Isha Kriya – A Powerful Guided Meditation with Introduction

Rooted in the timeless wisdom of the yogic sciences, Isha Kriya is a simple yet potent process created by yogi and mystic, Sadhguru.

“Isha” refers to that which is the source of creation; “kriya” literally means “internal action.” The purpose of Isha Kriya is to help an individual get in touch with the source of his existence, to create life according to his own wish and vision. Daily practice of Isha Kriya brings health, dynamism, peace and wellbeing. It is a powerful tool to cope with the hectic pace of modern life.

Today, for most people, the word “yoga” usually conjures up images of twisting the body into impossible postures. The physical aspect of yoga is only one facet of this multi-dimensional science. Yoga is a technology to bring the body and mind to the peak of their capabilities – allowing one to live life to the fullest.

Transcript

Isha Kriya is part of a movement to offer at least one drop of spirituality to every human being on the planet.

Do not underestimate the size of the drop.

A drop is an ocean by itself.

This is a powerful tool of empowerment.

We hope that you allow it to touch and transform your life and share it with as many as you can.

Isha means that which is the source of creation.

Kriya means an inward action towards that.

Karma means outward action.

If you perform action with your body or your mind or your emotion or your physical energies,

We call it karma.

If you perform an inward action which does not involve any of these,

Then we call this kriya.

So Isha Kriya is an extremely simple process but a powerful tool to constantly move from untrue to truth.

There are more complex and effective processes but it needs preparation,

It needs a certain type of teaching,

It needs a lot of training for somebody to teach it.

But this is a process… generally all the processes,

Spiritual processes which move a person in this direction also involve physiological changes.

Whatever physiological changes are involved,

It's extremely important that the teacher is substantially trained.

Otherwise you will start generating the wacky kind of yogas that are going on all over the place which can cause more damage than well-being.

But those aspects,

Those processes which does not involve any kind of physiological change but brings about a spiritual transformation,

Which are very few,

Those can be taught mass and we can empower almost anybody who at least has a little good intention in his thought and emotion to teach it.

That much is there,

They can teach.

We will do this process right now.

You need to understand a little bit about what this is.

Is everybody breathing here right now?

Hmm?

Please check.

Don't take things for granted.

It doesn't go on forever,

It will stop someday,

You know.

Are you breathing right now?

You?

Please check,

Don't take… don't just take it for granted.

Are you really breathing?

You're there,

Okay?

This inhalation,

Exhalation,

Inhalation,

Exhalation,

Inhalation,

Exhalation.

Next inhalation did not happen,

You're gone.

See how fragile you are.

Just if this one inhalation does not go,

Wherever we look you won't be around.

At the same time,

So fragile human life is,

At the same time,

How sturdy it is,

How many things a human being can do in this world.

On one level it seems to be so fragile,

Just look at it and see.

It doesn't come back.

Too fragile,

Isn't it?

You've taken it for granted,

You're not conscious about it.

If you become conscious and watch it,

It's a damn fragile life.

The same time,

How sturdy it is,

How many things it can do.

This is the beauty of creation.

Everything is tenderly balanced.

So tenderly you cannot disturb it,

Not easily,

You know.

The whole creation is like this,

It's just like that.

That shows the mastery of the creator.

It is so tenderly balanced,

That means that shows that manifests the mastery of the creator.

That which creates is of such mastery that it can afford to keep it so tender.

So that is the adocity of the creator,

One breath,

If you do not inhale,

You're gone.

But that's the confidence in design that the creator has.

So this breath is not just about exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

In yoga,

We call this the kurminadi.

Breath is referred to as the kurminadi.

Now if I ask you to watch your breath,

Which is the most common thing that people are doing these days,

You don't get to watch the breath.

You think you're watching the breath,

But you're not watching the breath.

You're only able to notice the sensations caused by the movement of the air.

If one who is sitting next to you touches your hand,

You think you know the touch of the other person,

But you do not know.

You only know the sensations generated within your body.

You do not know how the other feels.

You only know what kind of sensation happened in your body.

Yeah?

You understand what I'm saying?

So right now,

You do not know the breath.

You only know the sensations caused by the breath.

So when we say kurminadi,

We're not talking about the sensations,

We're talking about the breath itself.

Kurminadi is referred to as a string.

It's like a string.

An unbroken string,

It's going on.

And this is the string which ties you with this body.

If I take away your breath,

You and your body will fall apart.

What you thought is one will become two,

That is the first deception.

There are two behaving like one,

A deception is on.

So if I pull out the breath,

You and your body will fall apart.

We don't want you to fall apart,

But if your consciousness travels with the breath,

If your awareness travels with the passage of the breath keenly enough,

Then you will see,

Distinctly see these two are not one.

What is you and what is your body will stand apart.

What is you and what is your mind will stand apart.

If you and your body-mind combination stand away from each other,

Then suddenly you will find your ability to use your body and your mind goes into a phenomenal scale.

If right now,

If you have to count from one to ten,

Right,

The highest is ten,

If that is so,

If you are attached or if you are involved with this body,

You are less than one,

That's where it is.

If these two things come apart,

Suddenly you can rev it up all the way to ten.

Your ability to use the mind and the body is so greatly enhanced that you almost look superhuman for somebody else.

But I am telling you,

This is human.

This is not about being superhuman.

This is about realizing being human is super.

Yes?

Not a simple thing to be human.

Now the Isha Kriya just involves this.

Your thought is playing a very important role in your life right now.

So let's employ that.

And your breath is vital.

So let's employ that.

And with that,

Without your awareness,

You wouldn't know that you are even here right now.

Hmm?

If you are not aware,

You do not even know whether you are alive or dead or whether you exist or not.

So these three ingredients,

Your breath,

Your thought and your awareness,

In the right combination,

If you use them,

You will see slowly a little bit of distance arises between you and your body.

Now,

You are very distinctly moving from untruth to truth.

So what we will do is,

Sit in a cross-legged posture and keep your hands open,

Facing upward.

Sit with your face slightly upturned.

The moment you sit this way with a slightly upturned face,

You will see naturally your focus will shift between your eyebrows.

So maintain this mild focus between your eyebrows.

And now what you do is,

You take these two thoughts,

With inhalation,

One thought,

With exhalation,

Another thought.

I will walk you through this.

Whatever the duration of the thought… let that be the duration of inhalation and whatever the duration of the other thought,

Let that be the duration of your exhalation.

With inhalation,

We will take this thought,

…I am not this body.

With exhalation,

You will take the other thought,

I am not even this mind.

I am not this body,

I am not even the mind.

Now,

Oh I am not this body,

What does it mean,

Will I lose my body?

That which you accumulate,

You can claim it's yours,

But the moment you think it's me,

You're actively heading towards insanity.

As I sit here,

If I suddenly say,

This is my vessel,

You will think,

Well,

Sadhguru seems to have a problem.

But you know,

There's a reputation of being wise.

So you will sit for some more time.

Because sometime I say,

This is me,

You will say,

Let's go.

Because the moment I say,

This is me,

It seems like absolute insanity,

There's no sign of sanity.

But this has happened and it's continuing to happen.

The food that you eat,

When it arrives on your plate,

You say,

This is my food,

You eat it and immediately you say,

This is me.

Insanity,

But you're in a socially accepted levels of insanity.

Okay,

You cannot be yet pushed into an asylum,

Because then we will have to build a worldwide asylum,

WWA.

So this is an open asylum.

You know,

There's something called an open prison,

Just like that.

This is an open asylum,

But it doesn't matter.

The moment you start thinking,

An object which is not you as yourself,

You have taken the first step towards madness.

It only takes life to push you harder.

If difficult situations arise continuously,

You will head there towards madness.

As there is a physical body,

There is a mental body and an energy body.

In the structure of the energy body,

There are 72,

000 nadis or pathways or channels in which the vital energy moves.

These 72,

000 nadis meet and redistribute in 114 different places.

There are 114 important junction points.

So these 114 junctions are referred to as the chakras.

So there are 114 chakras in the body,

112 within the physical body,

Two slightly outside the physical body.

Of all these 114 chakras,

There is only one chakra in the whole body where all the nadis or all the pathways meet at one point.

That is known as the manipuraka,

Which is physically located about three-fourths of an inch below your navel.

So the navel is known as manipuraka or it is known as the maintenance center.

Body is maintained from here because this is the only place where all the pathways of prana or the vital energy meet and redistribute themselves.

Even when you were in your mother's womb,

Where was the maintenance pipe connected to you?

It is at the navel.

So today that has been severed,

But still the maintenance center is in the navel.

So this is the manipuraka chakra,

This is the only place where everything meets.

If you utter the sound,

Ah,

You will see the reverberation begins just about three-fourths of an inch below your navel and spreads right across the body.

Just feel this and see.

Close your eyes,

Keep your spine erect.

Utter the sound,

Ah,

Fully exhaling into the sound.

You will see the vibrations starting three-fourths of an inch below your navel and spreading right across the body.

This is the only sound which takes the reverberations right across the body.

So reminding yourself through your breath and thought and awareness that you are not the body,

You are not the mind,

If this message has to go viral to every cell in the body,

If the message has to go,

It has to be taken to manipuraka.

Then only the information goes everywhere,

Otherwise it gets localized.

So when you utter the sound,

Ah,

If this has sunk into you,

If this awareness has sunk into you that I am not the body,

I am not the mind,

Then it reminds every cell in the body in case they have false notions.

Just like you.

It takes the message across the body.

So just seven times,

Uttering this seven times,

The sound,

Ah,

Will take the message across and after that you simply sit.

Every day,

Every day if you do this,

You will sit one day when you sit here,

Your body is here,

Your mind is out there,

What is you is somewhere else.

And even if you open your eyes,

If you become like this,

There is a distinct separation between you and your body,

Between you and your mind.

This is the end of suffering because there are only two kinds of suffering that you have known in your life,

Physical and mental.

Once there is a little space between you and the body,

Between you and the mind,

That is the end of suffering.

Only when the fear of suffering completely disappears from your perception,

Only then as a human being,

You will explore the full depth and dimension of who you are.

You will dare to explore the full scope of what it means to be human,

Only when there is no fear of suffering.

Otherwise as long as fear of suffering is there,

Every step that you take is only half a step.

And if you keep taking half steps,

You become half a life.

If you want to become a fully blossomed life,

It is very important that there is no fear of suffering and that is only possible when there is a little distance between you and the body,

Between you and the mind.

As long as you are identified as the body,

As long as you are identified with the mental process,

Fear is a natural process.

So sound ah takes the message across the body to every cell in the body.

So to establish this,

We will do this right now.

Sit in a cross-legged posture and keep your hands open,

Facing upward.

Sit with your face slightly upturned.

The moment you sit this way with a slightly upturned face,

You will see naturally your focus will shift between your eyebrows.

So maintain this mild focus between your eyebrows.

As I utter these two sentences,

With inhalation you take this thought,

I am not this body.

With exhalation,

I am not even this mind.

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind,

I am not the body.

I am not the body,

I am not even the mind.

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind.

Pride the mind I am not the body I am not even the mind I am not the body I am not even the mind I am not the body I am not even the mind I'm not even the mind.

I'm not the body.

I'm not even the mind.

I'm not the body.

I'm not even the mind.

I'm not the body.

I'm not even the mind.

I'm not the body.

I'm not even the mind.

I am not the body,

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body,

I am not even the mind.

I am not even the mind,

I am not the body.

I am not the body,

I am not even the mind.

I am not even the mind,

I am not the body.

I am not the body,

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body,

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body,

I am not even the mind.

I am not the body,

I am not even the mind.

I am not even the mind,

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind,

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind,

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind,

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind,

I am not the body.

I am not even the mind,

I am not the body.

After this sound,

After me,

Aaaaaaa.

Find strong points of Johannes.

Sleeple him from within from within.

Find strength from within from within.

Again,

Armor training.

Find strength from within.

Find strength from within.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Keep your eyes closed and just sit still,

With your face slightly turned upward.

Nandati Nandati Nandateva Nandati Nandati Nandateva Satsangatve Nisangatvam Nisangatve Nirmohatvam Nirmohatvam Nis Chalatvatvam Nirmohatvam Nis Chalatvatvam Nis Chalatvatvam Jeevanmokte Nis Chalatvatvatvam Jeevanmokte Poonarapi Jananam Poonarapi Maranam Poonarapi Janani Jathare Sayanam Poonarapi Jananam Poonarapi Maranam Poonarapi Janani Jathare Sayanam Iha Samsare Bahudustare Iha Samsare Bahudustare Kripaya Paare Pahi Murare Daily practice of Isha Kriya will bring health,

Dynamism,

Prosperity and well-being.

It is a powerful tool to cope with the hectic pace of modern life and empowers people to experience their lives to its fullest potential.

Reviews

I'm making a commitment to practice one day at a time for healing myself and my world

Very different to my usual practice but I will definitely be trying again. And look more into Sadhguru.

The foundational understanding I feel supported by. I loved exploring “inner Engineering” and “Karma”, very excited about engaging in the coursework, visiting India and Tennessee ashrams, however, this guided meditation is my backbone. Thank U 4 caring & sharing. www.gratefulness.org, ahimsa

Grateful to have you sadhguru in my era . I miss the era of krishna, shiva , rama but blessed to born in era of your sadhguru 🙏🙏bless to try this it's potent and extremely powerful practice 🙏💙💫♾️

This was the first I have heard about Isha Kriya & I absolutely love it. This makes perfect sense to me. Thank you for such a wonderful introduction & meditation. I will be repeating this & following you for more. Thank you! 🙏

An incredible practice 🙏

Excellent explanations and instructions before guided practice. Thank you🙏🏾

I enjoy learning while meditating. This was a great combination of both.

Different than I’m used to, and really opened myself to being more than my body and my mind. Thank you!

Amazing! Been doing this for more than a year now. The changes in me were subtle and amazing - a lot lot lot … calmer.

Thank you. This meditation had clear instructions that included why as well as the what of the practice. Very cool.

Half talk, half meditation. Always enjoy hearing Sudguru talk. Truly appreciated the chance to meditate with him.

I came across an edited version of this first and I loved it. It makes so much more sense now that I’ve experienced the full version. Thank you!

Truly an incredible practice that I will incorporate into my daily routine. I feel better than I did before this meditation and had moments of pure stillness and peace. Thank you for this gift.

I think just found my new morning routine. Thank you.

This is the best version I have come across so far as it gave me a better understanding of the practice.

Great explanation. I've heard you say this in other venues, I am not my body....but NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY you say that. Namaste

This was a beautiful meditation that brought me to my breath and allowed me to reconnect with my self. Thank you.

Just great. Very well explained. If we understand and interiorized that we are not the body, not even the mind, we erase any source of suffering. Thank you Sad Guruh and Insight timer.

Wow great meditation love the feeling after, thank you so much Sadhguru for sharing you knowledge and talent with the world.