The Crazy Wisdom of Ganesh Baba: Psychedelic Sadhana, Kriya Yoga, Kundalini, and the Cosmic Energy in Man, by Eve Baumohl Neuhaus, Inner Traditions, 2010, reviewed by Deniz Tekiner, Ph.D.
Ganesh Baba (1890?-1987) was a psychedelic Hindu Swami, itinerant ascetic, and highly educated Kriya Yoga master who became popular among hippies and free-thinking mystics during and after the spiritual consciousness revolution of the 1960s countercultures. Many of his fans loved to be with him mainly because of his magnetic charismatic personality, because of his constant fount of wit and humor, and because he was just a blast to party with. But there were some among his followers who were also serious spiritual seekers and who got to know Baba’s unique yoga teachings, his “Cycle of Synthesis” which integrates esoteric Kriya Yoga, diverse sources of ancient Hindu wisdom, and knowledge of the 20th century modern sciences.
Baba left behind a diffuse array of manuscripts, notebooks, and letters for his followers to sort through after he passed on to the “other shore” as he would say. Around 1980, Baba assigned his disciple Eve Neuhaus to develop a coherent manuscript about his teachings from his papers. Eve took this assignment seriously, and now we have the results in The Crazy Wisdom of Ganesh Baba: Psychedelic Sadhana, Kriya Yoga, Kundalini, and the Cosmic Energy in Man. Though Baba was a skilled writer, his writing style reflects the time of his early 20th century education in India, and much of it comes across as somewhat archaic by today’s standards. Eve clarifies his ideas in ways much more comprehensible to today’s readers. As a devoted follower of Baba myself, I can testify that she not only exposits Baba’s whole teaching with perfect accuracy, but does so with even greater clarity than I ever heard from Baba himself in my many precious hours and days with him. She has also fruitfully integrated Baba’s ideas with some other ideas she has learned since, a practice I’m sure Baba would approve of because he was a dialectical thinker, a believer that ideas are living things that grow through improvement. Baba knew that rigidification and ossification into dogma is one of the greatest plagues of spiritual thought, which has afflicted religions throughout the ages, and a plague that as I’ve noticed has also effected Kriya Yoga teachings as they have been institutionalized since the mid-twentieth century. Ongoing innovation upon ideas is necessary to keep them vital and alive, though this must be done with great care, as Eve well knows.
Though Neuhaus’ exposition is clear and concise, it is no less esoteric. The book presents information about Baba’s methods which if read and followed carefully, and practiced diligently, will efficiently open one’s doors of perception, help to break one’s cycles of attachment and suffering, and speed along one’s process of coming to personal knowledge and experience of Spirit and the inner light of wisdom.
However, to progress to an advanced stage on this path, it’s often necessary to work closely with someone who is experienced with these methods, preferably someone with whom one feels a strong sense of personal connection and rapport. Though this kind of personal connection was part of a long tradition in India, in this age of mass spiritual culture, such guru-disciple bonds have become rare. This was another precious service that Baba himself provided. He deliberately kept his following down to a manageable number who he could relate to on a personal basis. We knew him not as a celebrity on a stage, but as intimately as a best friend or close relative. Hopefully, such connections will remain vital as Kriya teachings move ahead.
Baba’s Cycle of Synthesis, which integrates all the physical, biological, psychological, and spiritual aspects of yoga practice, including the aspects of posture, pranayama, kundalini, and meditation, is a work of spiritual genius, produced before the world was ready to receive it. It’s a revolutionary form of Kriya Yoga practice, inventively named “Crea Yoga” by Baba, which improves upon the tradition of Kriya Yoga as it is usually taught, presently, by the lineage of teachers who followed Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswar, and Paramahansa Yogananda. Crea Yoga provides improved keys to unlock mysteries of ancient knowledge that were for centuries known only to a few dedicated mystics. As we seek to evolve to a higher stage as a species, Crea is a yoga for the 21st century.
