Just as there is a higher evolutionary power hidden within each person, a similar power is hidden deep within the planet. There is what we could call a ‘global Kundalini’ or `planetary yogic fire’, the power of the planet’s soul. It is coiled like a serpent around the Earth’s core sustaining its primary electrical, pranic and consciousness forces. The same is true of the universe as a whole. There is a universal Kundalini or serpent power upholding all the worlds. Yet if enough individuals cultivate the fire of Yoga with a consciousness of its roots in the Earth, then this global force of transformation can be aroused to help develop a planetary consciousness in humanity. The planet has its own soul and sacred fire which contains the blueprint and the power for all its potential evolution. This planetary sacred fire is the carrier flame for our own higher evolution as a species. In Matt 12:40 Jesus said: For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Since every human being is a Microcosm of the Macrocosm (meaning we carry the energies of the Solar System within ourselves), then the purpose of working with the Planetary energies is to attune those higher powers of the Self and efficiently integrate them within our lives. The Elements you have worked with so far served to exalt the Higher Self over the Lower Self-the Ego and infuse the Spirit energy within your consciousness. The next step in the Great Work is to work with the Planetary powers that express through your consciousness.

Just as there is a higher evolutionary power hidden within each person, a similar power is hidden deep within the planet. There is what we could call a ‘global Kundalini’ or `planetary yogic fire’, the power of the planet’s soul. It is coiled like a serpent around the Earth’s core sustaining its primary electrical, pranic and consciousness forces.

The soul of the planet, the planetary Purusha, carries this power as its means of expression and development. The same is true of the universe as a whole. There is a universal Kundalini or serpent power upholding all the worlds, the serpent on which Lord Vishnu, the supreme Person dwells while dreaming the dream of the universe. In this regard, we should re-member that Patanjali, the great rishi who compiled the Yoga Sutras, the guidebook of classical Yoga, was said to be an incarnation of Lord Sesha.

The fire at the center of the Earth has a spiritual basis, a will and purpose hidden behind its metallic and mineral heat and density.

Only a small portion of its energy is accessible to us ordinarily — as we work only with the material resources of the planet, not its spiritual treasures, to which our species is generally blind.

Yet if enough individuals cultivate the fire of Yoga with a consciousness of its roots in the Earth, then this global force of transformation can be aroused to help develop a planetary consciousness in humanity.

The planet has its own soul and sacred fire which contains the blueprint and the power for all its potential evolution. This planetary sacred fire is the carrier flame for our own higher evolution as a species.

The aspiration of the planetary soul is the basis of our own individual spiritual striving. The Earth is seeking God through us — developing life, senses, mind and heart in order to merge into the Infi-nite. We must learn to energize this planetary power of consciousness not only individually but also collectively.

This is the real purpose behind spiritual gatherings, collective rituals or meditation retreats. When individuals come to-gether for inner practices — whether physically or only mentally — they can generate a power that grows geo-metrically according to the degree to which their hearts are attuned and unified.

They can create a powerful psychic energy in the collective mind that can neutralize even the darkest karmas that haunt our species. This is the purpose of satsangas or gatherings of spiritual seekers in the name or in the presence of the guru.

Even individuals working alone can help increase this planetary force, if they access the consciousness in nature or connect to the greater spiritual heritage of the planet. We do have the power to change our world, not from the outside but from within.

From the fire in our hearts we can access the planetary fire and through it the Sun, the stars and the supreme cosmic light of awareness. To do this we must attune our minds to the center of the Earth and the center of the Sun and allow the currents of light, life and love to flow freely between the two.

We must honor the soul of the planet in all of its forms from its metallic core to our own higher intelligence. We must make our life into a ritual, prayer and meditation to carry the spiritual aspiration of all creatures and all the ages. Re-member when you pray or meditate to first honor the Earth on which you sit, not as a mere support but as the very fountain of Divine energy that you are seeking.

The Ascension of the Sacred Fire

However one may define the ascension of the sacred fire, we must enter into its movement in order to really grow in life. It is not the name or form of what we do that matters but the quality of the flame we energize through it. We must awaken the soul individually, collectively and on the planet as a whole, not simply as a religious belief or a per-sonal urge but through a cosmic sense of unity.

We must link our inner fires with the fires of all people, all nature on the planet and the energies of the greater universe beyond. We must unite the light within us with the light around us, merging consciousness into consciousness that has no limits.

The call of the sacred fire takes us to spiritual practice, meditation or Yoga in one form or another. We must heed that call, arousing our soul’s memories to its eternal striv-ing. Our evolutionary journey as a species has just begun. At this point, we are lost in its backwaters and must now make a radical change of course in order to really go for-ward again.

We are all fire beings, with the eyes of the Sun and the intelligence of the stars. We contain the rocks in our bones and the rivers in our veins.

We are made of this universe, which lives within us on all levels of our being.

We are the universe awakening to itself, discovering its secret soul and hidden spirit, reclaiming its greater destiny as a single Being of light.

We are Nature and all of Nature moves through us. We cannot be apart even if we try. We overflow into all Being, which ever arises within us through our very blood and breath.

Our true civilization is that of the cosmos, not that of one nation or one species only. Our current alienation from the conscious universe is a dangerous detour from our real evolutionary path, which we must not let continue.

We must once again embrace nature within and around us, not merely as body but also as spirit. We must reclaim our secret world soul. We must live our sacred fire, even if it consumes us.

We can burn up all darkness, fear and at-tachment into a new radiance of joy.

Our true being will not be lost in the process but will emerge glittering and transformed like pure gold extracted from crude ore. We must strive to transform our planet into a harmoni-ous world that appears like a jewel of love in the greater universe of light. We must fulfill the legacy of our souls, our ancestors and our spiritual guides.

Our Future as a Species

There is an entire higher evolution available to our species. There is a natural force and intelligence within us that we can activate in order to catalyze this process.

The potential is there, should we be ready and willing to pursue it. This higher spiritual evolution is our true future as a species. Our true progress does not consist of a devastated planet overpopulated by a greedy and selfish humanity. It is a planet in which consciousness and nature unite in a supernature, through an enlightened humanity in harmony with its world and aware of its cosmic purpose.

This is an evolution not into time but beyond time and into eternity, where we move beyond history to immortality. We can take the forces of our own nature — our food, breath, impressions, emotions and thoughts — and use them as building blocks for a new vision of both Self and world.

All the tools of Divinity are hidden within us in the very natural rhythms of our lives. We need only energize them on a daily basis and in time they will, quite unex-pectedly, yield a magical transformation beyond our great-est dreams.

If we cultivate our internal fires with love and attention, all the light in the universe must eventually come to us, unraveling the deepest secrets of existence.

As we return to the circle of the sacred fire, it will ex-pand beyond all boundaries, at the same time bringing us back to our spiritual home in the heart that is the real goal of our journey — fire to Fire, light to Light, and conscious-ness to Consciousness!