News from Om Shree Dham, Australia June 2024 Satsang | Volume 52 #2 | New Era 81
News from Om Shree Dham, Australia
Lee and Frits Ringma
New South Wales, Australia
Workshops in Melbourne Vic in May
Frits and I travelled to Victoria to conduct 2 workshops on Agnihotra early May, one with a group of Vedic meditation students and the other with an eclectic group of people who came together through Liesl, a Sound Therapist amongst many healing hats. We shared Agnihotra and its many great healing effects with 30 people all together. 20 people took up Agnihotra. Above is a photo at the workshop organized by Kathleen O’Brien in Cheltenham.
Some comments about the workshops:
“It was the healing energy we needed, and we had so much great feedback as participants were leaving.”
“I am loving the internal warmth that I felt; it lasted for 2 days. I am a complete cold frog most of the time; however, I spent the rest of the evening and the next day after the workshop with this tremendous heat inside. It was beautiful.”
Continuing work on our Agnihotra Retreat Centre
Upstairs cladding where the accommodation will be, is finished. Now it is the downstairs cladding, where the activities will be – a big central room for workshops, yoga sessions, performing arts etc. , a healing therapy room, commercial kitchen and dining area.
For more information, please visit https://www.agnihotra.com.au/
Samatva Project
Sarvajit Paranjpe
Maheshwar, India
In Maheshwar, India, a bold, new project is being developed, known as “Samatva”. It was conceived as a novel approach to bring the Words and Message of SHREE and Fivefold Path to a broader, more public audience.
Since Shree Vasant established Homa Therapy Goshala, under the direction of Fivefold Path Mission, increasing numbers of people have visited and participated in very auspicious and powerful events at Homa Therapy Goshala. Most notable have been the magnificent, ancient Vedic Yajnya renderings. [This includes a series of 7 Somayags, which were conducted at the Goshala, from 2007-2017.-Ed.]
A more consistent feature has been the regular flow of pilgrims and seekers who continue to visit, seeking to immerse themselves in the relaxing, yet charged atmosphere, and partaking in devotional activities.
Ancient Maheshwar continues to attract increasing throngs of pilgrims and tourists attracted by auspicious, spiritual and historic settlements, including: the ancient Fort and town center, several ashrams, and a sprinkling of small towns and villages distributed along the banks of the holy Narmada River.
It can be said that one constant is “change”! So, too, for Maheshwar.
The narrow road approaching the center is not able to sustain the visitors coming to satisfy curiosity or share the blissful message.
There has always loomed the question: how to advance the Mission? to carry the Message to another level? To reach more people? The answer became clear.
A tract of former farmland, situated on a hill overlooking the busy thoroughfare, (yet situated a short distance from the Goshala) was committed for purchase. The land was purchased on 17th May, 2023, so a new center can be established. The new center will be called Samatva
Samatva means Equanimity. Sama means Equal. It means Even-mindedness. It is to see the Oneness in Diversity/Multiplicity. Samatva is to see the Ultimate Truth of One undivided Consciousness appearing as the Diverse World. It is the essence of all the different paths of Yoga, all the ways to achieve Self-realization.
Only through even-mindedness towards all things in our life can we be calm. Through the calm state of mind, we can be more reflective and meditative.
Our mind constantly undergoes excitement (ups), misery (down), and agitation (fluctuations), depending on life’s situations we face, to our liking or disliking. An attitude of SAMATVA helps us transform this slavery into mastery, by cultivating the ‘Even Minded Yoga Attitude’.
Homa Therapy Goshala, the final revered residence of our very dear Shree Vasant Paranjpe, powerful venue of the mighty Vedic Yajnyas experienced by many of us, will continue to attract and accommodate pilgrims, students, and spiritual seekers.
Samatva will provide respite, education/spiritual engagement, and inspiration for a larger, more transient population that will include tourists, business and commercial travelers, and curiosity seekers, plus an annual population of spiritual seekers who circumambulate the holy River Narmada.
Architects from WhiteSpace of Pune and professors and students from Dr. Bhanuben Nanavati College of Architecture for Women, Pune (of ‘Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan Sansthan [Great Saint Karve’s Women Education Organisation]) visited the site in September 2023. They will design our new center. The college will be taking this project as Community Service.
For more information, please contact sarvajitp@gmail.com.
Remembering Travels with Shree Vasant
Maria Broom
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Ohmigoodness! As I look back over my almost seventy-five years, I realize that more than forty-five of those years have been filled with Homa Fire, not only here in my home and in all the classes I’ve taught, but also in my many travels and adventures around the world.
Whether carrying just my own personal Agnihotra kit, or fifty copper pyramids, my Homa Fire travels have taken me to India five times, to Poland four times, to New Mexico, and the island of St Thomas. Remarkably, I have been on the continent of Africa eight times including six weeks in Zimbabwe, three different months in Uganda, three long visits to Ghana, and one visit each to Liberia, Togo and Kenya. And particularly memorable, I was blessed to travel with and to cook for Shree GuruDeva [Shree Vasant] both in Zimbabwe as well as Kenya.
So let me tell you about the adventure and the magic that happened on the brief visit to Kenya. The airporting and traveling to and through many of the African countries back in the eighties was often a bit grueling. You’d often find yourself carrying your luggage, boxes or bags by yourself. And if you were traveling with Shree GuruDeva, you took care of His things as well.
And so it was with me and Him on our couple of days in Nairobi, Kenya before we headed to Uganda.
I managed to get all my stuff plus His luggage into the car that would take us to the hotel, and then up the stairs to our rooms. When I finally got into my room I was beyond exhausted. But then He called me to come into His room to get something done. I went over and stood there listening to Him with tears about to burst down my cheeks. Instead, out of my mouth came all the exhaustion and exasperation I was feeling, ending with a shrill, “I don’t even know who Shree is!!” (referring to Parama Sadguru Shree Gajanan Maharaj.) When I think back on that outcry, I still can’t believe I spoke to him like that.
With wide, surprised eyes He looked at me and said, “What difference does it make? Look at all the good work you are doing. You are very tired. You must go take rest.” And so I did, going back to my room next door to lie down and sleep. But the next morning, just after Agnihotra and breakfast, GuruDeva asked me to do the strangest thing. He told me to get the phone book and look through it for an Indian name, call them up and ask them if I could come introduce them to Agnihotra. I obeyed.
The person I called listened to me with some interest and then invited me to come over, saying I could do Agnihotra there at sunset. But he also said his daughter was getting married that day and I was very welcome to come and enjoy the wedding.
And so I found my way over to a large, wonderful estate filled with all the people, the beauty, the colors, the dancing, music, and the food and rituals of a traditional Indian marriage ceremony. It lasted all day long into the evening. At sunset, I found a quiet space and performed Agnihotra, which seemed to blend right in with all the ceremonies and incense from the entire day. I felt as if I were in a movie.
When I returned to the hotel, Shree looked at me with loving, knowing eyes. It makes me cry, even now, feeling how much this great teacher of ours, a Divine servant to the world, cares for us and looks out for us, as we constantly make the effort to serve the fire and spread its healing energy. I am so grateful. There are other great memories. Thank you for listening to this one.
Homa Therapy Experiences
Sridevi
Brisbane, Queensland
Australia
I share the following very happily. I had very severe toothaches and my gums became very weak. Last year I had major costly treatments at the dentist 3 times. Nothing improved; in fact, it got worse.
After we met you [Lee and Frits Ringma] at Om Shree Dham, we decided to go back to India in a year and live like you guys with natural farming. So we started watching the videos on natural Vedic farming. One person called Vijay Ram from Andhra Pradesh said in one of the videos, “If we gently rub the Agnihotra ash on the gums, you won’t visit a dentist in your life.” This made me remember by grandparents using the ash for cleaning the teeth; they never needed to visit a dentist in their lives.
I started using the Agnihotra ash (sieved) twice daily. Now I feel very happy and have strong gums and teeth; no sensitivity, no pain.
Amogh Kulkarni
Nashik, Maharashtra, India
Hello to all Agnihotris round the globe! I will share our family’s Agnihotra experience in the time during the corona pandemic. We live in Nashik, Maharashtra. We are practicing Agnihotra since 25+ years (even before I was born; I am 24 years of age). We know what Agnihotra is and have experienced its benefits for a long time. But the corona pandemic definitely brought a sense of panic to all and our case was not different. This was our situation:
A that time we had 6 members in the family (me, my elder sister, my mother and father, my grandpa and grandma). My grandpa was bedridden due to both pelvic girdles being fractured and besides, we were preparing for my sister’s wedding at the same time. Now, my father is a doctor and his clinic is a part of our home. Amidst all this, corona struck us all as a shock wave. At that time, my father had to take care of us, my grandpa, his patients and himself too! And to make the situation worse, our neighbors got also infected by corona!
My father was obviously in contact on a daily basis with patients having corona as well as patients with other health problems. Our challenge was to stay healthy, because if any of us had gotten infected, the entire cycle at home would have broken down and become chaotic! In that situation my parents decided to keep their total faith in our wonder weapon and my father started practicing Agnihotra and Tryambakam Homa separately in his clinic. During the complete phase of corona my father never took a second bath, while his colleagues were bathing 4 times a day as a preventive measurement.
Obviously, due to the regular practice of Agnihotra, none of us got infected in the entire period of corona! We did not even feel any sensation of fever or cold or any kind of discomfort!
But that’s not the full story; the real surprise was yet to come. From all the patients my father treated (who came to our clinic), a lot of them were detected as corona positive, but only a few of them had to be hospitalized.
But because of the Divine Blessings of Shree Gajanan Maharaj through the constant practice of Agnihotra, none of the patients my father treated in the entire corona cycle died! Every single one of them came out fit and fine and not one case was fatal!
Whenever we recall this, it’s even for us hard to believe, but because of Agnihotra and our Guru’s blessings we came out of the pandemic period successfully, managing my sister’s wedding, which was my grandpa’s last wish to see, and he witnessed it in his last days among the entire chaos!
From Shree Vasant’s Teachings
Keeping Good Company
This is a true story about an emperor of India about three hundred years ago. He was a religious man, and as you know, proper religious people cannot accumulate things. He was staying in Delhi and in those days some yogis used to sit on the bank of the river, true yogis. But not now.
One day this emperor and his private secretary went to see these yogis. Yogis will never come to an emperor’s palace. The emperor says, “If any one of these yogis will accept the gifts I give to them, that will do wonderful things for me. I’ll go to heaven if they just accept my gift, but they think I’m not fit enough to give them gifts.” Then he says, ” Let me take a chance and see what happens.”
So he goes to the river bank with his secretary and they see some yogis sitting there. The emperor bends before one yogi and says, “I would like to give you gold, diamonds, jewels, land, everything. Please accept it.” The yogi replies, ” I’m not interested.” Nine yogis were sitting there and each refused.
The young man was very happy. Without losing a moment, he goes to a makeup artist and gets wonderful hair, an artificial gray beard and beautiful things like a yogi. The next week he sits at the river from sunrise to sunset. The nine yogis were there again and he was number ten. The emperor comes the next week and the same thing happens. The nine refuse and then he sees the tenth person. He bows before him. The man, being a clever person, thinks, if all of a sudden I say that I will accept, they might suspect me because nine have refused. So he says, “No, I am not interested.”
When the emperor starts walking away, he says, “Listen, sir. Do you hear me properly? I really don’t want it, but with a little sacrifice on my part I will take it. If the emperor of India is going to get some happiness, I am prepared to make that sacrifice. I’m ready to accept your gift.”
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 Vedic sciences 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
Want to share this issue? Use this link:
https://www.agnihotra.org/2024/07/01/news-from-om-shree-dham-australia/