Frequently Asked Questions

No. Depending on the person, it typically takes many years to reach the higher stages of meditation and even then only a few have the right aptitude to teach. Until then you would not be qualified to teach.

Another quality that I consider essential is life experience. Perhaps you are a parent or in your middle age. This gives one essential maturity to work with students. In India, younger people are allowed to teach, but always under the umbrella of the older Guru or teacher.

My students come to me, primarily, because they wish to progress within themselves. Teaching is a major commitment and can be a destructive distraction. If one is not ready to teach, then one's primary goal of self-realisation also becomes tamasic (soiled) and much harder to attain.

Finally, if you see teaching Kriya as a livelihood or a source of income, then your teaching cannot be pure or selfless.

Please use the Contact Form to send your specific query. Receiving higher instruction is wholly dependent on the progress made which determines your capability to practice a higher technique. The readiness to receive a higher technique is checked in person.

Just learn and start practicing. Proper execution will change your life and make you a happier and more efficient and focused person.

If you really are that busy, then you may be heading for health problems. Perhaps it’s time to take a step back and re-evaluate your options and priorities.

Yes, you can practice whenever you are not under the influence of any drugs or chemicals that alter ones normal state of awareness.

If you are medically certified as having a serious mental health issue such as Schizophrenia, Paranoia, Bipolar Disorder, Psychotic Disorders, Personality Disorders or Dissociation and dissociative disorders, you may need frequent supervision and in many circumstances, meditation is not recommended.

If you suffer from issues such as Eating disorder, Mood disorder, Anxiety Disorder, PTSD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Depression (mild to medium), Panic Disorder, Phobias, Behavioural and emotional disorders (in children) or family related issues, then meditation can be extremely beneficial.

Since Covid and given the increasing climate, economic, political and social ills, there has been an increase in overall anxiety, stress and unease. I highly recommend meditation for such anxieties.

In my opinion, it is also very important and beneficial to focus on the basics:

• eating healthily (not too much meat, small portions, avoiding industrially modified foods such as breakfast cereals, pre-cooked trash (mostly fat, salt, sugar and flavouring) and eating a wide variety, eating according to one's ayurvedic constitution)
• exercising (muscle gain exercises, flexibility exercises, aerobic exercises and getting out in nature - all are necessary),
• sleeping just right
• managing ones desires
• socialising (there are many avenues) and maintaining/improving family ties
• be a part of one's local community - it is after all your extended family!
• living within ones' means and most importantly
• feeding all five senses with a lot less and with better quality (i.e. less social media, violent movies etc)

The above are foundational keys to getting back into balance, to being and feeling human. When the basics are maintained in a good way, people, young adults especially, will bounce back with a renewed zest for life, a desire to do things and indeed to tackle the many issues humanity and this planet faces right now.

Finally, I make no moral or ethical judgement of my students; there is no need. Spirituality and practicing meditation is not based on some man made set of narrow ethical or moral constructs.

It is the search for one’s inner self which is also the root of all existence whilst understanding that the Self cannot be defined or described using man-made constructs.

It is not a mental activity e.g. Bible Study or memorizing the Koran will lead you down a narrow “exclusive” path, not a spiritual one. Eventually, blind emotional faith leads to either frustration or a fundamentalist and dogged acceptance of the mental beliefs in an attempt to justify them.

It is not an emotional activity. Christians believing that Jesus has come into their life is an example of an emotional belief. Place a group of such people on an island with no modern amenities or food and at some point they will act according to their basic survival instincts, resorting to violence if necessary.

True devotion is effortless and a state that has no involvement of the “mind”. It is also spontaneous and with full surrender.

Any other form of devotion is couched in mental and emotional constructs, requiring effort. It is based on expectation, whereas true devotion has no expectation.

Spirituality is based only on one thing - your internal subtle prana. Everyone has it (or they would be dead). It has no colour, ego, logic, mind, physical attribute etc and as it is the root of all life, it is “fully inclusive”. The experience of true spirituality is bliss.

Exploring spirituality, means probing the nature of existence and therefore the nature of “birth”, “death” and “re-birth”.

If you wish to truly understand the deepest teachings of your religion, yes, you should meditate!

Religion blindly and narrowly followed is a cult. You have delegated your power and authority to someone else and to a man-made idea. Spiritual progress is not possible under such circumstances.

Religion, practiced correctly can be a wonderful source of strength, understanding, empathy and humility. Religious prayer, however, is different from true prayer. The first requires effort and is emotional; the latter is spontaneous and couched in acceptance and humility.

I will consider reductions for people who are financially distressed. This includes students and people on low incomes. Before asking for a reduction, please do be sure that you really are financially distressed …!

Assuming Kriya Yoga Meditation has been taught correctly, below I list the key differences.

• Kriya has a consistent lineage going back thousands of years. It was not invented by a guru or yogi in recent times.

• Kriya Yoga is focused on ones internal prana. The techniques have remained largely unchanged and the 6 (Sri Yukteswar) or 4 (Sri Lahiri baba) levels provide full support for beginner to advanced. This technique has existed for thousands of years, whereas when we see virtually every other technique, we see a constant evolution and refinement which to me is evidence of building the train as you are driving it.

  Note that in some schools such as the Self Realisation Fellowship (SRF), Paramahansa Yogananda introduced a mandatory one year remote course on basic Vedic philosophy as well as some physical energisation exercises, to be completed, before receiving 1st Kriya instruction. He also modified the technique to suit the largely sedentary American audience of the 1960s and 70s. I cannot comment further on how the SRF teaches.

• Many techniques contain dozens of different "meditations". There is a meditation for feeling happy, for physical health, for anxiety etc. and new ones are added regularly. For example take at look at the Calm or Headspace apps and you will be overloaded with long lists of meditations to choose from. These are not meditation techniques; they are auto-suggestion and relaxation techniques.

  In Kriya, there is only the technique, the practice and the ongoing support. There are no rules of behaviour and the books that Kriyabans typically read are well established scriptures and books based on the same.

  Kriya is ONLY focused on spirituality. Kriya progressively bypasses the mind and the emotions. The idea is to live your life in a fulfilling manner without having to join a movement.

• Read the testimonials...!

Today Kriya "teaching" exists in three flavours: Yogananda - YSS/SRF, Sri Yukteswar and Lahiri Baba.

• The Yogananda approach is suited to sedentary people who have limited understanding of Vedic philosophy. Taught by YSS and SRF, Students must study weekly lessons for one year before receiving Kriya instruction. Since the passing of Paramahansa Yogananda, it is unclear if YSS/SRF and its offshoots such as Ananda have the knowledge or capability to offer higher guidance. Indeed, Yogananda himself, stated very clearly that after his passing, there would be NO Kriya guru to succeed him in SRF. There also seems to be much divergence from the original teaching.

• The Sri Yukteswar approach is ideally suited to people who are reasonably healthy and actively switched on to spirituality, stress management, hatha yoga etc.

• The Lahiri approach, was ideal for an earlier age when the pace of life was slower and quieter. If one is already spiritually inclined, then both the Lahiri or Sri Yuktesware approaches are equally effective.

• Aside from these three variants, there are innumerable teachers some of them well known Swamis and authors, who claim that their approach is the original, genuine and correct technique. Fast forward a few years and the same teachers, teach modified, updated versions whilst still claiming that they are teaching the original technique! If you are "faking it till you (maybe) make it", you could end up wasting many years of a student's practice and you will harm your own development.

Note that many types of meditation using the word "kriya" have nothing to do with Kriya Yoga from Lahiri's lineage. Examples include "Sudarshan Kriya" by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and "Isha Kriya" by Sadhguru. There are others that use the term "kriya" too. Within hatha yoga, there are "kriyas" and these are internal cleansing routines that again have nothing to do with Kriya Yoga Meditation.

I have also seen students who weave bits and pieces of other techniques within 1st Kriya. It is unfortunate to see such students make little to no progress, especially after many years of practice, and no matter how much I explain, they never quite change.

I have not changed the Kriya technique that I teach since the very first time I learnt it from my teacher. There is no need, if one practices correctly and with the right attitude. I teach based on Sri Yukteswar's approach.