Be Food Free

Swami Nithyananda has another interesting web site that I took a look at recently called Be Food Free. As regular readers of my blog will know, I believe that 15 to 30 million people will become "food free" breatharians over the next 15 to 20 years. This is a prerequisite for ascension (see my post Diet for Ascension), so I find it interesting that Swami Nithyananda is also working towards making this happen.

Once again, Swami Nithyananda is fairly open regarding the technique for becoming food free.

What is Nirahara Samyama?

Samyama means exploring and discovering your various possibilities and powers being centered on certain technique or spiritual process. Nirahara Samyama means exploring and discovering our body's possibility without having any external input like food or water.

The purpose of the Samyama is to awaken our own natural intelligence of making food out of natural resources like sun rays, air and the praana which is directly available to us from the space. Swamiji says if fish can swim, we can swim, if bird can fly, we can fly and if plants can make food directly from the air and sun rays, our body can also do that. Every extraordinary capability and possibility is inside our bio memory.

When our bio memory is awakened, we don't need a will. We just like that feel highly energetic and highly feeling excited. Mainly we get liberated from many patterns that got created with food. Every human being associates his fears, greed, attention need and idea of love with food. All patterns associated with love and attention need is connected with food. Food is a very emotional zone. Now when we are liberated by master from food and patterns created by food, the first thing that will happen is the unnecessary emotions and sentiments associated with food will break. So the reasonless excitement, kind of subtle joy will be constantly happening in our system.

Technique (EFU):

eN-Chanting - Ajapa japa
Feeling Connection - Mahabhava
Unclutching - Sahaja Samadhi

Ajapa Japa is one of the most powerful process and technique. It releases certain kind of energy from our body, nectar from the throat. Shakthi sanchaalana happens through Ajapa Japa means constantly the Kundalini is awakened but never allowed to go out of the body and it stays inside the body. Japa means just the voice coming from the naval through the throat and tongue and leaving, a continuous linear movement of air getting converted to sound is Japa. In Ajapa Japa, the Guru Mantra: "Oh Hreem Nithyanandaya Namaha" mantra is repeated constantly with the visualisation of the mantra moving in circular direction around the throat. A prayer wheel with the mantra written in it will help in Ajapa Japa in the initial levels It helps in getting inside our inner space and unclutching becomes easy. Feeling connection - meditating on the Anandha Gandha Chakra remembering the master, being in Bhakti, the joy of looking for him and remembering him. Unclutching - Being an observer of all the thoughts that arise by just witnessing them, neither encouraging them nor suppressing them.

I had practiced Japa seriously back in 2008 while working through the Systematic Course book and the experience I had was similar to what's described "Kundalini is awakened but never allowed to go out of the body". After about a month of practice, I experienced a sudden surge that filled my stomach. I couldn't eat for 3 days and only sipped water. I didn't feel the slightest bit hungry (I felt full in fact) and had plenty of energy, but discontinued the practice as I still had many more lessons to try out in the book, and after the aforementioned 3 days, the energy dissipated and my appetite returned to normal.

I've started practicing again according to Swami Nithyananda's instructions and have found them to be very effective. Most important is visualizing your mantra moving in a circular direction around your throat, passing through the Vishuddhi kshetram and chakra. The movement may be in either direction. The video below provides more details of the practice.

Golden Age Kriya (eN-Kriya)

In this video I describe and demonstrate a somewhat new technique I've been working on that I'm calling the Golden Age Kriya. I have two versions: a beginner version and an advanced version. The beginner version is essentially my interpretation of Paramahamsa Nithyananda's eN-Kriya technique, and the advanced version takes the beginner version and incorporates Swami Satyanada's Kundalini Kriyas.

In Swami Satyananda's Satsang on Kriya Yoga, he makes the following two points:

Well, when you are practising all seventeen, they should be practised in the same order, at least for a few months. But after that, if you want to design your own course, then you can change the sequence.

If you have time enough to practise all seventeen, then do so, but if you are short of time, then you should consider maha mudra, maha bheda mudra and naumukhi to be the most important. After practising these three, if you find that you still have time, you can practise vipareeta karani mudra, and if you have more time still, you can practise shakti chalini.

I have more or less done what he says with the advanced version of the Golden Age Kriya. Here are the seven steps:

Step 1: Nadi Shodhana

Step 2: Bhastrika

Step 3: Samana Kriya (beginner)

Step 3: Maha Mudra and Maha Bheda Mudra (advanced)

Step 4: Samburi Mudra (beginner)

Step 4: Naumukhi Mudra and Shakti Chalini (advanced)

Step 5: Maha Mantra (beginner)

Step 5: Nada Sanchalana (advanced)

Step 6: Shakti Dharana

Step 7: Swasti Mantra

For a detailed description of each step in the beginner practice, please see my post on eN-Kriya (part 3).

The eN-Kriya Technique (part 3)

In this post I'll provide my thoughts and analysis of the eN-Kriya technique, so if you have not already done so, please read my previous two posts that explain the technique.

• The eN-Kriya Technique (part 1)
• The eN-Kriya Technique (part 2)

Since I first discovered yogic techniques that involve breath retention back in 2001, I quickly realized the power they held and have focused on them ever since. If you've downloaded my yoga course, you would've noticed that breath retention is a core part of the practice, and many of the Kundalini Kriyas also involve breath retention. So the fact that eN-Kriya steps 3 and 4 involve breath retention was a key point for me.

The instructions for step 4 involve blocking the breath right to the point of fainting. Sounds crazy? You bet! That's why you must be fit, healthy and strong before you even try it. But if you do, you very quickly overcome all fear, anxiety, addictions, frustrations, and any other negativity in your life. Can you imagine what's required to block your breath to the point of fainting? And as soon as you recover - doing it again, and again for 21 times! You come out of that process feeling absolutely invincible, fearless, powerful, yet incredibly calm, at peace, and in oneness. You are almost guaranteed to have a spiritual experience, either a psychic sound, vision or physical sensation.

Every day you keep practicing, it takes more and more time to reach that fainting point, and the more time spent without breathing takes you deeper and deeper into the core of your being. Your awareness of spiritual reality and spiritual truths expands rapidly. As Nithyananda says "instant enlightenment".

Step 1: Nadi Shodhana is a simple and straight forward practice. It should be done daily regardless of which yoga practice you are following. It is the most basic and most essential pranayama practice there is and can be done by anyone regardless of your age or state of health. Here, it is practiced for 11 rounds.

Step 2: Bhastrika seems to have gained popularity in recent years. However, Nithyananda's description and demonstration doesn't quite match what I'm familiar with. There are three distinct practices that involve moving the abdomen. The first is Agnisar Kriya where the breathing is either through the mouth or the breath is held out. The abdomen is moved in and up, then out and back in repeatedly. The second is Kapalbhati where the breathing is through the nose. The abdomen is rapidly pulled in (not up) causing a forceful exhalation through the nostrils, then it is relaxed and expanded for a full gentle inhalation, then forceful exhalation and so on. The third is Bhastrika where breathing is again through the nose, but in this case both exhalation and inhalation are done forcefully and rapidly. I practice Agnisar Kriya and Nauli daily prior to my eN-Kriya practice, so here for step 2, I practice Bhastrika as described for 21 rounds.

Step 3: Samana Kriya is a new practice I haven't seen before that sort of combines Kunadalini Kriyas 6 (inner retention) and 7 (outer retention) in a single practice without the complexity of the bandhas/locks and rotation of awareness. My main comment here regards the instruction to do each of the four parts as long as possible. If you do this, your second round will be much shorter than your first, which I don't think is the purpose of this particular practice. I think you should choose a length of time for each of inhalation, holding in, exhalation, and holding out that you can maintain for all 21 rounds. I would recommend something like inhale for 10 sec, hold for 20 sec, exhale for 20 sec, hold out for 10 sec. Basically, pick values that are less than half of what your maximum is such that it can be maintained for the entire practice.

Step 4: Samburi Mudra is a slightly modified version of Shanmukhi Mudra, where rather than closing the nostrils with the middle fingers you use the ring fingers instead. This is the main Kriya. In this case, you want to hold your breath as long as you can, for all of the benefits I described at the beginning of this post. It is repeated 21 times.

Step 5: Maha Mantra is described as intense humming with no further description, but I would guess it is similar to Bhramari, except the ears are not plugged and the hands just rest on the knees. For more description, I would say keep the eyes and mouth closed, but keep the teeth slightly separated. Inhale deeply through the nose and while exhaling as slowly as possible create a smooth and continuous humming sound. Allow the vibration to be heard and felt distinctly in the brain. At the end of exhalation, inhale again and repeat. Continue for 7 minutes.

Step 6: Shakti Dharana is a practice I haven't seen taught by any other yoga teachers, but similar practices are very common in New Age circles. Prior to learning about eN-Kriya I had been wanting to incorporate this type of practice into my daily routine as I believe it is critical for the smooth arrival of the Golden Age. There is severe weather and natural disasters being experienced all over the planet. This practice will reduce these calamities in the area where you live, and globally as well. You can choose to receive energy from any masters or spiritual beings you feel connected to, or even simply from the stars and planets as Anastasia would recommend. Then pour that into the Earth, or Mother Earth, Lady Gaia, Bhudevi, or any other image you feel most connected to. The picture above shows some in the receiving pose and some in the pouring pose. This practice is done 7 times in 7 minutes.

Step 7: Swasti Mantra is another practice not traditionally part of yoga but well known in the New Age community. This practice will reduce the crime, war and violence in the area where you live and all over the world. Another essential practice for creating the Golden Age.

That concludes my discussion of the 7 steps of eN-Kriya, but I also want to take a moment to discuss sitting postures. For steps 1 to 5, I sit in Padmasana as recommended by Nithyananda, but for those familiar with the Kundalini Kriyas, Siddhasana is the recommended pose. Siddhasana is designed to work in conjunction with Moola Bandha, which is a core component of the Kundalini Kriyas, but since it is not used in eN-Kriya, Padmasana is the recommended choice. However, if you are unable to sit in Padmasana, I would recommend Siddhasana second. The step 6 receiving pose is similar to Hasta Uttanasana except done from the knees, and the pouring pose is similar to Shashankasana. From step 6 it's easiest to assume Vajrasana for step 7 which is what I do rather than going back into Padmasana.

The next thing I want to talk about is the time spent on each step in the practice. Nithyananda indicates the whole practice should be completed in 42 minutes, however, it takes me over an hour to complete all 7 steps as after years of practice I can now hold my breath for quite a while, making steps 3 and 4 go on forever. So I began thinking if this was necessary, and decided that 42 minutes is probably enough. The far more important thing is to simply practice every single day without fail. So if 42 minutes is enough, then what should the time allotment breakdown be? This is what I came up with and am currently following.

• Nadi Shodhana (2 min) - 11 rounds takes me 4 min
• Bhastrika (1 min) - 21 rounds is fine
• Samana Kriya (11 min) - 11 rounds still puts me over
• Samburi Mudra (11 min) - again 11 rounds for me
• Maha Mantra (7 min) - counting rounds not required
• Shakti Dharana (7 min) - 7 rounds as required is fine
• Swasti Mantra (3 min) - no rounds
• Total Time (42 min)

When looking at the number of rounds prescribed here and for the Kundalini Kriyas, it is always an odd number, so as my ability to hold my breath keeps increasing, I will likely reduce 11 to 9, then 7 and so on to keep the practice at around 11 minutes.

All things change with time, as does Kriya Yoga. Mahavatar Babaji has been overseeing it for thousands of years, and I'm sure it has continued to evolve over that time period. Now, at this point in time, I believe eN-Kriya is the next step in that evolution.

The eN-Kriya Technique (part 2)

In this video Paramahamsa Nithyananda clearly and concisely explains the 7 steps of eN-Kriya. So I will just quote him directly with some embellishments and paraphrasing starting at the 36:00 mark.

I'll give the instruction now. The first step is Nadi Shodhana. Closing your right nostril with right thumb, inhaling as deeply as possible through the left nostril. Then opening the right nostril and closing the left with your middle finger and ring finger, exhaling through the right as completely as possible. And inhaling through the right, and exhaling through the left. It's called one cycle. Do this at least 11 times. This is the first step.

The second step. Bhastrika. Pull your lower abdomen in and up. If it is too heavy there is nothing that can be done. Even if you shake the whole body you cannot shake the lower abdomen. 21 times do Bhastrika. This is the second step.

The third step is: inhale as slowly as possible, hold as long as possible, exhale as slowly as possible, hold the lungs empty as long as possible. This one cycle is called one Samana Kriya. Do this 21 times. This is the third step.

All of these 3 steps are preparatory steps. The fourth step is the main Kriya. In this you put your thumbs in the ears, the index finger and middle finger on the eyes, ring finger on the nose, and little finger on the lips. It's called Samburi Mudra. Close all the five senses. Block the nostrils. Stop the energy going outward. Bring the energy intensely in. This is a powerful technique for instant enlightenment. Hold as long as you can.

Your mind will say, "No, no I can't hold anymore, I'll fall. I'm going to faint." Don't worry, even if you faint, automatically your hands will relax. You'll breathe, you'll not die. Only if you have a serious heart condition, or high blood pressure, any other serious illness, don't do. People with normal health can do as much as you can.

When you are able to...again block. When you are feeling balanced, again block the nostrils. Do this same thing 21 times. Through Samburi Mudra sending the energy inside; directing it. This is the main Kriya, the fourth part.

The fifth part is intense humming for 7 minutes.

The sixth part is Shakti Dharana. Stand on your knees and raise the hands towards the sky. Connect with the masters. Feel their presence and intense energy landing on you. When you feel full, just surrender to the Earth. Empty yourself. Pour yourself. Then again stand up on your knees. Receive intensely and pour to the Earth. Do this at least 7 times.

The last step. Sit feeling connected with the masters. Send a strong compassionate, loving, healing energy and vibrations to the whole world. Bless the whole world. The last step is the time I work intensely on you awakening the Kundalini. That's the time for you to relax and experience the awakening.

In my next post, I'll provide my full analysis of the eN-Kriya technique.

The eN-Kriya Technique (part 1)

In this video Paramahamsa Nithyananda presents the 7 steps of eN-Kriya. In the video I will post next, he again describes the 7 steps, but with additional details. So in this post I will simply summarize the information provided in this video and save the bulk of my analysis for the next post after all available details of eN-Kriya have been provided.

The video starts with some repetition of what was in the previous video, so you can skip ahead to the 5:20 mark where he lists the recommended sitting postures in order of priority: Padmasana, Vajrasana, or Sukhasana. Step 1 is 11 rounds of Nadi Shodhana which should take only 90 seconds (8:00). He states that the first 3 steps of eN-Kriya are really just preparation for Kriya (9:10). Step 2 is 21 rounds of Bhastrika Pranayama (9:30). Step 3 is 21 rounds of slow breathing with inner and outer breath retention (11:00).

He says eN-Kriya provides the maximum benefit with less time and less effort (11:30). The lazy man's guide to enlightenment (11:50). Step 4 is 21 rounds of Shanmukhi Mudra (my name not his) with the ring finger closing the nostrils rather than the middle finger (16:00). He gets sidetracked, then continues step 4 at the 25:30 mark. He recaps that the first 3 steps are preparation, step 4 is the main Kriya, then step 5 is for settling or balancing the body. Step 5 is 7 minutes of Bhramari Pranayama (my name not his) or intense humming (28:30). Step 6 is 7 rounds of Shakti Dharana. In each round, raise your arms to the sky and visualize the masters presence and energy landing on you and awakening your Kundalini, then bow down to the cosmos (29:30).

He recaps the steps again, and it sounds like he names step 3 Amana Kriya, step 4 Samburi Mudra, and step 5 Maha Mantra (30:10). He gives another interpretation for step 6, of receiving energy from the Sky and offering it to the Earth (30:50). Finally, step 7 is sending love and compassion to the whole world (31:30). All 7 steps should take less than 42 minutes (32:30).

That concludes my summary of this second video, and in my next post I will cover some additional details provided in a third video followed by my detailed analysis.

Nithyananda Scandal

One of my readers informed me of Nithyananda's sex scandal video, so I thought I should share my thoughts on that after recommending him in my last post. It's unfortunate that this has happened, as I still believe that his eN-Kriya technique is quite amazing based on my own experience with it. So after this post I will continue to describe it in my next two posts. Of course, I completely understand if you no longer have any interest in it after reading this post. However, you should also be aware that Swami Rama went through a similar sex scandal, and while Swami Satyananda made it through life free of scandals, at least one or more of his disciples representing his ashram ended up in sex scandals.

I searched the internet for the most scathing (but not inflammatory) article I could find on the subject, and in the end, the news site DNA India had an article that fit the bill.

Officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said on Tuesday that disciples of tainted swamy Nithyananda Paramahamsa of the Nithyananda Dhyanapeetham at Bidadi in Ramanagaram district tried to derail the investigation into the sexual escapades and sleaze tapes featuring the self-styled godman and Tamil actress Ranjitha alias Srivalli.

The officers say that if it were not for the persistence of one woman who refused to be cowed down, investigations might have drawn a blank. The woman who aided the investigations is, at present, settled in the US. The CID did not want to divulge her identity, but claimed that she admitted to being repeatedly raped by the swamy.

“The woman came forward even though a Mysore resident, who later settled in the US, Vinay Bharadwaj, was silenced. The disciples of Nithyananda slapped a false case against Bharadwaj, and he was jailed in Seattle, just as he had agreed to depose before investigating officers. We were left with no evidence, as Ranjitha had already claimed that she had had nothing to do with the case,” an officer said.

Director-general of police (CID) DV Guruprasad, said that this is a matter in which no case can be made, if it involves consenting adults. “We were left with only one man willing to depose, Vinay Bhardwaj. But he was silenced after a criminal case was slapped on him in the USA. The ray of hope came after an anonymous woman came forward, alleging that the ‘spiritual leader’ repeatedly raped her. This woman gave us a statement that ran into 23 pages,” Guruprasad said.

Investigations have revealed that the statement that actor Ranjitha made to the media on December 31 about being blackmailed was not true. An officer stated that soon after the videos were made, the spiritual leader was blackmailed, not Ranjitha. “As soon as the ashram inmates came to know about the sleaze tapes, they tried to hush the matter up by offering huge sums of money to prevent them from being made public,” the official said.

Some third parties were paid at least Rs10 crore in a bid to stop the telecast of the video. Even though money changed hands, the tapes were telecast on a TV channel for the first time on March 2, 2010. Nithyananda fled the ashram and went to Haridwar. As he was on his way there, he called Ranjitha and told her not to talk to anyone, especially the media. Ranjitha herself made a statement to this effect to officials,” an officer said.

Soon after Nithyananda was arrested from Solan, Himachal Pradesh, where he had been in hiding, he was brought to the CID headquarters. Nithyananda confessed that he had erectile dysfunction. “He also confessed that he had a heightened urge for sex on amavasya and poornima nights, when there is the new moon or the full moon. He said that he was much like other men when it came to the sex urge.

“He confessed that he had sex with as many as 20 disciples. He also said that in order to impart ‘spiritual bliss’ to disciples, he used to hug them. He made the allegation that his work had drawn a large number of non-Hindus into the fold, causing resentment,” an officer said.

In her statement to the CID police on June 21, Ranjitha made it clear that she and the swamiji were in constant touch: “On March 2 night, Swamiji spoke to me over my mobile phone and informed me that the clippings had been telecast. I was shocked. Swamiji consoled me. He advised me not to talk to the media. It is false to say I had purchased a house worth Rs20 crore. I know about the non-disclosure agreement, but I have not signed any such thing,” Ranjitha had said.

Forensic tests on the tapes revealed that the people featured in them were indeed Nithyananda and Ranjitha. Attempting to explain, Ranjitha said that as a celebrity, she has appeared for sessions of video filming to promote activities at the ashram. Ranjitha had also accompanied the swamiji on his trips to the USA a couple of times.

For those interested in reading more, you can type "Nithyananda" in the search box at DNA India to get the dozens of articles that have been written on this since the story began on March 2, 2010.

Nithyananda has created a playlist of 11 videos on YouTube where he presents his side of the story. It is called "Nithyananda Answers on Scandal". The videos are selectable across the bottom of the page.

New Avatar on the Block

Around two weeks ago one of my YouTube subscribers introduced me to Paramahamsa Nithyananda and his new yogic teaching called eN-Kriya which he announced to the world on January 29th, 2011.

In three YouTube videos (first is above), Nithyananda covers eN-Kriya in enough detail such that anyone can start practicing. I have been practicing it from the time it was introduced to me (about two weeks ago) and have not been this impressed with a practice since Satyananda's 20 Kundalini Kriyas. In fact, it even has many advantages over the Kundalini Kriyas which I'll describe in detail in subsequent posts.

In this post, I'll summarize the key points in this first video as means of introduction to Nithyananda and eN-Kriya. The video starts with Nithyananda welcoming everyone with his love and respect (1:00). He then invokes the presence of all the great masters and offers his respect to them as well (3:00). He discusses some of the benefits of eN-Kriya starting with the usual ones of health and well being, as the pranic level rises in your system (6:30). He discusses the research and development that was done for eN-Kriya prior to this public launch (7:30). He mentions the scientific results achieved by his trial participants (9:30). He gives full credit to the great masters for discovering the technique and says his only role was to test it out and deliver it to the world (10:20).

It was at the 12:30 mark when my ears really perked up at his mention of Swami Satyananda Saraswati. He then goes on to discuss the underlying workings of eN-Kriya which involves balancing the 5 breathing moments: prana, apana, vyana, udana, and samana (13:30). He describes them as inhaling (one), holding the breath in (two), the prana separating from the air and spreading throughout the body (three), exhaling (four), and cleaning (five) (16:00). He says when these 5 pranas are balanced you live a healthy life, and when they are awakened, you live an enlightened life, and when they are out of balance you experience disorders (18:00).

I would also like to add some additional detail regarding these 5 pranic energies and their role in the body-mind-spirit complex (system). I provide a general description of the energy action along with specific examples for ease of understanding. Prana is the intake of energy into the system (eating food, inhaling air). Samana is the processing of that energy by the system (digesting food, extracting oxygen). Vyana is the distribution of that energy throughout the system (blood circulation). Udana is the use or release of that energy by the system (actions, words). Apana is the elimination of waste energy from the system (bowel movement, exhaling carbon dioxide).

Nithyananda says he hopes to one day prove to the world that all diseases can be cured (19:00). He says eN-Kriya will even free you from the birth-death cycle itself (20:00). He mentions Mahavatar Babaji and the anti-aging effect of Kriya yoga (22:30). He says he has condensed eN-Kriya such that it will take only 42 minutes to complete (26:00). Later, he again mentions Mahavatar Babaji and gives him credit for keeping Kriya yoga alive on Earth (30:50). He talks about techniques coming soon, like eN-Yoga which will be 54 postures, eN-Mudra and eN-Dhyana (32:00). He concludes by taking about yet another result of these techniques which he calls the eN-Effect. That is the reduction in crime rate, wars and natural calamities (34:00). This is something not usually part of yogic practice but often practiced in the new age community, and eN-Kriya incorporates these aspects of new age meditation as well which I find quite exciting.

The next two videos (and my next two posts) will focus on the specific details of the eN-Kriya technique.