Q. I read somewhere that you are of the opinion that 20-30 minutes of Homa is equivalent to 4/5 hours of Meditation. I didn't understand it.
A. Maharshi Parasara, father of Maharshi Vyasa, wrote a treatise on Jyotisha shastra just before Kali
yuga started. He referred in it a few times to the "intellectual pygmies of Kali yuga" and gave techniques suitable for astrologers of Kali yuga. Thus, he was conscious of impending Kali yuga and that was on his in mind as he taught. In the chapters on remedial measures to overcome karmic problems (as represented by planets and horoscope), he basically referred to various kinds of homas. Though some people may insist on japam (meditation) today, Parasara only referred to offering mantras in homam fire. He was not specific on poorvaangam (initial offerings) and uttaraangam (final offerings) to be used and asked to use whatever agnimukham (fire ritual procedure) is practiced in the family or by one's gurus. But he was specific on the mantras to be offered in fire for various deities.
Obviously, Parasara did not advise japam (meditation) of various mantras and instead advised homam (fire ritual) with various mantras, for a reason. He knew that the latter is *far more effective* in Kali yuga.
The goal of sadhana is to burn impurities in the subtle body (synonymous to overcoming various internal enemies and weaknesses) so that energy can flow freely within one's subtle body. The internal fire (bhootaagni) burning within us does this burning. When you focus your mind on a mantra, bhootaagni burns and starts acting.
However, the ability of *most* people to focus the mind is highly limited. The bhootaagni is extremely low in most people. Thus, meditation of mantras even in counts of millions does not make much difference really. There is an impact only if one spends 4-5 hours meditating on the mantra every day. The first hour or so is warm up, mind slowly achieves a decent focus after that and the fire starts to burn slowly.
If you do the same meditation in front of an external fire, it makes a big difference. You tend to absorb some qualities from the people you spend time with. When you spend a lot of time with a cinema fan, the cinema fan inside you becomes strong. When you spend a lot of time with a politics observer, the politics observer inside you becomes strong. Similarly, when you spend a lot of time with fire, the fire inside you becomes strong.
If you do a 30-min homam and spend just 10 minutes meditating by the fire after homam, the energy surrounding you, the level of focus you can get and the amount of impurities you can burn are much more than a regular meditation for a couple of hours! One need not believe me. The proof of the pudding is in eating it. If anybody tries to do a 30-minute homam everyday (or atleast every weekend) for a few months, one should find some difference internally.
Mahaganapathi homam is very apt for many people. Lord Ganapathi takes care of one's material needs and gives spiritual progress at the same time. A detailed manual, an audio MP3 file and a complete youtube video of a simple 20-min Mahaganapathi homam are available for free, so that people can learn and get started.
It is not without a reason that many sadhus (saints) maintain a dhuni (constant fire) near them. When at Dakshineshwar, Swami Vivekananda used to light a big fire in open space that would burn throughout the night and he used to meditate by it whole night. If one can actually spend a couple of hours meditating by the side of a bright fire every day, I am sure they can make a lot of quick progress.
Q. That was a very good description but at present I have not been in a position to do homam. I have been doing meditation for a very small 15- 20 minutes twice a day but of late I have started falling asleep during that period how can I avoid it because somewhere I read that at time it increases tamas. How can I avoid it?
A. Goal of all sadhana is internal purification. Homam is far more efficient than other sadhanas and
actually increases the effectiveness of other sadhanas when used in conjunction with them. However, time has to come for anything. Don't worry about the inability to do homam.
Meditation of 15-20 min is only better than no meditation. It is not really that effective. For most people, it is hardly sufficient for cleaning up the impurities that accumulated in the subtle body within the last 24 hours. One needs to take care of accumulated karmas of several lives and that needs much heavier sadhana.
However, if this is all you can manage now, that is fine. As I keep saying, rituals like japam and homam are only one part of the sadhana one does. One can engage in constant contemplation of one's thoughts and motives to weed out the internal weaknesses and overcome ego. Every moment and every activity can and should be sadhana. Watch your thoughts and reactions to what others do and say and see if any shadripus (internal enemies) or other internal weaknesses have a role in those thoughts and how ego is causing all this. When one starts to put in conscious effort into such contemplation, that is also sadhana. Whether one does japam or homam or something else, this contemplation is also needed. If you cannot do those, you can still engage in contemplation. Depending on your readiness, it can work fast or slowly. But remember that no effort is ever wasted.
Q. Can you please help me reconcile the superiority of homam with the place that japa finds in the nityahnika procedure? As part of nityahnikam, the prescribed method for dvijas is to perform japa followed by the nitya homam (in the form of aupasana). This ordering is followed in ahnika texts followed by various communities. If homa is much more effective, I would expect there to be *some* dharma shastra prescription which prefers performing this required daily japa as homa. The rishis / grihya-sutra-kartas would never have left such an opportunity alone. At the very least, I would expect these texts to prescribe the performance of japa after the aupasana, in front of the kindled fire. Do you know of any smriti texts / shishtachara which follows such a procedure? If not, can you please help me understand such an absence?
A. If the room where you meditate is very cold, it is a good idea to turn the heater on a little before you
meditate there. That will ensure that the room warms up before you start and is more conducive to your meditation. Otherwise your meditation may be distracted and less effective.
On the other hand, if a room is always maintained warm, there is no need to switch the heater on before meditation.
It is fantastic if one is sincerely doing 1000 times Gayatri mantra and a nitya homam in the form of aupasanam everyday (and any other nityahnika rituals followed in one's tradition). One will be reasonably pure then. Meditation by such a person is like meditation in a warm room in the above analogy.
But we are living in changed times, when dvijas are cutting down on everything or doing a little bit without sincerity. If one is doing agni karma everyday and also considerable amount of japam, the order is secondary. Instead, if one has limited time for sadhana, then optimization is needed.
I am not aware of any smritis, but I do know of traditions where fire is worshipped and then one meditates sitting next to fire.Moreover, many sadhus do light a dhuni (constant fire) and meditate sitting in front of it.
Q. Is there any benefit in performing japa in front of a lit fireplace, where no agnimukham has been performed?
A. In my view, it is still beneficial. Just as sitting and meditating next to a big body of water calms and
relaxes one's mind, sitting and meditating next to fire purifies one and enhances subtle vision.
When at Dakshineshwar, Swami Vivekananda used to collect a lot of wood in one place, light it up into a big fire, sit facing it and meditate the whole night. Though he did not do any formal ritual, I still believe that fire helped his focus in meditation.