Here is some broad reference of kriya yoga,i have gathered for general information:-
Kriya yoga is union with God through certain action or ritual.kriya yoga is a method through which human blood is decarbonized and recharged with oxygen.Extra oxygen is used to revitalize brain and spinal centres Thus yogi is able to prevent the decay of tissues. The advanced yogi transmutes his cells into pure energy. Kriya is an ancient techniqe. Lahari Mahasaya received it from his guru,Babaji who rediscovered it.and clarified the technique after it had been lost in dark ages.
Kriya yoga is refered to by Krishna,india’s greatest prophet in a stanza of Bhagvad Gita: “offering inhaling breath into outgoing breath and outgoing breath into inhaling breath,the yogi neutralizes both these breaths,he thus releases the life force from the heart and bring it under his control”.Thus the yogi arrests decay of his body by an addition of life force and arrests mutations of growth in the body by apan(eliminating current).Thus nutralizing decay and growth by quieting the heart,the yogi learns life control"
The kriya yogi mentally directs his life energy to revolve,upward and downward around his six spinal centres.one half minute of energy around sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution,that half minute of kriya equals one year of natural spiritual progress.The scriptures say that man reqires a million years of normal diseaseless evolution to perfect his human brain sufficiently to express cosmic consciousness.By applying kriya shortcut,yogi can accomplish by intelligent self efforts the same results which nature bring to pass in a million years. of course kriya method can be taken by deeply developed yogis with the guidance of a guru.
The yogi performs a simple,natural process consciously not unconsciously like a slow paced sleeper.he scientfically makes breath unnecessary.The outgoing life force is reunited with subtler spinal energy.Untying the cord of breath which binds the soul to body,kriya serves to prolong the life and enlarge the consciousness to infinity.Attaining the power of sense disconnection the yogi find it simple to unite his mind at will with divinity or matter.
In the Bhagwad Gita shri Krishna says:-“The yogi is greater than the body disciplining ascetics,greater than the followers of jnana yoga or karma yoga,be thou,o disciple Arjuna,a yogi”.
Hello Kumar,
notwithstanding that, what I said above is correct and is worth keeping an eye on. All of the stuff said in that quote you give, written as if to apply to ‘Kriya Yoga’, apply to Advanced Yoga in general.
Obsidian said:
Schools Schools of Yoga, and Types of Yoga are sometimes confused. ‘Kriya Yoga’ and ‘Kundalini Yoga’ are not really types of Yoga; they are schools of Yoga. In other words, they represent a curriculum of Yoga, rather than a different type. Kriya Yoga is merely the label given by certain yoga schools to the Advanced Yoga they teach…;
‘Kriya Yoga’ is not a distinct type of yoga. For marketing purposes, it is sometimes given a spin as if it is. It’s just Yoga (in the authentic Indian sense, not hot-bods-in-asanas).
There, I’ve said it.
With best regards,
-David
Hello David,
You would recognize that Kriya yoga is the most ancient yoga technique that,i think,cover all the aspects of advanced yoga.In the above quote ,my emphasis was on that very point.All yoga schools,as you call them, borrowed techniques from kriya yoga.Yes, people label their yoga as kriya yoga for marketing purposes without knowing full aspects of kriya yoga.people have distorted kriya yoga since the times of paramhansa yoganada…regards.
Hi all
Please - help me out here:
I don’t understand…why are the labels so important?
I know so little about Yoga. It used to bother me…but then again…the purification seems to happen anyhow. I ment to catch up and read about Yoga tradition. But for some reason there is no attraction that way for me right now. Maybe later…
What am I missing here?
Why is what we call it more important than the practise itself?
May all your Nows be Here
Hello Katrine,
What am I missing here?
Why is what we call it more important than the practise itself?
There is likely to be no-one in the discussion who finds what we call it more important than the practice itself… we are talking about what to call it for reasons to follow…
I don’t understand…why are the labels so important?
So that people know what they are talking about. So that when they use the same words they are not meaning different things and talking at cross-purposes.
So that people know that Kriya Yoga is just Advanced Yoga labelled differently. So that when they do Advanced Yoga they know that Kriya Yoga does not contain something that they are missing. Ironically, I’m actually trying to remove the confusion caused by labels.
And because some of us find it interesting…
You aren’t necessarily missing something if you just don’t find it interesting. 
Maybe this conversation is just not for you.
Regards,
-David
Such a statement is an article of faith, which can’t really be argued. That’s fine, but I am not as ready to take things on the word of others now as I was several decades ago when I first started serious spiritual practice.
At this time, the questions I tend to ask of a spiritual discipline are things like this: just how is this practice supposed to make me enlightened? How is following this path supposed to lead to an end of suffering? I think those are reasonable questions for anyone to ask before committing years and even decades of their life to a particular path.
I don’t have as many decades left as I used to have for fumbling around. That’s why I’m here and AYP is my practice.
Hi David
Thanks, David
I am still laughing at myself
I love it when things are simplified this way. It is so obvious then!
You are a breath of fresh air, David - thanks for clearing that up for me
May all your Nows be Here
Love it Ranger. Thanks for summing it up in one simple sentence. 
Kumar said:
All yoga schools,as you call them, borrowed techniques from kriya yoga.Yes, people label their yoga as kriya yoga for marketing purposes without knowing full aspects of kriya yoga.people have distorted kriya yoga since the times of paramhansa yoganada
Kumar, the marketing did not start only after Parahamsa Yogananda’s death.
Here’s a story:
At a certain point, a bunch of Yogis started trying to give an ‘exclusive’ kick to their teachings. So they mythologized it. They called it ‘XYZ yoga’. They presented it as ‘the original yoga’, and cultivated the notion that all others forms of yoga are derivative or even distortions of this pure knowledge.
How ofen has this happened? In other words how often has this ‘story’ I mentioned become history? My guess is ‘thousands of times’. For ‘XYZ yoga’, substitute in any number of spiritual practices and systems throughout history. I’ve seen it being done in the last century by a number of organizations coming from India.
Ever wonder how come so many different organizations have the One Original and Authentic Answer that leaves the others in the dust? Well, it is great fun for the school… It’s very appealing for the ordinary folks. It’s exciting in a ‘magical’ way. But it has it’s dark side, unfortunately. It tends to produce sectarian results: “We have it, you don’t” or, “To the extent to which you have it, you borrowed it from us”, or alternatively, “We’re entitled to teach this, you aren’t”.
The truth is that Advanced Yoga knowledge has been indigenous in India for thousands of years, and in Tibet and other places, at least for many centuries, but at any time, it was only known well by a relatively small number of people. These people were not organized into any sect or group, and were not unified by any trademark or label for their practice.
What these people had in common is that they were Strong Yogis, that’s all. Those are the people to whom we owe the development and preservation of Yoga. Thousands of often individually unremembered figures, spanning many diverse groups over a long period of time. Those are the ‘Authentic Yogis’, and they have never belonged to a single group with a label, or taught practices unified by some exclusive label.
Here at AYP we are priveleged to see the fruit of their work, compiled here for all to see for free.
Regards,
-David
Hi all,
I have a question about this topic, a point of clarification. In this quote from the Gita, is Krishna referring to spinal breathing? or some other technique? Thanks.
“offering inhaling breath into outgoing breath and outgoing breath into inhaling breath,the yogi neutralizes both these breaths,he thus releases the life force from the heart and bring it under his control”.Thus the yogi arrests decay of his body by an addition of life force and arrests mutations of growth in the body by apan(eliminating current).Thus nutralizing decay and growth by quieting the heart,the yogi learns life control"
Hi Paw. How’s Ma? 
Yes, in the Kriya Yoga I practice that is the merging of breath practiced while performing kundalini pranayama. Others here will have to fill you in on the A.Y.P. method and whether or not that is employed. Or you may find it in the lessons.
i’m not sure if AYP has borrowed any techniques from KY. here are some techniques used in KY from various gurus flowing down from Lahiri Mahasaya initiated in 1861 by Avatar babaji of Nagaraj. i must say that Lahiri Mahasaya initiated many with different techniques according to their uniqueness(dosha,karma,desire,mentality,physical ability,etc.). Lahiri Mahasaya also told them to not compare what techniques they have. although their are some KY-techs common among the sadhakas. with that being said,here are some KY-techs/mudras:
- mahamudra
- yoni(jyoti) mudra
- navi(nabhi) kriya
- khechari mudra(talabya/talavya kriya)
- kriya proper
- thokar kriya
- omkar kriya
- sambhavi mudra
- bhramari kumbhaka
- japa(mantra) kriya
- mulabandha
- siddhasana
- mulavandha mudra(mulabanha w/perineum heel pressure)
hope this list helps.
Hi Blackmuladar,
I know that AYP incorporates no.s 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 from that list. It also includes kriya proper (no 5) without the visualization of chakras no.’ 2, 3, 4 and 5. It may include more kriya yoga techniques, I don’t know. Yogani seems to have left out Thokar kriya, Navi Kriya, and Omkar kriya, presumably because he feels they don’t add anything to the overall practice.
Christi
Hi Christi see here for what yogani says about navi kria
Hi Christi and Blackmuladar:
Chin pump (dynamic jalandhara) is similar to thokar, navi kriya is covered in AYP lesson 275, and we use deep meditation after spinal breathing pranayama (similar to “kriya proper”) instead of omkar. Omkar is OM nada (listening for OM). In AYP we do not use that due to it’s on-again off-again nature. OM does occur in AYP practitioners, as many have experienced. We regard it to be primarily effect from our practices rather than cause, and favor our practices instead. Then we get more ecstatic OM as effect!
OM is the vibration of ecstatic conductivity and radiance rising in our nervous system, giving way over time to merging with inner silence, and becoming outpouring divine love – stillness in action.
AYP is not kriya yoga, but does use some similar methods, plus other techniques in ways not occurring in kriya yoga which produce more effects in less time, with prudent self-pacing of course.
No long sittings in AYP – lots more time to go out into daily life and play in our inner silence and ecstatic bliss. 
The guru is in you.
Moderator note: Topic moved for better placement