kriyā yoga

Devanāgarī: क्रियायोग Translation: activities of yoga; a practical form of the Yoga philosophy (union with the deity by due performance of the duties of every day life, active devotion) Similar words:kriyā, yoga Related concepts:patañjali, sādhana, aṣṭāṅga yoga, haṭha yoga, tapas, svādhyāya, īśvara praṇidhānā, ṣaṭkarma, samādhi yoga, vibhūti yoga, kaivalya yoga

Appears in

Yoga Sūtra:

Chapter 2: 1

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“Īśvara Praṇidhānā is from the Yoga Sūtra
and is mentioned more than once.
It is given on three levels and
both presented and utilised
in Chapters One and Two.
In Chapter Two Patañjali mentions
Īśvara Praṇidhānā as part of Kriya Yoga.
Tapas is elimination, we have things
to remove from body and mind.
Svādhyāya is a reflection of what
I am and what is my goal in life.
Īśvara Praṇidhānā is where we are
more concerned with the quality
of the action rather than the fruit.
Here, Īśvara Praṇidhānā symbolises
our attitude to our actions and the
result of our actions.
Again it is mentioned in Chapter Two
as part of the Niyama,
as part of our daily practices.
Īśvara Praṇidhānā is something
we do every day to bring us
into contact with God.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two

“In introducing the dual Upāya
within the role of the Sādhana Krama
outlined in Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two,
Patañjali introduces Kriya Yoga as a
Śamanam Sādhana, before integrating
its purpose into Aṣṭāṅga Yoga with its
deeper intention as a Śodhanam Sādhana.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two

“According to Patañjali, we firstly need to appreciate
how we choose to inhabit our inner space, within our
personal world, as in the Niyama within Kriyā Yoga.
Only from there can we more fully appreciate how we
can choose how we inhabit our outer space, within our
interpersonal world, as in the Yama within Aṣṭāṅga Yoga.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two

“Can reflection on the relationship
between Svadharma and Dharma
be deepened through the lens of
viewing Niyama within Kriya Yoga,
and Yama as within Aṣṭāṅga Yoga?
This viewpoint, offered by Patañjali, is
one that suggests a preliminary Personal
Svadharma Sādhana, in terms of the three
Niyama introduced as Kriya Yoga in the
opening section in the Sādhana Pādaḥ.
Here, this foundational relationship
offers a Vinyāsa Krama towards how
we can intelligently embrace the more
complex Universal Dharma Sādhana,
in terms of the five Yama within the
Aṣṭāṅga Yoga, that follows later in
the Sādhana Pādaḥ of the Yoga Sūtra.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two

“According to Patañjali, we initiate our
Sādhana by firstly looking at ourselves,
in terms of our Personal Svadharma via
Kriya Yoga. This aspect of our Sādhana
involves the three activities that nurture
a state of Yoga, namely self-discipline,
self–inquiry and self–awareness.
From there we can be clearer about
what is our place and potential within
the role and purpose of the Universal
Dharma inherent within the Bāhya Aṅga
aspect of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga in Chapter Two.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two

“This Sūtra introduces
what Patañjali calls Kriyā Yoga.
Kriyā in the sense of action.
Take the first step.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 1

“Kriyā Yoga means to have certain qualities in our actions.
e.g. listening to this lecture
Natural for people with a stable mind.
So something has to be done for others.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 1

“No medicine can reduce Duḥkha, only Kriyā Yoga.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 1

‎”It is not enough to clean a vessel,
you must put something in.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 1

“The order is important
– from gross to subtle,
we need one to appreciate the next.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 1

“Kriya Yoga –
To do – Tapas.
To examine what we did – Svādhyāya.
To accept what we did – Īśvara Praṇidhānā.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 1

Kriyā Yoga is about how to engage with our challenges,
especially whilst feeling disengaged by them.
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 1

“In Yoga Sutra Chapter Two, the role for
Īśvara Praṇidhānā in the Kriya Yoga section, can
be as an appropriate Upāya for a Cikitsā situation.
Here, as one of a triad in the cultivation of helpful
lifestyle habits, its purpose is in reducing agitation.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 1

“Kriyā Yoga emphasises that the Kleśa cannot be reduced instantly.
It is a gradual process.
Further Kleśa can only be reduced to the limit they become ineffective.
They cannot be destroyed.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 2

“What are the effects of Kriyā Yoga?
Samādhi Bhāvana –
The ability to pursue the right practice that brings one closer to Īśvara.
Kleśa Tanū Karaṇa –
Reduction of those obstacles that we have somehow acquired through wrong actions,
leading to undesirable and bitter experiences.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 2

“Kleśa are not always dominant.
Through Kriyā Yoga they become weaker and weaker.
How is it possible to completely subdue them?
No mental effort can help as Mind is the storehouse of the Kleśa.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 10

“Building banks to channel
the flow of the river of
Kleśa is Kriyā Yoga.
Building a dam to block
the flow of Kleśa as
we journey upstream
going back to the source
of the flow is Aṣṭāṅga Yoga.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 10

“When approaching the Bāhya Aṅga
aspects inherent in Aṣṭāṅga Yoga,
we could start by looking at the social
and private indicators of Yama and
Niyama from a personal starting point,
rather than a universal aspiration point.
This is a concept that can appear to be
contrary to more usual expectations
within the Yoga world whereby we are
often given a set of universal standardised
principles which we are urged to constantly
aspire to and strive towards realising.
A concept, by its very nature, prone to
triggering additional factors such as
personalised self-esteem conflicts, both
overly positive, as well as overly negative,
let alone being, self or other ‘Yoga Judged’,
as the bar that we are often presented
with is seemingly set extremely high.
This can be further blurred by the
issues of judgement from others formed
from inherent expectations based on a
personalised perception of how near to,
and especially how far from, we are to some
internalised judgement of a universal ‘goal’.
Rather than one based on an understanding
of the ‘others’ situation in terms of how far
we have moved from our starting point
relative to our inherent Karma, given our
early life patterns and social upbringing.
This shift of reference point of view was
commented on by Desikachar in 1976:
“Progress must be seen as the
distance from the starting point,
rather than the more usual reference of
the distance from the finishing point.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 30

“The means by which we obtain the
Yoga of result is the Yoga of action,
Kriyā Yoga.
While only part of Yoga,
Kriyā Yoga is the practical aspect of
Yoga which can initiate a change for
the better in the quality of our lives.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga Chapter One Page 12

Question to TKV Desikachar:
How rigorous should we be in the practice of Tapas?
“Tapas is not the rejection of everything around us.
In the Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 1,
Tapas means to be able to discipline oneself.
So if you are too fat eat less.
If you are too thin eat more.
Tapas which harms the mind should be rejected.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras 1988

“In the Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 1 Patañjali introduces the term Kriyā Yoga,
a Yoga that anyone can practice,
as distinct from the Yoga practiced by those who devote themselves totally to Yoga,
those whose only concern in life is too reach the highest.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras 1988

“Patañjali has proposed 3 approaches to verify the indications.
Tapas – Process of action
Food, Āsana, Prāṇāyāma.
You will be doing something that you will not be habitually doing.
For example one day no salt, cigarettes, Prāṇāyāma.
Tapas is from the root to create thirst.
It means to deprive.
It will tell us about ourselves.
It will reveal our Saṃskāra and Pariṇāma or changes in ourselves.
From this Tapas we will start to get an indication of our individual nature.
For example active or lazy.
Tapas indicates the the beginning of the Bheda, through the Bhāva.”
– TKV Desikachar France 1983

“Nevertheless, the relationship of
Āsana with Prāṇāyāma should be
in alignment with the purpose that
is within Kriyā Yoga, as in the effect
of Samādhi Bhāvana on Tanū Kleśa.”
– 108 Prāṇāyāma Practice Pointers

“The First and Second Chapters of the Yoga Sūtra
can be linked to the teaching concepts of
Śikṣaṇa, Rakṣaṇa and Cikitsā Krama.
In that the Samādhi Yoga in Chapter One
can be seen as apt for a Śikṣaṇa situation,
whereby the primary aim is discernment, as in
exploring what lies within the sense of I-Am.
Whereas in Chapter Two, the Kriya Yoga section
can be seen as being apt for a Cikitsā situation,
whereby the primary aim is recovering, as in
reducing agitation through lifestyle changes.
and the Bāhya Aṅga section of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga
can be seen as being apt for a Rakṣaṇa situation,
whereby the primary aim is establishing stability,
through a formal practice within a Yoga Sādhana.”
– 108 Yoga Teaching Path Pointers

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