Articles
Manifesting our dreams on a new moon (today)
by Teddy
Today is a new moon, the moment when the moon is not visible from earth and its mystical and hidden powers affect our life on a subtle level. It is the best time for planting the seeds of our deepest intentions and wishes. This phase is the beginning state of the new cycle and symbolizes the birth of the moon. Spending some personal time on each new moon to reconnect with our true desires will keep us in the flow of abundance. Fast and silence are appropriate practices today for cleansing our bodies and rejuvenating our whole system in order for the authentic voice to shine through.
There are many ways to make a wish in a new moon. I prefer to perform a simple ritual which turns my wish-making into a sacred practice. You may choose only to state your wish, to write it down, or perform the whole ritual. It’s preferable to perform the ritual at a place where you will not be disturbed. At 10.40 pm tonight is the exact time of the new moon. Start the preparations an hour earlier, so that when the time comes you are settled and ready for the essence of the ceremony. If you have a home altar, this is the best place to carry out the ritual. If not, you can improvise by putting some pictures of the moon or some deities, if you have, on a small table covered with a beautiful veil. Have a nicely decorated notebook handy. If you have pictures of your manifested dreams, such as people you want to attract in your life, our anything that you saw somewhere and cut it off, have it ready. Start by cleansing the body – have a shower, wash your hair, mist your body with some natural spray etc. Then purify the energy of the space with some incense stick or smudging tool. Light up candles. Prepare some herbal tea and play a relaxing soft music. Sit down in front of the altar, or wherever you are, close your eyes and start breathing deeply and evenly. Feel the senses turning inwards and the thoughts fading away. When you feel comfortable with your deep breathing and the whole body is relaxed, start listening to your deepest inner voice. You may ask a question, or a spontaneous realization may come up to the surface searching for your attention. The key is to listen to the first feeling, even if it is not what you think you want. Sometimes our minds masterfully delude us about our wishes and we think that we want something, which serves only our egos. Look deeper for the genuine heart aspirations. Then gently open your eyes and open the note book. Write down a positive and grateful affirmation, such as: “Thank you for the manifestation of each word I write and every intention I plant here”, or something similar. Then start writing neatly your desires on the empty pages of the note book. Notice the feeling when you see the first stage of your manifested dreams – written down on the paper. Make as many wishes as arise, but be sure that these are authentic and come from the heart, not from the mind. If you have any pictures, clip them on the notebook with any details and clarifications needed. Make sure, that you are specific in your wishes, as vague and too broad wishes may manifest as something you don’t really want. When you are done, close the notebook and leave it aside. Close your eyes few more moments to contemplate and then slowly withdraw to bed. Pay attention to your dreams tonight, as they may carry a message.
Enjoy your ritual and happy manifestation of your dreams. Keep dreaming and mastering your reality.
Teddy
Yajna: The Yoga of Sacrificial Fires
by Sanjay
Fire is sacred in many spiritual traditions, and has been used in religious rites for thousands of years. Along with water, earth, and air, fire is one of the four essential elements all living beings consist of. To honour it, the ancient Romans kept a perpetual holy fire cared for by the vestal virgins, whilst the Greeks tended and transported the sacred fire of Hestia during migrations. The Zoroastrians of Iran placed fire at the centre of their religion and worshipped it as the most ethereal and powerful principle, thought to have been presented directly from heaven by the Deity itself. In the Vedic scriptures, Agni, or Fire, is the messenger between the people and their Gods and the personification of the sacrificial fire.
During a recent stay in North India, living at Yogashram in Rishikesh, I became intrigued by a ceremony that took place in the ashram’s outdoors ritual space every morning. A small group of people would gather together around a square fire pit, chant Sanskrit mantras in hypnotic loop, and light a ceremonial fire which they would feed with spoonfuls of ghee, fragrant herbs and the exclamation ‘Svāhā!’ after each mantra. This ritual lasted for about thirty minutes; longer, more elaborate ceremonies would take place at the Full Moon and during special festival times, such as Shivaratri or Navaratri.
I felt immediately drawn to this ritual with its powerful sounds, leaping flames and sweet fragrances, and began to participate daily. Soon, I started to feel profound energetic and emotional shifts within me during and after the ceremonies. Sometimes, my being was permeated by a great feeling of peace; at other times, difficult feelings arose, which I seemed to symbolically let go of into the flames with the offerings. More than anything, I felt my heart melting and opening through the heat of the fire. Before long, I was learning how to perform yajna, so the name of the ceremony, myself, and translated the Sanskrit mantras into English. I was intrigued: what was this powerful ceremony exactly, why was it performed, and what were its benefits?
The ritual of yajna, also known as yagya, havan, homa or Agnihotra, is one of the most ancient Vedic rituals. It consists of the kindling and consecration of a sacrificial fire, the invocation of one or more divinities, and the placing offerings such as ghee, samagree (fragrant medicinal herbs) or grains into the flames. Mantras and prayers are recited during the ceremony, which is often performed during auspicious astrological moments. In modern Hinduism, fire ceremonies still play an integral part in daily worship, and are used as a symbolic form of communication with the Divine. Everything offered into Agni, the sacred fire, is believed to reach the Gods.
The Sanskrit word yajna, meaning ‘sacrifice’, is comprised of three syllables ya, ja, and na which refer to the three processes of every act we perform, i.e. production (ya), earning (ja), and distribution(na). For the Vedic priests of old, yajna was a way to invoke the Gods and seek their blessings. Similar to pagan traditions in the West, these rituals were used at important times for the community, such as sowing and during harvest, and also to regulate rainfall, to initiate a particular social event or before going to war. These days, yajnas are still performed for many different reasons, primarily to pray to and meditate upon the Divine; to create auspiciousness; to focus on the importance of giving; and to purify the atmosphere. Some say that merely inhaling the smoke of a yajna fire can cure respiratory ailments.
Essentially, yajna is a purifying ritual. By placing offerings into the fire, one simultaneously offers up negative emotions and surrenders to the symbolic fire of transformation. Anger, greed, jealousy, grudges, as well as illusions, are burned up in the rising flames and can transform into love and compassion over time. Awareness increases and it is believed that transformative effects on a subtle level can be vast and even dramatic. Crucially, the Vedic mantras that are recited during a yajna affect the energy centers of the body and produce spiritual power. Many of these mantras end with the phrase ‘Idanna mama’, which literally means ‘this’ (Idam) ‘is not’ (na) ‘mine’ (mama), reminding us that God has given us everything we have, and nothing is ours in reality.
In its simplest form, yajna in the form of Agnihotra is performed by householders to offer oblations into the sacred fire lit in their house. The short ceremony is performed daily at dawn and dusk and consists of making two offerings to the fire at the exact time of sunrise and sunset along with the chanting of two Sanskrit mantras. The offerings consist of two pinches of uncooked rice grains smeared with a few drops of pure ghee. The fire is prepared with dried cow dung in a small copper pyramid. Agnihotra is specifically performed to balance the cycles of nature, to purify the atmosphere and cleanse the negative effects of pollution. A more complicated version involves the setting up of three to five fires and the pouring of offerings, such as food grains, ghee, milk and other substances, into them, whilst chanting various mantras simultaneously, and invoking diverse Hindu Gods, in particular Agni, Indra and Varuna. These yajnas can last from hours to days. The more complicated the ceremony, the less frequently it is performed.
Despite the fact that there are several kinds of yajnas, it is believed that the red thread connecting all of them is that the invisible forces (devatas) scattered throughout the atmosphere consolidate and gather in the area in which the ceremony is conducted. ‘Just as the vapour in the air becomes water through a process of condensation in the same way these divine forces that are pervading the akasha condense and crystallise at one place.’, Swami Satyananda of the Bihar School of Yoga, one of the most eminent yajna authorities in the world, said. Because of this, a yajna is considered a very powerful and potent means for positively influencing the surrounding atmosphere.
In the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna proclaims that every aspect associated with a ritual of sacrifice, i.e. the act of offering, the oblation, the sacrifice itself, and the sacrificial fire is Brahma (God) (4.23). He declares, ‘I am kratu (Vedic ritual), svadha (offering), ausadham (medicine), mantra (chant), aiyam (ghee), agni (fire) and hutam (burnt offering).’ Classical yoga literature stresses the importance of sacrifice for the purpose of liberation. The Bhagavad-Gita says that, ‘The world is bound by action (karma), unless performed for the sake of sacrifice (yajna). Yajna feeds the Gods and the Gods will nourish you.’ Brahma instructed ‘Engage in this yajna and become prosperous. May this yajna fulfil all your desires.’ (Gita, 3.10)
A Hindu marriage is seen as a form of yajna, too, because Agni, the sacred fire, is the witness of all marriages. The couple circumambulates the fire seven times, signifying the marriage contract to have been witnessed by the Gods. Along similar lines, the writer Octavian Sarbatoare suggests that a related approach was developed in great detail in Hinduism by the concept of tantra. Here, ‘the ultimate yajna lies in the form of the sacred sexual union between man and woman for those able of mind control in reaching the conscious experience and staying there.’ But until that level is reached, he adds, ‘the outer yajna using fire is the answer.’ From this perspective, the practice of yoga, as union (yuj) with the Divine, can also be seen as performance of yajna.
To perform a yajna, if there is no fire pit, an altar will be constructed, usually with bricks, and special types of grass and wood are used to build the fire. Offerings and mantras will depend on the purpose of the ceremony. Intentions and invocation of the appropriate deities are just as important. For example, to perform a yajna for increased health, it would be suitable to direct offerings to the sun deity Surya. To overcome obstacles, one could invoke and recite mantras in honour of Lord Ganesh; whereas the Shiva-Shakti homa is performed to help couples strengthen their relationship and to remove problems and distress.
References:
Sannyasi Gyanshruti & Sannyasi Srividyananda, ‘Yajna: A Comprehensive Survey’, Yoga Publications Trust
Uma A. Saini, ‘Vaidika Mantras – The Key to Spiritual Knowledge’, U. & K. Pub. Co
Agnihotra mantras
At Sunrise:
Sooryáya Sváhá
Sooryáya Idam Na Mama
Prajápataye Sváhá
Prajápataye Idam Na Mama
At Sunset:
Agnaye Sváhá
Agnaye Idam Na Mama
Prajápataye Sváhá
Prajápataye Idam Na Mama
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