Ecovillage Bhrugu Aranya News March/April Satsang 2017 | Volume 44 #7 | New Era 74

Ecovillage Bhrugu Aranya News

Homa International Ecovillage Community in Europe
‘A place where Spirituality meets Ecology’

Volunteer at Bhrugu Aranya

Spring is here at Ecovillage Bhrugu Aranya and we are looking for volunteers for spring & summer seasons.

We are a Homa Organic farm and a one-of-a-kind international Ecovillage, located in the beautiful mountain region of southern Poland.

We are an all-vegetarian, eclectic group of artists, teachers, musicians, writers, therapists, gardeners and herbalists.

The atmosphere at our Ecovillage is infused with healing vibrations. Here we do Agnihotra at sunrise and sunset, 5 hours Tryambakam Yajnya daily, 24-Hour Yajnya on Full Moon and New Moon.

We are especially looking for Agnihotra practitioners who wish to volunteer on an active Homa farm, learn more about Homa Organic gardening, Beekeeping, Homa Herbs and Agnihotra Ash remedy preparation.

We also welcome people with skills in:  Organic gardening, carpentry, food storage, apple orchards, social networking, website skills, film editing, crowdfunding, promoting.

We accept volunteers for a minimum of 2 weeks, but we prefer longer stays. We also welcome visitors for various lengths of time. Participate in our workshops, gatherings and celebrations in a healing, nurturing environment.

Check out what our volunteers have had to say about their experiences here

This is a unique opportunity for you to get involved and experience Homa lifestyle!

Feel free to contact us at info@homatherapypoland.org OR info@agnihotra.pl OR via our Facebook Page: Ecovillage Bhrugu Aranya

Update on Centre of Light

In May, we begin our next campaign to continue building the Centre of Light.
Because of the generous donations from our supporters, we have been able to complete the basement and first floor structure.
Our new campaign is starting now.

We so appreciate everybody’s ongoing support. Please help us by sharing, liking and donating to our campaign.
More to come on our campaign in the next issue of Satsang.

Find out more about it and how you can help:
http://www.homatherapypoland.org
http://www.agnihotra.pl
https://www.facebook.com/EcovillageBhruguAranya/

Homa Beekeeping

 Rory Maher,
Ecovillage Bhrugu Aranya, Poland

Spring has arrived at Ecovillage Bhrugu Aranya in Poland and it’s a joy to see our bees flying busily back and forth, returning to their hives laden with yellow pollen to feed their new emerging brood. Activity is high now as they rapidly build up strength after a long Polish winter where temperatures dropped to as low as -30 Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit).

The barely audible hum that the tight cluster of bees emits during those winter months gives way to a roaring song of communal joy as they energetically get to work on housekeeping, collecting pollen, nectar and rearing young. As the days warm up, there are few things more comforting to a beekeeper than that healthy buzz emanating from a hive.

Sadly, according to bee club members who meet in a nearby town, many hives are silent this March. Starting last autumn and through the winter, conventional beekeepers in this area of Malopolska have lost many colonies. One experienced beekeeper tragically lost all his bees. It appears that Poland is reflecting the same declining state of bees found in much of Europe and America today.

Twenty years ago the average winter losses that a beekeeper could naturally expect was 10%. Over the past few years, it has risen to between 20-30%. Now beekeepers are also experiencing higher levels of colony and queen bee losses during the summer months. When winter and summer loss reports are combined, the figure is closer to 30-50% average, depending on the country.

As bees are responsible for the pollination of a third of the world’s vegetable, fruit, nut and herb crops, this information is sounding alarm bells from the point of view of the environment, food security and economy. Due to wide media reporting, most people today are aware of the decline of the honeybee and other species of wild bees that pollinate the countryside.  ‘Colony Collapse disorder’ is a general term used to describe the sudden death of a family of bees, the cause of which has been broadly attributed to the use of agrochemicals in conventional farming, monocultures providing low nutrition, environmental stress, Varroa mite infestation and other increasingly transmittable viruses and diseases.

Beekeepers are able to replace dead hives, so there is no immediate threat to food security as such, but bees should not be dying in such numbers. The demise of the sensitive honey bee may be a precursor to the total collapse of the environment in the future. It is obvious that an urgent solution is required.

I am grateful to say that out of our 17 hives we lost only one family over the winter, and that was down to beekeeping error. But what our general experiences tell us is that here at our organic farm we are having amazing success with Homa Beekeeping. This success is being confirmed by other Homa beekeepers around the world.

In Homa beekeeping there is a major emphasis on healing the environment by using the ancient Vedic science of bio-resonance known as Homa Therapy. Nature is increasingly out of balance due to the high levels of pollution in the atmosphere, soil and water. This imbalance is being reflected not only in bee and insect numbers worldwide, but also in the declining populations of birds, frogs, butterflies etc. Homa Therapy is able to rejuvenate and restore the balance in nature by neutralizing the effects of pollution and creating a nutrient rich, highly energized environment.

The main process of Homa Therapy is the practice of Agnihotra, which is a method of purifying the atmosphere through a specially prepared fire performed daily at sunrise and sunset. According to the millennial knowledge of the Vedas, at sunrise there are many electricities and energies that flood the Earth at the point where the sun is said to rise. These life-sustaining forces can be used to neutralize pollution and radiation in the atmosphere, and consequently the soil and water.

With daily practice of this Vedic fire, a healing cycle is established. The central idea of Agnihotra is:
“You heal the atmosphere and the healed atmosphere heals you.”

The effects of Agnihotra can be further enhanced by other fires known as Yajnyas or Homas, and these make up the complete process of Homa Therapy. It has a tremendous beneficial effect on the environment, humans, animals and plants. With daily practice of Homa Therapy, diseases and plagues decrease, and gardens become lush with renewed vigour and vitality. A unique microclimate is created and wildlife, birds and beneficial insects are drawn to this rarefied atmosphere.

In Homa Beekeeping, therefore, we create the perfect landscape for bees to thrive.

We have observed that Homa bees have strong immune systems. This is due to various reasons. Firstly, the effects of Agnihotra radiate outwards up to around 1 kilometer, so bees are able to forage from high-quality flowers and trees free of harmful substances. Bees collect pollen and nectar from flowers and these can become toxic due to the use of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides in conventional farming. This, combined with atmospheric pollution, weakens the bees’ immune systems, leaving them susceptible to diseases. Tests on wax comb are showing higher levels of agrochemical buildup in the wax caused by foraging bees bringing in contaminated pollen and nectar. This creates an unhealthy environment within the hive and disrupts the beneficial microbe balance that bees need for optimum health.

Secondly, tests have shown that Agnihotra reduces the levels of pathogenic bacteria in the vicinity. In addition, the healing vibration of the Agnihotra fire is locked in the resultant ash and in Homa Beekeeping, this ash can be sprinkled around the beehives and entrances. Agnihotra ash can also be added to sources of water where bees drink. The ash and the vibrations created by Agnihotra fire have an energizing effect on the bees, making them strong and resistant to any disease that might occur.

The growing toxic environment within the hive is also one explanation why queen bees are dying more frequently. The other reason is probably due to unfavourable queen rearing techniques that are used commercially to breed maximum number of queens for sale. In our Homa apiary I have had experience with both bought queens and with our own naturally produced queens. Without a doubt, our own queens have been stronger and more successful.

Varroa mite is a huge problem in Poland, as it appears to be in most of Europe and the Americas today. This mite attaches itself to bees and brood, sucking their lymph and often spreading diseases and viruses. Varroa mite infestation is probably the primary cause of colony collapse. Although we still have problems with Varroa, I have observed with regular monitoring that there has been a noticeable decline in levels of infestation. Apart from the Varroa mite, we have never noticed any of the common bee diseases in our hives, such as nosema, dysentery, chalk brood or foulbrood.

Last summer we had wonderful weather that should have been ideal for bees. However, all the conventional beekeepers in our area were complaining about how the flowers weren’t producing nectar, resulting in very low honey harvests. We do not know the reasons for this, as there was no drought, but it seems to further demonstrate nature’s imbalance. They were surprised to hear that we had a very good honey harvest, even after leaving a fair amount for the bees to consume over winter. Thankfully, the flowers here must have been producing plentiful nectar in our Homa atmosphere.

Homa Therapy and additional Vedic techniques are also being applied by gardeners and farmers around the world with great success. However, good organic practices such as weed control, compost making, etc. are still needed to have a successful garden. In a similar way, for healthy bees, good organic bee-centric practices also go hand in hand with creating a Homa atmosphere. I have found beekeeping to be a constant learning curve with wonderful Aha! moments and tough lessons as I strive to put into practice more natural and bee-friendly methods. The bees themselves are the best teachers and Homa beekeeping should support as much as possible the natural tendencies of the hive.

There is a saying that if you ask two beekeepers the same question you’ll get three answers! This is because there are so many possible variations, philosophies and goals in beekeeping. Also some beekeepers are conservationists, preferring to leave the bees to do their own thing 100% percent, while others are maybe hobbyists, or some supplement their yearly income selling honey, and a few have full-scale commercial bee businesses. Each has slightly different needs and objectives.

Rory Maher

At whatever level one keeps bees, I believe Homa Beekeeping practices can easily be incorporated to offer a solution to the problems affecting the honeybee. In return we get high quality, medicinal, organic honey, beeswax and propolis, plus our orchards and gardens are heavily pollinated.

The symbiotic relationship between bees and flowers is one of the miracles of creation, but I would not be surprised if bees were not more vital to the balance of nature in ways that we yet do not understand. Whether you keep bees or not, anyone from any walk of life can perform Agnihotra to help heal the environment and themselves.

Ecovillage Bhrugu Aranya is an international Homa farm community in the mountain region of southern Poland. Read about us and feel free to write us and visit!

Fundacja Terapia Homa www.homatherapypoland.org (English/Polish)

                                              www.agnihotra.pl (Polish/English)

Facebook: Ecovillage Bhrugu Aranya, Agnihotra Polska, Centre of Light

Somayag–Part II

Making fire using friction at Somayag 2007.

(For Part I, please see the January/February 2017 issue of Satsang.)
For the past ten years a small group of dedicated people from various countries held the vision of Shree Vasant Paranjpe of completing a series of seven Maha Somayags on the banks of the River Narmada in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh, India, for the healing of our
planet. The Somayag releases powerful healing energies into the Earth’s atmosphere and beyond, the effects of which last for up to 100 years. All these Yajnyas are totally non-violent (Ahimsak.)

Vedas are the source of all knowledge. Vedas gift us the science of Yajnya (Bio-energy) which has the power to heal much of the horrific effects of man’s inhumanity towards his fellow man and towards Nature, which is now reeling from poisons, pollution, violence and violation of every kind.

From Somayag 2007

The seven Somayags have been completed successfully. The Aptoryam, which was held February 7th-12, 2017, was the seventh and final Somayag in this series of seven.

A Review of the First Six Somayags

2007–A Beginning
In 1999 a plot of land was acquired by Fivefold Path Mission on the north bank of
the Narmada River about four kilometres east of Maheshwar. This is the site of the Homa Therapy Goshala (goshala means cow sanctuary).

Site of the Homa Therapy Goshala.

From the sand dunes, a mighty work of constructing a large Yajnya Shala, 100 feet by 75
feet, was undertaken.

Beginning construction on the Somayag shala.

 

The Somayag shala in 2007, with a temporary roof and shade cloth.

Accommodation facilities and amenities for visitors, both local  and international, were completed in just three months. Gardens were also planted.

Construction of guest facilities

The 2007 Somayag, the Shodashi (for health), was performed by a group of specially chosen priests. The Yajaman was Haribhau Apte from Goa, the son of Sakhahari Apte who was originally chosen by Parama Sadguru Shree Gajanan Maharaj for the great Somayag of 1969 in Shivapuri, Akkalkot.



The 2009 Somayag, the Agnishtoma (for the atmosphere) saw improvements to the overall
infrastructure including roofing the enormous area of the Yajnya Shala itself. As in 2007 this Agnishtoma Yajnya attracted visitors from many countries. The Yajnya itself provides a stream of healing energy which positively affects the whole environment of the earth and beyond. This healing energy lasts for many years.

Yajaman Haribau Apte of Goa


In 2010 Atyagnishtoma (for water) Somayag was performed and again visitors flocked to this holy place on the banks of the Narmada to take part in this huge event. Each year, improvements were made to the infrastructure and gardens to provide a beautiful
and comfortable atmosphere for guests from both India and overseas. This year work continued apace on the new kitchen complex plus steps were constructed leading down to the river.

Kitchen complex
Steps leading down to the Narmada River.

To be continued.

More on Somayag from The Orion Transmissions 

as received by Parvati Rosen-Bizberg
Wysoka, Poland

December 7, 2007
Many Eternals will be present at the Somayag in India. There is a great influx of healing energies being harnessed for the planet’s survival. We foresee great disasters and natural catastrophes as many have predicted. However, the SOUND CURRENT  will be sent from Maheshwar for the whole planet, to enliven the atmosphere and create a vortex of Light to heal the Earth. No one knows what to expect. We know that in the coming times, many will be drawn to the Light. This is beginning now.

Prepare your homes to receive the Light. In all homes where these fires are performed, there will be Light sent. At many sacred sites, it is the element of fire which is required now to activate the energies lying dormant within the Earth. This is being done now, many times via distance.

The outcome of such healing events as this Somayag will be felt across the globe. When the Mantras are uttered, sudden shifts in atmosphere occur on every level. Plants, water, air, human beings, animals are all energized by the power of the Mantras and the elemental fire being performed in complete purity. When a great Master is also present, the energies are super-charged just by His presence at the event.

Anyone who is present at such a life-altering event will receive blessings of the highest level. We see that many will come forward from this event alone.

For further information:
www.oriontransmissions.com

Communicating with Self

Dr. Henry Gregory, Jr.

“Treat your mind as if it were your child, lovingly but firmly guiding it in the proper direction. That training has to be done with patience, humor and resolute strength! Mind is capable of running off if it is not attended to properly!  Like an errant child, it can suddenly get lost in whatever chaos surrounds it. “ Shree Vasant

I met a man the other day in a workshop who declared that he knew everything about himself.  As the workshop, which was on communication, proceeded, he went on, through his actions, to communicate his anxieties.  His intensities, sensitivities, and priorities made it more and more difficult for others to receive his messages as he was much more invested in being heard than in listening to the messages his fellow participants were trying to give to him.  Even after the workshop he followed some members to the car, still trying vainly to make his point.

The point is that without a connection that comes from listening and attending to the other, true communication is not possible.  The fellow thought that he was communicating, but in actuality he wasn’t.  Communication requires a connection.  It is the same with people as it is with technology.  The connection is the first piece and it must be maintained in order for clear and effective communication to occur.

So, what is it that breaks connection?  How is it compromised?  What are the barriers to true communication?

Let’s put it this way – One cannot communicate any better to other people than one can with oneself.  Communication with the self is a byproduct of inner connection between one’s body, mind and spirit.

If we look at the body as the vehicle, the mind as the tool, and the spirit as the essence, it becomes clearer that a harmonious connection between the three optimizes our functioning.  For example, many of us have experienced the distraction that physical pain or dysfunction can bring into one’s life.  It becomes difficult to focus and attend when you are hurting physically.  That’s why it becomes so important to maintain physical tapas i.e. regular movement, healthy diet, proper rest, to keep the body fit for connection with mind and spirit. Internally, healthy bodily functioning might be considered to be effective communication between the organs, fluids, and structure of the body.

The mind has two major components, the cognitive and the affective.  The task is to have a balanced connection between one’s thoughts and feelings.   It is not uncommon for people to suffer because they live in their heads, following their thoughts without the active check and balance that connection to the heart brings.  Conversely, one can also be overwhelmed by the emotions if there is insufficient cognitive influence to balance a flood of emotions.  It is only by continually listening and attending to these systems that we are able to monitor the mind’s functioning and modify it according to the needs.

At the spirit or soul level, life is always communicating with each of us.  Living is an interactive process. Life continually gives us feedback to affirm our direction and decisions or to express caution and encourage examination when needed.  “Sometimes clearly, sometimes not so clearly,” life sends us messages.   Our ability to receive these messages depends on the shape we’re in, our focus and our ability to indulge in the subtleties of listening.

“Mind is quite capable of efficiency in action, but it also requires that its counterparts, body and spirit, be in balance with it, so that all act as one force to achieve the goal. Body has to be tended like a flower, fed, nourished, given water and rest. Spirit has to be fed as well, via meditation and self-study.” Shree Vasant

Listening is both art and science.  It requires vulnerability, openness and courage.  Vulnerability is the willingness to be touched or influenced.  When we have “made up our minds,” we are not as available to influence.  It is really a protective or defensive mode.   Genuine openness requires surrender, i.e, “Thy will be done.” Courage is required because everything has a price, a cost.  Being open to life’s influence may require us to change priorities and/or behavior in order to be consistent with life’s messages.  Courage is necessary because when we hear, “Ask and it shall be given,” there is a part of us that will ask, “Yes, but what will I have to give up?”  It takes courage to live freely, unattached to outcomes.

Life is communicating with us all the time.

It is in the interactions, it is in the wind, it is in the synchronicities.

Life is continually unfolding and it wants us with It.

What does it cost? Nothing but our security in what we think we know.

I’ve heard it said that, “Prayer is talking to God and meditation is listening to God.”  Meditation is a listening process.  When we train our minds in stillness, it becomes possible to listen more consistently within. It becomes more possible to tune in and connect to Life’s continual messages.  Agnihotra is an aid, a tool.  As such, it helps clear away pollution, static and distraction that interferes with our ability to listen, and genuine connection is more possible.   Agnihotra will intensify the connection with whatever the mind is focused on during the process.

It becomes our choice whether or not we actually listen or just sit and space around.  I am not suggesting that we fight with our restless minds, only that we gently work to discipline our minds so that meditation becomes a reality.  Remember, meditation is not something you do; it is a state or byproduct that results from our efforts at concentration, contemplation and focus.  Shree Vasant used to say, “Make the effort and let the Divine do the rest.”

Exercise: Pain is the body communicating problems, dysfunction and its effort to correct some situation.   Our normal response is to resist pain, and often we unconsciously communicate our disdain to the area that is hurting.  We even try to get disconnected from that area.   For a moment or two, focus on the area that is hurting and send messages of gratitude to that area for its effort to communicate and correct the condition.  Send waves of thanks to the painful area and see if you don’t notice a difference, even if only temporarily.

Healing with Homa Therapy

Eng. David Borjas Alcántara practicing Agnihotra in the restaurant ‘Sabor y Vida’ in Miraflores, Lima

Eng. David Borjas Alcántara
Lima, Peru, South America

I am 51 years old. I am a chemist. I have been practicing Agnihotra for more than 6 years and it has made a remarkable change in my life, starting with my health. I would like to highlight:

1. I suffered from an irritable colon for almost 20 years, but with the intake of Agnihotra ash, Agnihotra ash water and changes in my diet, I no longer have this problem.

2. A friend told me that she was very worried because her father needed to have his leg amputated, due to infected wounds and that he suffered from advanced diabetes. The doctors had tried all the antibiotics they knew at the moment.

Since I had Agnihotra ash, I gave it to her in a glass jar, telling her that her father should take the ash orally and also put it in water, let it rest overnight and then he should drink all day long from that water only. Two weeks later, after she had visited her father in Lima (we were at that time in Cajamarca), I asked her about him and she said, “First of all, the infection has stopped,  and secondly, the wounds are closed.”

The doctor had asked him what he was taking and told him to continue taking it. At the end, there was no need for the amputation. Besides, this man improved his depressed mood, got a job and turned his life around. After a while, he did not need the Agnihotra ash any longer; he was doing very well, also at work.

This for me was the key experience. How is it possible that a person, who had no idea how the Agnihotra ash is obtained, and then takes it and it provides his body with the possibility to heal, could recover and stabilize his advanced diabetes?

3. Another unusual coincidence that I observed in my family circle was with a doctor who is my cousin and is always interested in alternative medicines. I provided him with the knowledge about Agnihotra indirectly by giving Agnihotra ash to his father, who had problems with his knee and he got healed. His father then told him about Agnihotra. This happened a few years ago and it turns out that my cousin is now a Homa Therapy practitioner, benefiting a lot of people. His name is Jesús Borjas and he is the Chief Doctor of Complementary Medicine in EsSalud in Puente Piedra.

I am very grateful that I have been able to learn Homa Therapy. I have received many benefits and there is still so much to discover with Agnihotra. It has many factors that we still do not understand. I say that as a scientific chemist. There is really a path in front of us to learn and re-learn.

From Shree Vasant’s Teachings

On Knowledge
Limited knowledge is as good as no knowledge at all. Knowledge that is given through regular practice of Agnihotra is beyond reason, thought or even man’s massive intellect. It is beyond science itself.

On Hatha Yoga
Hatha Yoga can be incorporated into physical therapy; same with psychotherapy. This could be extremely effective in HOMA atmosphere.

On Swadhyaya
All we have been telling is nothing new, nothing novel. It is ancient knowledge. It is all Fivefold Path.

When we ask that you look over your day, how your actions affect others, check your attachments, expectations, it is Swadhyaya, self-study.

To make an effort to correct behavior is good Karma. To discipline the mind, what is required is Tapa. When you observe yourself and look over the day, do not criticize yourself. Do not berate yourself. Simply look at it honestly. If you have erred, then best to act in a forgiving way with yourself. Learn from your mistakes. If it is through speech you have erred, practice Tapa. For example, “Think before you speak.” If it is thought, try to examine your thoughts. ONE CANNOT PROGRESS WITHOUT LOOKING WITHIN.

When a married couple does this practice of Swadhyaya each night, you can sometimes share your realization with the other person, if this helps. It may not be necessary, but at other times it may be helpful. This promotes honest communication between the partners. If children learn to practice Swadhyaya in this way, they will have their own check and balance system.

It is a time of change. It is a time when powerful forces intermingle. Everything is intensified now.

On Reducing Attachment
Concentrate on ingoing breath/outgoing breath. Take a few deep breaths. Push the mind towards CHIDAKASH, i.e., away from the sense organs Then attachment to material things is reduced.

Man is all the time driven by desires. Any amount of sense gratification is not able to quench the desires and the thirst for desires. Mind which is in the grip of desires, hankering after gratification through sense organs, has to be turned inwards with constant effort and then pushed to CHIDAKASH. Breath and Prana is the modus operandi. When mind gets concentrated on breath it becomes easier to ease the attachment to material things. With more practice of this meditation the consciousness about body, mind and intellect withers away.

While moving in the world of matter we come across various situations. This leads to conflict. However, with some training, we can train ourselves to remain unruffled. Accept whatever situation confronts you. Never complain or be sad. This is how you recognize that the attachment to the body is withering away. This is the beginning of the ladder which leads to soul vision.

If one sees God in every person, nothing more is necessary in terms of effort. It is ALL GRACE. Grace lifts you up.

Fivefold Path for Happy Living

1. Yajnya
HOMA Therapy is the science of purification of the atmosphere through the agency of FIRE. AGNIHOTRA HOMA (YAJNYA) is the basic HOMA. It is tuned to the biorhythm of sunrise/sunset and gives nutrients to the plant kingdom, removes diseases in a certain area and removes tension on the mind. This is the basic process in the science of medicine, agriculture, climate engineering and interplanetary communication.
2. Daan
Sharing of your assets in a spirit of humility. This corrects imbalance in financial matters and creates non-attachment to worldly possessions.
3. Tapa
Self-discipline of body and mind. This is conducive to a change in attitudes of mind and body. It results in a harmonious state of mind.
4. Karma
“You reap as you sow.” Always practicing good Karma (actions) diminishes the burden of negative Karma and one begins to invest in his own future. This means that what you do today will bring its fruits. Sowing seeds of love and kindness will bless my garden with plenty of love. Do Karma for self purification.
5. Swadhyaya
Practice Swadhyaya (Self-study) for liberation. Who am I? Why am I here? My work on this planet is to learn to react with total LOVE with each opportunity given to me.
This is the Fivefold Path for happy living on the planet. By practicing the Fivefold Path you become better members of your society, group, religion, community, etc.

Publisher: Fivefold Path Inc.
Parama Dham (House of Almighty Father), 278 N. White Oak Dr., Madison, VA 22727 USA
Editor: Lisa Powers
Published seven times yearly.
Please direct all Satsang correspondence to the Editor.
Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of Satsang.
ISSN 0735-1321