Sacred Fire

Everything in the world has come out of one Divine Being, the sacred fire. The sages are the direct manifestation of that fire. Sages do not belong to any culture, religion, caste, or creed. They belong to God . . . Their religion is the religion of love.
—Swami Rama

The bluish-violet flame of the sacred fire was spectacular against the black velvet of the night sky that seemed to blanket our ceremony. The shamans were chanting as they slowly circled the fire. As the shamans made their offerings to the fire, the rest of us followed the shamans’ lead and made our offerings. Here we were on the side of a mountain just before the summer solstice intending peace for our planet and for our individual lives.

We were offering up our lives to be healed in the heat and splendor of the dancing flames. The ancient spiritual tradition of Eckankar tells us that God, the Divine, is li(Today's posting comes from A Matter of Love)ght and sound. The light and sound of the fire and of the shamans’ chanting exercised a hypnotic effect on us all. We were joined in a group trance.

The concept of the sacred fire is found in other spiritual traditions as evidenced in the quote above. For those of us educated in the intellectual tradition of American universities, we have a tendency to look at the fire as symbolic. Although there is some truth to the fire as a symbol pointing beyond itself, the shamans were sure to help us realize the living reality of the sacred fire. In the book At The Eleventh Hour, the Himalayan sage, Sombari Baba, addresses a young Swami Rama. Sombari Baba addresses this tendency to see the fire as only a symbol and not as a living reality.

"You modern children have become slave to your intellect. Instead of experiencing the truth directly, you look for a symbolic meaning in it. Fire is a living truth. It is a link between Earth and heaven. It is divine and resides in everything and everyone. You burn your psychological trash in the fire of knowledge, but you can burn your tangible, physical trash only in a living, blazing fire, that is not a symbol of something else but rather is a self-evident reality. Similarly, you provide nourishment to your soul by offering your love to God, who is beyond names and form. But you provide nourishment to your body, mind, and senses by expressing your love through oblations offered into fire, the manifest form of God on Earth."

The healing energy swirled around us while the flames of the fire danced before us. Warm waves of love surged through us all as the heat of the fire seemed to penetrate our hearts on this cool night. Caught up in the rhythm of the ceremony, our individual hearts merged into one heart. At the same time that we sought healing for the microcosm of each of our individual selves, we sought healing for the macrocosm of our Mother Earth.

Earlier that day, the shamans told us that the sacred fire ceremony seeks to establish an equilibrium and harmony with God, nature, and with each other. Ordinary things that come from nature are used to attain the equilibrium being sought: chocolate, cinnamon, rosemary, sugar, liquor, and candles. Raising his hands above his head as if to touch the stars above, Gerardo began our sacred fire ceremony with the following prayer:

"We thank our God with these things from nature.
We thank Grandfather Sun, Grandmother Moon,
the wind, Mother Earth, divine water, and fire."

The purpose of the ceremony, Gerardo stressed, is to not only help the people participating find the “right equilibrium” for their lives but also to help them evolve and “ascend spiritually.” This ascension involves attaining a respect for God, nature, and humanity. Gerardo proclaimed to us that, “solidarity among all the peoples of the world” is one of the primary goals of the ceremony. He indicated further that the ceremony seeks the “common good.” He then said: “We ask for life, food, education, and other necessities.” Regarding each of the people participating in the ceremony, Gerardo explained, “For us, the ceremony is for the nurturing of our soul.”

Speaking for the shamans, Gerardo stated that: “We were taught that we must heal the planet. There is a crisis on our planet and we feel we must heal each other through the ceremonies.” Furthermore, he emphasized, “We know God is everywhere and we come together to celebrate God.” Then he reminded us of the Mayan view that “we are all brothers and sisters on the spiritual path.” [Today's posting is taken from A Matter of Love listed on www.drsrj.com.]