Master Gowri R Varadhan originally from Salem, India was introduced to us at Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) by Sri Balachander when he was in Malaysia for a working stint. Master Gowri used to speak at satsangs organized by Sri Balachander for the local chapter of Babaji's Kriya Yoga. When we invited Master Gowri to teach yoga to members of AVM, he accepted readily and hence started a beautiful relationship between a master and his disciples. He patiently conducted numerous classes for us. Master Gowri is an excellent teacher of Kriya Yoga, having studied under Jan Durga Ahlund, wife of Marshall Govindan. Master Gowri was initiated as an Acharya during an induction ceremony on Sunday, March 6 in Bangalore, conducted by Acharya Satyananda and was conferred the name Acharya Gurudasan (servant of the Guru) by Babaji during the ceremony.
Thanks to Acharya Gurudasan's ever willingness to spread the knowledge he had on a supreme form of Yoga given by the Siddhas over the ages, members of AVM have been blessed to acquire this knowledge too. While running us through these classes, he shared the profound experiences that his guru Durga Ahlund attained while practicing these postures. Durga Ahlund writes in her blog, that when she was introduced to this practice, she found them extremely energizing opening her up to further deep and powerful devotion.
The Tamil Siddhas have told us that “the human body is the mystic center, the sacred passage to the ultimate reality and that liberation is available only within it.” To meditate on the Self, to worship the Self, begins the practice of Yoga. When I was first introduced to the 18 asana series of Babaji s Kriya Yoga, I found them to be enormously energizing. As I began to work with them daily, I realized how they increased my physical health and reduced body fat, strengthened the nervous system, brought about more and more equanimity and mental clarity. But, the benefits did not stop with that – they continued to widen and strengthened my inner sense of strength, joy, fortitude, resilience and persistence and opened me to deep and powerful devotion. I feel that it is the 18 posture series alone, if done as a ritual of worship in about two hours, which takes me into higher realms of consciousness. In addition I feel the practice strengthens the very cells of my physical body. I come out of the practice feeling renewed, joyful and younger!
As we have been asked to come to Yoga, we append below excerpts from Acharya Gurudasan's introduction to this science posted at https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2016/08/yoga-with-acharya-gurudasan.html to refresh ourselves on this practice.
The word Yoga comes from Sanskrit root ‘yog’ meaning to unite. To cut the long story short, we can consider that the term Yoga may refer to any practice that helps us to unite the mind, body and soul (atman). And it goes without saying that for this union to happen, the body-mind personality (ahamkara also known as ego) must be completely subdued. Here, the word ‘ego’ should not be read with the traditional meaning of a person’s self-worth, self-esteem or self-importance. Rather, the very identification of a person with his/her mind and body. Paramahamsa Yogananda, the author of Autobiography of a Yogi, defines ego as the delusion of identifying oneself with the mind and body.
So, essentially, all the different forms of yoga available must, by definition, help one to come out of such delusion to realize the divinity within. When this mistaken identity with the mind-body personality ends, one will realize that along with that ends all suffering and the person remains in a truly blissful state of joy.
Babaji’s Kriya Yoga (BKY)
Babaji’s Kriya Yoga is a special form of Raja Yoga. It also includes aspects of other forms of yoga such as devotion as in Bhakti, the discipline of action as in Karma Yoga and focuses on being with the Self/pure awareness as in Gnana. It is a scientific art of perfect God-Truth union and self-realization. It is an ancient form of practice preached to Arjuna by Lord Krishna and was lost over time. In the late 19th century, Mahavatar Babaji revived it as a synthesis of Patanjali`s yoga sutras and the practice of Kundalini yoga by the yoga Siddhars. Thus, he cleverly combined both the aspects of consciousness (Shiva) as in Patanjali`s Sutras and that of energy (Shakti) as in the practice of Siddhas.
The word `Kriya` comes from the root word ‘kri’ meaning action. In this context, ‘Kriya’ refers to action with awareness. It is emphasized that all the practices in Babaji’s Kriya Yoga are performed with utmost awareness. The sadhana of BKY is a collection of 144 exercises and spiritual practices for Self realization and transformation in all of our five bodies or Koshas or the 5 sheaths or bodies of our existence namely: physical, vital, mental, intellectual and spiritual. Hence Kriya Yoga is a 5 phased integral approach to attain God-realization. Each of them addresses one or more of the koshas.
Kriya Hatha Yoga: includes asanas, bandhas, and mudras, psycho-physical gestures, all of which bring about greater health, peace and the awakening of the nadis or the energy channels, the chakras. Babaji has selected a particularly effective series of 18 postures, which are taught in stages and in pairs. The first objective of Kriya Hatha Yoga is deeply physical and mental relaxation. The variety of asana grants flexibility, lightness and buoyancy in the body relieving us of many disorders. The practice of the 18 asana series awakens the energy centers along the spine and kundalini, our potential power and consciousness.
Kriya Kundalini Pranayama: is a powerful breathing technique to awaken one’s potential power and consciousness and to circulate it through the seven principal chakras between the base of the spine and the crown of the head. It deals more directly with the subtler vital parts of the nervous system. Ultimately these pranayama will awaken the sushumna and direct kundalini upward through it.
Kriya Dhyana Yoga: is a progressive series of meditation techniques to learn the scientific art of mastering the mind - to cleanse the subconscious, to develop concentration, mental clarity and vision, to awaken the intellectual, intuitive and creative faculties, and to bring about the breathless state of communion with God, "Samadhi" and Self-Realization. It aims to bring the truth realized in our inner consciousness into our waking consciousness and become effective there. The level of our consciousness determines the nature and quality of the life we live. So, rather than trying to stop thoughts and drop into a void, our meditations focus on dynamic methods of strengthening the power of the mind, the power of visualization and stimulate a ready flow of intuition and inspiration, which can be used in our life.
Kriya Mantra Yoga: The word Mantra comes from ‘man’ + ‘tra’, meaning to protect the mind. The silent mental repetition of subtle sounds becomes a substitute for the "I" - centered mental chatter and facilitates the accumulation of great amounts of energy. The mantra also cleanses habitual subconscious tendencies. These are powerful seed syllables to awaken the intuition, the intellect and the chakras. They mantras also serve as a direct means of establishing communication with higher beings such as Babaji and the 18 Siddhas.
Kriya Bhakti Yoga: the cultivation of the soul’s aspiration for the Divine. It includes devotional activities and service to awaken unconditional love and spiritual bliss; it includes chanting and singing, ceremonies, pilgrimages, and worship. Gradually, all of one's activities become soaked with sweetness, as the "Beloved" is perceived in all.
Babaji's Kriya Yoga is a spiritual tradition, wherein one “wakes up” from “dreaming with one’s eyes open.”. Babaji's Kriya Yoga is a path of Self-realization which is comprehensive, as it integrates all of the dimensions of our life. It is a path of self discipline which enables one to live in the world with open-hearted compassion.
This clearly shows that Yoga is much more than mere stretching exercises done in a hot room with tight clothes. Its purpose is to ultimately drive the practitioner towards the ultimate goal of Self-Realization.
Acharya Gurudasan has since then returned to Bangalore but remains in touch guiding us and answering our doubts and queries through our Whatsapp group Gnanakottam.
Download a copy of the postures as shown by Acharya Gurudasan at https://drive.google.com/open?id=10OSlBOkqqXqs9WLibi0CdH9hhSFdogrq for easy reference.