subtle body

Agnihotra Homa to harness the Sun’s power

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I do the Agnihotra homa everyday at every sun-rise and sun-set. The most important thing is the timing. The exact time of sunrise and sunset is critical. If you miss this time, then this is not an Agnihotra Homa. And it is the easiest way in which you can gain energy for yourself and your house/ surroundings. The simplest Homa possible.

A very brief post on how you do it.

Things you will need,

  • Copper pyramidal homa kund – it has to be copper as copper is linked to heat and can transmit the energies most effectively. The pyramidal shape amplified the energies produced in the Agnihotra.

pyramidal copper homa kund

  • A small copper bowl to keep the ghee (clarified butter). A copper spoon of this specific shape below.

copper bowl.jpg

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This above is the correct shape of the spoon but if you cannot get it in this shape then you can use this one below as a second option. But it should be made of copper.

copper spoon.jpg

  • Rice grains –  unpolished, whole, raw, white colored rice grains. Rice grains have a very nigh ability to absorb energy. So raw rice is called ‘Akshata’ which means unbroken or indestructible.
  • Ghee made of desi cow milk (post here) (The desi cow has a prominent hump, a prominent Surya-Ketu nadi, a prominent fold of skin under its neck, a oily skin, tail touching till the ground etc. They give A2 milk which is a medicine in its own right. We Indians used to breed only A2 cows or desi cows until the ‘white revolution’ created the half-breed cows whose milk is not fit for consumption.)
  • Cow dung cakes again only from the desi cow.
  • An Asan for you to sit on. The asan is all important, the foundation of all your spiritual activity. As you keep on using it again and again it also starts working like your energy battery. (post here)
  • A time table which shows you the exact time to the second of the sun-rise and sun-set at your location. This would be the time when the mid-point of the Sun’s disk is at the horizon.
  • An accurate watch with the seconds display to see the time for your location.

The Homa procedure

To begin with, clean yourself up, wash your hands/ feet/ face or have a bath if you have time. And dress in a loose fitting cotton dress.

Sit on your Asan, face east or north. Try to sit in Padmasan, Ardha-Padmasan or the Siddhasan yogic poses. If you cannot sit in these yogic poses, then sit cross legged. (If you cannot sit down, then sit in a chair but then arrange your Homa set-up on a table so that the fire is above your navel’s height.) Pray to your favourite deity or source of faith. If you have water from the Ganga, sprinkle it all around. If you have a conch, Shankh, blow on it thrice. Or try to visualise a cocoon of pure silvery-gold energy around you. Take a minute for all this so that you relax your mind.

Now to set up the Homa kund. Keep the pyramidal kund on a brick or a fire-proof tile else you might spoil the flooring.

Take 3 pieces of the cowdung cake and dip them in the ghee. Arrange these three pieces in the pyramidal kund in a sort of triangular arrangement with a small space between them. Take a smaller piece of cowdung cake, dip it in ghee and set it alight. Put this small burning piece in the small space you had left, so that the 3 main pieces also catch fire. If you can recite the Agni Gayatri, ‘Om saptajivhaya vidmahe, havvya-bhadraya dhimahi, tanno Agnih prachodayat Om’ while you light the fires it will help. Else at least recite ‘Om’. Agni is not just fire, it is the conscious intelligence of the fire. It is aware and has power. You are invoking it and requesting its help for performing the Homa.

Add some ghee on the burning cow-dung cakes using the spoon so that the fire starts blazing properly.

Do all this and get ready for the actual Homa at least 2-3 mins before the exact time of sunrise/ sunset.

Then while you are waiting for the exact time, you can recite the Gayatri mantra or any other Sanskrit mantra/ sukta/ shlok/ stotra as per your choice. Or recite Soham with your breath mentally, manasik jaap. Try to get your mind in a calm and peaceful state so that you can make the most of the Homa which you will be performing soon.

Then take about two pinches of the rice grains on your left palm.

Keep an eye on the exact time. At the exact time of the sunset/ sunrise you have to recite these following mantras and with each ‘Swaha’ drop one pinch of rice grains into the Homa Agni.

Use the ‘gras mudra’ for offering the pinch of rice to Agni.

gras mudra

Sunrise agnihotra mantra

  • Suryaya swaha, sooryaya idam na mama
    • (Offer one pinch of rice to the Agni with the word ‘swaha’)
  • Prajapataye swaha, prajapataye idam na mama
    • (Offer one pinch of rice to the Agni with the word ‘swaha’)

Sunset agnihotra mantra

  • Agnaye swaha, agnaye idam na mama
    • (Offer one pinch of rice to the Agni with the word ‘swaha’)
  • Prajapataye swaha, prajapataye idam na mama
    • (Offer one pinch of rice to the Agni with the word ‘swaha’)

That is it. These two mantras recited at sunrise/ sunset is the complete Agnihotra Homa.

Now sit in silence in front of the Agni till it extinguishes. You can do your Gayatri puja or your Dhyan (post here) during this period. Let the energy of the  Agnihotra Homa enter your body and mind. You can get up after the fire extinguishes.

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Now the ash generated is not just ash, it is ‘vibhuti‘. The power of the mantra,  intention, time and energy generated by the Homa has entered the ash / Vibhuti. It is a ‘spiritual medicine’ now. Put some on your forehead, you can eat some of it. (My son eats it all as soon as it cools down. And if my mind was distracted during the Homa, he points it out as the taste of the Vibhuti changes, he says it becomes sour in taste.) You can store this vibhuti in a glass bowl for about 15days. Some uses for this vibhuti,

  • Put a pinch on the forehead as a tilak.
  • Use it to remove evil eye. Mix one pinch of this Vibhuti in a fistful of raw rice and use it to get rid of negative energy adhering to you (post here)
  • Eat it
  • Mix a pinch in the bath water.
  • Sprinkle it at the four corners of your house, it will act as a shield around the house.
  • Put a small pinch under the chair in your office
  • If you wish you can make an amulet using this
  • If you do not believe in its power, try this small experiment. Put this vibhuti in the potted plants you have in your house and see how they grow and also glow with energy. I give the extra vibhuti to the Tulsi plant (post here) in my house.

Agnihotra is the duty of every householder. The burst of energy at the exact instant of sunrise/sunset is channelised into you, your house and your surroundings through this Homa. If you have learnt to see auras or can see into the astral you will be able to see a literal explosion of energy bursting from the Agni as soon as the rice grains fall into it with the sound of the mantra. The energy of the smoke is also very high and wherever it goes, it will cleanse the atmosphere of all negative energy. If there are entities in your house or an evil eye on you or your family members then it will be blown away by the force of this energy explosion. Try it once and then evaluate the difference for yourself.

A personal experience. Some time ago, I was required by karma to travel astrally every single night for a few months. It was so tiring that I could not get up in the morning at sun-rise. It would take so long to reanimate the physical body and I was very drained. And there was additional work in office so I was missing the evening sun-set too. So for a few months there was no Agnihotra Homa performed in my house. (My son was small so could not do it alone. And my husband was even more busy than I was) The result was that the house was full of spirits and other trashy beings roaming around all the time. The house was in a bad shape. Only my pujs room was shiny and sparkling. Astral travel, though sounds romantic, is very bad for the physical body. It drains the pran-mai-kosh, and I was doing this every night. Also when you go to the other dimensions in your sooskhma sharir, you leave open ‘doors’ for the other beings to come in here. Even if you are careful to quickly shut the ‘doors’ these do get the opportunity to come to our world. And you are so focussed on the work that often you forget to shield the sookshma sharir and you get attacked a lot. A lot. The Agnihotra was not possible during these few months and I and my husband were both too tired to ‘clean up’, things went down-hill. When I restarted the Homa, things were driven out of my house on the first day itself. And with each succeeding day the shields re-formed got stronger and the house came back to its beautiful neat and clean, high-energy self.

So if you have the resources available do perform this simplest and easiest Agnihotra Homa. If you cannot do it at both sunrise and sunset do it at least once a day. It will bring a lot of positivity to you, your house and all the people living in your house.

 

Leo ascendant Integration

Sookshma sharir, cracked auras and health

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The body that we live in has five layers. The inner most body is the causal body and has one layer, Anand-mai-kosh. The subtle body is the next 3 layers, the Praan-mai-kosh, Mano-mai-kosh and the Vidnyan-mai-kosh. This subtle body is in part ‘seen’ as the aura, some of us can see this. The solid material body is outermost Anna-mai-kosh, everyone with normal vision can see this.

The Sookshma sharir is the most ‘accurate us’ and is linked to the aura and reflects the health of the entire self. It is controlled by your Moon. The birth Moon and the influences on it define how it was made in the first place. The transit Moon and the effects of the transiting planets on the birth Moon show how it is modulated with time. In Indian/ Vedic astrology, the Moon is given very high importance because of his control over the Sookshma sharir. For normal householder type of people like us, of these three bodies, the subtle body is the most important.

So what has this to do with cracked auras or leaky auras?

Sookshma sharir, cracked auras and health

An example.

In this current age we are all obsessed with body weight. Everyone you see around you is interested in losing some weight! But weight loss/ gain is more connected to your subtle body rather than your solid material body. You can bring your body to its healthiest possible self and your body weight to the best possible number if you focus on your Sookshma sharir. But of course your dietician or your gym instructor will differ on this!

And remember your Sookshma sharir is linked to your Moon. He also controls your emotions, instinct, intuition, body liquids, nutrition, nurture etc. If your birth Moon or the transit influences on him are adverse, he will give bad results for all of these. You might find yourself in mental stress, argue with your mom, not get along with women, the home environment becomes stressful. emotional turmoil is possible etc. if this continues for a longer period then his influences on the sookshma sharir will trickle down into the material shell and you might see issues like water and electrolyte imbalances, weight fluctuations, improper eating/drinking habits, addictions, the nutrients of the food you eat not being absorbed etc. Eventually this will result in ill health.

One client, a woman was quite over-weight and there was no reason for her to be so. She ate sensibly, exercised etc yet was fat. But there were several reasons why her sookshma sharir was doing this ‘holding on to weight’ thing. She was the only woman in a family of men (post here). The birth Moon was very badly placed in the 6th house, aspected by Mars and Saturn. Moon/ Jupiter in the 6/8 axis added to the stress (Shakata yog post here). The Moon was debilitated in Navamsha, shifting to Scorpio. Neither the ascendant lord nor her Sun were strong enough to support the personality’s health. Ketu was placed in Aquarius which controls the lower feet and ankles. And Pisces in the 6th house was the feet. This was her birth chart so she was over-weight since she was small. This got worse after she got married and had children. (Her husband’s chart was not supportive for his wife’s health. Her children’s charts did not support the mother’s health).

All this finally was seen as actual cracks in the aura around her ankles and feet. The energy was ‘leaking’ out of her body through these cracks and her sole chakras. So though she was eating good food and resting etc, her subtle body did not have enough energy to sustain itself, it was desperate for ‘nutrition’. This stress to the subtle body, over time percolated into her physical body. This was translated into weight gain, or more correctly holding on to the weight. Her subtle body on the other hand was thin, tired and drained and urgently needed ‘food’/energy.

If you want to be a successful astrologer, Tarot card reader, Reiki healer or anything to do with energy or predictions, learn how to see auras it is a great help. And it is quite easy to do so (post here). Try to exercise your subconscious mind so that you become more aware of these non-material things (post here). Then you can literally ‘see’ the organs which are damaged, the damage to their individual auras, also negative energy curses, evil eye effects, black magic and spirits attacking the client, energy cords which drain their energy etc. This ability goes a long way in correct diagnosis of problems.

Sookshma sharir, cracked auras and health

So the solution for this client was to actively seal her aura everyday. There are several ways of sealing the aura, but the most important thing is the intention has to be strong. Reiki was a good way of doing it so she was told to visualise wearing knee high shimmery gold-silvery socks. She would visualise her legs from her knees to the tip of her toes to be covered by Dai-ko-mu and Cho-ku-re symbols. In addition she would intend that all the negative energy would be allowed to exit the body safely. No positive energy would be allowed to ‘leak’ out. All positive energy would be absorbed in her body and be used for her own rest and rejuvenation. She continued her life style as usual with an extra care to try to feel happy, rest and eat the thing she likes eating. And the whole thing worked, in about 2-3 weeks her face lost that ‘bloated’ look and she lost a couple of kgs. She continued doing this and within 3-4 months she was at the best possible weight for her body. This was not as low as the recommended weight for her height, but a few kgs more than that. She looked physically healthy and her subtle body had regained its ‘shine’. The aura was looking relaxed and energetic. She herself was feeling overall healthier and happier on the inside.

This leaky chakras and cracked aura was not a disease, but a part of who she was. It was an in-built thing depending on her own horoscope. So when the time came for her to recover her health, she met someone who could tell her what the real problem was and how to address it. As her Sookshma sharir started getting its proper energy nutrition, her physical body stopped ‘holding on’ to unnecessary weight and released it in the safest way possible over a period of few months.

Cracked or leaky auras are very common. This woman had a leaky aura from birth but intense negative emotions, stress, depression etc also cause leaks and cracks in the aura. Psychic attacks by negative entities, spirits and black magic also rupture auras. Being in a place where there are intense emotions of the negative types can also rip at the aura causing temporary cracks. So seal your aura daily either by Reiki if you have been initiated into Reiki. If not, here is a very easy way to do it, just keep your intention strong. Visualise two knots in the aura at your feet. Intend that only negative energy can exit, not positive energy.

Take care of your Sookshma sharir, ie do things which uplift your mind and make you happy. Stay away from depressive stuff, chaotic noises, low energy food/water. Do your regular spiritual practice and practices which increase pran flow in your body. Take care of your aura, do your shielding, cleansing and grounding. We are much more than the material self we see in the mirror.

 

Sookshma sharir, cracked auras and health

(The images in this post are the Kirlean photos of a leaf, an onion and an orange. Kirlean photography is used to record the auras of living things.)

Panchkosh energy layers of the Soul

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The human body is made of five energy enclosures called the Panch Kosh. These are the Annamaikosh, Praanmaikosh, Manomaikosh, Vidnyanmaikosh and the Anandmaikosh. These 5 sheaths create Conscious Intelligence, humans are the most conscious of the living forms on earth because all five of these sheaths are complete and present enclosing the jivatma/ individual soul. Only when you are aware of these sheaths can you consciously and intelligently dissolve them and re-experience your Reality/ Parabrahma.

Everything on earth is alive, from the mountains, rivers, plants, animals and of course us humans, but the degree of life consciousness in each of these forms is different and the difference lies in these Kosh/sheaths.

Panchkosh energy layers of the Soul

Annamaikosh – The sheath of ‘Matter. This is the sheath of the lowest possible consciousness. It is also called the Sthool Sharir. Sthool means physical, dense, dull, dim etc. Sharir means body or manifestation. Energy slowed down to such an extent that it becomes ‘matter’. The rocks, soil, metals, mountains are just matter, they are alive but the intelligence is extremely dim. These forms of life have just this one layer thus appear to be ‘non-living’ and ‘non-conscious’. They do not have ‘karma‘ operating at this lowest level of intelligence. You can ‘wake’ stones using your own energy, programme them and use them.

Sthool sharir is the function of the Ascendant lord. This planet primarily decides how your physical material body is going to be like.

Praanmaikosh – The dimension of ‘vital energy‘. This is the next higher level of intelligence and consciousness. Vital energy/pran is active in this layer. Plants and the ‘mindless’ animals like worms etc have 2 conscious layers, the Annamaikosh and the Praanmaikosh. They are alive and grow and do some activities related to ‘movements‘ of the material body. They have no mind. Karma starts operating from this layer, but this is a life form where the soul endures (bhog yoni). No new karma is created but the karma created earlier is rebalanced here. You keep a garden and take care of your plants, here too karma is operating.

Manomaikosh – The dimension of the ‘Mind’. In the next stage of evolution this third layer of the mental processes adds to the material and vital bodies. Animals. Conscious animals which reproduce by producing shukla/ sperm and shonita/ ova have a ‘mind’/ Mann. The praan/vital energy from the universe is used to animate and move the material body, the vital body and the processes of the mind. This mind is however at the very basic stages of evolution and works at the survival levels. In this layer too, the soul endures under situations which rebalance the karma and cannot actively work to create new karma. Nature/ Prakruti’s laws operate. You love your pet, that is also a karma which is being resolved.

Vidnyanmaikosh – The dimension of ‘Discrimination’. The fourth stage of evolution is the addition of the power of discrimination/ Vidnyan. The power to differentiate between two things, between desirable/ non-desirable, good/bad, (Yukta/ aayukta vishishtha jnyan) is called Vidnyan. Normal humans have this power of mental discrimination and have reached the 4th stage of intelligence. They have access to the 4 layers/ kosh of consciousness. Here self-ego makes its first appearance. The human soul thinks that it is different from other persons, and also different from the Parabrahma. Here now with this intelligence of discrimination, the jivatma can create new karma if it acts with a sense of self.

These three layers, Praanmaikosh, Manomaikosh and Vidnyanmaikosh together form the ‘subtle body’/ Sookshma Sharir. Organisms like plants, animals and common humans are bound by the rules of karma, but they do not have an understanding of it. They are bound to rebalance karma by actively going through the associated experience. When the soul leaves the body it takes with it this Sookshma sharir, the baggage of Karma. When you travel astrally in your dream/ swapna states you are travelling in your sookshma sharir. Sookshma means intangible, precise, accurate, subtle, strict, acute which it has to be as it maintains a record of karma among other things.

Sookshma sharir is the domain of the Moon. The power and position of your birth Moon, the sign he occupies and the results he is capable of giving. This ‘astral body’ is your Moon. In Indian /Vedic Jyotish the Moon is given importance just for this reason.

Panchkosh energy layers of the Soul

Anandmaikosh – The dimension of ‘Happiness when the knowledge of the End of the Drama is known’. Now this is the final layer which tightly wraps the individual soul. The consciousness of this layer is available to those humans who begin enquiring into the spiritual. If you start reading about the inner self, thinking about Divinity, contemplating about Reality, practicing Dhyan etc. you will be granted access to this highest possible intelligence. This is the subtlest consciousness called the Kaaran Sharir. Kaaran in a Sanskrit word which means the ‘reasoning’ or ’cause’. Once you are conscious of this inner most layer you understand the workings of Karma. You can actively ‘burn’ your unresolved karma in the internal fires of your spiritual practice. This complete rebalancing of karma requires time, dedication and regular practice. Soon a time will come when you will gain a complete understanding of this final Kosh and be granted access to your Jivatma. But by now, as you have completed your karmic debts, your Jivatma/ individual soul is not longer an ‘individual’. It has experienced and thus become the Paramatma/ the Ultimate Reality i.e. Moksh.

This tightest dimension, the karan sharir is a function of your birth Sun. His position in your horoscope will determine if you will be able to access its Intelligence or not. As most humans are not concerned with spiritual growth the Sun need not be analysed on priority. But if in the off chance you get a spiritually oriented client, do analyse his birth Sun and the results he is capable of giving. For realisation of Moksh, the ascendant lord, Moon and the Sun are required to work together so that all the enclosing dimensions are successfully unlocked.

And then there is a class of beings who do not have the material body layer. Their bodies are composed of the non-material higher layers. You must have seen them sometime or the other. Astral beings or the beings whom you meet when you travel astrally or the individual souls who have left their physical body or ghosts or the departed loved ones who reside in Pitrulok but come to this Martyalok occasionally or the residents of the other dimensions (Yaksha, Gandharva, Pishachya, Vetal etc). These beings do not have the material dimension thus are residents of the ‘astral realms’.

So the Panchkosh is how your consciousness has evolved over countless births. Your soul has gone through this process too. You have been a mountain, a tree, a crab, a dolphin, an elephant and now you are a human. If you do your spiritual practice you will further evolve. The PanchKosh, the five Conscious dimensions are created and then they ultimately dissolve into the Ultimate Intelligence. The final step is thus Self-realization/Moksh.

Panchkosh energy layers of the Soul