Kriya Yoga: The Forgotten Science of Self-Realization
Mission of YogiEvolve
Why This Science Was Nearly Lost
For the past few years, one important question has been on my mind.
How do I help people understand my Guru’s teachings?
To answer that question, we need to begin at the source.
My Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, brought us a unique dispensation of eternal truth, commonly known as Kriya Yoga.
You will often hear me refer to him as “Master.” I call him “Master” because he had mastered himself. Master in the sense of having full spiritual integrity and being a Self-realized Avatar.
Kriya Yoga is not just a technique. It is a completely different way of understanding life and spiritual evolution.
In one sense, it is not a new teaching because it is based on Santana Dharma. Yet it is also a new dispensation of those eternal truths, presented in a way that is aligned with modern consciousness.
A variant of this technique was taught by Krishna to Arjun. Paramhansa Yogananda also tells us that Jesus knew a version of it and taught it to some of his disciples.
However, it was largely forgotten over the last 2,700 years as the consciousness of the Earth descended into a period of darkness that lasted for approximately 2,400 years.
In autumn of 1861, about 162 years into the ascending Yuga of Dwapara, Mahavatar Babaji revealed this sacred technique once again to Lahiri Mahasaya.
A small point here, before I continue, if you are confused with the Yuga and time, please read my article Understanding Our Time: Kali Yuga or Dwapara Yuga? I will leave the link below in the description.
So going back in time, the Mahabharata Yudh, the great war that marked the end of an era, was approximately the time when this technique began to disappear from the common knowledge.
From that point onward, the original yogic system gradually degenerated into practices that became largely physical in nature.
Yet the original science of Self-realization was far more profound, and its practical methods were gradually forgotten.
This is the forgotten science of Self-realization that the Masters came to restore.
My role is simply to bring it to you and be a channel of this divine light, which follows the Guru-Disciple system.
This is the mission of the four Avatars: Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswar, and Paramhansa Yogananda.
They came to restore these long-forgotten teachings and techniques because humanity was once again ready to receive and practice them.
There is a beautiful story that Master tells us.
When it was time to revive these teachings, Jesus met Mahavatar Babaji. He told Babaji that many of his disciples were ready for Self-realization. But they had forgotten the sacred technique of Kriya Yoga that he had taught them. He then requested Babaji to bring this technique back to the world so that sincere seekers could once again complete their spiritual journey.
Babaji agreed. He brought Kriya Yoga back through this Guru-Disciple lineage, beginning with Lahiri Mahasaya.
You can read the story of Babaji initiating Lahiri Mahasaya in 1861 in the book Autobiography of a Yogi.
But this long period of forgetfulness created a unique challenge. Many of the original concepts were no longer understood. Over time, they lost sight of their true purpose, i.e, the spiritual evolution of the soul.
The True Meaning of Yoga
Yoga means union with the Divine. But over time, people began to identify Yoga mainly with asanas.
True pranayama was gradually reduced to breathing exercises.
Eventually, people came to believe that these physical practices alone were enough.
So, when I speak about these subjects, people often feel they already understand them because they recognize the words. They have heard of meditation, prana, chakras, yoga, and consciousness. The vocabulary is familiar, but the concepts have lost their original context. They no longer fit within the original system of self-realization.
When people hear the word meditation, they think of stress relief or extraordinary spiritual experiences. When they hear yoga, they think of flexibility. When they hear pranayama, they think of breathing techniques. When they hear chakras, they think of energy healing. Naturally, they interpret every word within a framework they already know.
Most people believe Yoga is exercise and meditation is wellness. They remain unaware of the profound science that was lost about 2,700 years ago.
Kriya Yoga is not simply a collection of these practices brought together into one system. It is something fundamentally different. It goes far beyond ordinary expectations because it works directly with prana and consciousness.
Under the guidance of his Guru, a Kriya Yogi gradually learns to take direct control of his prana and subtle body. He becomes the conscious doer while working with direct access to cosmic wisdom. Gradually, he begins to think, perceive, and act in an entirely different way.
The First Sound Barrier
So people come because they have heard the words and want to know more. Everything sounds interesting, yet it does not quite come together in their minds because the underlying concepts are not clear. And so they move on, without realizing what they have missed.
I often think of this as a kind of “sound barrier” within the mind.
Until that barrier is broken, the teachings remain just another set of interesting ideas. But once it is broken, everything begins to fall into place. The student then experiences a renewed momentum toward Self-realization.
This is why Kriya Yoga does not simply add to what people already know. It challenges the very framework through which they understand Yoga. It is the original science of Self-realization.
The Second Sound Barrier
The second challenge is communicating these teachings in the world, where social media has become the primary means of reaching people.
Interestingly, I found that the same misunderstanding that exists in people’s minds is also reflected in social media algorithms.
If millions of people search yoga as exercise, the algorithm learns that yoga means exercise, not union with the Divine. If millions search for meditation as a way to reduce stress, the algorithm places meditation within wellness.
Kriya Yoga does not belong to any of these categories. In a sense, the algorithm faces the same challenge people do. It does not really know what Kriya Yoga is, who it is for, or where it belongs.
For the past few years, I have been trying to understand how to work with this constrain.
I made some progress over the last few weeks. As I brought together everything I had learned and all the data I had collected, the path forward became clear. I now know the direction I need to take, working with what is and, in small steps, overcoming this second sound barrier.
My struggle to understand these “sound barriers” took a long time, though.
In one sense, I was fortunate. As soon as I felt the desire to know more than this physical world, I found my way to Master’s teachings. Because of that, I escaped much of the common conditioning surrounding yoga and meditation.
But that created a different challenge. I had no previous experience of recognizing or overcoming this conditioning. It took me a long time to understand what I was actually seeing.
I now understand why many of my gurubhais continue to struggle with it. It is indeed a very powerful “sound barrier.”
A Life-Changing Lesson from the Master
One day, I found myself asking Master, “Why didn’t you simply tell me, just as you told me, about the multiverse in Indian Cosmology? Why did I have to struggle so much just to find some direction?”
A simple understanding came.
The knowledge of the multiverse is so vast and so complex that I could never have made sense of it on my own. Master needed to guide my thoughts proactively.
But this work is different. It is at the grosser physical level, and this part I have to do myself.
I have to gather the information. I have to understand it. Then I have to use my own reason, will, and actions to move in the right direction, in attunement with my Guru.
That is why the prayer is:
“Guide Thou my reason, will, and activity.”
We must reason, but reason alone cannot lead us to Divinity.
That is why Paramhansa Yogananda gave us this complete prayer:
“I will reason, I will will, I will act;
but guide Thou my reason, will, and activity to the right path in everything.”
In short, I needed to do my part in this work.
Restoring the Original Kriya Yoga
I now need to go deeper and develop a much clearer understanding of how to carry this mission forward.
I have some ideas, but they now need careful refinement. This is perhaps the most important part. Very often, in trying to reach more people, the teaching itself becomes compromised. I have to find a way to reach widely without making that compromise.
Master never taught us to lower the teachings to meet people where they are. He taught us to raise our vibration so we could communicate them more clearly.
That is why he gave us the powerful prayer:
“I will reason, I will will, I will act; but guide Thou my reason, will, and activity to the right path in everything.”
Master did not come to give us beautiful quotes. He came to teach us a practical science of God-realization.
The purpose is not temporary relief. The purpose is transformation.
Transformation requires practical action, a new way of thinking, and ultimately a new way of living. Those are the teachings I want to share.
One thought I find very comforting is something Jesus said:
“Your job is to cast the net. I will do the sorting.”
He compared souls to fishes living in God’s ocean. Those of us who wish to help in this mission are His fishermen. Our task is simply to cast the net. God and Guru will gather the souls who are ready for the next level of spiritual evolution. The rest will return to the sea.
My responsibility, therefore, is to cast the net as widely and as far as I can without compromising the teaching.
I am not trying to build the biggest audience. I am trying to find the sincere seeker.
If the fish I am looking for is in the Mediterranean Sea, it makes no sense to cast my net in the Arabian Sea simply because it has more fish. That kind of compromise does not serve the mission.
This is exactly what happens when we try to reach the masses while forgetting that we are searching for Master’s disciples, like finding a needle in a haystack.
My work now is to discover better ways of casting the net without changing Master’s teachings.
Our Vision for Your Spiritual Journey
In many ways, I feel both elated and excited because we now live in a remarkable time. For the first time in over 2,700 years, these teachings can reach sincere seekers all over the world almost instantly.
That opportunity also brings a great responsibility. My task is to share Master’s teachings exactly as he gave them while making them easy to understand and help people break the sound barriers where needed.
That is the mission of YogiEvolve.
If these teachings resonate with you, then this is no longer just my work. It becomes our work together.
Jai Guru,
Love & Blessings,
Amrita Ghosh
YogiEvolve
Your first step toward inner awakening — a yogi’s guide to transforming energy & life.
Based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda.
Now Available at Amazon Kindle
Deepen Your Practice with the Companion Workbook
A guided companion workbook designed to deepen your experience of A Beginner’s Guide to Prana or Life Force Mastery.
Explore More Post from the Author
Kriya Yoga: The Forgotten Science of Self-Realization
Kriya Yoga is the forgotten science of Self-realization that has largely remained outside mainstream understanding for over 2,500 years. This article explores what was lost, why reviving it in today’s world is so challenging, and why preserving Master’s teachings without compromise lies at the heart of YogiEvolve’s mission.
Why Some People Seem to Fail in Spiritual Practice
Why do some people seem to progress rapidly on the spiritual path while others struggle, stagnate, or drift away? Drawing from years of working with students of Kriya Yoga under my Guru’s guidance, I explore a deeper perspective on spiritual growth, one that challenges our assumptions about success, failure, and
A Journey into the Inner World of a Kriya Yogi
This is a glimpse into the inner world of a new Kriya Yogi, as he gradually discovers the hidden siddhis, subtle powers, and inner wonders that unfold along the path of sincere spiritual practice.
The Purpose of Ego in Spiritual Evolution
What if the ego is not something to be overcome, but something that must be developed, directed, and spiritualized? Drawing on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, this article explores the deeper meaning of Ahamkara and why individuality plays an essential role in the soul’s journey toward God-realization.
Horizontal Growth and Vertical Spiritual Evolution
Most seekers assume that spiritual power and spiritual growth are the same thing. But not all spiritual growth moves in the same direction. Some paths increase power without increasing wisdom, while others lead toward deeper alignment with Dharma and Divine consciousness. Understanding this distinction may be one of the most
What a Sourdough Starter Taught Me about Spiritual Evolution
What a Sourdough Starter Taught Me about Spiritual Evolution I thought it would be fun to start a sourdough starter from scratch and bake a bread from it. Just a fun hobby idea. Little did I know how profoundly enlightening the experience would be. As I kept feeding the starter