I'v enjoyed reading all the discussions in yagyas. I, of course, have my own perspective on this subject and thought that I add a few observations.
Yagyas are a tool for evolution, just like TM is. There is much to be learned and one ultimately comes to one's own conclusions regarding yagyas and how they should be performed etc. I started puja.net about 10 years ago after my first trip to India. For me it was out of necessity because I couldn't afford the TMO yagyas. So a group of my friends got together and shared the cost. We had group yagyas once a month for many years at the Malibu Temple. It was great to be there in person. We all found that small yagyas performed over and over had significant effects. It was another way of accomplishing what might otherwise cost $10,000 with the TM yagyas. Is one approach any better than the others? Who knows and I doubt there is an objective criteria anyway. We liked them and $51 per month made it possible to continue without a big financial strain. As the group grew, we started having yagyas in India with a group of 5 priests all of whom were from the Shankara Mutt and were well known by Seetharam, the Chief Priest at the Shiva temple in Malibu. So we gradually added more days of yagyas and our little group continued to grow. We pay our priests about $40 per day for 5-6 hours work. I fully realize that you could pay much much less. But it seems to me that if anyone deserves to be well paid, it is the priests that are doing this kind of work for you. My observation based on hundreds of yagyas is that the priest's consciousness is an important link in the overall success of the yagya. I want them to feel honored and well paid. I have seen first hand how hard it is to be a priest in India. It is a tough life unless you are born into a family of priests that has a heriditary place in a big temple. They are not guaranteed employment and yet are expected to be married and have children. It can be very very difficult to make a good living there. So I know we pay more than we have to. But in the overall scheme of our western lives, the difference is not so much to us, and hugely different to them. As an act of considerable faith and generosity, Seetharam took his own money and bought a facility for us to use in Kanchipuram. It is a great little temple town about 1 hour from Madras. Our "house" was owned by a Brahmin who was the temple cook. Now, it is what they call in India a "devastanum" a place of God. No one lives there. It is only used for yagyas for the past couple years and has a genuine purity in the air. We wanted to be close to the temples, but also away from the "public" vibe in the large temples. This allows us more control over what happens during the yagyas. We have experimented with a number of innovations. Firstly, I call India every night to listen to the chanting during yagya time. I have a standing invitation to any sponsor who wants to hear their yagya being performed to listen as long as they want. We also go out into the countryside near Kanchipuram and perform a big yagya in a local temple. We spend a lot of money on this because these are smaller temple where the local populace can't afford to perform the yagyas on the same scale. This yagya is video taped and, although it may take some time, I usually distribute a CD of the yagya to the sponsors afterwards. In fact, any FFL member who wants a yagya CD can contact me and I'll gladly send you one. It is great to see them being performed in a traditional setting. In the end, I have ended up in the same place that I started. That is, yagyas are a form of service, a form of spiritual practice, a form of prayer, a means to personal evolution. They are not some sort of cosmic ordering service..."I want money so here's a yagya, Lakshmi...kindly deliver!" In fact that is the best way to make sure they don't work. The good priests are very humble, very respectful, and very talented individuals. To me it doesn't matter if they are puja.net, TMO, yagya-by-choice..they are all doing the best they can with this ancient and traditional "technology". They deserve our respect. So in conclusion, I'd say that yagyas are about empowerment. They are all about empowering the divine in you and as a result enabling you to manifest the results that you desire in life. Whether you use puja.net or yagyas by choice is really a matter of personal preference and style. And this is where the skeptics get it right. They point out that it is <you> who have to change. Yagyas don't do it for you, but they give you a boost in the right direction and smooth the path. So does meditation, so does puja, and so do a lot of other things like sports, and art, and service, and study, etc. Because they are all the tools with which you build your life. It is just a matter of what ones you want to use. /ben --- In [email protected], "Tom Pall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Akasha, I just received notice that I'm on for September 1 evaluation for the big enchilada Jump Start. I'll be given more detail tomorrow. > > As I said, their website is purposely set up to be difficult to navigate. It's not Amazon or iHerb. They want you to know what you're getting into, why and what you'll be getting. And they are quite responsive. How very refreshing. > > I don't think these are temple yagyas. Puja.net's yagyas are performed in the house formerly owned by the cook at the big Vishnu temple across the street in Kanchipurinam. The yagyas are done near the residences of the pundits, I suspect. I know you're invited to watch your yagya being performed. > > I've already felt a result since I made a decision to go with these people. I've felt more elevated. Highest first sort of thing. Haven't looked at a single p0rn picture on my PC all day. > > I do still find this URL a riot, however: > > http://toccionline.kizash.com/films/1001/178/index.php > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: akasha_108 > To: [email protected] > Sent: Monday, August 29, 2005 3:55 PM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Yagna by Choice > > > Thanks Tom. That helps. > > Re: > http://www.yagna.by-choice.com/monthlys.htm . > You are right, I had not yet found that page. Thats the info I was > seeking. Their website, though spiffy, is a bit hard to navigate, IMO > > Where are their temples located ? > > Keep us posted on the results. I will probably do some planetaries > soon and try them out. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. 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