RE: what to do with homa prasad

[Guest guest]

>>"Question from Rosetta:

When I have homas performed in India, they always send back some

prasad from the homa. I know what to do with the vibhuti and kumkum,

but I also sometimes receive a little ziplock bag containing what

looks like black ash. Can anyone say what to do with this black ash

(other than just keep it on my altar)? Thanks, as always, for any

help on this!

 

Swamiji's response:

You can use it as a tilak applied to the forehead. If there are a lot

of ashes, you can sprinkle them around your house or office."<<

 

I hope I am not out of line here...adding to Swamiji's

response....I have been told to mix ghee with a small bit of ash and

apply it as a tilak (as Swamiji says) and, also, if you are doing your

own homas at home, you can use the ash at the base of plants, mixing

it into the soil or into your garden..since it contains the power of

the mantras, it can be very beneficial for the health of your garden

(depending upon the homa deity). I had been thinking, in fact, of

doing a homa for Bhuvaneshvari and mixing the ash into my garden as a

kind of spin-off of the planetary Earth sankalpa. I wonder if Swamiji

or Maa might have some suggestions about this? ways to now directly

work with the Earth healing consciousness that has been sparked by

this wonderful Earth Mother Sankalpa? I have always loved the

connection between homa/yagna and Nature...how it is built right into

the practice itself. I'd love to have some teachings directly related

to that, if it would be appropriate.

Thanks and best love to everyone,

sadhvi

[Guest guest]

Hi Sadhvi:

 

> you can use the ash at the base of plants, mixing

> it into the soil or into your garden..since it contains the power of

> the mantras, it can be very beneficial for the health of your garden

> (depending upon the homa deity).

 

Actually, this is what I was thinking of doing with the ash, myself!

But wanted to get the group's response first about whether this would

be appropriate. Since Swamiji said that I could sprinkle the black

ash around home and office, and garden is part of the home . . . I'm

hoping that this would be okay to do. I'm thinking especially about

the part of our garden where we grow our vegetables. Maybe Swamiji

will give a confirmation about this?

 

Thanks Sadhvi!

 

Rosetta

[Guest guest]

Jai Ma

 

Often we place prasad in the form of offered flowers and water from

the snana-vedi at the base of trees and plants. It seems that ash

from the yajnas could be used in the same way. In the past we have

done this with the agni-hotra ash that was not used for healings.

 

Any additional ideas would be wonderful.

 

With love,

Mathura das