Kriyā Yoga: the Silent Path to Liberation & the Practice that Clears Your Karma

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IN THIS EPISODE

This July we're walking the path of mokṣa, liberation, and this week we arrive at kriyā: action done with intention. If karma is what plays out unconsciously, kriyā is the conscious, repeatable process that slowly shaves away everything that isn't you, revealing the truth of who you are.

We unpack the three faces of kriyā, the two Yoga Sūtra lines that define Kriyā Yoga, the Ṣaṭ Kriyā cleansing practices of Haṭha Yoga, and Ayurveda's Pañcakarma - five therapeutic actions for purifying the body from the inside out.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

✦ Why the syllable -ya turns karma (action) into kriyā (process) both grow from the same root kṛ

✦ The three meanings of kriyā:

1. cleansing techniques like Bhastrikā and Kapālabhāti

2. Patañjali's path of practice

3. the initiation lineage of Babaji → Lahiri Mahāsaya → Paramahaṃsa Yogānanda

✦ Patañjali's definition of Kriyā Yoga - tapas, svādhyāya, īśvara praṇidhāna - and how it can be applied to any practice, any belief, any life

✦ How Kriyā Yoga weakens the five kleśas (avidyā, asmitā, rāga, dveṣa, abhiniveśa) and moves us toward samādhi

✦ Why the Ṣaṭ Kriyā are cleansing pre-practices, not prāṇāyāma - one clears the tubes, the other expands the prāṇa (and why fast breathwork gives you a high then a crash)

✦ Ayurveda's Pañcakarma - the five actions (Vamana, Virecana, Basti, Nasya, Rakta Mokṣa) and how each is prescribed to your dosha imbalance

✦ The real teaching: liberation is a silent process. Let the practice reshape you until people simply notice you've changed.

TEXTUAL REFERENCES

✦ Yoga Sūtra 2.1 — tapaḥ svādhyāya īśvarapraṇidhānāni kriyāyogaḥ — "Discipline, self-study, and surrender to Īśvara constitute Kriyā Yoga."

✦ Yoga Sūtra 2.2 — samādhibhāvanārthaḥ kleśatanūkaraṇārthaśca — "The purpose of Kriyā Yoga is to cultivate samādhi and to weaken the kleśas."

✦ Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā - the Ṣaṭ Kriyā / Ṣaṭ Karma: Dhauti, Basti, Neti, Nauli, Trāṭaka, Kapālabhāti - to purify the body, give lightness, and prepare the practitioner for prāṇāyāma

✦ Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā - the cleansing actions settle the breath and make subtle practice possible

✦ Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahaṃsa Yogānanda - source of the Lahiri Mahāsaya story

✦ Ayurveda — Pañcakarma: Vamana (therapeutic emesis · kapha), Virecana (purgation · pitta), Basti (oil enema · vāta/colon), Nasya (nasal therapy · kapha/head), Rakta Mokṣa (bloodletting · pitta)

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

What's your daily kriyā — the small, intentional practice you return to no matter what? Come tell us over on Instagram @omsomyoga, or reply to this week's email. We read every message.

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HARI OM