| From The River Of Heaven |
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| Books By David Frawley |
| UNIVERSAL FORM OF WORSHIP: TEMPLES, PUJA AND HOMA | |
| The Fire Offering : Homa Another important practice is Homa, the fire offering. Homa is more ancient than puja. It comes from Vedic times when fire was the main resource used in life. Each house was built around a central fire. Each community had its central or communal fire. Such fires were continued unextinguished for generations. Some first enkindled thousands of years ago are still burning today. Not only do we find this worship of fire in the Vedic teachings, the Persians worshipped fire and the modern Zoroastrians in both India and Iran still have their ancient fires burning. Ancient Rome had a similar cult of fire carried on by the vestal virgins, as did most of the ancient European peoples. These fires served to link the different communities and families in a common aspiration. They provided a link with the souls of those who came before and those who are to come. Fire is the Divine presence, the presence of light in the material world. No better symbol for the Divine can be found. The spirit is hidden in all material things the way fire is latent in wood. Hence fire is our most convenient symbol of the Divine and our aspiration towards it. In the homa ceremony we offer our thoughts and emotions to the Divine. We sacrifice the impurities of our lower nature into the Fire of awareness.
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| About Universal Form Of Worship: Temples, Puja And Homa |
