can guide you deeply. I’ve met Dao and Buddhist teachers as knowledgeable and realized as Kriya teachers. So don’t chase marketing dreams butchase truth.

Find a way. Find a guide. Practice sincerely. And aim for direct experience of Self-realization rather than endless general questions.

Thank you for reading, and blessings on your path.