Jyotish-Yagya

I am a pretty serious guy. Not dour, but not very frivolous either.

This morning near the end of the daily Rudri Puja, the Pandits began clapping and singing some mantras more than just chanting them. I was clapping too and began to chant/sing along with them, rocking to the music.

That really set them off and they sang more loudly with greater enthusiasm. One behind me began to say, “You dance! You dance!”. So I got up and danced, wildly, joyously, laughing and singing. That chant ended and the head Pandit said, ‘wait a minute’ and trotted back into the group of 50 or so Pandits at the back of the room. He brought back a Buddha shaped gentleman about 4 and a half feet tall, smiling from ear to ear.

I smiled too and the next chant/mantra/song burst into being. One Pandit was drumming a very competent rhythm on his tambourine, another ringing a bell in perfect time, another using two small stainless dishes as finger cymbals. All the Pandits in the hall were clapping and singing at the tops of their voices.

I was laughing and trying to follow the steps of my Buddha friend, who btw, is a superb dancer who seemed to float on his feet. He was lifted by his incredibly graceful hands and arms.

I’ve been fascinated by this whole trip. I’ve been trying to pay attention to everything! Focused on trying to fit in and not be too much trouble and learn as much as I can about Vedic culture. Focused on following the pujas as best I could. Focused on precisely pronouncing some words in the puja that I’d never heard before and am just now beginning to understand. Focused on sharing the height of American Culture (no, not the WWF!) with the height of Indian Culture. I have tried hard all week.

This morning, one of the Pandits said, ” OK, Chuck, OK.” No one had said anything like that to me all week. I realized I must have been frowning, trying too hard to follow a slightly new sequence of ‘bless the flowers with water’, ‘place the flowers’, ‘listen to the chant’, ‘arrange the flowers’, ‘organize the flowers’, etc. At that point the songs and the clapping started and I felt a miracle flow through me. Total release from having to ‘do it right’.

This is really the change that yagyas can bring to us. Something joyous, invincible, and happy bubbles up from within. When we’re 7 or 9000 miles away, we’re not in a yagya hall with a bunch of joyous men, but they are thinking of us and sending us those vibrations. I’ve felt these waves of positive emotion during all my previous yagyas. No one had said, “Get up and dance”, though! The longer I’m here, the more I feel I understand the benefits of yagyas.

I’d felt moments of bubbling bliss in earlier pujas this week and in my meditations. The meditations have become much more profound while I’ve been here, and unusually casual too! But this morning’s joyous dance lifted my spirits in a way I’ve never experienced before.

Here is a picture taken during Krishna’s birthday party when the Vedic Life Foundation was very small, probably from 2001:

This is the kind of energy that goes into every puja and yagya at the VLF. The energy is very focused and just gets lifted higher and higher as the relationship with the Devata improves.

The Pandits told me to bring my video camera tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it!