134 Biography of a YogiAlthough kriyās (here best translated as “exercises”) may incorporate āsanas,
they are generally composed of several different elements and may therefore be
quite complex as the following list will demonstrate. The number of kriyās ranges
anywhere from 108 to 7 to 4. Most sources agree, however, that this discrepancy
is more a matter of variously formalized subdivisions than actual additional prac-
tices. Yogananda’s Autobiography states that Lahiri Mahasaya distilled the complex
practice passed on to him by Babaji into four essential stages. This general schema
seems to be confirmed by the writings of others from his lineage. For instance,
Satyeswarananda produces a total of eleven “original Kriyas” by listing each step
of the initial stage separately and individually enumerating four different oṃkāra
(oṃ- making ) kriyās, whereas Satyananda and Dasgupta cite four, with possible
subsequent levels that are attained through the practitioner’s own intuition and
without the formal aid of a guru. Generally, the four stages of the original practice
can be broken up as follows:
(1) “first kriyā”
a. mahāmudrā (great seal): prāṇāyāma (breath control) is coupled
with a haṭha yogic exercise resembling paścimottānāsana (a seated
forward bend).
b. nābhi mudrā (navel seal): a hand seal is applied to the third cakra (navel)
in several ways and the oṃ syllable is chanted.
c. tālavya kriyā (palatal exercise): a stretching of the lingual frenulum that
is practiced as a preparatory technique for the eventual performance of
khecarī mudrā, where the tongue reaches into the nasal cavity.^22
d. “kriyā proper”: prāṇāyāma performed with a seed mantra, generally
repeated many times and serving a purifying function akin to a tantric
bhūta- śuddhi (purification of the material body).
e. yoni mudrā (source seal):^23 a hand seal is used to close off the sense
organs of the face such that the body’s subtle light is perceived in the
third eye and the divine sound begins to emerge. Yogananda refers to
this technique as “Jyoti Mudra” (“Light Seal”).
(2) oṃkāra kriyā (oṃ- making exercise): a multi- level practice that involves
imposition of mantra syllables and cakra (energ y center) visualization cou-
pled with prāṇāyāma, including the ṭhokar (“pecking”) technique, which
incorporates head movements.^24
(3) brahmayoni mudrā: similar in technique to the omkāra kriyās,^25 with the
goal being to establish the praṇava sound (the syllable oṃ) fully in the brah-
mayoni (third eye).
(4) pūrṇa kriyā (full exercise): relies on energ y channeling techniques learned
in the oṃkāra kriyās, but dispenses with mantra practice, as the divine inner