USCP (1998): Virajā Homa

Guruji’s body in repose at Devipuram, October 12, 2015, the day before his cremation.

Now we are at a place in the ritual where we want to create an astral body that is going to continue after our existence, which is going to continue doing good. That is done through the Virajā Homa. Whether we are males or females, whether we are young or old, whether we are fat or thin, whether we are depressed or elated, no matter what our initial state is, we reset ourselves to the state of “I am 15 going on 16”. For that this whole process can be done in your own language, whatever that is. Sit comfortably, and imagine the following to the best of your ability.

You imagine that your body is subject to decay and it is going to be burnt up some day. It has to become old, it has to merge with the elements; it has happened now. Imagine the wind is coming and drying up your dead body. It’s just like bare bones. It is placed on the funeral pyre and lit up. These are all visualizations. The more powerfully, the more clearly you can visualize seeing the flames in your mind’s eye, hearing the crackling of the fire, and the sparks fly, the better your experience will be. Water vapors rise from the body, and parts of the body are sticking out and someone takes a stick and pushes them back into the fire. All these things are associated with a śmaśāna (a cremation ground). I don’t know if you have been to a real funeral pyre and watched a body burning. It is worth watching because that is exactly what is going to happen to you. It’s all a drama and brings reality of impermanence of life so powerfully to your mind. You realize that all these things we do in life are just games that we are playing. You see the whole body going up in smoke. You visualize this scene.

After the body is gone, all those things associated with the body are gone too. There is no lust, nothing to be possessive of. Śiva is supposed to have burned the whole cosmos and put the ashes of the cosmos on his head. Those are the three lines you see people wearing associated with Lord Śiva. He has burnt all the gross forms, all the subtle forms, all the causal forms, and all the ashes are being worn on his head. He is in yoga. Nothing disturbs him. He continues as pure awareness. The liṅga is his characteristic.

After your body is reduced to ashes, stay in that state for a reasonably good time enjoying a calm mind undisturbed by thoughts like you never enjoyed before.

Next you imagine that dark clouds are gathering, that there are thunder showers, and lightning, and a rain of nectar falls on the ashes. The ashes take a new shape. The new shape is a ball of light, brilliant like a thousand suns and cool like a thousand moons and emitting billions of coloured rays of all the colors of the rainbow in different directions. This ball of light condenses into the form of Śiva and Śakti in embrace, dancing with joy. Out of their dance, out of their union, out of their happiness comes this world.

“For the sake of pleasure this universe was born. For the sake of pleasure you grow. When you become old and your body is taken over by disease, for the sake of release from pain, you die. The only medicine, the only doctor is Hari, the Lord. Hari also known as Vāsudeva who resides in the heart center, he carries you like a child through the cave of death and at the end of this there is a light. At the end of your life if you say the name of Vāsudeva, he will manifest and carry you into the light.”

Imagine that you have created the ball of light and you are like Śiva and Śakti. Śiva is fifteen, Śakti is sixteen. They have merged into a brilliant ball of light again. Then, imagine that this ball of light has entered into your heart center and that you are emitting this light outside also. Whatever comes into contact with this light is getting purified and healed. There are different colors of light corresponding with different frequencies and they have different powers associated with them.

You do prāṇāyāma three times. Along with exhalation and recitation of Pañcadaśī, this ball of light is going out and forming a ball outside, and when you inhale with Pañcadaśī, this light is dissolving and coming inside and forming a ball inside. An inside and outside exchange is taking place with the breath. You are existing inside your body and outside your body. And the breath is the connecting link between the two.

The way to do prāṇāyāma is as follows. Recite Pañcadaśī once while inhaling, twice holding the breath inside, once while exhaling, once holding the breath outside. This constitutes one cycle of prāṇāyāma. Also, the ball of light goes where the breath goes. During inhalation, it is going in; with exhalation it is going out. Like this, you start with three rounds and gradually increase to fifteen rounds.