In my search, I've come across this name:
Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath
I first saw an advertisement for this guy on Facebook (which was both interesting and discouraging.)
However, I clicked and read and listened.
Part of me feels, "Ok this guy seems cool," and part of me goes, "Ok this guy is a scam." The cost of the weekend retreats, at over $800 is a tip off to my negative nature - that something is up. My positive nature is latching onto all the glowing reviews. Few people have anything negative to say about the man.
I noticed the cost for Kriya empowerments is a lot less then $800. If you don't do a weekend retreat, and just go in, it's $108. That's more reasonable, but - what if that's the tip of the iceberg?
Will this end up like another Scientology experiment? Will I get phone calls hounding me for events, merchandise and expecting donations in the thousands?
It's a hard call. I actually got an email from a nice guy representing Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath. The rep said I could call him. I haven't. I'm somewhat scared to call him. Scared of being cornered into a meeting and pressured into giving some amount of money. I'm not saying he would do that, but I'd like to experience the group without having to show up to something. like see where they meet, see online classes...
At any rate, he has glowing reviews. People claim the amazing, the miraculous and the mystical. I want to check it out. But I'm nervous.
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Wednesday, May 25, 2011
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17 comments:
Your nervousness is well-founded, I'd say.
The "Realized Master" claims to know who the present-day reincarnation of King Arthur is, and various other who-used-to-be-whom and who-is-going-to-become whom baloney. How did he figure it all out? Did he learn it from a higher authority to whom only he has access? Or did he just make it up?
The same questions apply to his preposterous prophecies about 2012 and the 700 years to follow. Why should a reasonable person believe him? What is the empirical evidence?
In some ways more revealing than the mumbo jumbo itself is the punctuation used in the course of disseminating it: Periodically the "Master" intones, "Aye?" And the devout disciples slavishly respond in chorus, "Aye." This is a method of mind control, like "Amen," "Yavole," "Heil H.," "Yessir," etc.
It seems the sales guy's primary schtick is the fast-track to enlightenment. "The techniques taught by other gurus will all get you there; they are all beautiful. But the technique I teach will get you there the fastest."
Just follow me: scoop out your brains and give me your money.
If the guy is not a con man, then I am Santa Claus.
Hello :) I understand why one would be very skeptical...especially when people ask for money. I just want to account for my experience in seeing Yogiraj. I have NEVER, not once been asked to donate money to the Hamsa Yoga Organization. In fact, it's funny but at the Portland Oregon retreat last year I heard Yogiraj say, "I am not a part of the organization, pay me back in another lifetime" hahaha.. I also do have to say though that it does take money to run things. That is the nature of this world and the natural course of things. If you support the awakening and want to give, you can and if you support it and still don't give you can and trust me there is not one ounce of guilt. I have grown up in religious backgrounds to where there is guilt. there is NONE...i swear. :) Yogiraj is not concerned about money he is there to help awaken us from this illusion. :) It is something you have to just experience and then come to your own conclusion and the cool thing is that there is no swaying you in staying or going. Its really quite liberating where you meet people as such...to where they do not force you to stay in they're community.
Anyway, just speaking on behalf of my personal experience and being given the 'No Mind' state - it's indescribable.
Peace
Siddhanath is a scammer. He unofficially off the record claims to be Sri Yukteswar reborn. Also the kriya he teaches is nothing like Yogananda's or even Lahiri Mahasaya's (and therefore Babaji's) kriya. Just another Baba making money and raising followers.
Lord Sri Yukteswar has multiple bodies right now - Are you 100% sure Siddhanath is not one of them? If you really want to know, find out for yourself! No one else can convince you.
For a start, Sri Yukteswar's birthday is May 10 1855 and Siddhanath's birthday is May 10 1944. Co-incidence or a subtle hint? Again, if you really want to know, put the effort and find out.
Aki, so every person born may 10 is a guru?
This is the big concern I have with Yogiraj and his followers. They have a cult like zeal. They feel the need to make me accept what I don't believe. I've done the "homework" - I've listened to Yogiraj I've seen his deal at Agape. I've read his book wings to freedom - I see him as a ego driven guy. But his followers won't let it end there. They send me constant emails or replies like yours that ask me to "investigate his truth" - I did. I found him self serving and ego driven. More worrisome are his followers who seem to have resigned wisdom to fanaticism (as one follower himself admitted with pride.)
Can't you just accept that I found my guru in Yogananda and I have no need of Yogiraj?
Someone said that he is finding it difficult to obtain the techniques of Kriya Yoga from the web. Then he asked if Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath is legit source. This was the answer from one of the more knowledgeable persons in the group.
==============================================
I belong to this tradition and so reading this prompted me to chime in on the discussion. The technique of Kriya Yoga as it was originally taught by Lahiri Mahasaya is a little challenging to come by because initiation comes with a vow of secrecy and most kriyabans, myself included, take this vow seriously. However, if you keep on searching you will find that there are about two or three sites that do list the techniques of certain forms of Kriya Yoga. One of them is by a former follower of Lahiri Mahasaya’s great grandson Shibendu Lahiri: Ennio Nimis.
What you should understand though is that different lineages tend to teach Kriya Yoga differently because Lahiri Mahasaya taught Kriya Yoga differently to different people based on some sort of psychoemotional assessment. Some of these disciples eventually set themselves up as “gurus” and basically taught their “disciples” what they have learned first-hand from Lahiri Mahasaya. In fact, even lineages that descended from his own children teach Kriya Yoga a little bit differently from each other.
The Kriya Yoga hype started when Paramahansa Yogananda wrote in Autobiography of a Yogi that it is possible to attain moksha in this life by way of hastening the evolutionary process through the aid of these techniques called kriyas (not to be confused with the kriyas of Hatha Yoga), foremost among them is the breathing technique where strong ascending and descending sensations are actually felt in the area of the spine. Kriya Yoga often comes in four “degrees,” with the first degree or first initiation being composed of four techniques: talabya kriya, mahamudra, kriya pranayama, and yonimudra a.k.a jyotimudra (again, not to be confused with Hatha Yoga practices bearing the same names). Yogananda said that a million kriya pranayamas perfectly executed and practiced within the context of the entire Kriya Yoga regimen could lead to moksha. And if one is committed enough he can accomplish this in three years.
Because of this 1 kriya = 1 year of natural evolution theory of Yogananda, which his own guru Swami Sri Yukteswar disagrees with (Sri Yukteswar’s formula is 1 kriya = 1 month of natural evolution only), it is only natural that many who have read Autobiography of a Yogi, the types who believe in such things, wanted to learn the technique, but the Lahiri lineage, Yogananda’s lineage included, made this very difficult. In Yogananda’s organization, for example, one needs to practice preparatory techniques for at least one year before he becomes eligible to apply for Kriya Yoga, to which his fitness to receive such a powerful technique will be assessed and he will be asked to accept Paramahansa Yogananda as his guru and Self-Realization Fellowship as his religion. These kinds of conditions are, of course, not for everybody and so a lot of aspirants seek for easier alternatives to obtain the techniques—and this is where non-lineage “gurus” like Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath come into the scene. (continued)
(continuation)
The non-lineage “gurus” all have the same story to tell. Basically, they claim that the master who initiated Lahiri Mahasaya in 1861, only known as Babaji because he refused to disclose his real name, magically appeared to them and taught them the method directly, and then he (Babaji) personally gave them the charge to spread Kriya Yoga throughout the world.
Sidhoji Rao Shitole a.k.a. Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath (you can’t blame the guy for altering his name because his surname sounds like “shit hole”) is no exception to this, and if you read his autobiography Wings to Freedom, you will probably concur along with myself and others that it is one hell of a made-up life story. From what I have gathered, Mr. Shitole was heavily into Theosophy and for a number of years in his stint as Yogiraj has been teaching his own made-up version of “Kriya Yoga” that did not even remotely resemble any of the authentic forms. In one account, he made one aspirant visualize a swan swimming around his head, placed his padukas in the aspirant’s head, shouted something that sounds like “fuck!” and asked him to visualize the same swan taking off from his head and flying to the heavens until it vanishes in the light. When this technique came to the attention of some legitimate kriyabans, they humorously labeled it as Yogiraj technique of Seven-swans-a-swimming.
When certain forms of Kriya Yoga were made available in the Internet by disgruntled followers of certain gurus from authentic lineages, Mr. Shitole’s Kriya Yoga techniques were radically altered and now they do resemble the first degree kriyas. Apparently, Mr. Shitole’s American citizen son Rudrasen is very Internet savvy and regularly supplies his Dad with information that he has gathered from different websites.
In truth, Babaji did not teach this Kriya Yoga to Lahiri Mahasaya. He gave Lahiri Mahasaya more than a hundred techniques most probably in written form for him (Lahiri) to experiment on, which he did. And out of all those many techniques chose only a few that was most effective to teach his followers. This means that it is really Lahiri Mahasaya and not Babaji who came up with these formulas or combinations, and the claim of non-lineage “gurus” that Babaji personally appeared to them to teach them the exact same combinations is based on a big misunderstanding of how Kriya Yoga actually developed.
Among those who claim to have been directly initiated by Babaji are Sidhoji Rao Shitole a.k.a. Yogiraj SatGurunath Siddhanath, Thiru Rajasekaran a.k.a. Paramahansa Nithyananda, Swami Vishwananda (who claims to be a reincarnation of Yogananda), Swami Shree Yogi Satyam (who also claims to be a reincarnation of Yogananda), Yogi S.A.A. Ramaiah, Yogi Ayyappa, Marshall Govindan Satchidananda, Gyan Swami, Louie Bonnano a.k.a. Louix Dor Dempriey, and Dr. Donald Schnell a.k.a. Prema Baba Swamiji. There are, of course, others but they are not as popular as these folks.
I only know Yogiraj Gurunath from his YouTube videos, and oh, what pointless drivel they can be! There has to be much more to him than that. He probably doesn't even realize how these videos make him look. Most of it, I don't know why he even bothers to open his mouth and say it. Maybe if they were actually about the practice of Kriya Yoga...
ok....my 2 cents worth:
1. The guy Siddhanath talks too much and is too verbose to be realised. I have met Yogis who are highly realised and the common strain I have found with them is taciturnity. They do not like to TALK. Their influence goes beyond mere words.
2. "Kriyabans"--it doesn't matter what jokes they make since the original joke is on them....kriya is a big sham and money spinning scandal. There are certain keys to practise that have been omitted.
3. If you meet a Yogi, challenge them to display breathless state and control over heartbeat and other involuntary functions. This will reveal atleast that they are further along the path than the neophytes if not self realised.
4. If you meet a so called Kriya "Master"--ask him for proof of his mastery over the involuntary fuctions..if he cannot or gives mumbo jumbo, run away. The same people who are coy about such things wax eloquent about meeting babaji and claim to know where babaji eats, where he lives, where he shits etc.
Is it really that important? If a man is immortal who gives a damn? Good for him. WHat matters to us is what we can apply to the misery of our lives.
Love..V
Just read through the fantastic ranges of perception of Yogiraj Siddhanath. But that's exactly what the mind is about - perception, wrong or right.
Saying my own two bits- actually 'six-bits' :-)
1. I learnt the Kriya from Yogiraj Gurunath in 2001. It is exactly the same even now - whoever says it has changed following revelation of the technique online by other Kriyabans- is incorrect. There are higher initiations and levels, where the techniques are different and more powerful.
2. When I was to learn and came to know the fee - I had my own questions and felt foolish really for not understanding it right away. So- Okay, so lets say YOU are an enlightened man, who knows he must share his treasure. So you have to decide between- a)working a regular 9-5 shift and sparing an hour to teach the kriya,knowing only a few will come because they dont know what you have to share- and need to be convinced by others who had the experience etc- and you cant travel more than 15-20 days a year because of your job & you are managing your household expenses, so where will the money come from to bear travel expenses? That makes you dependent on others to donate. And you may end up teaching a handful or may be a few hundred
Or you could choose b)Taking a fee (to substitute for your job) - with most of diverted to creating an organization which will reach far and wide and make you/enlightenment accessible to hundreds of thousands of people- who want to walk the path but don't have the money or means to travel to the guru. What would you choose? No right and wrong about it- you could choose either.The same goes for those disciples who create the space and time for you to come and learn :-)
3. Now for 'empirical evidence'- you dont have to believe in anything. When the master talks in a friendly way, he is helping you let down your guard, you mind - not to influence you or control you - but because the mind interferes. How? What is the mind really? Its a faculty, and it has derived beliefs from your personal experiences. - If I touch fire, I will burn - if i cross the road now i will be run over with a car - so the basic mind calculates loss and gain only. All your perceptions are based on a previous memory. So when someone has to get you to believe that water is wet- which is a reality- he can use endless words to describe the experience of water- but you can NOT understand 'wetness'. You cant. Period. To experience it- you must jump into the pool. Now YOU have the challenge of explaining 'wetness' to someone- and you get it suddenly- Eureka! Now you see the challenge of the Guru who must ask you to drop the mind to experience 'consciousness'.
4. All all all techniques are to get your body-mind to relax the nervous system. Humans are on survival mode. The more challenging your life has been- the more alert and taut you are. You could go either way- a) If you are always on the look out, defensive & alert as you must survive life - your nerves are loaded and the anxiety keeps breaking your mind-body (dis-ease). Or b) You feel confident because of your challenges, and realise there is nothing to overcome- you can cross the bridge only when you come to it. Your whole system relaxes- and you have so much energy to do more than 'surviving' this life. Makes sense? THATs when you expand- you feel you are more than body-mind- you are consciousness.And more. But that you can only experience.
5. As for 'Aye'- When he asks Aye? He is asking- do you understand? Feel free to say- I didnt get that bit Gurunath. This isnt mind control. Are you really so weak in mind to see it as such?
(Continued below)
(continued from the above post)
6. And regarding - "Mr. Shitole’s American citizen son Rudrasen who is very Internet savvy & regularly supplies his Dad with information that he has gathered from different websites" -
Even disciples look up other sites and try to understand what's going on. And they want to ask the guru- so and so is saying this- what do you think or have to say- or can you pls explain?
The web is a fantastic tool. You can share your enlightenment, your wisdom, or sell your wares & services with the whole world.It's stupid not to use it really. And it's great to keep abreast of what everyone else is teaching- and you know where confused people are coming from- after reading about so many ways, paths & philosophies.
7. And lastly- even Einstein would sound like a scamster to people who don't understand equations.
This isnt to say- i know all- just that I have been through it- i have seen the pitfalls and how 'misunderstanding & misinterpretation' that can make one judge a master. you could be running down someone because he didn't measure up to your expectation. But think of this- the ocean is huge- but YOUR vessel to gather water maybe small.
Have a nice day!
From what I understand is, that one that has a lot of money, can become a student, and on the end a enlighten being. Those that have a low budget, or no money it all, can go sleep in the park, and work on his karma in the park where he sleeps. Am I right or wrong. Please help me out.
When l first saw guru sidhanath on YouTube lthought he was pompous,l was more attracted to his physical appearance than his words.Extremely flamboyant.He reminded me of Bacchus and the image of God painted by Michelangelo on the Sistine chapel.Recently I decided to listen to him on the YouTube and was impressed with his verbal sophistication and the amount of knowledge he has.I might not rush to join him to get enlightened but l do enjoy listening to his talks.He has a sence of humour and comes across as a warm hearted person.lt is unfortunate that many people like myself who would like to have the experience of staying in an ashram to learn about kriya yoga cannot do so because of the cost.However l do believe that if the desire to learn is strong enough we'll achieve it.
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