It was a surprisingly pleasant day amidst days which were relatively warm. We were six of us, all clad in yellow and just like always we were on our way to perform a havan at a given venue. This time we were headed for Delhi Cantt., it was the home of a Colonel, a practitioner of Sanatan Kriya.
As soon as we reached, we quickly made preparations to begin the havan. An important prerequisite for a havan is Guru, it is through him/her that the energy is channelised. Likewise, we placed the image of Yogiji on a table in the east corner of the terrace surrounded by some rose petals.
We paid reverence to our Guru and Lord Ganesh and started with the chants and ahutis. In a havan, chanting is of extreme importance, as it is only through a correct uchharan, that the desired effect can be attained. “Every mantra is a dhwani (sound) and dhwani is what you are, what your body is. When you chant or listen to a dhwani, it brings a Jagriti (awakening) inside you. Then every cell of the body experiences this in the form of prana.”- Yogi Ashwini. The purpose of a havan is always to manifest the Guru’s thought and invoke peace in this Creation.
As the havan progressed, our chants resonated all around…the effect of the mantra uchharan was instantaneous…strong vibrations of the Guru’s energy could be felt very strongly now, as it spread all around. There are certain indications that tell you that the havan was successful – there is no smoke and atmosphere becomes fragrant, and there are divine manifestations in the agni. If you keep a havan at your house, you can try clicking pictures of the havan agni at the time of poornahuti…which is what we did too.
Later on while going through the pictures clicked during the havan, to our surprise, in one of the pictures we noticed that a diya with saffron flame had appeared right next to Yogiji’s image, where we had placed nothing but rose petals!
Upon showing the pictures to Yogiji, we got to know the cause of such an astonishing and unperceivable happening…
While we were carrying out the havan in Delhi, Yogiji was in Germany, performing a havan simultaneously. At the beginning of a havan, a diya is always lit. Yogiji told us that he did not keep the diya, thinking, ‘Why? What’s the need?’ Guru is not just a physical form but an energy…that can be accessed anywhere and everywhere by the shishya. Where and how far apart the two simultaneous havans were taking place is of no consequence, as they were actually a part of one whole, since the Guru’s energy is omnipresent. The flame appeared next to Yogiji’s image only to complete the process of a successful havan.
“A shishya is a reflection of the Guru. If the shishya is connected with the Guru, and walks the path shown by the Guru in totality, in accordance with ‘mantra moolam Guru vakyam’, then whatever his/her activity is, is the state of the Guru. ” – Yogi Ashwini
Author: Anjula Gujral
