4/15/2020
The journey has begun. It was such a whirlwind, I barely had time to stop and reflect. When I ordered my Agnihotra set back in law school in Chicago in 2003, the thought of trying to bring global attention to this practice wasn't even in the realm of imagination.
I began practicing in my studio apartment, on my linoleum flooring that I would train on for competitive breakdancing. I was skeptical when I first started, because I couldn't quite tell the impact it had on me. It felt good overall, but I couldn't tell how much it added to my wellbeing beyond my meditation practice. I even remember feeling the practice was adding to my stress when I had difficulty lighting the gomai on fire, as the sunset and sunrise timings quickly approached each morning and evening. I learned after trial and error I needed lots of ghee to get the gomai to light. Despite the initial roadblocks, I developed a steady rhythm to my practice. But after about 6 months, I found myself at a crossroads. I had a personal interest to dive deeper into meditation, and I was practicing a chanting practice, Agnihotra, and Yoga. It was too much to maintain all of the practices, so I decided to drop Agnihotra and the chanting and focus on the Yoga practice, because I believed it would lead me deeper into meditation and self growth. Fast forward 5 years later, I was steadfast with my Yoga practice, but I realized I hit a plateau with my meditation. I hit a ceiling I just didn't know how to go beyond. Through a number of interesting circumstances, I was reintroduced to Agnihotra through my Mom. In early 2008, I decided to pick up Agnihotra and see where it lead me.
It was this second go around with Agnihotra that I experienced the impact Agnihotra had on my life and self healing.
