3-month course - registration open!

After some time away from the blog, Peter has returned with news...

The long-awaited Tantra course is now launched!

3-month course for peace of mind, vitality and profound transformation.

See info here:

Some say that Paramamsa Yogananda 're-introduced' Kriya Yoga...

Yoganandaji was representing a lineage of teachers and was passing on a set of practices that had already been 'introduced' by them.

Being probably the most well-known Yogi in the West, it could be said that he introduced Kriya Yoga to the West.

Yogananda also made some adaptations to some of the Kriyas for Westerners as he felt that there was a difficulty for them to practice the original forms.

So, it would perhaps be more correct to say that Babaji reintroduced a specific set of Kriya Yoga practices through Lahiri Mahasaya (who was Yogananda's teacher's teacher).

Since then, there have been many Kriya teachers and schools that have come down from this lineage that began with Lahiri Mahasaya.

Paramahamsa Yogananda is perhaps still the most well-known representative of the Kriya teachings, due to his best-selling book 'Autobiography of a Yogi' and the organisation that he founded - the 'Self-Realization Fellowship' (or 'SRF').

Kriya Yoga practices are also taught by others teachers and lineages, although some of them may not call the practices 'Kriya Yoga'. 

For example Swami Sivananda's student Swami Satyananda Saraswati has taught and authored books that explain many Kriya techniques - these being in fact common to many Kundalini Yoga and Tantra practices.

Messages from Shibendu Lahiri

Click here to read, or download, Shibendu Lahiri's inspired messages.

Who Am I?

Click on the photo to see my new central blog in Portuguese where you can find links to several aspects of my work: Articles, Workshop and Retreat dates, Concerts, Satsangs, Sexual Alchemy, Consultations, etc.

Shiva - One of the Trinity, or 'the Supreme'?

'Shiva' - the 'auspicious' one

... to be continued .... :o)

Spiritual Coaching in Sintra

Sintra is one of the most picturesque and magical places on this planet.

Walk and meditate in the forests, visit initiatic gardens and labyrinths, have a picnic on the cliffs looking over the Atlantic, savour the local foods and unique sweets, visit organic farms, or learn to surf, and each day receive an hour (or more) of coaching while soaking in the magic of Sintra.

Now is the time. What better place to unwind and to let yourSelf flower?

Coaching with Peter Littlejohn Cook

information:

Tel: +351 967 045 411

panmandala@gmail.com

Shibendu Lahiri in Portugal - April 2010

Shibendu Lahiri at Quinta dos Milagres, Lagos.

Shibendu Lahiri is giving a lecture tomorrow night (16th April 2010) in Lisbon at 9pm, and Kriya Yoga initiations over the weekend and then a retreat in Fátima.

You can also find information about this and his upcoming events (UK, Germany, India, USA, etc.) at:

www.kriyayogalahiri.com/htmluk/program.htm

He is a true Advaita master - a voice for the Infinite.

His teaching is not 'comforting', it is profoundly disarming and dissolves the 'I'-centred illusion of separation...

If you meet him or 'his' teaching, prepare to be 'blasted'.

Kriya Yoga and Tantra

"Tantra consists of methods to expand consciousness to perceive trancendental states. Certain practices referred to as "kriyas" help initiate this expansion.
In literature, one will find the word kriya used in several different contexts. It is applied to yogic cleansing practices that maintain the health of the physical body as well as in reference to certain rituals, devotional attitude, and prayers. In the context of this on-going column, Tantric Kriya practices are techniques used to open up the chakras and purify the nadi system.
Direct experience of these aspects of esoteric physiology is not necessary to begin the practice of Tantric Kriya Yoga."

- Alan Verdegraal

'Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition' by Marshall Govindan - a review

A fascinating look at the path of Self-Realisation (Enlightenment) which also goes far beyond purely historical and philosophical discussion.

The Siddhas are known as such because they manifest the Divine powers (Siddhis) which naturally arise through spirtualisation and Union (Yoga) with the Source.
The author is uniquely qualified to write on this subject, being himself a devotee and disciple of Babaji, the legendary Himalayan yogi who was made famous by Paramahamsa Yogananda's best-selling book: 'Autobiography of a Yogi'.

Govindan studied for years with Yogi Ramaiah before receiving a call to introduce people to the path of Babaji's Kriya Yoga. His book makes a serious attempt at de-mystifying the story of Babaji, the origins of Babaji's Kriya techniques, and introduces the Siddha gurus that Babaji apparently encountered as a young man almost two thousand years ago.

The book traces the links between these Siddha-gurus and the group of Siddhas known as the eighteen Siddhas in Tamil Nadu (South India), linking these also with Lao-Tse and the Taoist sages of China, and taking the reader even further back, into prehistory through the legends of the Lemurian continent in the Pacific, its links with South India and Sri Lanka, and its forgotten civilisation whose spiritual practises are preserved and embodied by these powerful yogis known as the Siddhas.

The book is not written only for those who are practising yoga, it is of interest to anyone who wishes to have a deeper insight into the nature of existence, consciousness, and our potentially and naturally blissful ever-present awareness of Spirit through Love.

It is believed that Babaji himself resides in an almost inaccessible region of the Himalayas, however, the path of Babaji's Kriya yoga and the Tamil Siddhas as described in the book is not a path of spiritual escapism, or renunciation through remoteness. It is a universal path of love and service to humanity and transformation of all aspects of our lives through action with spiritual awareness (kriya).

The chapters on other Siddhas that have lived in recent times, such as Ramalinga Swamigal and Sri Aurobindo can help to bring the fantastic stories of miracles and God-Consciousness into focus and root us in the awareness that spirituality is not so much about gurus and the authority of religious dogmas, but is really about our own present experience lived in full awareness.

Despite the historical information on Babaji which was mostly received directly by Yogi Ramaiah and V.T. Neelakantan in the 1950s, there is often a resistance to de-mystifying the story of Babaji's origins. Much of this information is therefore not generally known or agreed upon within the various lineages of Kriya Yoga.
However, there is also something to be said for considering the 'real' Babaji as being simply the form that the Divine mystery takes when appearing as a human being, and as not being in any way limited to this history of a single human form, even though it is certainly an instructive and inspiring story that sheds light on some very powerful insights and practices known as the Tamil Siddha Yoga tradition.

Some consider Babaji to be Shiva or Murugan...

"'Babaji' is not a 'person'... He is a Spiritual phenomenon."

Shibendu Lahiri (great-grandson of Lahiri Mayasaya)

"A minha devoção é de uma espécie estranha.

Nesta, a água do Ganges não é necessária.

Nenhuns utensílios especiais são necessários.

Até as flores são redundantes.

Neste Puja todos os Deuses desapareceram

E o vazio surgiu com euforia."

Lahiri Mahasaya

KRIYA HATHA YOGA

sessões com Peter Littlejohn Cook

uma forma símples de promover a sua saúde

e descobrir a paz de espírito

A vida consiste no desabrochar da energia...
No entanto, os hábitos modernos nos levam normalmente a uma falta de movimento adequado para a nossa saúde tanto ao nível físico como ao nível emocional e mental/intelectual/criativo.

O Yoga nos dá uma oportunidade de restaurar um fluxo energético além do nível físico, actuando ao nível mental e emocional (e talvez até em níveis para quais nem sequer temos nomes), permitindo-nos viver com paz de espírito, apesar das necessidades e demandas do dia-a-dia.

Apesar da popularidade do Yoga o ter levado agora até aos ginásios, é útil lembrar que o Yoga não é só uma forma de ginástica.

As práticas do Kriya Hatha Yoga actuam holisticamente, manifestando resultados à vários níveis – aumentando a nossa mobilidade, estímulando o sistema endócrino (associado ao funcionamento dos ‘chakras’ ou ‘centros energéticos’), melhorando a circulação sanguínea e aumentando a nossa capacidade de absorção de oxigénio.

Além do nome ‘Yoga’ se referir às práticas, seu significado (‘união’/‘ligação’) também indica o efeito das mesmas – a dissolução das barreiras psico-energéticas e a união com a fonte da vida.

‘Yoga’ é ‘união’/‘ligação’

‘Hatha’ é a harmonização entre polaridades (‘Ha’ e ‘Tha’ significam ‘Sol’ e ‘Lua’, em sânscrito)

‘Kriya’ é ‘acção Inspirada’ ou ‘acção purificadora’

~

Ao longo dos anos Peter recebeu orientação em vários aspectos do Yoga (os oito 'ramos' do 'Ashtanga' original, que incluem a meditação) do Siddha Tantra e do Advaita Vedanta através de contacto com várias linhagens e vários 'mestres', incluindo o Paramahamsa Hariharananda e o Paramahamsa Prajnanananda em 1995, o Guru Dharam Singh em 1997, o Marshall Govindan ao longo dos anos desde 1998, a Amritanandamayi Ma (Amma) desde 2001 o Mantak Chia em 2003, o Dattatreya Siva Baba em 2002 e 2004 o Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath em 2006 e 2007, o Stephen Wolinsky (discípulo do Nisargadatta Maharaj) em 2008 e o Shibendu Lahiri em 2009.

Apesar de ter estudado com várias linhagens e recebido bênçãos para partilhar certas práticas (mudras, mantras, kriya hatha yoga, e kundalini shaktipat), a sua abordagem é essencialmente independente. Mais do que qualquer técnica, o que partilha é a Presença do Ser... a Consciência. Seu foco é a meditação - não como 'prática' mas como Vivência do Ser - algo que partilha através de 'concertos', 'satsangs', 'sessões de meditação' e 'sessões individuais de Coaching para Autoconhecimento Radical'.

Neste momento a única prática 'formal' que partilha através de aulas é o 'Kriya Hatha Yoga' e 'os 5 Tibetanos'.

~

Em breve haverá sessões de Yoga e Meditação na Casa Semente em Alvalade, e na Dançarte em Sintra.

Para mais informações por favor contactar Peter Littlejohn Cook pelo mail: panmandala@gmail.com ou pelo número de telemóvel: 967 045 411.

Inscrições podem ser feitas directamente através do Espaço Maaiana, a Dançarte ou contactando o Peter:

panmandala@gmail.com

Tm: 967 045 411

Kali Yuga... or not?

According to Sri Yukteswar, the Vedic astrologers have been basing their calculations on annotations made by misguided sanskrit scholars of the Kali Yuga and so have miscalculated the actual length of the Kali Yuga...

Which means that we may not be in the Kali Yuga anymore after all...
Which could mean it's time to wake up now... not in 426,891 years!

If we believe we're in the Kali Yuga we can look around us and interpret everything as being precisely because of this... and if we believe that we're in the Dwapara Yuga we can look around and interpret things as being precisely because of that.

What does that tell us about the nature of the mind?

Mudras - their origin and function (from 'The Yoga Tradition')

"The origin of these hand gestures is not known. On one level, they are the invention of artists trying to express inner states iconographically. On another level, they undoubtedly are the products of intensive meditation practice during the course of which it is not uncommon that the body spontaneously assumes certain static as well as dynamic poses, which are known as kriyas ("actions")."

Siva - Vasi - VaSiVaSiVaSiVaSiVaSi

In an 'esoteric' understanding of Saiva Siddhanta Yoga practice, 'Siva' (or 'Shiva') is not 'a god'...

Siva is energy and is the breath of life. 'Siva' is both life itself (as breath/'spirit') and the means to attune to the flow of life (through bringing attention to one's breath).

(Being representative of 'Spirit' or 'Source', Siva is also associated specifically with the Crown Chakra, or 'Sahasrara' Chakra.)

From the Sutra Jnanam by Valmiki Siddhar:

"What we are now in this eternal moment is the sacred Divine Breath, Vasi!"

What leads us to the infinite mind of the universe, through Ida and Pingala (the twin energy of Mother Kundalini), the left and right breath is this sacred Divine Breath, Vasi!

The One who posses this infinite universal mind is the Perfected Being, the Siddhar

Realizing all the living in the Universe as Sacred- as Siva, the Absolute is the Siddhar."