Furio's Kriya Yoga Home Page
www.kriyayoga.it
www.paramahansayogananda.eu
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(One of the oldest kriya yoga pages on the web: on-line since september 1998)
kriya yoga initiations and lectures worldwide - Kriya yoga (Español) (concise)
First of all, many thanks to Angelfire - Easiest Free Home Pages for making this web page possible......
Paramahansa Yogananda with his guru, Sri Yukteswar, in 1936
My name is Furio Sclano, I was born in 1969 and I live in Italy. I am the Minister in Italy of Center for Spiritual Awareness.
These web pages are dedicated to Paramahansa Yogananda and the kriya yoga gurus of our tradition.
Paramahansa Yogananda was born in 1893 in India,
where he had his formal education.
After ten years of training under the supervision of his Guru, Swami Sri
Yukteswar Giri, he
moved to the United States to spread the teachings of yoga in that country.
Yogananda taught that with meditation, devotion, introspection and a scientific
spiritual technique
known as "Kriya Yoga" it is possible to enter a conscious relationship with God
and fully realize God as it really is.
Are you interested in deepening your knowledge about the world of Kriya yoga?
Take a look at this page. It has been online since 1998 and, since then, it has
been one of the most visited worldwide. At the beginning this page was only in english language; I started developing the italian pages in 2002.
Roy Eugene Davis
Center for spiritual awareness
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Selections from the writings of Roy Eugene Davis
Roy Eugene Davis
Roy Eugene Davis is my guru-teacher. I have been in touch with him since 1996. He founded Center for Spiritual Awareness
in the seventies (the previous name of the organization was "Christian
Spiritual Alliance").
The main headquarters of the organization are in Lakemont - Georgia. Roy Eugene
Davis has a very personal approach to ministry, but probably he is the one who
has got the highest meaning of kriya yoga practice. He states that every
knowledgeable person spiritually advanced may play the role of a
Guru (by using this word as a synonym of "teacher"), and that he can be
considered this way by his direct disciples and students.
Mr. Davis was accepted by Paramahansa Yogananda as a disciple in 1949, and he
was later authorized (1951) by him to initiate people into the practices of
kriya yoga. He was a monk of SRF during the early fifties and he left the
organization in 1953. Since then, he has
lectured worldwide and initiated thousands of seekers. I have always found some
of his reasonings very challenging, but it is so because he is not a common
person and he has an incredible degree of understanding. Mr. Davis has a very
keen intellect and great skills at
writing. He is the author of more than 40 books, some of which have been
translated in many languages. His commentary of the Bhagavad-Gita is a must to
read. I visited CSA's headquarters in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. The center is
immersed in nature; very quiet and very beautiful. I had the impression that
everything there was in divine order. I suggest a visit to CSA to any person in
the world needing a period of tranquillity and inner reflection. In may 2005, Mr.
Davis authorized me to teach kriya yoga to sincere seekers (I do that in an
organized meditation group now - Associazione "Centro kriya yoga Stella"), and in september 2005 he ordained me as a CSA
minister. I have always felt a strong relationship with him and amongst the
people in the world of kriya yoga I have met in my life, he has been the one
who helped me the most.
The Lineage of Kriya yoga Gurus.........
According to some, Babaji is a deathless Yogi who is still living somewhere in the Himalayas, whilst others think that he takes human form once in a while in order to accomplish specific purposes (for more information read Roy Eugene Davis' book "Life surrendered in God" - 1993 - Csa Press). Since 1946, nobody knew about Babaji's existence. Yogananda mentioned him in the book "autobiography of a yogi" (which was first published in 1946), and recently lots of people have claimed to be in touch with him. Obviously, most of these statements are not true.
Lahiri Mahasaya
Lahiri Mahasaya is considered by many as one of the greatest yogi of all times. According to the story reported by Paramahansa Yogananda in his book "Autobiography of a yogi", Shyama Charan Lahiri (known later as "Lahiri Mahasaya - Mahasaya means something like "great devotee")
met Babaji in 1861 and was initiated by him at that time. It is thanks to his
intercession toward Babaji, that kriya yoga has been taught (from that moment
on) also to householders and not only to renunciants. Shyama Charan Lahiri was
born in the village of Ghurni from
a family devoted to God in the form of Shiva. He was employed for many years
as a clerk of the Military Engineering Dept. of the government, which supplied
materials for the Army's road building projects. In 1861 Lahiri was
transferred to Ranikhet, a region situated close to the Himalayas. One day,
while wandering in the area, he was called by a man who said: "A saint wants to
see you!!"
As told before, the saint was Mahavatar Babaji who had chosen that occasion to
renew the guru-disciple relationship established centuries earlier.
Lahiri Mahasaya initiated lots of people into Kriya yoga, some of which (Swami
Pranabananda, Swami Sri Yukteswar, Swami Keshabananda) became fully liberated
yogis. In march 2004 I visited Varanasi, India, and I saw where part of Lahiri
Mahasaya's ashes are contained. This place is inside Shibendu Lahiri's ashram.
Mr. Shibendu Lahiri is the grand-grandson of the master. The Ashram is a
beautiful place, very clean and quiet. A few of Lahiri Mahasaya's belongings
(his shoes, for example) are preserved there. Amongst all the items that can be
found inside the ashram there are 24 books written by L. Mahasaya himself
detailing his spiritual experiences. Originally, there were 26 of them, but 2
were stolen in the past. These books are to be considered probably as
the most important ancient documents in the world
regarding kriya yoga. Lahiri Mahasaya is considered by many as the "father" of
modern kriya yoga. A few of his scriptural commentaries have been published
recently by Yoga Niketan.
His given name was Priya Nath Karar. Yogananda often referred to him as "Jnanavatar", that is: incarnation of wisdom. The meaning of the word "Yukteswar" means: "union with Ishwara"; Sri Yukteswarji was initiated into the swami order after the death of his wife. Sri Yukteswar was an accomplished vedic astrologer and a completely God-realized yogi. He wrote a commentary on the first nine chapters of the Bhagavad-Gita and a small book commissioned by Babaji himself which has been published by Self-Realization Fellowhip for a long time with the title "The holy science". This small book contains interpretations of some verses from various holy scriptures along with reflections upon the inner nature of man and an astrologic explanation about the evolution of the various eras through which the universe unfolds. Sri Yukteswar trained Yogananda for over 10 years and when the latter came to him for the last visit, in 1936, he bestowed Yogananda with the title of Paramahansa (supreme swan). In India, this title is given to people who have reached spiritual perfection. Sri Yukteswar left his body while meditating in the lotus posture. A more detailed web page dealing with the character of Sri Yukteswar may be reached by going here
Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda
Mukunda Lal Gosh was born on January 5th 1893 at Gorakhpur, India. Baptized by Lahiri Mahasaya at the age of one, during his childhood he visited many saints of different paths, looking for inspiration and teachings. Very few people could have borne the strict discipline that Sri Yukteswar gave to him, but, like his master, Yogananda was not an ordinary person. After ten years of spiritual training he founded a school in Ranchi with the purpose of giving a balanced approach to education, with emphasis on vedic philosophy and yoga practice. One day, during a meditation session, he had an inner vision in which he saw a large number of people. he intuitively knew that they were disciples that he would have met in the United States. With the blessings of his Guru, Yoganandaji left India in 1920. He reached Boston, where he gave a lecture at the Congress of religious liberals. During that period he met his first American disciples and went on lecturing in the main american cities for a while. Later in the twenties, he settled in Los Angeles. The organization he founded in 1920 (Self - Realization Fellowship) still has its main headquarters there in Mt. Washington. Paramahansa Yogananda left his body while speaking of God, the Gurus and his beloved India, like only the greatest ones are allowed to do. Everything about his wonderful life is written in the book "Autobiography of a Yogi " - SRF Publisher.