More Than Organic Farming by Tamahine Alemdar

Homa Therapy: Ancient, scientific methods to heal our environment, purify the atmosphere, body and mind.

In recent years, the awareness of the importance of one’s personal health has increased. Healthy eating and regular yoga classes have become the normal aids for staying balanced and vibrant in an increasingly toxic world. Efforts towards environmentally friendly practices such as recycling, using natural soaps and biodegradable washing products are of great importance to our conscious selves. However, how can we undo the damage that centuries of ignorance and greed have done to our once abundant and beautiful planet? One Eco-farming community in Poland is venturing on such practices. As well as making every effort to live organically and become fully self-sustainable, they practice ancient healing rituals originating in the Vedas, to cleanse and heal our damaged eco system.

At the Bhrugu Aranya community the day starts early with a sunrise purification fire called Agnihotra. Agnihotra is the basic form of Homa Therapy, which is a science of purification of the atmosphere through the agency of fire. Agnihotra Homa is tuned to the biorhythms of sunrise/sunset giving nutrients to the plant kingdom, removing diseases and relieving tensions from the mind. Every household makes a small fire made from dried cow dung and ghee (clarified butter) in a specifically designed, inverted copper pyramid. Scientifically calculated times, available these days from the Internet, give the exact times of sunrise and sunset. At sunrise, a simple Sanskrit Mantra is intoned and small portions of brown rice mixed with ghee are added into the fire as offerings. It is then customary to meditate silently until the fire has finished burning.

Agnihotra is practiced again at sunset in the same way and the ashes from the fires are collected, as they are known to have excellent healing properties.The Agnihotra ash can be put into drinking water, added to cooking or blended into remedies, often mixed with ghee to make ointments or salves to heal wounds, bruises and other ailments. And at Bhrugu Aranya they are also used for the garden. Once you have the appropriate materials, anyone can practice Agnihotra. It is simple to perform, taking only approximately 15 minutes.

The Vedas (as in the increasingly popular Ayurveda) is ancient knowledge originating from an ancient highly evolved civilization, approximately 10,000 years ago. At first, this knowledge spread by word of mouth. Only in India did some of this original wisdom remain in the written form of Sanskrit, some of which are the Mantras chanted during the healing fires today. The practice of Agnihotra was largely forgotten, even in India, until its resuscitation by the Kalki Avatar, Parama Sadguru Shree Gajanan Maharaj in 1944.

His disciple, Shree Vasant Paranjpe, brought Agnihotra and Homa Therapy in all its aspects to the West and continues guiding teachers and Homa Therapists from around the world even today.

The Vedas were incredibly insightful regarding the future of humankind and of the planet. They predicted the technological revolution which would in turn destroy the planet’s resources. They predicted our toxic environments, and the severe illnesses of humans today such as cancer and Aids. In an effort to provide a solution, Agnihotra was given as a tool available to everyday people worldwide who could one day heal our diseased planet. We already know that fire was considered a powerful and sacred element in many ancient civilizations and was often used in purification ceremonies.

Homa Therapy is now becoming popular in India, Australia and South America. In South America, India, Africa, etc. entire banana plantations have been wiped out by Sigatoka Negra disease. Often the farmers, seeing no way out, unable to support their families, are committing suicide. In such desperate times, farmers are willing to try anything, especially an inexpensive solution affordable and available to them. Those who have practiced Homa Farming have transformed their dying plantations into healthy productive ones in months. The diseased leaves are falling of the trees and the trees are growing healthy new shoots. In India and South America, Homa farms are fending off the effects of drought and still producing lush vegetables whilst neighboring farms are losing their produce. Homa farms seem immune to the troubles of neighboring farms that do not use this method and it can be combined with all other organic farming techniques such as bio-dynamics and permaculture.

The Fivefold Path’ is a set of practices offered by the Vedas as advice for a happy life:
1. Agnihotra: Sunrise and sunset fire purification.
2. Daan: Sharing without the expectation of gratitude or recognition.
3. Tapa : Self-discipline of mind and body.
4. Karma: Performing good action.
5. Swadhyaya: Self study, inner contemplation.

The Bhrugu Aranya community is made up of seven adults, four children and three cows, plus domestic cats and dogs. The original couple, Parvati and Jarek, moved to the property (approximately four hectares) in 1995 and have been joined by others who have since grown as families. All members of the community are committed to practicing Homa Therapy.

The community has a well-established structure for maintaining commitment to spiritual practice. As well as the Agnihotra fires and the four hours of Yajnya shared daily, optional meditations take place at 10am, 12pm and 3pm also with a fire and mantra in the garden Shala. I experienced that these were also times for connecting with the garden Devas (fairies) who are invited to help in the garden and offered gratitude for their support and anything else that people feel they want to share.

Every Thursday evening the women meet together for a range of activities such as singing, chanting, healing, dancing, meditating and Mandala drawing. Thursdays are apparently a good day for women's meetings when sisterhood and the healing power of women is energetically supported by the universe.

Every Sunday they have a community meeting beginning with chanting, then discussions on the current community projects and world situations, followed by a meal together. Despite their own personal projects and busy schedules, they manage to gather for these special times that keep the community connected and the positive, healing energies flowing.

The community’s perspective is a global one. Their work is not limited to the confines of their property or region. They are acutely aware of the worlds’ troubles and disasters. There are projects to cleanse sites through Agnihotra like the Chernobyl area that is still highly radioactive.

My family and I spent three weeks at the Bhrugu Aranya community practicing Agnihotra, helping in the garden and with the building of a straw bale house. We are experienced eco farmers and builders and have seen several eco communities worldwide. Here I experienced the deep peace of a place that holds regular meditation practices. I saw a garden that shines with a brilliance that I have not seen before, a garden that flourishes even with difficult vegetables that should simply not grow in that regional climate. On top of that, I experienced a real sense of the ‘greater family’ resuscitated from a lost time, with the presence of wise elders to whom you can turn for advice, and a conscious effort towards the bonding of women who are otherwise preoccupied with their work and the burden of family responsibilities.

What I have experienced in five years of living in Turkey is that, as with other Westernized societies, modern Turkish women; the post village generations, have lost the sisterhood that they once knew in the village. I see the village women baking bread and making and washing clothes together, helping each other with their children and working the land together. The modernization of Turkey has neglected the need of women’s friendship as an external support to the family unit.

Parvati has written several books and is also a gifted healer. Jarek is an ecological consultant and spends a huge amount of time teaching Homa Therapy worldwide.

Books:

• Homa Therapy: Our Last Chance by Vasant V. Paranjpe
• Light Toward Divine Path by Vasant V. Paranjpe
• Messenger of the Sacred Fire by Parvati Rosen-Bizberg
• Orion Transmissions Prophecy by Parvati Rosen-Bizberg
• Yoga and Meditation for Children by Parvati Rosen-Bizberg (then Sawyer)
• Homa Farming for the New Age by Jarek Bizberg
• Homa Therapy, Ancient Science of Healing by Monika Koch