Fire can help us to transform ourselves. Dr. Svoboda discusses how we can relate to the Fire Element in this episode of “5 Minutes”.

The Vedic religion is a religion of fire, and fire has been part of the experience of Homo sapiens since the beginning of our species. In fact, fire was harnessed by a previous species at least a million, and quite possibly a million and a half, years ago. Ever since that time, hominids have been associated with fire.

Fire has done a lot for us. It has given us the ability to stay awake at night without having to worry so much about predators. It has allowed us to increase the number and variety of foods we can eat because it performs much of our digestion externally, instead of forcing us to chew and digest more on the inside. Fire has also acted as a focus around which we, as individuals and in the groups in which we find ourselves, can gather, share stories and experiences, and bond together.

I think it is fair to say that we have become a very visual species. Sight is our most powerful sense because of our relationship with fire. We have co-evolved with fire to be so visual and to focus so much on light and form. Form is, in fact, the subtle element of fire, the rūpa tanmātra.

Having a regular intake of forms is natural to the human being. If you have ever stared at a fire, you will know that it is always creating new and unpredictable forms. Up until very recently, everyone had an open fire in the home and spent a lot of time in the context of that fire.

It is only very recently that we have been able not to depend on open fires in our homes. Even though many of us still have fireplaces, they are not burning 24 hours a day. But the demand on the part of our physiology and neurology for a regular intake of forms has to be met in some way. For the past 60 or 70 years, television has been an important part of that, and in the past 10 or 20 years we have moved in the direction of screens. People are now quite screen-addicted all over the world because we are taking in the forms that we otherwise would have received from fire.

There are several reasons why this is not as desirable as getting forms directly from fire. One is that these are dead forms. They relate to the past, and they are forms created by someone else, not generated by our interaction with the living fire itself.

My suggestion is that you take some time every day to turn off your screens and put some of the living, present-tense form of fire into your awareness. It is that living form of fire in the present tense that will assist us in moving toward the future tense, so that we can visualize the forms that will be necessary for us in the future.

This does not necessarily mean that you need to build a fire and sit in front of it. You may be able to get the same effect by doing trāṭaka. Trāṭaka means taking a lamp or candle, putting it at eye level and arm’s length, and staring at the tip of the flame, at the point where the luminescence disappears and resolves into a lack of form and color. Traditionally, they say you should hold your attention there until tears begin to come from your eyes.

Whether you keep your attention there that long or not, spend at least several minutes doing it. This maintains the age-old connection that we have to the fire element and promotes a healthy internal fire, which will encourage the rasas in your body to circulate well, be created well, and nourish you well in the bargain.