Fell deeds and their consequences: A Puranic view

 Hari Aum.

A very happy Navaratri to all readers. We are currently on the second day of this nine day, or rather nine night ('nava' means 'nine' and 'ratri' means 'night' in Sanskrit) spiritual festival dedicated to the Divine Mother.

The first three days of this auspicious spiritual festival are traditionally dedicated to Mother Durga, the Goddess who destroys evil. The next three are dedicated to Mother Lakshmi, the giver of all that is auspicious, and the final three days are dedicated to Mother Sarasvati, the giver of wisdom. The final tenth day, Vijaya Dashami, is a celebration of the victory of the divine over the undivine, of good over evil.

We are presently on day two of this festival so today is a day dedicated to Mother Durga. In the present state of the world, I was reflecting that it would be nice if Mother Durga could take an avatar to sort things out. 

These days one cannot read the news without coming across endless articles with a 'trigger warning'--something along the lines of "viewers may find this distressing" (these then go on to describe some appalling acts of violence and cruelty). These articles sadly describe the lowest of the low conduct that humanity is capable of (just when one thinks it cannot get any worse, a new low appears). I am of course talking about the recent events that led to the present war in the Middle East.

And, at times like this, when one is confronted with the awful reality that there are people who walk this Earth in human form, but who possess hearts and minds that can only be described as devilish or demonic in nature (they are clearly far from human within), one inevitably finds oneself yearning for an avatar of God. 

"If only You would come now" one cannot help but feel. "There is so much misery here, if not now, then when?" one wonders. "How much worse do things do things need to get before You will take the trouble to manifest" is the natural thought that occurs. 

Traditionally an avatar of God appears when things are very, very bad on Earth. Impossibly, unimaginably bad, in fact. 

Narayana/Krishna declares in the Gita:

"Paritranaya sadhunam, vinashaya cha dushkritam, dharma samsthapa-natharya, sambhavami yuge yuge"

Meaning:

"For the protection of the good, and the destruction of evil, to establish dharma/righteousness, I manifest in age after age".

When Krishna's avatar was due, the Puranas declare that He arrived sooner than expected when an evil ruler called Kamsa began to murder newborn babies in great numbers. Similarly, the Narasimha avatar appeared to protect a child, Prahlada, who was being tormented by his clan. The Rama avatar manifested to defeat Ravana, a demonic being given to pride and lust (he was fond of abducting women from various realms and molesting them/subjecting them to all sorts of torment and cruelty).  

While all killing and cruelty is unjust and unrighteous/adharmic, there is something especially vile, wicked and diabolical about deliberately singling out and targeting/torturing the most weak and vulnerable in society-- babies, children, women, the elderly and the sick. And our Puranas seems to share this view-- as we see with Krishna and Narasimha, even an avatar of God hastens His arrival upon Earth when such groups are targeted.

There is supposed to be a major avatar of Vishnu in every 'yuga' (a very, very long period of time, ranging from hundreds of thousands of years to several million depending upon the yuga). We are supposed to be around five thousand years into the present 'age of quarrels' or Iron Age ('Kali yuga'-- not the same as Mother Kali; pronounced and written differently in Sanskrit). 

This is supposed to have started after the departure of the Krishna avatar some time after the Mahabharata war. There are meant to be many more hundreds of thousands of years remaining of this yuga and it is only at the very end of this period that the next avatar of Narayana known as the 'Kalki avatar' is due. 

But what shall we do in the meantime? Pray, chant and hope for the best, that is all we can do. And maybe, that is enough, that is all that is expected from us.

However, as we watch and hear the news of the fell, evil deeds that occur upon our Earth, we may sometimes reflect upon what our scriptures, our Puranas, say about the karmic consequences of such actions. These are good examples of what to never do, and the scriptures provide some solace with regard to divine justice in the absence of an obvious avatar of God at present.

Most yogis and Gurus do not like to emphasise the subject of sin and punishment very much. They like to be positive and encouraging towards us, their students. They tell us to avoid sin as far as possible to avoid the inevitable suffering that will follow in accordance with the law of karma.

However, while the intellect understands this well, the lower mind in each of us has its own ideas and strength. The majority of us, including spiritual seekers, are not paragons of virtue at all. 

The only change that comes about in us when we become seekers is that we now desire to transform and overcome this lower self and embrace our Higher divine nature. We shrink away from the lower nature and are drawn to the Higher. However, on this spiritual journey, there is many a fall, many a setback, and much overcoming of obstacles and perseverance.

The Christian tradition talks of the 'seven deadly sins', namely pride, anger, lust, jealousy, greed, laziness and gluttony.  The yogis would agree with these-- the yogic equivalent is very similar, namely, the 'shad ripus' or 'six enemies', namely lust, anger, greed, jealousy, pride and delusion.

A sincere effort in overcoming these inner flaws is adequate say the yogis in enabling us to obtain the forgiveness and grace of God. Some form of spiritual practice, some wish and effort to improve, some form of inner struggle to not just give in to these vices that repeatedly attack us from within is a good start say our Gurus. They encouragingly assure us that this will lead to the grace of God, and over time (may be a long time but that is ok), we will triumph in the end. Our divine nature will eventually be victorious.

But what of those who walk the Earth reveling in these vices, these seven deadly sins or the shad ripus? What of those who seem to get away with their crimes and escape human courts of justice? Will there be any divine justice?

Well, like other religious texts, our Puranas declare that there certainly will be divine justice. They state that the suffering that we cause others, must come back to us so that we learn not to repeat this again-- the purpose of this is for the education and evolution of the soul (not merely for crude vengeance or punishment simply for the sake of it), to learn to express our true divine nature. 

Hence, while our kindly, compassionate Gurus do not like to over-emphasise the subject of divine punishment for sins in their teachings, they are very clear that such punishment undoubtedly exists. It is not fiction. 

For those who are foolish enough, daft enough, to commit sin after sin on Earth, they tell us in no uncertain terms, very bluntly in fact, that the consequences will be very unpleasant indeed. These consequences are described in detail in our Puranas.

The Puranas describe various 'hell realms' (seven to be precise) which are are places of temporary suffering. 'Temporary' may be a short or long time; it all depends upon the amount of evil actions performed. In these hell realms, the soul has an opportunity to expiate its sins and learn lessons. 

After the negative karma has been paid off, the soul is permitted to be reborn on Earth and to have a fresh start (hell is not a permanent state according to the yogic scriptures, just as the heaven of the demi-gods is not). The soul is again free to commit good or evil deeds and reap their consequences, or alternatively, seek spiritual liberation, the state beyond the duality of this material universe (this endless cycle of samsara).

In his book, 'What becomes of the soul after death?', Sivananda describes in detail the Puranic view of the afterlife. Each soul's deeds, both good and bad, are said to be thoroughly examined by a team of higher divine beings who work for God (this is Yama, the demi-god of death, and his attendants, including the famous Chitragupta, who notes down all our deeds). 

After a detailed assessment of our conduct on Earth (including our thoughts, words and deeds), we are then given the just and fair consequences of our own actions, both good and bad. Once we have experienced these, we are again reborn on Earth and experience a portion of our past karma while creating new karma (unless we become spiritual seekers who wish to transcend karma and attain liberation).

The details of these hells are quite grisly (not for the faint-hearted) and are not too dissimilar from those described in other religions and spiritual traditions. I do not therefore want to go into too much detail here, but equally, I do feel it is useful to have a broad awareness of what our scriptures say about this topic so I will provide a short summary.

In essence, the purpose of the hell realms is to provide suffering. And, as we know, suffering involves some form of mental and physical pain. The themes of the various hell realms in the Puranas, therefore, are things that inflict pain upon the soul, or rather its 'astral body' (which survives death). Experiences that are unpleasant are given (such as excessive heat, cold, experiencing hunger and thirst, being attacked by other beings and so on and so forth. In one particular hell, it is said that the souls of the creatures we eat on Earth, eat our bodies to return the favour-- not at all pleasant, but from a certain perspective, one may see it as somewhat only fair!).

So, as we read the news, and discover the grisly deeds performed by people who may never face any consequences upon Earth, who commit terrible crimes against humanity in the name of God, we may reflect that sad indeed is their fate. Very tragic was the fate of those they harmed, but more terrible still will be their fate in the future. For, one day or another, divine justice will prevail, and they will face the unfortunate results of their actions. 

One can only hope and pray for the sanity of all beings in the current world situation. One hopes this war does not escalate further and lead to more suffering. And, ultimately we must remind ourselves that, no matter what dreadful things happen here, God is available to each one of us, He/She is ready and willing to help us.

So, on that hopeful note, let us praise the Divine Mother who grants justice, let us remember Mother Durga and repeat Her holy names and mantras during this auspicious Navaratri period.

Om Shri Durgayai Namah.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat. 

Homa: the sacred fire ritual

 Hari Aum.

As yogis, most of us will be familiar with the role of fire in worship. Many of us light a lamp at the altar when we sit to meditate. We also light lamps during arati and puja ceremonies. During festivals such as Deepavali, we light multiple lamps as we celebrate the victory of good over evil.

The light of the lamp signifies many things in worship--- it represents God who is the Supreme Light, it represents auspiciousness, goodness and prosperity. It represents all that is good, both spiritually and materially.

Fire is one of the five 'great elements' that constitute the material universe according to the yogic scriptures. The deity who rules over this element is known by many names, particularly as 'Agni'. He is also known as 'pavaka', the one who purifies. Many metals are purified or refined by melting them over fire. In common language, we talk about 'trial by fire' meaning an extremely challenging situation that seriously tests our capacities (In Sanskrit, this is known as 'agni pariksha' or 'fire test'). 

Fire in the material world can be external or internal according to the yogis. The external fire is the one that is visible to our eyes. The internal fire is energy, a force-- invisible but still powerful. One example would be the 'jathar-agni' or 'fire of digestion'. The divine energy known as Kundalini is also a type of sacred fire that resides within us. 

Fire, thus, is a key part of our nature. We cannot live without fire, both internal and external. It is no surprise, therefore, that fire plays a key role in the rituals of worship of many of the religions of the world.

In the world of yoga or the Vedic tradition, there is a special type of worship using fire. This ritual is popularly known as 'homa' (some say 'homam') or 'havana' in Sanskrit ('Havana' is a another word for Agni, the demi-god of fire).

According to our Gurus, in ancient times, this ritual used to be a key aspect of daily worship in households. It was performed by both men and women. Over the centuries, this ritual became largely restricted to temples, and was performed mainly by priests (who, for social rather than spiritual reasons, were mostly men). The training required to perform elaborate homas was given only to a select group of people and was not available to all.

Times have changed (fortunately) and knowledge of the method of performance of this ritual is increasingly available to all regardless of gender, background, culture or anything else. Some homas are simple and can be performed relatively easily. Some are more complex and elaborate, and training would be required to perform them correctly (if one has not had the training, as with any other field, it would be wise to consult someone who is more experienced such as a priest).

The principle of a homa is this: 

-God is invoked in the fire using mantras

-Offerings are made into the fire with the utterance of mantras. These offering are usually 'ghee' or clarified butter, and other plant-based materials such as raw rice, milk, sesame seeds, herbs and so on. 

These are regarded as 'sattvic' or energetically 'clean' substances (usually mild and sweet in flavour). Other materials are generally avoided. (In particular, hot, pungent substances such as onion, garlic, chillies, meat, alcohol, stale foods etc are generally never used in sattvic forms of worship). The type of offering may vary slightly depending upon the deity being worshipped (but ghee is almost universally used).

-Agni, the deity of fire, is here seen as the messenger or 'portal' between our human world and that of the demi-gods or the Supreme Being. When we make offerings into the fire after invoking God in it, it is said that he 'transports' the subtle essence of these to the Supreme. And in return, we are able to receive blessings, both spiritual and material (depending upon what we are praying for).

-The utterance of mantras while making offering into a fire is said to significantly magnify the effects of those mantras (some say it is a tenfold increase but one may not be able to put a precise number upon this). 

A homa will usually involve reciting one or more mantras a certain number of times (often multiples of the sacred number 108) while making offerings (of ghee, rice etc) into the sacred fire with each recitation.

-The word 'Svaha' is crucial to the performance of a homa. This word is said to represent the wife of the deity 'Agni'. It is uttered at the end of every mantra recitation during a homam and is said to 'open the doorway' of the sacred fire. Therefore, it is regarded as important to time the release of the offering from the homa ladle or spoon into the fire with the exact utterance of the word 'Svaha'.

For example, if one wanted to offer worship to Shiva via the performance of a homam, one would invoke His presence in the sacred fire, and then make offerings into the fire while reciting one of His mantras with 'Svaha' at the end, e.g. Om Namah Shivaya, Svaha.

-The smoke generated by the performance of a homa is regarded as being energetically (and some say, even physically) cleansing or purifying. It is said to create a positive atmosphere in the surroundings and a feeling of general wellbeing in the performers of the homa and others who may also be present. It is said to provide divine protection and create a strong sense of inner connectedness with the Divine if performed correctly with faith and devotional feeling.

Needless to say, therefore, a homa or havana is a valuable addition to a mantra japa practice. It enhances, magnifies and builds upon a mantra japa practice (hence it is also a part of the purascharana practice).

As I mentioned earlier, simple homas can be performed by anyone who is willing to study the subject just a little. There are Gurus and other excellent teachers online who have kindly provided 'do it yourself' manuals to conduct a simple homa.

One example, whom I have mentioned previously on this website, is Shri Narasimha Rao. He has done an excellent job of making the homa ceremony easy to understand and perform even by those with no previous experience. 

I have used his homa manuals to perform homas occasionally for Narayana, Shiva and the Divine Mother. I have always felt a great sense of joy, peace and contentment afterwards and felt that the atmosphere was somehow cleansed. 

Please see link below for his website with a lengthy list of wonderful manuals for various forms of the Divine: https://www.vedicastrologer.org/homa/download.htm. I have mostly been using his 'simplest' manuals in recent years due to the lack of time in performing the more lengthy ones and even these have been a wonderful experience.

I would like to say a little more on the subject of simple homas. Life, as we all know, can be very busy. And the idea of performing even the simplest homa of the type mentioned above can take around an hour or more from scratch (getting together all the materials, doing the homa and tidying up afterwards). For many of us with work and home-related commitments, along with our mantra japa sadhana, this may be tricky to do regularly. However, with regard to spiritual sadhana, it is regarded as far more effective to do a simple form of worship regularly rather than an elaborate one very rarely.

Therefore, I would like to mention another even easier sort of 'homa' that I discovered some time ago. This is known as a 'deepa homa' or 'lamp homa'.

In essence, the deepa homa involves lighting a lamp (an ordinary lamp like the one we would have on our altars) and then making offerings of little drops of ghee into this. This is relatively easy to perform as it requires minimal materials and preparation and can be done even weekly if not more often (the duration of time required for this may be as little as 10-15 minutes to longer if one wishes).

You must ensure that you take all precautions for fire safety while performing this form of worship (make sure your surroundings are safe and appropriate; also ensure that children do not have access to the fire). If you have a fire alarm at home, and wish to perform a regular homa, you will either need to do this in the garden (when not too rainy/windy) or if doing it indoors, figure out how to manage your fire alarm. This will not be an issue with a deepa homa generally as there is virtually no smoke produced.

Based upon what I have read and understood regarding this subject, the procedure for a deepa homam is broadly as follows:

1. Light a lamp (with ghee ideally) and a cotton wick (it is possible to buy ghee from grocery stores in most countries; alternatively, one can make it at home by gently heating unsalted butter; there are websites that explain how to do this; fresh ghee is lovely, both for homas and to eat!).

2. Obtain a bowl with some melted ghee in it and a spoon to make the offerings

3. Sit down next to the lamp and offer some simple initial prayers. This is in order to mentally prepare for the ceremony, to connect with the Divine within yourself and within the fire, and invoke the blessings and protection of God. 

For example, spend a minute or two invoking/reciting the mantras of Ganesha, your Guru (if you have one, otherwise simply say 'Om Shri Gurave Namah to invoke the Universal Guru/God) and your favourite deities.

4. Start the ceremony: 

Invoke the form of God whom you wish to worship in the sacred fire of the lamp. Ask Him/Her to be present in full manifestation and accept the offerings that you are going to make. State the purpose for your conducting this worship (i.e. the spiritual or material goal).

5. Perform the ceremony: 

Recite the mantra you have selected and utter 'Svaha' at the end. As you say, 'Svaha', offer a drop of ghee from the spoon into the fire of the lamp (be careful not to accidentally extinguish the flame when offering the ghee as the fire here is a small one; this is not usually an issue in a regular homa where the fire is much bigger).  

These drops of ghee will be consumed by the fire gradually over time. Let the fire extinguish itself after consuming the ghee (this usually occurs within a few hours; do not artificially put out the fire). 

You can also recite slokas (such as the Saptasloki Durga) or a set of mantras (such as the 108 names of Vishnu, Kali etc) and make offerings while adding 'Svaha' in the same way as with a mantra.

5. Complete the ceremony:

Once the ceremony is completed, offer gratitude to God for being present and for His/Her blessings and help in performing it. Make an apology for any accidental mistakes or lapses in concentration/devotion, and surrender the doership of the ritual to God. 

Here is a useful website of the Guru, Anandi ma, with a video by her disciple demonstrating the performance of the lamp/deepa homa: https://dyc.org/simple-ghee-lamp-fire-ceremony/

With Navaratri coming up next week, I have taken up the chanting of some mantras of the Divine Mother, particularly the Navarna mantra which my Guru advises should be chanted during this time. 

I have also performed the above deepa homa a couple of times in recent days with mantras for Narayana, Durga and Kali (including the 108 mantras for Kali https://www.drikpanchang.com/deities-namavali/goddesses/parvati/mahavidya/kali/108-kali-names.html). The purpose of this has been to pray for protection of innocent people (especially children) on both sides of the current unfortunate war in the Middle East. I plan to continue this worship and prayers in the coming days and weeks, particularly during Navaratri and the upcoming eclipses.

In times of distress and suffering, it is the Divine Mother and Narayana who are associated with taking avatars and actively intervening to protect the good, destroy evil and grant protection and peace. 

I very much hope and pray for Their divine intervention in this extremely sad situation. I pray that They may protect both the people of Israel and Palestine, especially those who are young and vulnerable. I also pray that They may do whatever They feel is right to resolve this situation and bring lasting peace to this region. 

May They give strength, courage and protection where They feel this is needed; may Divine justice be done in full; may Divine will be done. 

Please do also consider doing some mantra japa and homa for peace in this region.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Om Shri MahaKalikayai Namah.

Om Shri Durgayai Namah.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

P.S. Kali kavacha (the shield of Mother Kali):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TURckgElHg&list=RDLDsNoU4pbzY&index=2

I recently discovered this very beautiful prayer for protection addressed to Mother Kali. Like other 'kavacha' prayers of various forms of God, this is not merely a prayer but rather, is said to be a 'shield' of mantras ('kavacha' means 'shield' in Sanskrit). One who recites or hears this prayer receives Her protection. 

I have been listening to this quite a bit in recent days as a form of prayer for the people caught up in the war in the Middle East. May the Mother's protecting hand shield the children on both sides of the war especially, may Her will be done. 

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

The tongue of Mother Kali

 Hari Aum.

Mother Kali is a mysterious form of the Divine Mother. Her appearance is wild, dramatic and can be regarded by some as frightening. One curious feature about Mother Kali is Her tongue. She is the only One amongst the well-known avatars of God whose tongue plays a significant role in Her lila.

The tongue of Kali feels relevant in the circumstances in the world today and so I thought I would write a bit about it (especially as Navaratri begins next week). This the legend of how and why the Mother manifested as Kali (described in the scripture relating to the great Lilas of the Goddess, known as the Devi Mahatmyam).

Once during a battle between good and evil forces (this is a representation of the inner battle that occurs within each one of us), the devas (demi-gods representing the forces of good) were greatly distressed. They had been defeated by the forces of evil called the asuras and turned to the Divine Mother for help.

Although the Divine Mother is the mother of all beings in the universe (good, bad and all), She firmly upholds dharma or the forces of righteousness/goodness. She therefore assured the devas that She would grant them Her protection and defeat the forces of evil.

A great battle then ensued between the Mother in Her fierce form as Durga and the asuras or demonic beings. During the course of this battle, seeing the pride, cruelty and other evil qualities of the asuras, the Divine Mother became filled with a terrible fury. Her face darkened to pitch black, and then, something extraordinary happened.

From the middle of Her forehead, there emerged a great Power, a female form who appeared to be the very embodiment of Divine anger-- that form was Mother Kali. 

Mother Kali made short work of the scores of asuras on the battlefield. She destroyed them with ease and it appeared that the battle would be over soon. Victory of the divine forces appeared to be imminent.

However, the asuras or demonic beings, were not prepared to give up so easily. They decided to use a special weapon to counter the Mother-- that weapon was a particularly dangerous and evil being known as 'Rakta beeja'. He was a key general amongst the demonic beings and now advanced upon the battlefield where he faced the Mother.

The specialty about Rakta-beeja was his blood. For every drop of this that was spilled and touched the ground, a new version of himself would immediately spring up. The new versions would be equal to him in every way. (In Sanskrit, 'Rakta' means 'blood' or 'red', and 'beeja' means 'seed' or 'origin'; in other words, he was a monster whose origin/seed was blood).

Rakta-beeja therefore awaited the attack from the Divine Mother with delight. When She cut him with Her weapons, he watched as his blood flowed to the earth and multiple versions of himself manifested. When She finally killed him, and his blood poured onto the earth, again the same thing happened-- scores of Rakta-beejas sprung up, equal to the original version in strength, power and properties.

Soon the Earth was overrun by multiple Rakta-beejas who unleashed havoc upon all living beings and caused the devas to shake in terror. There appeared to be no way to put an end to this monstrous being.

Seeing this spectacle, Mother Durga turned to Mother Kali and addressed Her. 

She said: 

"O Kali! As I strike Rakta-beeja with My weapons, make sure that not a single drop of his blood is able to reach the earth! Make Your tongue so vast that You are able to consume all the drops of blood that fall from this monster! That is the only way by which he can be defeated!"

Mother Kali did as requested and expanded Herself into an extraordinarily large size. As Mother Durga struck Rakta-beeja causing his blood to flow, Mother Kali consumed this, thus preventing any new versions of him from appearing. 

Soon afterwards, the powerful combination of Mother Durga and Mother Kali destroyed Rakta-beeja and also annihilated the remaining demonic beings on the battlefield. The Divine forces were thus victorious.

There was great rejoicing both on Earth and in the heavens upon this auspicious occurrence. The devas were re-established in their respective positions and able to carry out their duties. Peace and justice once again prevailed everywhere.

There is an esoteric meaning behind this story (actually many meanings, but there is one famous one in particular) according to the yogis.

The drops of blood of Rakta-beeja are said to represent human desires. When a desire for something is fulfilled, it often leads to countless more being born (which may be directly or indirectly related to it). In other words, the more one attempts to fulfil the desires of the mind, the more insatiable they become. And these desires obscure the bliss of the soul which is our true nature and birthright.

The Gurus therefore tell us to carefully watch our inner 'Rakta beeja' and avoid letting this out-of-control. Daily worship of the Divine is the only way to conquer this inner force they tell us, and mantra recitation is a particularly powerful method. This is the esoteric meaning of the above story that applies to our inner world, the world of our mind.

There is another meaning to this story which also feels pertinent today (with the onset of the recent war in the Middle East). This is relevant to our external world that we inhabit with its many crises and troubles. 

This meaning is that, for every act of heedless violence that is committed, countless more will be inspired to occur. For every innocent life that is lost, on both sides of the battleground, countless more lives and blood will be lost. And there can never be any justification for the loss of any innocent lives regardless of the side that they are on.

And, as the Buddha famously said: "Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal".

Anyway, in this world which appears increasingly apocalyptic in nature with increasing wars, natural disasters and disease, let us continue the one thing that we were born to do-- pray, serve and attempt to attain the Divine. It is clear that lasting happiness and peace can never be found here in the material world. As our Gurus rightly say, this can be found only in the lap of the Divine (in the spiritual dimension of human life on Earth).

Let us continue then to recite mantras for peace, both internal and external. May innocent lives be protected on all sides. May the Will of God be done.

Om Shri MahaKalikayai Namah.

Om Shri Durgayai Namah.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Planetary transits, the current war and being the change we want to see

 Hari Aum.

It is extremely sad to see the present situation in the Middle East which apparently is far worse currently that it has been in an entire generation. The pictures of bombs being dropped upon entire buildings (which are then seen to melt like sand castles being washed away by the sea) is completely horrifying (it is terrible to contemplate the fate of all the unfortunate people inside). It is particularly shocking to see the large numbers of civilians on both sides who are being affected by this unfortunate war.

Our Gurus firmly tell us that when negative forces escalate their activities, those who pray and do mantras such as their disciples should also escalate their spiritual practices in an effort to counter them.

They tell us that God does permit some amount of violence to take place on Earth; this is part of our collective karma. However, at the same time, they also remind us that God expects us to do significantly more sadhana during such times.

So, let us do extra spiritual practices at this time. From my side, I commit to continuing my mantra japa of the ashtakshara and adding in some additional mantras. I also pledge to perform one or more homams (sacred fire ritual) dedicated to Narayana, Shiva and Durga to seek their blessings and protection for those affected this month. 

There will be an eclipse in a week and again in three weeks--we really must utilise this time to do extra prayers. I will do my best to do so. This is a yogic duty that applies to every one of us who has faith in God and His/Her mantras.

As we all know, the world is one family. What affects one country, will surely affect others including us. There is no room for any complacency therefore.

I hope and pray that God protects those in both Israel and Gaza/Palestine. May good sense prevail on all sides and the war de-escalate as soon as possible. I also hope and pray that other countries help to calm the situation (and avoid inflaming this further).

I should mention that, from a Vedic astrology perspective, there are some challenging planetary transits which can lead to an increase in animosity between people generally including between nations. (Some factors include the Mars-Ketu conjunction in Libra which just occurred a few days ago and which will continue until mid-November, and the upcoming eclipses on Oct 14 and 28. This can trigger/exacerbate the situation further).

Individual prayer has benefit and so does joint prayer, which is the reason our Gurus advise both. Let us join together in prayer at this time. 

Some good mantras in this situation include:

1. Om Namo Narayanaya-- invoking the peaceful form of Vishnu/Narayana to calm the situation.

2. Hare Rama mahamantra-- a powerful mantra for Kali yuga (for peace and general protection)

3. Om Shri Durgayai Namah-- invoking the Mother in Her form as Durga, the One who destroys evil 

4. Om Aim Hrim Klim Chamundayai Vicche-- another powerful mantra for the Mother 

5. Om ugram viram Mahavishnum, Jvalantam Vishvato mukham, Nrisimham bhishanam bhadram, Mrityu-mrityum namamyaham-- invoking Lord Narasimha, the fierce incarnation of Narayana

6. Mahamrityunjaya mantra-- invoking the healing and protecting energy of Lord Shiva (particularly for those who have died or are seriously injured). Alternatively, one can chant the famous panchakshara mantra Om Namah Shivaya.

I would recommend utilising your current mental state to enhance your mantra practice. If you are feeling peaceful/want to be peaceful, then repeat the ashtakshara mantra of Lord Narayana. If you are feeling upset/angry at the situation (what Sivananda would call 'righteous anger' at the death of innocents on both sides), then you may wish to consider the Durga, Narasimha or Chamunda/Navarna mantra to express your energy. If you are in healing mode, then consider the Mahamrityunjaya mantra. 

Or, if you have your own favourite mantras, do please go ahead and chant those. The mantra that you have been initiated into in your Guru's lineage will be especially valuable (as it carries your Guru's shakti/blessings). Anything will be beneficial. 

The more feeling we put into our mantra recitation, the more effective it will be. If there is no feeling/we are tired etc, it does not matter; we can still repeat the mantra as our Gurus say this will still have a powerful effect. Some days, we repeat with feeling; other days, we repeat mechanically. Whatever state we are in, we need to continue the mantra. That is the advice of all Gurus.

In addition, we can perform homams, pujas and any other form of worship we like for the sake of calming this situation.

A helpful resource regarding the method to perform a simple homam is:

https://www.vedicastrologer.org/homa/

The most simple form of a homam with minimum rituals that can be performed would be to light a fire in a homam kunda or other fire-proof vessel and say "O Lord/Mother, I would like to perform a homam dedicated to You for the sake of peace. I ask You to please be present in full manifestation in this sacred fire. Thank you for being present. And now, please accept the offerings that I will make into this as an expression of my devotion to You."

Then repeat the mantra you have selected with the word 'Svaha' at the end (this is how a mantra is used in homams; E.g. "Om Namo Narayanaya, Svaha"). With each mantra recitation, make an offering of ghee (clarified butter) with a spoon into the fire (let the ghee fall into the fire at the same time as you utter the word 'Svaha'). After repeating the mantra for a few minutes (as little or as long as you can spare), then thank God for accepting the offerings. 

Imagine Him/Her returning to your anahata chakra (heart space; where He/She always resides) after the homam is complete. And after this, our Gurus advise us to say, 'sarvam Sri Krishnarpanamastu' or words surrendering the doership of the ritual to God (as it is by the grace of God that we are able to perform spiritual practice, we surrender the credit/spiritual merit for this to Him/Her; this frees us from building up any karma, and helps take us to the state beyond karma, i.e. spiritual liberation).

Simple pujas can also be performed for the purpose of peace. The key point I would like to make is that we do not have to perform perfect rituals all the time. In whatever language we speak, with whatever (sattvic) materials we have, we can perform simple rituals. Whatever mental or physical state we are in, we are eligible to pray to God for this purpose of peace.

So, Om Namo Narayanaya. Om Shri Durgayai Namah. Om Trayambakam yajamahe, Sugandhim pushti vardhanam, urva rukamiva bandhanan mrityor-mukshiya mamritat.

May God bless both Israel and Palestine and protect innocent people on both sides. May the war end soon and a peaceful solution to the longstanding issues faced by both countries be finally found. The same also applies to Russia and Ukraine and all other warring nations. 

May God grant peace to us all.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

P.S. The yogis say that we live in a 'sea of thoughts'. We influence, and are influenced, by others, both knowingly and unknowingly, whether we are near or far from each other.

The consciousness of each one of us therefore contributes to the collective consciousness of humanity. 

Therefore, at this dangerous time of collective karma indicating rising hostilities between people, let us each consciously try not to be hostile towards anyone in our lives.  

Let us each declare, "From this moment onwards, I renounce all hostilities towards all those in my life. I accept that whatever has happened/is happening between all of us is the result of our own karma/destiny, and I release this now and forever more. I consciously send a friendly energy to all beings (with the recognition that we are all a part of One God)". 

This declaration can help us feel lighter and more free from the burdens that we may have been carrying in our lives. It is also important to release any hostility one may feel towards oneself; medical research has suggested that we/our inner critic speaks much more harshly to ourselves than we ever would to others. And much of the negative stuff we say to ourselves has no basis in reality; it is simply not true. It only serves to make feel sad (in fact, tackling these incorrect, negative thoughts about ourselves and others is a key part of the rationale behind the treatment for low mood/depression in the form of CBT/Cognitive Behavioural Therapy).

I myself would now like to make the above pledge to free myself from any negative energy that may have accumulated within me over time and to enable myself to embrace a renewed, positive outlook on my life as a whole.

Even if we succeed only partially/to an extent or just some of the time with this pledge, it is the intention behind this that is significant. If we are sincere, then this is bound to gradually lead to an improvement and positive change in each one of us over time. And this will be good for us spiritually, and beneficial for humanity as a whole. 

As Gandhi once said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world". This war is a wake-up call for each one of us with regard to our own lives.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

The detestable bond

 Hari Aum.

This is another post related to twin souls (intended for any other souls unlucky enough to have one). I was speaking with a close friend recently whose situation also suggests that she too is on a twin flame journey. I would like to make some observations based upon our experiences (this post is meant to provide some insights to others on this journey, and also provide some information for those who may be curious about this path).

The first thing to say is that the twin soul bond can feel utterly detestable (most of the time). Anyone who experiences it would not wish this even upon their worst enemy as the saying goes (of course, we try not to have any actual enemies when walking the spiritual path). It truly is the most detestable bond (for a variety of reasons, some of which I will explain here)!

You may have noticed that if there is one thing I try to practice in life, it is to be truthful. I try to be as nice as reasonably possible, and the ideal situation would be where one can be both nice and truthful. Sadly, however, there are some situations, like this one, where one just has to admit the not-so-nice aspect of the journey.

On the spiritual path, we need to deal with our own egos-- our fragile little egos, filled with all sorts of negative emotions. On the twin soul journey, one of the unpleasant perks is that one gets to experience the negative emotions of the twin-- and this is all apparently due to a connection between the astral aspects of their nature (the chakras/subtle bodies etc). Every intense unpleasant emotion experienced by one twin is therefore helpfully shared by them with their counterpart. Lovely.

Even when one twin soul does everything in its power to lift up their own mind, if their counterpart is not actively attempting to do the same, the former is compelled to deal with the unpleasant negativity unleashed upon them by their twin. This can also manifest as physical health issues (some may be of course due to one's own karma, but this can absolutely include the twin soul offloading their rubbish onto one).

It is difficult to imagine anything worse than that on the spiritual path. It is bad enough to have to deal with one's own lower self, but imagine having to deal with another expression of it (in a sense, the twin souls are the 'same soul frequency' and are sort of 'one soul' but they are free to cultivate positive or negative mental qualities as they each have their own free will).  

Various negative qualities such as fear, anger, doubt, grief etc are offloaded by one twin soul onto the other via this connection, this truly detestable bond. 

It is said by Lord Krishna that this world is a 'dukhalaya', a world where sorrow abounds in order to teach us useful spiritual lessons. Well, most twin souls would say that their connection is an excellent example of this dukhalaya. It is difficult to contemplate more sorrow than that generated by this most vile, wretched and unwanted of spiritual connections.

There are a number of people online who keep on advising twin souls to 'send positive energy' to each other. Now, I would say, that is all very well, but one needs to keep things authentic and truthful. I do not believe in sending pretend positive energy to some twin soul, particularly when their presence in one's life was never particularly wanted, but feels like it was forced upon one. 

At times like this, one can only shake one's fist at the Universe and say that this is one of the most vile and appalling creations in existence. Why on Earth would God in His/Her infinite wisdom create such a thing is beyond one's understanding (no doubt this will be revealed in good time if He/She wishes, but the meantime, it is most annoying and unpleasant).

Nobody on a twin soul journey enjoys the experience. It is fundamentally designed to be vile. When I told my husband about it some time ago, he sarcastically said that he would like to find his twin soul too. I told him that he had no idea what he was talking about as it is one of the most awful experiences ever. He looked thoughtful afterwards but, fortunate soul that he is, does not really get it. And, as I wish him well, I hope and pray that he does not need to end up on this horrid journey.

I spoke with Ms Pandit (a twin soul who guides others) recently and in her words, my journey is "Five hundred per cent a twin soul connection". I was hoping that I had misheard her, that she was wrong. But no, she insisted that my connection had all the features of one. 

When I told her that I felt that my so-called twin soul, felt like a vile obstacle in my spiritual journey and my life in general, she shook her head sagely at me and said that this was not so. In fact, she declared, my twin soul was my "North star", a key guiding force who had apparently pushed me on to the right spiritual path in life (for example, being a householder yogi instead of a sannyasi). I was incredulous at her words but unfortunately have to accept that she may be right on some level. 

However, North star or not, most twin souls periodically feel an urge to shake their fist at the Universe and demand to be freed from this detestable bond, being saddled with the energy of the twin flame. The twin flame experts cheerfully say that there is no escaping it, however. "Be friendly with the Higher Self of your twin soul" they say, "Make friends with it. Say nice things to it". 

"You've got to be kidding!" one responds. "Say nice things?!". "I'd sooner kick them permanently out of every aspect of my consciousness, both my head and my heart" one would like to say. This may not sound pretty but it is at least authentic. 

And, as Sivananda says one must be authentic, I will not hesitate to be practice this quality in all aspects of my life including here. One would like to deliver an excellent kick at one's twin soul and evict them permanently from one's consciousness, but sadly, the universe has not yet provided this option (one lives in hope that it may happen one day though). It appears that one is destined to be saddled with them and their energy for the duration of one's life (and even beyond, as Ms Pandit says-- just unbelievable). 

One hopes that, if nothing else, one's twin soul develops their spiritual nature and does something spiritually useful for themselves and others. This vile experience should produce at least that result if nothing else.

If one cannot kick them out, one has no choice but to accept them. And when one is attempting to walk the spiritual path, it would help if one's twin soul could kindly do the same (or at least get started, if they are not already doing so).

So, dear friends, I would like to say, please do count yourselves as extremely fortunate if the universe has not saddled you with the baggage of a twin soul. In my view, a 'solo soul' is a lucky being indeed, you have simply no idea how fortunate. 

And I am personally hopeful that, at some point it will be revealed that this business of my being a twin soul was a dreadful mistake (and that dear Ms Pandit and others are wrong); that, in fact, I am no such thing, and that I am also a happy, 'solo soul' (stuck only with my own lower self, not that of a twin soul too!).

I remain optimistic therefore. I feel Sivananda has my back, whether twin soul or no twin soul. I'm hoping he will chase away this horrid twin flame experience which the yogis would call a sort of 'Maya' or delusive experience (the whole of samsara is filled with illusion so this is too; only, it is supposed to eventually help one to find a way out). Or at least, that he will help me to benefit spiritually from it.

Honestly, if someone had said to me five years ago, that we would see a pandemic, a war in Europe and that there were such things as twin souls and that I had one (and that the person in question was my 'North star' as Ms Pandit said), I would have fallen over laughing and asked them what on Earth they had been smoking! What a load of nonsense I would have said!

The universe has proven me wrong though. All this nonsense has happened, and is still happening. Speaking of Covid, it seems to be rearing its ugly head again on some level (as you may be aware, there are some variants of concern that have mutated significantly). I advise everyone who is being given medical/public health advice in their local area to obtain a Covid jab, to get one. There are rising numbers of patients presenting with this again and some are feeling quite unwell and ending up being admitted to hospital (though fortunately, as many have been vaccinated, the impact is not as bad as pre-vaccination).

On that note, I will conclude for now. With regard to spiritual life, I am glad to say that I am plodding on with my purascharana at the rate of 9 malas a day. And doing the MahaLakshmi mantra daily and doing a bit of the Sarasvati mantra too. I am readying myself for some Navaratri sadhana this month. There are also some eclipses coming up this month which are an excellent time to do extra mantra japa.

I hope Swami Sivananda will save me from the many absurdities and challenges in life. The grace of the Guru is really the only source of all blessings in life. I recently bought a book called the 'Guru Gita' and plan to read this in the coming weeks (I might write something about it afterwards). I will also pick up where I left off with regard to the Kapila avatara's teachings and write about this in the coming weeks.

So stay well, keep up sadhana, get jabbed and remember you are a blessed being indeed if you are a solo soul!

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.