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“Fire Purification”

Article by Leonard Orr

Fire is magical and mystical stuff. Without fire your body couldn't exist. You have fire in your blood and in every cell as well as earth, water, and air. A creative thought sends fire through your nervous system. Without fire your body would be ice. 

If you watch fire you will notice that it flows just like water, only fire flows up and water flows down. 

The purpose of fire purification is to clean your energy body. I've gotten into a routine of doing fire purification at least once a week. It seems to take at least four hours with a big fire, the flames sometimes go above my head, to produce a completed energy cycle. However, the more often I do it, the less time is needed to get results. After I get a bed of coals and have really nice flames covering the wood I do the basic fire ceremony that I learned from Babaji–some American Indian tribes also do this same ceremony. The ceremony is simple; it consists of throwing ordinary food into the fire while saying Om Namaha Shivaiya. The food that you offer into the fire can be grains, nuts, fruits, vegetables or whatever your favorite foods are. If you smoke you can even offer tobacco. If you have a problem with certain foods or cigarettes I would definitely offer these things into the fire each time you do fire purification. 

When I put the offering in the fire I always experience a burst of white light in my aura and all my senses get sharper. I also notice that I have built a successful relationship with fire. It has become my friend. It responds to my thoughts and it speaks back to me. As an aspect of my being, fire cooperates with me and serves me. The fire ceremonies are an act of respect and somehow they have given me a certain power in my relationship to fire. I listen to fire and fire listens to me and responds. Fire as a fundamental aspect of divine substance does work for me as God answers prayers. My personal fires never burn out of control because fire loves me. It is my friend. I have discovered some of the divine secrets of fire. 

Because of my awareness of my energy body through conscious breathing I experienced the relationship of fire purification in the cleaning of my energy body the very first time, but it has taken several months of meditation in the presence of this wonderful friend to learn its secrets. We can only learn the secrets of fire from the fire itself, just as you can only learn the secrets of breathing from the breath itself. We learn the secrets of water by meditating in the water and the secrets of earth by meditating on it. Earth, air, water and fire are the eternal principles of the physical universe. To know them and to love them and to be known and loved by them is part of a conscious relationship to God. If you spend enough time with fire, Babaji will speak to you through the fire the same way he spoke to Moses in the burning bush. He will give you his Name: Om Namaha Shivaiya. 

Fire purification is as much fun as conscious breathing and conscious bathing, as well as conscious eating or fasting. It also involves earth purification when you are cutting and carrying wood. Fire purification seems to be equal to and as powerful as earth, air and water purification. Fire purification produces profound energy changes in my mind and body that are as significant as Rebirthing Breathwork or fasting. Fire reaches different energies, for example, I've noticed that it burns away death urge material and anger very efficiently. It also opens up subconscious material that can be dissolved by a long warm bath afterwards. 

You can do fire purification on one level with a candle or in a fireplace. I enjoy doing it most out in the forest. The most dramatic energy changes occur after three or four hours. When I've done enough I feel strong, calm, peaceful and my mind thinks clearly. I also feel physically tired and satisfied as a result of cutting all that wood with an axe. Fire purification is a wonderful experience of nature and the physical universe. You just have to do it. You have to spend enough time with the fire to learn its secrets. In the city you can also use a barbecue tray with charcoal and burn one or two pieces of wood at a time. 

Fire is a powerful element. Whether using a candle, a fireplace, or out in the forest it is important to practice adequate fire safety. With candles I recommend that you have a metal or glass dish with a radius as wide as the height of the candle, so that if the candle falls over it can't fall out of the dish. With a fireplace, be sure that the logs can't roll out and that there is a proper screen to keep sparks from flying into the room and setting the house on fire. Without proper fire precautions you may get more fire purification than you expected. Fire purification takes more consciousness than water purification and some techniques of earth and air purification. 

When in the forest I recommend that you take a shovel or a rake and a bucket full of water. If possible you should build your fire near a stream or a lake. If there is no wind, clearing the area around the fire 5 to 10 feet may be enough. If there is a wind, it is important to build your fire in a deep fire pit 2 to 3 feet deep and clear the area around the fire of all hazardous material like pine needles within 200 feet. I recommend that you go to your local forest service ranger station and receive the basic lecture about fire prevention. Obviously you need a fire permit or permission from the land owner whenever you do fire purification on property you don't own. 

Fire purification is a very great technique of self evolution. It can clean and heal your energy body as well as your mind and physical body. You can only learn these mysteries by being with the fire alone with the purpose of meditating on the fire and your energy in God. In 1974, when I started teaching people the secrets of breathing there was practically no one in the country who understood the mysteries of the breath. By 1982 there were one to two million people in the country who knew how to contact the energy of God through breathing. Obviously it is my goal to spread the practice of fire purification as I have spread the practice of air purification. In addition to being good for you, it is also good for nature. It cleans up our forests and prevents forest fires. 

It is amazing how simple and how powerful the true practices of aliveness are. Fire purification enables me to burn away the negative energies I absorb from groups. It clears the effects of being a leader. It makes my life more pleasurable. It burns away death urge material very efficiently. It always turns anger into peace. 

— Leonard Orr