Kriya Yoga, Indias quick fix solution? Options

Have (once again) taken an intrest in yoga as an attachment, a compliment to cerimonial magic. So far I've skipped from a few yogic practices, never staying with one long enough to actually learn or gain something from it all which, looking back over the years is a shame. Was having a discussion with someone a while ago and Kriya was mentiond and I've since been doing my research on the practice only to find that its touted in a way that should send esteemed, respectable practicioners running... or at least contorting facial muscles into ways enough for a flow of prana to invoke a questionable and weary mind state regarding the matter.

"Ten (or so) minutes equates to (several) life times of spiritual evolution"

"The fastest way to world unity"

"Shortcuts"

And so on, alongside an air of secrecy surrounding special karmaic busting techniques only to be reealed once an oath, taken in this life time but extending over several is taken. Other than on the cover of various contently repetitive books on western occultism I've never seen such buzz-wordism or apt crass marketing and of course like a bug to a blue light I find myself drawn in, inquizitive, perhaps hoping for an instant zap and a near death state all the while scouring the ground looking for the smoking carcasses of those who've failed or been crippled by its kundalini type approach... or at least ripped off by a content looking yogi .lol.

Perhaps due to the oaths and varying viels of secrecy, cloaks and shrouds emanating from the clouds of the Himalayas there dosent seem to be much nets worth of information out there regarding the actual practice, do think its reccomendation was perhaps linked to the secret masters myth of certain occult schools thinking about it but yeah... thought it worth a mention on here as it dosent seem to be talked about much.

Anyone practice it? Can you vouch for its efficiancy? Can't see how it compliments cerimonial practice as Ashtanga is said to.

Peace
.M.

Sure, there is a lot of shit and fast marketing out there, but I'm not quite sure of what book or tradition you're referring to.

Different yogic cults and groups call their practices by different names so it is also difficult to figure out what you mean by Kriya yoga. Kriya actually means "exercise." Kriyas technically are yoga exercises, usually an exercise set done for a certain purpose. This could be a set of physical exercises that have to be done in a certain sequence or a set of breathing exercises or a combinaiton of physical exercises, breathing techniques, visualizations and meditations. 3HO Kundalini yoga is based on practicing sets of kriyas. The kriyas do have benefits but most of the written instructions come with overreaching claims--but you find wild claims in the ancient authentic yoga texts too.

I think I already referred you to a book called Kundalini Tantra by Swami Satyananda Saraswati of Bihar School Yoga fame. Shivananda Yoga is based in a similar lineage, I believe. But this is for the true and patient yoga dedicant.

There is an esoteric form of yoga that is cultivated in some Yoga and Tantric Hindu and Buddhist meditation practices. What occurs is called kriya. In this sense, kriya means spontaneous movement. Some Hatha yoga practitioners report that this occurs when they reach a certain level in Hatha yoga practice.. Look up Shiva Rhea--a yoga practitioner who has taken her experience waaay out of proportion, stuck a TM and high price tag on her yoga curriculum and wears her "siddhi" as a diadem. Followers of Paramhamsa Yogananda also have reported experiencing kriya. During meditation, the body moves either in a way similar to pseudo-seizure and/or makes gestures similar to hand mudras, assumes poses and postures similar to yogic postures, and also may experience glossolalia or pseudobulbar effects (laughing or crying). (I had a friend who would have multiple orgasms. I also had a friend who broke his arm during kriya). The person is often in a witnessing or ecstatic light-trance state of consciousness. The episode is explained as the movement of prana or kundalini and as a de-stressing of psychodynamic complexes. This phenomenon is not confined to schools of yoga, though--it occurs in Pentecostalist-type Christianity, shamanism, and other cultural traditions but its probably been most developed in yoga systems. I myself was initiated into this type of meditation in the context of Dzogchen Buddhism. Some schools of Yoga, Buddhism, and Hinduism think that kriya should be discouraged and that any energetic impulses to move should be inhibitied and sublimated during meditation.

There are places now that are offering what they are called Chaotic Yoga that attempt to get people into approximating what is going on in real "kriya yoga" but authentic groups that include this discipline do not "teach" or "offer" it. It either just happens and everyone else in the room tolerates it when it is occurring for a participant or when a teacher sees that this might be starting to happen to you, you are taken out of the general group of practitioners and invited to join another more inner circle of practitioners and what exactly is going on might be kept secret from the larger group.