Kriyaban
Travel log by a Yogananda devotee
This website was created to share my transformative journey through India in 2020, a three-month spiritual pilgrimage focused on Paramahansa Yogananda's ashrams. If you are a devotee of Yogananda, this experience can deeply inspire you and help you plan your own adventure, whether on your own or in a group, for three months or a week.
I invite you to explore the "The Journey" section, where I share each stage of this spiritual pilgrimage with detailed descriptions of the ashrams and sacred places visited. You will find not only my personal reflections on the experience at each location, but also practical information about transportation, accommodations, and useful tips for getting around India. I pay special attention to conveying the unique atmosphere that permeates Yogananda's ashrams, so you can prepare and fully immerse yourself in your own adventure through these sacred lands, whether you're planning a brief visit or an extended pilgrimage.
The journey is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on northern India, mainly on places and ashrams directly or indirectly related to Yogananda's life. The second part takes place in the south, and except for some places with ashrams of the Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS), the Indian version of the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), the rest are interesting places linked to gurus associated with Yogananda, such as Ramana Maharshi, Amma, Hariharananda, and Yogi Satyam, among others. Additionally, in the south are the enormous gurus of nature with incredible transformative potential, like the magical mountains of Arunachala and the Seven Hills in Coimbatore.
This was a three-month experience in India as a devotee of Paramahansa Yogananda, more like a pilgrimage, without pretensions or expectations, with the aim of enjoying the surroundings and enhancing my daily meditation practices. I knew the results would be positive, so it didn't make sense to set expectations, as they would come as a result of sincere and deep practices.
The trip took place during January, February, and March 2020. During these months, winter in India is not as cold as in Europe, but in the northern area, it was advisable to dress lightly and cover up well at night.
Whenever possible, I stayed in YSS ashrams. When that was not possible, I combined stays in Kriya Yoga ashrams, other gurus' ashrams, and hotels. In Kriya Yoga ashrams not under YSS direction, the meditations did not follow the typical dynamics of YSS and SRF ashrams. Nevertheless, I chose them on purpose because in some places there were no YSS ashrams, and I preferred these options over staying in a hotel, knowing they would offer interesting experiences. When none of these options were possible, I resorted to hotels, but always with the idea of staying in ashrams to benefit from the fruits of meditating in those environments.
Without further ado, and hoping that this experience will be useful to you, I wish you great spiritual growth and that your life be filled with the light of God dwelling within you.
I never intended to travel to India. I even visited nearby countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka, but still, I didn't feel interested in exploring India, perhaps because I thought it had nothing interesting to offer me... if I had known what I know now...
In 2017, I went to Los Angeles on a spiritual tourism trip, with the aim of visiting everything related to my guru, Paramahansa Yogananda. I then discovered that turning a trip into an opportunity for spiritual growth was something that really interested me. From that moment, I felt the need to visit India because I understood that there I would have infinite possibilities to boost my spiritual growth to unknown limits.
In India, I discovered a multitude of places where the millennial passage of devoted people has imbued the sites with an energy not easily found elsewhere in the world. I want to be there to live that experience and contribute my grain of sand, while also being open to receiving the help of those places if it is in the divine will.
For all these reasons, once I decided to travel to India, I set out to do it for as long as possible, to live the experience at my own pace, without hurries, and enjoying each place. I love to sit and spend hours just observing my surroundings. I realize that this is the best video and photo you can take, as the impression it leaves in your memory is lasting and very vivid; even today I remember with perfect clarity the scenes where I practiced that same thing.
I am Kriyaban and I was initiated in Barcelona in 2013. I discovered Paramahansa Yogananda through his book "Autobiography of a Yogi", not without first being drawn to him by a series of beautiful circumstances. Since then, increasingly, I have become more involved in my spiritual progress. The search for greater depth and sincerity in my practices has reached a new milestone with this trip, this pilgrimage through India. I don't pretend anything, I don't expect anything, I just keep meditating tirelessly.
The first miracle
I was always agnostic. I was interested in how everything worked but lacked knowing the meaning of Everything. On one occasion I visited a medium. She told me that God loves us so much that any step you take in the direction of loving yourself or loving Him will be rewarded multiplied by 100; the one percent rule.
I quit smoking the day I gathered enough courage to tell myself that I was tired of inhaling something that had long ceased to interest me. Thanks to my mother, who saw in this an opportunity, she arranged a visit to the anti-smoking department at the Clínic Hospital in Barcelona. There I received some pills and a procedure to quit smoking.
As I was ready to take the step, it was easy for me; I just had to overcome the first day and the following days were simple. But the first day I had to decide to throw away the pack, when I got home after work, I found myself surrounded by the actions that used to accompany the cigarette. So I decided to go out and buy sports shoes and not return home until I was exhausted from walking around the city. Day after day, avoiding the habits associated with the cigarette, weeks finally passed, and I could be sure that the worst was over. This was the first step, the first miracle, the first of the one percent rule. From that moment, God did not stop giving me incredible things until the most important of all came: the moment I met Guriji, my Guru Paramahansa Yogananda, in the following miraculous way.
Second miracle
That same summer, full of vitality and energy, with enormous willpower after quitting smoking and passing the night school baccalaureate and the entrance exams to study physics at the university, I decided to do the Camino de Santiago. Given my agnosticism, the main reason was a holiday. On the third day of walking, I fell in love with the butt of a girl who walked 100 meters ahead of me all day. After that day, we walked together for almost a whole week, I was floating with happiness. After a week, a third member joined our group, named Santiago, who seemed destined to undermine my honeymoon.
At that time, my mind and I were one. I completely identified with my thoughts, so my suffering was evident when I was negative without knowing why. At this point, I clearly saw that I needed some tool to help me gain mental clarity and, consequently, inner peace. I was ready, I knew what I wanted, and when the student is ready, the teacher appears.
Santiago appeared to break what should not be, and as a result, the following days and until my arrival in Santiago de Compostela, the end of the Camino, my mind was very active, and sometimes it also punished me. Once I reached Santiago, where my journey ended, I decided, against all odds, to continue walking until there was no more road, extending my experience three more days until I reached Finisterre, "the end of the earth".
On the second day of walking and wrapped in my mental tangle, the second miracle occurred. Amid negative thoughts of reproach and frustration for letting my romance evaporate, I had the experience of feeling that I and my mind were two different things. It was a kind of dissociation accompanied by clear and unquestionable peace, the result of understanding with my whole being that: I am not my mind.
Upon returning from the trip, I was ready to talk to my friend Carlos. I knew he had started meditating, and I thought something like that was what I needed. So I started practicing his meditation technique, Sidha Yoga, after some quick and simple instructions.
Third miracle
After almost two years meditating with Sidha Yoga, I began to feel that what I was doing would not take me where I needed to go. I had no clear destination, goal, or specific purpose, but something told me that this practice was not what I longed for.
This is how the third miracle happened. One afternoon, going to pick up my sister at the airport after her honeymoon, she told me that in Indonesia, one of the guides, without knowing anything about her or her family, asked her if she had a brother "who meditated". My sister, quite surprised, replied: "something like that my brother does". To which he said: "then tell your brother that he is not meditating, he is doing something else, but he is not meditating". I quickly connected the dots and realized that my feelings were related to the fact that the technique and path I had chosen were not my solution. God responded to my concerns using a clearly connected person, who could send me His message from the other side of the planet.
Fourth miracle
Okay, I already knew I had to change course, but where? In what direction? In those days, my friend Matías and I used to meet once a week to eat sushi at home. Talking about everything and nothing, as always, I told him the anecdote with my sister. At that moment, the fourth miracle occurred. When I told him about my paralysis about where to go, almost without blinking, he said: "I know what you need, do you know a book called Autobiography of a Yogi?”
Almost ten years earlier, I asked my friend Jordi what he wanted for his birthday. He replied that he wanted a book he had heard of called "Autobiography of a Yogi". I went to FNAC to buy it, and I remember looking at the cover, pausing for a few seconds, and then continuing with my life as if nothing had happened. I gave Jordi the book and never knew more about it.
That same night, when Matías mentioned the book and asked me if I knew it, I replied that I vaguely remembered having it in my hands. I soon remembered it was the book I gave Jordi, so I quickly called him to ask for it, intending to pick it up as soon as possible and start reading it immediately.
When I had the book in my hands, it didn't take long to finish it, and I clearly felt that, as Daya Mata said when she met Yogananda for the first time: “I will follow Him”.
I love the idea of sharing everything I am learning and discovering on my spiritual path. Also, in my nature is the desire to build and design tools to help people. For all this, it makes me very happy and gives me great satisfaction to do things to help devotees.
In this line, I have designed the Kriya Timer App, a timer for Yogananda's techniques for kriyabans. Thanks to this tool, if your time is scarce, you can ensure you do all the techniques without worrying about controlling the time. In addition, it has many functions that will help you practice the presence of God through games, reminders, and the Spiritual Diary, among many other useful functions.
I use this website to document my trips to India, discovering the places where the master was or others with great connection to his life and work.
I love sharing with you the books related to Yogananda that come into my hands and are gems in the midst of anonymity, mainly written by devotees who shared with him or were strongly linked to his work and presence. Visit this section and discover these gems.
All the graphic art contained in the Kriya Timer App is at your disposal here so you can download it and use it as you wish. It is free, and I am excited that it can be useful to you.
In this section, you can find videos where I share my ideas and opinions on topics generally linked to the sadhana of any spiritual practitioner. I also include interviews with devotees from around the world and small capsules made during my travels in India.
My professional facet develops as a freelance industrial designer. I am happy to be able to dedicate myself to this profession. Since I was a child, I have been fascinated by knowing how things work, and this curiosity has guided me to this day. Although my great ambition is to be a master in the Science of Yoga, while I prepare for it, and thanks to the help of our beloved gurudeva Paramahansa Yogananda, I am fortunate to be able to dedicate myself to this beautiful profession. I invite you to visit my website Integral3D. I am convinced that you will enjoy the beautiful works presented. If you are passionate about technology, I am sure you will enjoy it especially.
Contact me for any questions or queries you need to resolve about any aspect mentioned on this website, who knows, maybe I can give you a hand. In any case, I will be happy to answer you. Contact.
May God pour out all His light upon you.
I am very happy to share with you all my work and dream that part of it can serve you in the way God decides. Everything has been thought out and designed with tremendous love, with a sincere desire to share with you my devotion to this wonderful path of spiritual realization.
I want you to know that developing all this content involves a considerable economic cost. The technologies involved in its development require highly specialized professionals for their creation and maintenance.
For all these reasons, offering all this content requires great will and financial resources. To ensure its proper functioning and continue expanding it, I greatly appreciate any contribution or donation. I sincerely hope that all this content can help you and that together we can continue making it grow every day.