Dattatreya and The Kriya Tradition

Although there is no direct link between Kriya Yoga and the Dattatreya Tradition, a cross-over exists through the Nath Yogi Tradition, established and codified by Dattatreya at the request of Krishna when he was departing, and the Kali Yuga was commencing. In modern times, Kriya Yoga was re-introduced by Mahavatar Babaji, a legendary yogi in the Himalayas who appeared and taught Kriya Yoga to Lahiri Mahasaya in 1861. Lahiri Mahasaya later became the guru of Sri Yukteswar, who in turn became the Guru of Yogananda and trained him for his mission to spread Kriya Yoga in the Western world, as explained in his famous book ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’.

In the Nath Tradition, Adinath is Lord Shiva himself, and Balaknath is Babaji, son of Shiva. Little is known about Babaji himself, but over the years, information has come out that traces his origin to an incarnation of Lord Murugan [Son of Shiva], also known as Karthikeya, Subramanya, or Skanda, born in the year 203 AD in a small coastal village in Tamil Nadu. Later he moved to Kataragama in Sri Lanka, where he became one of the pupils of Siddha Bhoganathar, a famous Nath yogi. At the age of 16, Babaji was blessed by Bhoganath with the science of Kaya Kalpa, which allowed him to remain a youth forever. This explains why Babaji still appears to many as a sixteen-year-old.
After Bhoganath had completed his training of Babaji, he sent him to the famous rishi Agastya who is one of the famous Saptha (seven) Rishis, who taught him Kriya Yoga. Since that time, Babaji has been the torchbearer of Kriya Yoga on the planet.

Brahmarishi Mohanji, a current representative of the Dattatreya tradition, had several deeply transformational experiences with Babaji, which he has chronicled in his three blogs [Babaji – Beyond Definitions – Parts 1, 2 and 3]. Mohanji also has a connection with historic Boganathar, the guru of Babaji. Recently, a Master deeply connected to the Siddha Tradition, which Babaji is part of, contacted Mohanji through an intermediary with the message, “I have important information for you. Bhoganathar wants to get back to you and remind you of your days with him”, and gave him a particular mantra to connect to Bhoganathar. Interestingly, this brings Mohanji and Babaji together as co-students of the famous Nath Guru Boganathar. Instructed by Babaji, Mohanji also teaches Kriya Yoga, which he named ‘Consciousness Kriya.’