Practices
The Siddha Yoga practices are intended to help the seeker "touch and expand the inner mystical state, until over time he or she becomes established in his experience of yoga or oneness with God."
Siddha Yoga meditation, or the practice of turning the attention inward, involves silently focusing the attention on a mantra and on the flow of breath. The principal Siddha Yoga meditation and japa mantra is the mantra Om Namah Shivaya.
Siddha Yoga chanting involves the use of music and sacred mantras "to enter into a dialogue with the divine." There are two main types of Siddha Yoga chants: Nama Sankirtana (lyrical chanting of Sanskrit mantras, typically the names of God), and Swadhyaya (the chanting of longer Sanskrit scriptural texts). Scriptural texts chanted in Siddha Yoga ashrams and meditation centers include the morning and evening Arati; the Guru Gita, a hymn of 182 verses transmitted in the Skanda Purana; Shree Rudram, an ancient hymn to Rudra (Shiva) preserved in the Krishna Yajurveda; and the Kundalini Stavaha, an eight-stanza hymn to the Kundalini.
Siddha Yoga students can participate in satsang, group meetings or programs held weekly at Siddha Yoga ashrams and meditation centers. Satsangs typically include talks, chanting, and meditation.
The SYDA Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting, preserving, and disseminating the Siddha Yoga teachings, offers a variety of courses and retreats throughout the year, including the meditation intensives first developed by Swami Muktananda in the 1970s. The Siddha Yoga Meditation Intensive is a one or two day retreat in which devotees are said to receive shaktipat (the awakening of the shakti, or spiritual energy, that resides within the devotee). Intensives are typically held once or twice a year and are significant in Siddha Yoga because the "bestowal of shaktipat" is a core element in Siddha Yoga philosophy. The SYDA Foundation also offers retreats where students can deepen their experience of the practices.
The work of the organization (which involves the maintenance of Siddha Yoga ashrams and meditation centers, as well as the design and production of meditation programs, courses, retreats, and publications) is carried out by the work of "sevites," Siddha Yoga students engaged in seva, or "selfless service," as a transformational practice. Students can practice seva either through volunteer work at an ashram or a meditation center in their city, or by doing their worldly work as an offering to god.
Other Siddha Yoga practices include japa (mantra repetition), contemplation, and dakshina, the traditional practice of making a voluntary monetary offering to a saint as an expression of gratitude for what has been received.
All of the Siddha Yoga teachings and practices are intended to be compatible with everyday worldly life and with the teachings and practices of all religions.
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