I was in India during the new moon in December.
As the time of the new moon is to set intentions, and plant seeds for the upcoming moon cycle I started a new sadhana.
Sadhana = daily spiritual practice
To be precise…I started a tantric sadhana in a tantric ashram.
It was a non-sexual tantric sadhana
in a non-sexual tantric ashram.
The core practices of this particular tantric sadhana were yagnas (fire rituals) and mantra meditation.
……..
Following my feeling I aimed to perform 7 yagnas.
My Guru provided me with the other necessities: the temple space, the mantra to practice with, and the sequence of the yagnas, along with the duration of each practice.
And he said to me:
’I appreciate seeing that you are becoming independent, learning to trust your intuition for this specific tantric practice.
Here is the sequence of the 7 yagnas for the next 2 weeks, including the specific dates to perform the yagnas and the resting days in between those days. Perform each yagna for 1 hour.’
He added,
‘If you want to enhance this sadhana even further, besides the 1-hour yagna, engage in 3 hours of mantra meditation daily in the temple. Additionally, for an even more potent sadhana, perform the yagnas between 11 pm and 1 am.
So I did it!
On some evenings I felt like a tantric hero practitioner as I got ready to perform the fire ceremonies while everyone else in the ashram was already sleeping.
Keeping my mind focused on the commitment I made to myself, I jumped into my red dress – the recommended color for this sadhana.
After preparing for the fire ceremony, I sat down facing South – the recommended direction for this sadhana – and had an our of consecrated chanting time with the mantra.
Sounds easy, right?
The steps might appear easy and simple;
After all, it’s ‘just’ sitting and meditating, isn’t it?
Well, since the aim of the tantric sadhana I to move energies and align with your highest good and inner power beyond internal constructs such as limiting beliefs, unsettling emotions, and even karmic baggage…
overall, it can be quite a challenging process with different forms of resistance, emotional release, alongside with empowering revelations.
However, the benefits are worth every bit of the effort. No wonder I keep going back to my Guru for more…
The benefits can be felt after each completed sadhana day; however, the greater impacts became truly tangible to me upon the completion of the moon cycle—aka, by the next new moon, and by the following full moon.