Temple of Kriya Yoga

   The Temple of Kriya Yoga was established on the North Side in Chicago in the 1960s by the Ameri-can Goswami Kriyananda (b. 1930), who had been teaching yoga since the 1940s. The head-quarters of the temple is still located in Chicago. Goswami was born Melvin Higgins; he is not to be confused with his compatriot Swami KRIYANANDA of the ANANDA MOVEMENT.

   Kriyananda studied YOGA and was initiated by his first GURU, Sri Shelliji, a disciple of Paramah-ansa YOGANANDA, founder of the SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP. Kriyananda, an excellent astrologer, also opened the College of Occult Sciences, which offered many courses in esoteric traditions.

   During the 1970s Kriyananda established a retreat in South Haven, Michigan, and in 1977 founded the Kriyananda Healing Center as a holistic health facility. The center teaches nontra-ditional methods of healing, including biofeed-back, MEDITATION, yoga, fasting, nutrition, and massage.

   Kriyananda instructs students in Yogananda’s KRIYA YOGA path of supreme bliss (samadhi); he teaches the oneness of God and a non-dual VEN-DANTIC cosmology. He has written several books about kriya yoga, astrology, and meditation.

   The temple publishes a periodical, The Flame of Kriya, and maintains a Web site.

   Further reading: Goswami Kriyananda, The Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God (Chicago: Temple of Kriya Yoga, n.d.); ———, Pathway to God-Consciousness (Chicago: Temple of Kriya Yoga, 1970); ———, Yoga, Text for Teachers and Advanced Students (Chicago: Temple of Kriya Yoga, 1976).