One of the great joys of my work with Kriya Yogis is the frequent emails I receive from them, describing the positive effects of Kriya practice. These testimonials come from long-time Kriyabans, and from people who have been practicing Kriya less than a year.

Many times the practice of Kriya brings what I call ‘unintended consequences’ — all of them positive! A recent email from a new Kriyaban described how they had stopped eating meat, were eating half as much as they used to (good in their case, apparently!) – all of this even though they weren’t trying to make these particular changes in their life.

Because Kriya changes one deeply from the inside, the changes can and do manifest outwardly in many ways. In a sense, the Kriya Yogi changes himself from the inside out, rather than in the typical modern approach of changing one’s looks, clothing, or personality.

Here are some of the comments I’ve received from Kriya Yogis:

“My heartfelt thanks to you for giving me the Kriya Technique earlier in the year. It was the greatest gift I have ever received. Words cannot describe the taste of the daily ‘kriya nectar.'”


“I found intense joy, happiness and peace in my life. Kriya and devotion light up my life, and best of all I have daily guidance from the Masters. Since I started my daily practice I became a vegetarian and celibate and living a quiet life, looking at the external world as an expression of God, with compassion and love. I am very happy to be spiritually awakening.”


“My inner and outer life have changed in ways I never thought possible.”


“Kriya is truly a sacred art that has a profound and life changing effect on one’s thought pattern, and a feeling of great joy and bliss.”

How can the practice of Kriya cause so many positive changes? In his Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda promised:

“One-half minute of revolution of energy around the sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution; that half-minute of Kriya equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldment.”

Yogananda went even further in a discussion with Swami Kriyananda, which he recounts in his book The Essence of Self-Realization:

“I can take a few young men of the most restless sort, and let them practice Kriya for two hours every day in the way I tell them, and, without question, in four or five years I can make saints out of them.

“I won’t preach a single sermon to them. I will simply tell them to practice Kriya for two hours a day, and they will see the difference in their lives. That is a good challenge.

“Of course, they must practice in the way that I tell them. That won’t be easy. But it is surely worth the effort.”

People often make resolutions to change their lives – typically at the start of the new year. Often, these resolutions have little effect, perhaps a little lost weight or a few better habits. Imagine making just one change that will have benefits for every aspect of your life!

Yogananda did not say that his “young men of the most restless sort” would have to change this bad habit or that. He didn’t say that they would have go to church every Sunday. All they would need to do is “practice Kriya for two hours every day in the way I tell them,” and they would become saints in 4 or 5 years.

I can honestly say, based on my own 30-year experience of daily Kriya practice, and on my interactions with hundreds of other Kriya Yogis, that Kriya effectively changes people’s lives out of all proportion to the self-effort required.

If you are interested in learning Kriya Yoga, feel free to email me. If you already practice Kriya, consider dedicating 2008 to a deeper and more devoted practice of it. You may well be surprised at the many “unintended” positive consequences resulting from your deep, sincere practice.