Inner Fire: Q&A with Pandit Rajmani Tigunait

From the books I’ve read on tantra, ayurveda, and ancient hatha yoga texts, it is obvious that Eastern disciplines related to health and to mental and spiritual well-being place an enormous emphasis on cultivating the inner fire. But I don’t really understand what this inner fire is. Your conclusion is correct: all Eastern systems of health and healing and all spiritual disciplines have fire as their main focus, directly or indirectly. In the spiritual sense, this fire refers to the core of consciousness, the infinite divine energy that has the capacity to be and to become whatever it wishes. It is the same as shakti, the creative energy of Brahman. At the level of individual consciousness, it refers to the indomitable power of will and determination. In tantra and kundalini yoga, it is known as kundalini shakti. Ayurvedic practitioners call it the source of healing power.

Yogis awaken this fire through pranayama.

This inner fire resides in our brain in the form of intelligence, in the heart in the form of feeling, and in the stomach in the form of digestive energy. In a more general sense, this fire exists in us in the form of inner strength, stamina, perseverance, endurance, courage, enthusiasm, and ultimately, the power of will and determination. Yogis awaken this fire through pranayama. They nourish it through meditation. They protect it by living a healthy lifestyle. They conserve it by disciplining their body and senses.

What is the role of fire in the ayurvedic approach to health and healing? According to ayurveda, fire is at the heart of your strength and stamina. The proper functioning of your immune system depends upon a healthy inner fire. The entire system of ayurvedic treatment is based on dealing with fire: ignite the fire, increase the fire in the body, and thereby energize the immune system.

Let me explain. According to ayurveda there are two main causes of disease: a high level of ama (impurities), and a low level of fire. So ayurvedic treatment is designed to get rid of ama, then fan and nourish the fire. Ama is undigested, unassimilated waste matter. The body recognizes it as toxic and instinctively tries to get rid of it. In the process, it expends energy which could have been used for constructive purposes. In other words, the presence of ama weakens the fire.

The basic function of fire, at least at the physical level, is to digest and break down the substances we ingest and to assimilate the energy released from them. When there is not enough fire, we not only fail to digest our food, we also fail to burn and process toxins, and thus waste matter begins to accumulate. This is a vicious circle: lack of fire causes an increase in ama; an increase in ama diminishes the fire. That is why the ayurvedic system of health and healing uses a twofold treatment: cleansing the body of ama, and feeding the fire. The former is accomplished by a treatment known as pancha karma (“five techniques of cleansing”), and the latter through rejuvenation techniques. Pancha karma removes excess solids, water, and contaminated air from the body. Then, through rejuvenation techniques, it becomes easy to rekindle the fire and allow the body to bask in its warmth and brilliance. The digestive system becomes strong; elimination is regular and complete; and the immune system is energized.

Many of the world’s spiritual traditions consider fire to be sacred, and many rituals and religious sacraments center around it. What is the role of fire in the yoga tradition? Fire is at the core of yoga practice. According to the yogis, traditional fire rituals performed correctly are of great value (although the same rituals performed without proper understanding are useless). But you are correct in saying that fire worship is also characteristic of many religious sacraments. For centuries humanity has suffered from the conflicts caused by religious beliefs, which is why it is important to avoid associating any form of spiritual discipline, including yoga, with religion. For example, as soon as you involve yourself in fire rituals as practiced in the yoga tradition, you are in danger of thinking that you are practicing the Eastern religion of Hinduism. And this may lead you to feel that by performing these rituals you are betraying your own faith. This in turn will set up an inner conflict that will ruin your peace of mind. So before you consider practicing fire rituals, you must have a good understanding of the profound principles underlying the science of fire (agni vidya). Then you will be able to see the difference between a religious ceremony and a spiritual practice.

Fire is at the core of yoga practice.

The science of fire described in the ancient yogic scriptures is the sacred link among different fields of knowledge such as physics, chemistry, ayurveda, alchemy, mantra, spirituality, and ecology. And this understanding of the science of fire can enable you to see how an authentic fire ritual can be the most efficient means of restoring the balance within your own body and mind, as well as in nature.

Let me elaborate further. Today it is evident that the health and vitality of our planet and everything on it has declined. The quality of water is so poor that we cannot drink directly from our streams. Our air is contaminated with pollutants. The ancient scriptures tell us there are rituals that uplift our soul and revitalize the life-force. According to the Bhagavad Gita, for example, “The birth and growth of living beings are dependent on food. The life-sustaining quality of food is dependent on rain. The life-giving capacity of rain is dependent on yajña [fire rituals]. The efficacy of yajña is dependent on our actions. Therefore, the entire life cycle on the planet is dependent on our actions.”

We have polluted our air through our own actions. Air pollution has contaminated the clouds, and the life-force in the clouds is suffocating. In turn the Earth is receiving lifeless rain—rain that has no power to nourish the soil. As a result the vegetation is malnourished—and all forms of life, including humans, depend on vegetation. But even if we stopped polluting the air, water, and soil today, it would take a long time before we could see any tangible recovery. The fire ritual is the remedy. Yogis tell us that the process of cleansing and rejuvenating the planet (and the forms of life on it) can be initiated by committing ourselves to this ritual. It is not a mere ceremony but a profound and demanding practice requiring that we know how to build the fire. This means that we must know how to construct the fire pit according to precise measurements, how to arrange the sticks, how to ignite the fire, and how to invoke and propitiate the benevolent forces of nature.

We must also know the recipe for the offering. An authentic fire offering is composed of herbs, grains, virgin sugar (solidified sugarcane juice), and clarified butter. Deciding on the proportion of one ingredient to another is a science in itself, for if properly performed, the fire ritual is the sacred link between physics, chemistry, and ayurveda. You have to have sufficient knowledge of the unique properties of herbs and how to combine them to create specific formulas for specific results.

Then comes the role of mantra. It is the power of mantra that polarizes the energies released from the ingredients offered into the fire, and it is the combined force of mantra together with the willful determination of the practitioner that leads the energy that has been generated to heal and nourish a specific aspect of nature. An understanding of the science of fire, a properly constructed fire pit, a properly laid fire, an authentic offering, the power of mantra, and the willful determination of the practitioner—all of these factors combined is what removes the fire ritual done by those who practice yoga from the realm of religious ceremony and transforms it into a powerful spiritual practice.