Yoga Poornima 2009

Satsang by Swami Satyananda- Last darshan

Yajna
I have to tell you all something about yajna. All of you have come from far-off countries, far-off places, and you must understand very well that you are participating in a very important event. This event is not only historical, it is not only spiritual, it is also ecological. It has many dimensions. People from the West and people from Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi or Patna must remember that they have come here to participate in a very important event called yajna, in which the spiritual powers are invited and invoked - spiritual powers which you cannot see, which you cannot touch, just as you cannot see or touch your thoughts, but you can feel them, if you are ready for it.

You have come here to be in touch with, in communication with those spiritual forces which are all around the cosmos, all around creation. Just as air is all-pervading, electromagnetic forces are all-pervading, and oxygen and nitrogen are all-pervading, similarly the spiritual powers, the spiritual forces, the divinities, the devatas, are all-pervading. They are here. They are always around you - always. They are with you in France, they are with you in Italy, they are with you in Bulgaria, they are with you in Greece, they are with you in Delhi, they are with you in Bangalore, they are with you wherever you are. But you can't feel them. Why can't you feel them? Because the necessary atmosphere in the mind and in the environment is not created.


If everybody starts shouting now, you won't be able to hear me. If everybody in this assembly starts crying and wailing, will you be able to listen to me? No. You will be able to listen to me only if everybody is quiet. In the same way, the divine powers, the spiritual powers, the devatas and the divinities can be felt only if the environment is peaceful, if everything is quiet. Quietness within, not outside. There has to be quietness, stillness, tranquillity, peace, relaxation, shanti. And in order to create such an atmosphere, the yajna will help you - it has helped you. You will be going back home with the blessings of these spiritual powers.

In the future, wherever there are yajnas, you should definitely spend some time there. And if you have any yoga program, whether in India, or in Bulgaria, China, Japan, France, South Korea or anywhere else, along with yoga there has to be a yajna program.

Yajna is the most ancient tradition of mankind. It was man who discovered fire and realized the utility of fire. Elephants did not, tigers did not, lions did not, birds did not. Only man realized the utility of fire and could make use of it. It was he who was the discoverer of fire, agni. When man realized agni, he took a very big leap in evolution. That was the beginning of a new era in man's existence. Therefore, in India the first mantra in the Rig Veda starts with: Agnimide purohitam yajnasya devam ritvijam; hotaram ratna dhatamam. The first word was agni, not Om.

After fire, the next thing that man discovered was grain. And he was so thankful, so obliged, so grateful, that he offered the first grain into the fire. This is the history of yajna as far as man is concerned. So all of you are very fortunate to be present here at this yajna. You must feel it. Every time there is a yajna you should come here. We will have it every year.