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The “Path of the Muni” is a journey into the evolving mysteries of breathless pranayama revealed to the soul in the opening vastness of the body.

As Lahiri Mahasaya encouraged all to practice Kriya continuously with great devotion even as they lived their lives, the unknown miracle of breathless pranayama became known to them, that by unlocking the mysteries of the heart a deeper path might unfold.

With unwavering faith in the Masters and a fierce determination to rise, all may discover the writings that follow are true, that by the intense practice of pranayama the unknown miracles of sadhana will emerge. Through the Kriya of Lahiri Mahasaya and the blessings of the Infinite, a soul on fire for liberation will see beyond the earth.

chapter one

Lahiri Mahasaya, A Love for the Ages

1. Never Forget Him

When you feel a hidden force rising within you, and in the power of this force is a love more precious than any you have known, the guru has come to free you. Give him your heart, your breath, and your life. In the fire of pranayama never forget him.

It takes great will and determination to outwit the mayaic veil; it takes more than most are willing to give. Yet the avatars come that man might find a higher world. When in reverence for the guru and the sadhana he gives a light illumines the path before you, know that the Kriya of Lahiri Mahasaya has come to redeem you—that in the fire of ascending prana is the truth of who you are.     

2. On the Path of Sadhana

When entering the stillness after Kriya a living force stirs within the body, and from this force wordless whispers appear to guide you, know that the Masters are near, that the guru-force has awakened in the depths of your being. On the path of sadhana it is this force that will transform your life—through the power of a liberated being thundering in the ether the ascending soul will rise.

Lahiri Mahasaya was a family man who practiced sadhana quietly for many years until the glory of the Infinite could no longer be hidden. His life was not an exemplary life because he lived in rarified air above the rest; he moved quietly among them spreading the flame of God. His glory was the full expression of surrender to the One that lives in everyone. 

3. A Message Uncompromising

In his own life, pranayama had evolved beyond breath surpassing all other forms of sadhana. When he spoke of Kriya his message was uncompromising, that every difficulty, no matter how severe, could be overcome through the power of pranayama—that when flesh and mind dissolve, the ego disappears. 

He was a harbor, a treasure of humility, of understanding and compassion. Those who find the secret fount of his blessing rise beyond this world. When his love consumes you, and begins to flow through you, your whole life will change.  

His photograph, a source of much mystery and healing, is a protection to this day. By holding his unframed photograph while practicing Kriya a hidden force will transform you. Follow this truth with sincerity and trust and the dream will be over; echo these words in your own life and a mysterious force will free you. 

4. Man Is In the Infinite

Each pranayama rising as a searing force is the greatest gift one can give in reverence to the guru whose life is a ransom for many, who comes on earth to release the soul from bondage. When you give your heart to this sadhana every day, even in every moment, his power will transform your life. 

When in the fire of pranayama the yogi dissolves the densities of matter—of earth, water, fire, air, and ether—and there is an increasing intensity of breath ascending and descending as the power of will intensifies to a point of desperation, the body of light will appear. When this luminous body hovers within the breathless form, a thundering passage is revealed. 

Rising from the physical plane, lighting the radiant astral form, a more subtle intensity ignites a searing power within the causal sheath. Kriya is then deeply interiorized beyond the need to breathe. When with one simple call from the heart the body dissolves, man is in the Infinite. 

5. A Guru of Gurus

The life and work of Paramahansa Yogananda, a towering saint ordained by Babaji to spread Kriya in all lands, is eternally linked with Lahiri Mahasaya. When as an infant sitting on the Master’s lap a tremendous force entered his tiny body, the glory of Lahiri Mahasaya engulfed him. And in the turbulent years of childhood as the living light flowing from the mysterious photograph became a comfort and a guide, Lahiri Mahasaya grew into a “living, enlightening presence.” 

It is said that whenever Yogananda in his youth would remember those moments on the Master’s lap, he would go into a kind of ecstatically mad state. Lahiri Mahasaya was his life’s Lord, a relationship that remained throughout life.

It matters not what role one plays on earth but the power behind the mask; in Lahiri Mahasaya the Infinite was fully manifest. He was a guru of gurus, an avatar of supreme beauty, and his power lives on.    

6. He Who Controls the River of the Spine

Shama Charan Lahiri was a simple man, a kind soul destined to light the flame of Kriya in this age that the royal path lost for centuries might once more liberate souls on earth.

In the Fall of 1861, in the forests of northern India, a legacy of great beauty was born when from the hand of the deathless Babaji a tremendous force entered his body awakening distant memories of a past incarnation—when secluded in this remote mountain refuge he gave his life to intense Kriya-sadhana mastering the sacred mysteries of God-realization. Known to his brothers as Gangadhar, “he who controls the river of the spine,” he was liberated in the fire of the Immortal Sun of Heaven, preparing for the hour when the spiritual destiny of the earth would rest on his shoulders, a legacy that would quietly illumine the ages. Melting into the Infinite his life became a Christ-like life endowed with the power to heal. As thundering winds poured through his being bathing all who came near, he implored . . .

7. Use the Gift of Kriya

“Use the gift of Kriya until you reach Kumbhaka (breathlessness) where the fire beyond breath flows deep into the soul of the universe, and you will be gone. For a man to unlock the mystery of embodiment he must unlock the mystery of breath. Everything is hidden in the first Kriya; great devotion is necessary.”

Year after year he practiced Kriya for twelve years after his meeting with Babaji for more than twelve hours a day. It was from those years that the sweetest love flowed like wind through his being—a love that flows from his omnipresence to this day.   

8. Solve All Your Problems With Kriya

There is a story of a man who had been severely tested, who discovered in his desperation the power of the Great Law hidden in the body—that whenever he practiced 108 Kriyas with great intensity, unknown forces would ignite within him.

One evening after working in the garden his lower back seized with severe muscle spasms. Barely able to breathe and unable to stand, he crawled to the house and collapsed on the floor. In the days that followed the pain seemed to increase no matter how he tried to relieve it. What was most disturbing was that his Kriya had been compromised. 

The following Saturday a fierce determination drove him from his bed into the wooden chair by the door. Pushing the body into an upright position through the paralyzing pain, the Master’s words consumed him, “Solve all your problems with Kriya!” a promise he knew must now be proven. 

9. As If by Some Other Will

As the fiery currents intensified, a powerful force rose as if by some other will, as if something or someone had taken over the body. Suddenly, he could think of nothing but “Lahiri Mahasaya, Lahiri Mahasaya!” Over and over the saintly name fueled the fiery currents to rise; even the Kriya sounds ascending and descending became, “Lah-ree! Lah-ree!” in his mind. 

After an hour and a half of continuous practice a strange healing force filled the body. Slipping from the chair to a folded blanket on the floor he continued to practice sitting upright and unaided. As a great sweetness hovered within his chest, unlike anything he had known before, the pain in his lower back was gone! It was a different world when he stepped outside to energize in the sun. 

Who was this man whose power was a healing force within him? He knew he had entered a mysterious world.  

Some weeks later he obtained a copy of Lahiri Mahasaya’s photograph which he kept inside the “Gita” holding it reverently from time to time wondering at its strangeness, an image that would become the treasure of his life. 

One evening, overwhelmed with temptation, he held the sacred photograph in his left hand—a paper unframed image—and in total desperation began to fight. With each Kriya a warmth flowed from the Master’s photograph into his hand! Even in his disbelief it increased, moving up his arm and into the body—there were two distinct currents rising within him. As his mind began to clear the power flowing from the photograph increased until his hand was burning!—the mysterious force he experienced some weeks before was tangibly accessible to him. 

Day after day, week after week, a transforming power flowed from the sacred photograph, which he held in his hand whenever he practiced Kriya, a sacred trust that continues to this day.

10. In the Blazing Light of Kutastha

A Master who attains omnipresence forever lives in omnipresence—there is never any separation when he is gone. And whenever another soul enters the portal of the thundering sun (Kutastha) that soul will find his living presence in the searing depths within. 

In the deep subtle passage of breathless pranayama the glory of Lahiri Mahasaya lives on. The ability to access the well of his redeeming power comes through a deep determination to practice Kriya until the body dissolves and a blazing force consumes the breathless form. Beyond flesh, beyond time, beyond desire and suffering—the power of his love is calling. But who will listen? Who will receive his healing mantle? What sorrow must drive man to his knees?