Rajarshi Peter van Breukelen

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Yoga Sutras of Patanjali In The Light of Kriya Yoga

Peter van Breukelen

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Introduction

We are all divine. Do you feel that? That you are divine? Why not? We are all created by the creator, and without creator we cannot exist; you have no body form, you cannot do anything, so without God we have nothing. So we should feel that we are divine, and many times human being is forgetting it and we should not forget. This is our trouble. Thats why were getting so much of problems in life. We forget our real Divine nature. If you understand your real Divine nature, your life will not be troublesome. So, how to get that Divinity?

Illusions are many. This maya, this illusionary world is very strong and its not easy to overcome your negative. But if you have the real desire to know the Truth, then you can make a start to change your life and to get more realization. So, Kriya Yoga meditation is all about that. Kriya Yoga meditation is not just a technique with some physical exercise and some techniques to get some calmness or to get a healthy body. Kriya Yoga meditation is more than that. Kriya Yoga meditation is all about Self-realization. Paramahansa Yogananda, he called it Self-Realization Fellowship. The realization of your true Self, to understand, that you are not the body. You have a body, but you are the Soul, power of God. Without that Soul you have nothing. So, to understand that Soul, but how to understand it? Because the Soul is not visible, you cannot grasp it. You cannot hold it in your hands. Its there and its not there. So, if you want to get that Soul consciousness, you first have to go beyond the limitations of body, mind, intellect, all your thoughts, so you have to go to another level of consciousness. Its all about consciousness, awareness. Most of the time, human being remains in physical consciousness, body consciousness. So, that is very strong in our activities of daily life. All the time absorbed in these five sense organs, all the time having some desire. And from one thing into another, we are passing our days and doing so many things in life and were forgetting about our true Divine nature. In Kriya meditation, you go beyond all your body thoughts, sense organs, and in that state, you can realize your true Self. And if you practice it with sincerity, with devotion, its possible to get that state of Divinity. But the basis of your meditation starts in your daily life. Because, if your daily life is not balanced, then, also in meditation, you cannot make real progress. There is one authentic book on Yoga, which explains how to get that samadhi, this union, oneness with God. Its a very interesting book. Its written by Patanjali, its the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and its a very ancient book, one of the first books written on yoga, and Patanjali is writing how to get samadhi, how to get realization, and he calls it the Yoga of eight limbs, eight parts. The body has different parts, and all these different parts together make the whole body. So, yoga has also different parts and all these different parts together make it one whole. In that book, two times is mention about yoga, a form of yoga, and he calls it Kriya yoga. So there is no mentioning of other forms of yoga, he also names it Kriya yoga. So, Patanjali is writing hot to get to that state of realization.

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Yama & Niyama The first and the second step he calls yama and niyama. Yama and niyama is no meditation technique, it is actually all those activities, which you do during your daily life. All actions, which you do in your daily life, make what you really are. So, yama and niyama means to balance your daily activities. To have a balanced life in the material world [in muladhara chakra, base of spine], the material activities, to have a balanced life in your sexual activities [in swaddhistana chakra, second center], to use that sexual energy in the right way, for the spiritual purpose. God has given us this sexual energy to continue the creation. So, we are born because of that. So use it for that purpose, and not for other purposes, then youll be free from too many desires in that center. And then, the third center [manipura chakra, navel center] is your food and drink habits. If they are not under control, then you cannot get the real meditation, samadhi state. It should be balanced, you should live a balanced diet, eat the right food, take that food which you can digest nicely, so that you get strength, vitality through your food and you can overcome negative habits in your navel center. Your heart should be pure [anahata chakra, heart center]. A pure heart can receive Divinity. If the heart is not pure, then you cannot get God consciousness. God is love, and love is God. So, we should love God and make our heart pure to get more Divinity. So, your religious activities should be there [visuddha chakra, throat and neck], your spiritual activities should be there, otherwise you remain on the physical plane. So, one way or the other, you should find some methods, some techniques, by which you can connect yourself with The Divine. So if you do all these actions in the right way, in your daily life, then youre practicing yama and niyama. This is the basis of your meditation. And if this basis is not there, then you cannot really meditate. Because, if the basis is small, and on that basis you want to evolve spiritually, then, if the basis is small, then, the building will not be strong. It will fall. If the basis is strong, it means, if your life is a balanced life, then, the basis is strong, and from that basis you can build on spirituality, going on the high level of Divinity.

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Asana The third limb, the third step of Patanjali is called asana. Asana. It means seat, the place where you sit for meditation. So usually, when we practice Kriya meditation, we sit on the ground, or on the chair. But actually, in meditation, were sitting not on the ground. Youre sitting in fontanel. This is the seat of your meditation in Kriya yoga. So when you sit for meditation, you sit in fontanel, on top of the head and calmly remain there. This is the seat for meditation, asana.

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Pranayam So when youve done that, the fourth step, pranayam. Prana is life energy, but that life energy is generated by your breath. With the help of the breath, that life energy, which is in the whole body, is generated by this prana, this breathing. So, breath should be controlled, and Kriya yoga is also about this controlling of breath. Because, if your breath is not under control, then you all the time will be restless. If your breath is under control, youll be calm and quiet. You can get vitality, you can get strength if you control your breath. So, all the time, watch your breath. Like Paramahamsa Hariharananda all the time told, Breath control is self control, breath mastery is self mastery, breathlessness stage is deathlessness stage. So if you control your breath, you can control your Self. Its so easy. If youre restless, if you have many desires, your breath is very irregular, qu icker, heartbeat is more, youre getting restlessness, because you have no control over your Self. And if your breath is calm and quiet, then you feel that youre at ease, you feel very pleasant, everything is easy going, your mind will be very clear, youll be calm and quiet, peaceful, in that state, you get more Divinity. So, in Kriya Yoga, we control our breath. All the time watch your breath. How is your breath? And, when you are getting restlessness, or if you have desires, and you want to be free from that, then just for one or two minutes, you control your breath, keep attention on fontanel, slow, deep in- and exhalations, after few minutes, youll be calm and quiet. You can change any negative mood by controlling your
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breath. So, if you know that, how that functions, and you be aware of that, then, all the time, you can be peaceful. So, not only during your meditation watch that breath, but also during your daytime, in your daily activities. Any time you have the possibility to take a few minutes away from your activities in the world watch your breath. Calm breath, controlled breath, peaceful breath, then, everything becomes very balanced. So easy is Kriya yoga. So easy is life. So be aware of your breath. It can help you a lot. And breath is the first thing you need in life. Without breath you cannot live for a long time. You can live for many weeks without any food, you can live a few days without some water, but without breath, you cannot live very long time. Breath is your first necessity to live. Breath is your life. So, watch your breath. So, this is very essential in Kriya yoga: The controlling of the breath, that prana energy, because if your breath is regulated, if you get enough oxygen in your body, in your brain, then the whole body can function also better. So watch that breath, control it.

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Pratyahar So, after pranayam, there is pratyahar [fifth limb]. It means to withdraw the five sense organs from this outer world. The five sense organs are all the time going into the outer world. Youre looking, youre hearing, youre talking, the sense organs are all the time busy with this outer world. But in meditation, we go in the opposite direction. The five sense organs are going inside. Your eyes, you concentrate inside, inner light. The ears, you concentrate inside, Divine sound you can hear. So, in meditation of Kriya Yoga we concentrate in that Divine sound and Divine light, we go inside calmly, and you get that peace within a short time. So, youre watching that light, sound, and also the vibration, which is there, on top of the head, pulsation, pendulum movement, so by concentrating in that experience of sound, light, vibration you can introvert your sense organs, you can bring that energy inside. So, you are no more in the outer world. It is not there anymore, because youre hearing sound, youre getting light, youre getting some of that Divinity, and the more you remain in it, it will be more clear. More light, more sound will come, meditation becomes deeper. Pratyahar to withdraw the five sense organs from the outer world. In the beginning it may be a little bit difficult, because the nature of these five sense organs is always, to go outside. The moment you wake up in the morning, your sense organs are going to the outer world. And the whole day it is projected in the outer world. And in the night, it goes inside again. So thats very nice. Sleep is very nice. Why? Because in sleep, youre getting rest, youre getting new energy, charging the body, and in sleep you are in samadhi, in deep meditation, because in sleep you dont have trouble. You have no sorrows, you have no pain, so sleep is wonderful. Youre free from all sorrows and troubles. So maybe we should sleep more,
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[laughing] or not? Is more sleep good? Because in the time you sleep, you cannot do anything negative. [Question, What about nightmares?] Nightmares. That is not real sleep. Im talking about deep sleep. Nightmares and dreams are coming in the time between waking and deep sleep. There is some time in between that, and it usually happens before you go into deep sleep, or in the morning, when you come from your deep sleep again, coming to waking state, before you really awake, coming to the dream state. So when you sleep more, youre getting more dreams. So actually in that state, youre not really resting anymore. The body is not getting much rest from that. So if you stay longer in bed, saying, I will sleep a little longer, nice, youre not getting much rest. - Better to wake up and start the day. Because that dream state is nice, if you have a nice dream. You get nice dreams, when you meditate nicely, when youre in a Divine, balanced state of consciousness, you get nice and beautiful dreams. And nightmares usually come, when youre not so much balanced, or maybe from other reasons, like in late evening, when you take a lot of food, then go to bed, then you get also trouble like death, so, better just before sleeping not to go with full stomach and the real sleep, the deep sleep is the state in which you get new energy. So thats important, the deep sleep. But usually its not more than six hours. Five, six hours should be enough. And the rest of your sleeping is just for fun [laughter]. So dont sleep too much. [Question, Which is a good way, to wake yourself up, with a clock or something?] You can do, yeah. [nodding] Some, they need an alarm clock to wake up, others just, at a certain time they automatically get up. It is just a habit. Guru Hariharanandaji, and also Prajnanandaji, they wake up at 4:30, 4:00-4:30 every morning. Even Hariharanandaji in his old age, just before he died, he was waking up at 4:30, early morning. [ Question, Going to bed at?] - Going to bed at ten. Guru was usually going between ten and eleven, he would go to bed, and if he was little bit tired in daytime, he would take a nap in the afternoon. So its a little different timing, it is an Indian system. Because in India in the summer it is very hot in the daytime, so you take some rest. But normal sleep shouldnt be so muc h. So, pratyahar, to withdraw the five senses from the outer world.

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Dharana & Dhyana Then sixth [limb], dharana means contemplation, to remain in one point: Fontanel. In meditation, we concentrate there, you remain there in your meditation. And if you remain there for some time, you get more calmness, more Divinity, deeper meditation, control of the body, thoughts, sense organs. You remain in one point. Your concentration remains fixed without going anywhere else. So youre contemplating. Calmly sitting in fontanel and remaining there. And if you continue like that for some time, if this contemplation, this being absorbed in one point goes on for a little more time, then you get dhyan, meditation [seventh limb]. Then youre meditating. Continuous. This consciousness on top is continuing, and continuing, and you get meditation. So when we practice Kriya yoga, after the Kriya breathing, we go into the parabasta. Then you go into meditation. You remain on top and be free from body consciousness, thoughts, sense organs. It will last maybe a little time, sometimes only one minute, that you have no thoughts, or, if you are lucky, a little bit longer, even if you have few minutes, completely free from any thought, you meditate nicely, because thoughts are coming all the time. So, to be without thoughts is not come that it will last for a long time. But of course, when you practice the Kriya techniques better, and with more sincerity, you can remain longer in meditation. So thats why its important that you, when you do the techniques, that you do it with devotion, and you try to charge the body also with a lot of oxygen through deep breathing, so the more oxygen is in your body and in your brain, the longer you can sit in meditation. Because in meditation, your breath becomes very feeble, very little.

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Samadhi And, as long as that breath will be like that, feeble, that samadhi state will remain [eigth limb]. You can remain more in samadhi. And when the body says, I need more oxygen, it starts to breath more and deeper. Then automatically, you get more body consciousness. So if you charge your body more with deeper breathing, with more Kriya breath, then you can sit longer in meditation. So if your meditation becomes deeper, when you go really deep in meditation, then you have the chance to go into samadhi. Samadhi is not in the body, it is beyond everything. Then you really can feel, that the energy is coming up through the chakras to fontanel and your consciousness goes beyond everything, goes into the Formless. We also call it cosmic consciousness. Youre completely absorbed in Divinity, you are one with the universe. Everything is then one. There is no separation between you and this universe, this cosmos. This is samadhi. It is just like, when a drop of water falls in the ocean, it falls in the ocean and you want to look, there is no drop of water to see, there is only ocean, it becomes one. So the individual soul becomes one with the universal soul. One! You have no separate identity anymore. One with everything, and everything is one. Samadhi. When you experience that, when you go to that state, then you get sat chit ananda. You exist, you have consciousness, and you have bliss. Free from all illusions. Then, maya has no grip on you anymore, the illusions, you have come beyond that. So that is a beautiful state of consciousness, and were trying to get that in our meditation, and I think, everybody likes to have that, everybody wants to be happy, but many times, we seek that happiness in things which are passing.

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Epilogue So. This world is a passing show. Now we are in this body, now we are in this moment of our life, but this will not remain. One day, everything will be gone. This body will be gone, it cannot remain forever. This is just a passing show. This is just a time to get realization. So we are on our way to somewhere else. We came from the Formless, and well go back into the Formless. So dont be attached to this world, to this body, because if you have too much attachment, then you get more troubles. If you are more detached, then you get more freedom. So, all the saints, all the masters, all the realized persons, they were detached from their worldly desires. They had gone beyond, so they were free, because they were on that other level of consciousness. So when youre clever, you will be detached. Not so easy. [smiling] You want to enjoy - many things. [Question, Dont we also need to have some understanding of the earthly world, to let it go?] Yes. You should understand this life in this world to also understand whats beyond that. First, you understand how it works, and then let it go. Leave it behind. Be detached. First, you have attachment, first you have to live and to understand, and then, if you have the chance, the possibility, if you have the desire, then you can go beyond. But many people they cannot. They remain their whole life in that world, in the forms. Many people say, There is no God. What I can see, that I believe, so I dont see any God, I only see this world, these outer forms, so this is the reality, and what I cannot see, that is not reality. But there is much more, than the outer world, but you cannot see it, if you remain in body consciousness. So you have to go beyond body consciousness, to get that other state of consciousness which is beyond; beyond body, beyond mind, beyond thinking, beyond these outer forms. In the Formless you have to go. So that is meditation. Thats what we do. Go beyond the body. So then you can understand that there is more than this world, these outer forms. On one side we have to be busy in this world, because we have this body to take care of, you cannot ignore that. You have to work, you have to get some money to live, and to be active and to do your duties and your job, and your family life. You shouldnt run away from that. Thats also important, so on one side you should also do that, but on the other side you should also know, that this passing thing is not remaining. Its not the aim of life. Love is very essential, and love is all about God. So, the human being has the possibility to love. So, everybody should love each other, and help each other, and be kind to each other, and serve each other, thats also serving God.
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You cannot remain all the time in samadhi state. Kriya yoga is only for some time, youre sitting for meditation, and you go to that deeper meditation, or you try to do, to get that samadhi state, but then, youre again in your world, in your duties, your job and your task, which you have in life. It doesnt matter, what the task, big or small, but whatever you have to do in this world, you try to do best as you can, in a loving way. To serve, if you have the duty to serve others, to help others, you should try best as you can. [Question about helping others] You should help them surely, how to cope with everything, but also with worldly life and the worldly affairs. I think all the pain which the people are getting is there, because there is some disharmony. There something is not in balance. Either in the physical plane, in what they are doing in their daily life, theyre having some troubles somewhere, so the balance is not there. And meditation is all about balance. If you have a balanced life, you dont get any difficulties. And if you get difficulties, you know how to solve them. But if there is no balance, by one reason or another reason, then, youre getting trouble. So if theres this dis-balance, you should find a solution. Whats the cause of trouble, and what you can do about it? And love is the best thing you can do, to help others. Because many people, they just want some loving person, who helps them, listens to them, and also to bring them on the right way, because they are lost, theyve lost their way in the life. So you should find a way, and actually, the only way to God or to realization, or to truth, or to happiness is in everybodys Self. So the real truth is inside. So everybody is different. Everybody has a different way of thinking, about doing things, and everything has something unique. Everybody is unique in this world. So you are something very special. There is nobody like you. There is only one, who can get realization, thats you. Because, when you are not getting it, who is getting it? So the only way to get truth and understanding and spirituality is to go inside. And we are most of the time seeking outside. You can go in the whole world, on pilgrimage, to find God. Holy places, here and there, to the Truth and God. Maybe you get some nice experiences, but in the end you will know, it was there all the time inside, because, if its not inside, then its nowhere. And if you experience the Truth inside, you can see it is everywhere. Its a mystery. Life is a mystery.

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How to understand it? God, you cannot understand. It cannot be explained with words. If you want to explain God, you have to be silent. So in this silence, when we meditate, we go, in this silence. And thats why the Divinity at that time is manifesting more, because we are not with our own ego, with our own desires, with our own ideas, because theyre limited. Theyre much too small to understand and to grasp that unlimited power of God. So when youre calm and quiet, peaceful, it comes more. Thats why were meditating. Go into the silence. In the Bible it is written, Be still, and know that you are Divine. You have to be calm and quiet. Then the sound will come, then that inner light will come, then your consciousness is changing, then you go beyond, then meditation starts. So we have to try, and try, and try, again and again. We make mistakes, we will stumble, and stand up again and try one more time. Guru said all the time, When you remain here, very calmly, calm breath, then you get it in a short time he said, within one minute. [pointing on the top of the head] So, its important to think about your spiritual development, but also you cannot be really spiritual if you just meditate nicely, and then think that you are realized. You have to do something in this world, something in this world, by which you can love God. Give happiness to others, serve other people, not doing your meditation just for yourself, for your own realization, but also to help humanity, to help others.

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This Kriya Yoga - Introductory Lecture was held on March 18th, 2006 at Sundhetshuset Copenhagen, in Denmark.

An online video can be watched at this URL:

http://www.dhyanamulam.de/dhyana/video/peter-video.html
This (partial) textual transcript is originally from this URL:

http://www.dhyanamulam.de/dhyana/patanjali.html

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More Kriya Yoga videos (lectures, questions & answers) by Paramahamsa Prajnanananda here:

http://www.dankvart.dk/kriya/

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Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

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