I apologize to have taken a long gap in writing my next blog, but due to various reasons my focus was shifted to exams and some other cause I was dealing with. While again going through in brief, we had thought about agni, its different types, its form of existence and its mechanism of action. Now let us try and gauge the most important aspect, the one which deals with practical life, the ways to catch onto this and utilize it to speed up spiritual progress and health.
References in various books show some direct connection between spiritual growth and agni. According the Vimalananda, “The amount of indigested or unabsorbed food thrown out from your body reflects your growth or rather the absence of it.” This growth does not relate to physical growth, of course, but to spiritual growth. Such a statement seems very puzzling and sometimes it seems so vague that we push it aside claiming it to be blind faith, without trying to understand the science behind such a simplistically put statement.
As we have seen earlier, bhootagni is responsible for increasing our mental faculties, specifically by nourishing the indriyas by utilizing or making the most of what we ingest. And according to Srimad Bhagwad Gita “intelligence is nothing but the perfect functioning of the indriyas” and “sattva is nothing but intelligence.” Hence showing us the unavoidable importance of bhootagni.
Hence in yoga, the first step is known as “Bhootashuddhi”, referring to the process of cleansing the mahabhootas which reflect its presence in the functioning of its specific indriyas. For this, firstly there is an assessment made on the level of vitiation of the mahabhootas and accordingly the yogic therapy is advised.
According to Tantra Shastra:
These same rituals are followed in tantra shastra and are known by a different name of tattwa shuddhi, but the methodology and the science behind it is the same more or less.
As we know, the 5 mahabhootas form the senses and also form the base of the 5 chakras ie, from mooladhara to vishuddha. Hence their shuddhi clears and stimulates the indriyas and also facilitates the upward movement of kundalini, when awakened.
The principle behind this kriya, is to improve upon the bhootagni to a great extent without which, progression in yoga is not possible.
The starting point may be any mahabhoota of the person’s choice. Each mahabhoota has its own peculiarities, pros and cons. Let us discuss in brief about them.
1) Pritwi (Earth) Mahabhoota: This mahabhoota has the characteristic of steadiness and stability, hence processes like Hatha Yoga are generally followed for shuddhi of this mahabhoota, in which a person needs to sit in a particular posture giving pressure on specific points thus stimulating and/or obstructing prana in specific areas giving about a desired result. For example, in Moola Bandha, the anal sphincter is to be closed, which obstructs the lower movement of apana vayu thus giving pressure on the mooladhar, the site of kundalini. Overdoing it or not doing it under proper guidance can bring about various complications like severe pain and constipation in this case.
Pros: It is the safest way of progression comparatively and once siddhi in this yoga is achieved it gives stability to the high energy flowing through the body. Brings about mental balance and stability.
Cons: The earth element being heavy and slow in nature, this shuddhi takes a lot of time, patience and perseverance. It may take from years to decades or even lifetimes to master.
2) Jala (Water) Mahabhoota: This mahabhoota has the characteristics of fluidity and heaviness. It ranges from simple practices of giving water to specific plants and abhisheks on idols to practices requiring the person be underwater for prolonged periods of time. Water as an element is very puzzling and yet many mysteries have not been solved and are termed as anomalous. Mantras are frequently used in such practices.
Pros: The water chakra swadhistan is also known as the sex charka. Hence, this shuddhi brings about control over sex organs and thus enabling us to protect our veerya or sexual fluids giving us a lot of energy or oja and also helps in swadhisthan bhedan.
Cons: This process is slow, even though faster than prithwi element, but slower compared to the others. Water pollution these days also pose a threat these days and such impurities could do damage if used constantly.
3) Agni(Fire) Mahabhoota: This mahabhoota has characteristics of sharpness and amplification. Due to this quality of amplification, it is preferred by many. This method was widely used in ancient days in both eastern and western mysticism where elements and mantras were continuously fed into the fire for amplification and faster results. Zoarashtrians also used this and were known as fire worshippers as they kept chanting hymns into the fire. Consecration of spaces was also done effectively using this method. Yagnas, havans, dhumas, etc are nothing but purification of the teja mahabhoota in the body. Satyug and treata yuga saw this process thrive.
Pros: Fast progress is possible due to amplification. It is a relatively safe method if used well. Due to qualities of amplification, it is used in consecrating spaces hence creating an environment of growth and purity.
Cons: It needs to be done in a particular way using particular mantras and at a given time. The fire must be fed with mantras and fuel continuously.
4) Vayu(Wind) Mahabhoota: This mahabhoota has characteristics of mobility and quickness. Due to these properties, it is preferred by most. This method started off a bit late, after the period of the fire. Pranayams and different breathing related sciences and techniques came into the limelight. It was most seen during the dwapar yuga and is one of the preferred choices today but needs to be handled very carefully.
Pros: It is very fast acting and quick result giving method. It directly acts on the prana using no mediators. . Kundalini can be controlled to a greater extent through this method as prana is directly under control. There is no need of usage of mantras or physical substances. No barriers of time.
Cons: It needs to be done under proper guidance or else proves to be dangerous. Due to unavoidable air pollution, this method has been rejected by some seeing the damage it has on the saadhak.
5) Akash(Ether) Mahabhoota: This mahabhoota is characterized by emptiness and subtleness. Due to this subtle property, it is the fastest acting, yet the most difficult mahabhoota to gain control of due to its emptiness. Being a powerful element, its followers are generally powerseekers aiming to attain quick siddhis or supernatural powers. These practices are totally based on shabda or speech. Fasting is one of the practices done here.
Pros: Fastest way of progression.
Cons: Very difficult to gain control over such a subtle element. Very dangerous for true spiritual seekers if not handled properly due to lucrative siddhis.
All these practices increase the power of bhootagni which in turn purifies the mahabhootas or elements giving a base to the sadhak to start his/her inward journey.
According to Jainism:
The jains have a very similar thought process in which they emphasize on giving strength to the bhootagni which is the agni of the sukshma sharer. For this they avoid food and practices that stimulate the jatharagni which nourishes the sthula sharer (groos body). It is also found in various researches that food found under the soil contains lower frequency as that found higher. The higher the frequency, the higher the chakra it stimulates. Hence the jains say that food growing below the soil should be avoided for eg. onion, garlic etc. as they have “moola dosha”. This word moola dosha has been tampered around with quite a lot. Most jains believe that it is due to the fact that lots of micro-organisms die due to cooking and eating, whereas some believe that it is due to the fact that the whole plant needs to be uprooted hence causing more violence than a mere pluck. But going a bit deeper, I feel that such food stimulates the “mooladhara chakra” owing to its low frequency range giving rise to petty thought patterns known as “moola dosha.” which is definitely harmful for bhootagni but may prove excellent for jatharagni and bodily development.
Non- vegetarian foods are also to be avioded as they stimulate mooladhara and swadhisthan chakra and whereas they are excellent for and are advised to increase and nourish sthula shareer. Also due to the karmas of violence it carries along with it, it is to be avoided.
Fasting is one of the practices for akash mahabhoota shuddhi and stimulation of bhootagni and is followed greatly in Jainism.
Tyag(letting go) and penance are given great importance. Hence, all these factors stimulate bhootagni and give about a fair chance of spiritual progression.
Other religions like Buddhism also try to increase this bhootagni, but due to my lack of proper knowledge, I will not delve into it much.
According to Ayurveda:
Ayurveda believes in a very systematic and layered thought process when it comes to spirituality. Ayurveda's chief aim is to bring about health in the body. Using different substances like aahar and aushadha the body is purified. Hence the annamayakosha or the physical body becomes pure. Using means of ayurvedic acupressure and acupuncture(marma vijnana), different nadis are purified. Hence the pranamaya kosha or the energy body is purified. Using practices of sadvrutta the manomayakosha or the attitude body is purified. Hence stimulating the bhootagni.
Thus, this agni is used in almost all shastras and it forms the base and measuring parameter of spiritual preparedness.
This blog is only my understanding of the subject. It may or may not be true. Please give suggestions, remarks, or a critical analysis of the same and possibly some tips to improve my understanding or writing skills.
Here I conclude my blog on “What is Agni???” Thank you for your patience.
