It seems obvious to me by reading the comments on this site that the AYP teachings are superior to anything in SRF. The mantra meditation alone seems much better than any other technique. It is similar to the TM mantra technique which really seems to be about relaxation and very little effort of concentration. Suitable for everyone i reckon!
well, I also was a member of SRF, not for long and also not very intens because from the beginning, something bothered me. I was seeking something and now, here, I feel ‘at home’. I really enjoy the openness and taking responsibility for your own proces. I am very greatfull! 
AHA! you guys have finally discovered the big secret about AYP: All of the info is available free online except Secrets of Wilder. Therefore, this whole site and the forums must be advertising the Secrets of Wilder book! ha ha just kidding. AYP is run from donations, and the energy source that is Yogani.
Here is the big difference between AYP and SRF for your information,
from the kriya yoga topic in the topic index:
We make a distinction in AYP between awakening ecstatic conductivity and cultivating inner silence – pure bliss consciousness. For the latter, we use deep meditation, which does not come from kriya yoga, but from mantra yoga. This is a huge difference between AYP and kriya yoga.
While traditional kriya yoga uses mantras in spinal breathing, AYP
does not, switching the meditation process to be with a single mantra (“I AM”) in a separate practice done right after spinal breathing. In this way ecstatic conductivity and inner silence are cultivated separately, which is appropriate because it is not possible to fully cultivate both at the same time!
These two aspects are the male and female energies in us all, and there’s a lot more written about this subject in the lessons.
This is coming from someone who really knows very little about Kriya yoga…but I was on Yogananda’s site before trying to find information and in the forums I was not a big fan, turned off somehow, by how they revere him almost as a living diety. “Master does this” “Master’s brother does that…” That I think is another thing that really appeals to me about Yogani and AYP. He knows what he’s talking about and that’s it. He doesn’t request or initiate that we all revere him and worship him as they do traditional gurus, he just tells it like it is and wishes us the best. I think that is a true evolutionary step in the right direction for yoga and any spiritual teaching.
After the path that I had followed for 20 years crashed four years ago (2003), subsequently tearing my worldview and belief foundation assunder, I researched tons of paths and practices.
At one point in my search of various paths, I sent away to SRF requesting info. The white envelope arrived completely empty! The envelope was somehow torn in its journey and the contents fell out/were taken??
Regardless, for me the message was clear: SRF would be empty for me and/or at the very least not necessary.
I value teachers/spiritual guides but the teachers I value most are the ones that recognize and honor that the guru is within.
And on that note - a most heartfelt thank-you, Yogani.
-matangi
lol wow, there’ve been some excellent posts on this topic!
Matangi, your anecdote is so funny and yet so poignant with meaning.
LittleTurtle, I think everyone who’s now here can fully relate to what you’ve said.
I studied the SRF lessons all the way to the first kriya initiation pledge, but the pledge definitely turned me off completely. So, I didn’t renew my membership and left it at that, feeling like if that was the case then it really just wasn’t for me to be with SRF doing their kriya. Within the last week, I happened to find that someone copied the SRF lessons on a scanner and put it into PDF format, including the first kriya initation… to which I’m grateful that I didn’t make the pledge, because the way kriya is taught by SRF doesn’t appeal to me. I’ve also had many negative run-in’s with his “devotees”, some of which were more on the scary side. I’ve often wondered how the organization will survive, once all the remaining devotees and monastics who actually knew/met PY have passed away. Its continuance seems to be based on these remaining people’s reflections of their time spent with him.
supertrouper,
If you don’t mind me asking, do you know where that PDF of the lessons can be obtained?? perhaps a torrent link or download link somewhere??
Now that we are all reminiscing about our adventures in the great systems of Yoga, Just
Thought I would share my experiences with Self-Realization Fellowship/YSS. Nowone can make a serious comparison with all other systems and SRF Kriya Yoga.
But I can say that after more than 50 years working with this Kriya Yoga system via SRF/YSS the promised results did come, and they are no less than awesome. I really like for the most, part what the SRF Matas have done for this work.
As for those of you who didn’t get the results you were seeking, who knows why? I’ve found a lot of persons don’t read carefully enough, and are actually shocked when I share with them “did you read this part?”
This is one of those complex parts of our human/spiritual existence. Perhaps system A was more suitable to your particular needs/makeup at some time in your life than system B. Things are so designed that it is almost impossible to compare different paths A &B in living practice. It only seems a little easier intellectually.
In order to actually do so one would say, after trying path A for 10 years, actually go back to the person he/she was and start all over again testing path B for 10 years while keeping meticulous records of research and any other effects of ones lifestyle changes during those 10 years[ which would never duplicate themselves.] So it is almost impossible to do a true comparison.
And if you add to this the great and common possibility that so many do not even follow instructions very accurately, and so of course did not get the best of results, even the attempt to test and compare different paths is extremely difficult and misaligned. We just aren’t that smart –
It is like trying to hit a moving, disappearing, and reappearing target while using a mirror while you are riding a motorcycle on a bumpy dirt road. Try it sometime!
Then there is the experience of the Buddha, who they say tried so many things and decided to chuck it all and sit under the tree. But the fact is, it was all that other stuff he did for so many years that brought him to the point where he was capable of making that supreme final effort in whatever way he did. Buddha is still a yogi. There is no perfect system for all. But this world is so full of many rich and valuable paths that will take us to Self-Realization.
The biggest problem I have had with Self-Realization Fellowship was when it was time to apply for the Kriya Yoga lessons, [which are not charged for at all]. Those lessons are free!
Because I had the serious aversion to organizations, there was a hesitation for a short while. So I asked myself – what has been my experience with this divine path so far? And what have been the results? And just who is the Master?
After some thought on these matters, I decided that Yogananda was still the Guru {he was after 1952 my “living Guru” who was teaching me and guiding me for about 6 years before I knew His name] a long story! And I was still a beginner devotee, so let’s keep learning and growing. So I wrote back and took that wonderful pledge, and did gain so so much from that decision. It does take some time to understand the great benefits of working in the Guru –Disciple tradition. From the very first it creates the greatest freedom and self-transformative creative personal growth that is unmatched.
Well it took me many more years to understand why it was so important for Him to create this organization. And set it up to last for future millenniums. It seems a strange paradox that obedience to a guru is the path to total freedom. Yet in a very important way that idea is connected to “before you can lead you should learn to follow.”
SRF will keep growing even after all the original direct disciples have passed on. SRF is a lot more than Kriya Yoga, & devotion [as wonderful as they are]. Yogananda taught us every method to attain that highest samadhi, japa yoga, mantra Yoga, karma yoga, kundalini in Kriya Yoga, gnani yoga, & how the true guru is God and is within, etc .
Many great souls are the product of this great path. Don’t get caught up in the false advertising about all those other systems which may or may not be better for your growth.
It will be a couple of thousand years before someone comes along with a system that is more complete of advanced than what Yogananda has left us. “It may not be for everyone, but it sure worked for me,” said Sri Daya Mata, past president of SRF/YSS. I echo her sentiments! We’re all here learning and growing and what a great adventure!
And meeting Daya Mata was a great consciousness changing darshan, and I said to myself –this is truly worth striving for no matter how long it takes. Great results do come from the SRF/YSS teachings and I found that there was nowhere else I had to go to grow!
The greatest bonus is that Paramahansa Yogananda still lives and works with his devotees, as thousands of persons have testified. As I myself have constantly experienced.
One important thing is that when one progresses in ones chosen path – the mind becomes less and less susceptible to false rationalizations. And one definitely becomes more able to see the difference between what is and is not. May begins to lose it hold on the mind.
The best we can hope for in this life is to be guided to find that path that will help us change the most during any time and place on this great journey from lifetime to lifetime until we are off the treadmill of the relative world.
Peace and wisdom to all in the name of all the Great Ones.
My message is simple. My love and devotion to Babaji led me to a Swami where her disciple taught me Kriya yoga according to Babaji for almost 6 months. I am in limbo at present because my teacher quit on me,I believe due to personality conflict. Anybody have any suggestions? I
will look into what’s been discussed on this topic, but it doesn’t look promising when I tried to check them out.
love,
nirmal