Darshan of Vajra Vairochani, The Goddess Who Illuminates Like a Flash of Lightning

Om vidyut sakti swarupinyai namaha
I offer my love and reverence to Divine Mother, who embodies raw electrical power

The sacred element of fire has probably always fascinated people, and lightning has certainly always been a source of terror and awe. I’ll never forget one of my earliest experiences with Amma, when a sacred fire ceremony seemed to call forth an incredible response from Mother Nature.

Many religions and cultures use candles, incense, sacred flames, or fire imagery in their ceremonies. In the ancient Hindu or Vedic tradition, fire has tremendous importance, and the Vedic rishis developed many powerful ceremonies  to channel the spiritual power of fire for individual and societal benefit. Vedic fire ceremonies are called “yajnas” or “homas.” Yajna derives from the Sanskrit root “yuj,” which means to unite or merge. Homa comes from the root “hu,” which means to offer. Thus, a homa enables us to merge in the Divine by making offerings, which actually represent the offering of our very own selves.

An Unforgettable Fire Ceremony

Throughout the years, I’ve been fortunate to attend many Vedic homas that were intensely moving, spiritually profound, and purifying on the deepest level imaginable. But out of all these auspicious homas, there is one homa that I will never forget, even though it took place in a simple setting, with no elaborate preparations or Vedic priests. Several years ago, I attended one of my guru’s meditation retreats in the Catskill mountains of New York state. On the last day of the retreat, a Sri Lalita Sahasranama Homa was held. This is a homa in which Divine Mother Lalita’s thousand names are recited, while making an offering of rice pudding into the fire with each name.

The homa was held outside, amidst the beautiful splendor of Nature. There were plenty of rolling fields and beautiful trees, and the scene was framed by the gorgeously verdant Catskills. Several devotees were blessed with the opportunity to chant the Sri Lalita Sahasranama mantras that day. With each blissfully sweet name of Divine Mother, sweet pongal, which is said to please Divine Mother and give healing to the Earth, was offered into the specially prepared fire.

Divine Energy Starts to Build as an Unexpected Storm Approaches

As the chanting continued, I could feel a profound spiritual energy building, and the homa vibrations made it very easy to enter into a meditative state. Around the 500th name, I suddenly noticed that one corner of the sky was starting to turn very dark. The day had begun with absolutely clear skies and not a trace of a cloud. No storms had been predicted. However, as the energy kept building, I watched as the beautiful deep blue stormclouds rapidly overtook the entire sky. As they approached, the air became palpably electric with a special presence, and by the 800th name, the clouds suddenly broke open directly above us.

As the rain pelted down, people raced to suspend a tarp above the homa fire, so that it would be protected from the rain. Once a homa is started, it must be completed properly, and the fire should not go out. Many devotees had the rare opportunity to “shelter” God in the form of the homa fire by holding the tarp aloft. The rain poured down so abundantly that soon we were all sitting in two inches of water, completely soaked.

Lightning Flashes Both Within and Without

As lightning flashed and thunder cracked around us, I felt myself being overtaken by intense surges of electrical energy within my body. Suddenly, a torrential stream of energy was moving up my spine, and electrical vibrations were shooting down my arms and out my hands, which spontaneously formed chin mudra. This is a mudra commonly used in meditation, in which each thumb and forefinger are joined together. Feeling myself locked in a meditative posture even as I was becoming utterly drenched, I surrendered to the energy within.

Every rolling boom of thunder seemed to be Divine Mother’s voice, speaking in a powerful and majestic “storm-language.” I felt each crash of thunder penetrate deep inside my ribcage, and the sound vibrations seemed to energize and heal my heart from the inside out. The thunder seemed like Divine Mother’s blissful laughter, and as it rippled through my mind in the form of waves of bliss, I began laughing uncontrollably from sheer joy and exhilaration.

It felt as if Divine Mother herself had come to bless everyone in the form of the storm, and I had no doubt that we were having darshan of Vajra Vairochani or Vidyut Sakti Swarupini, Divine Mother who is embodied in the power of electrical energy. Vajra means thunderbolt in Sanskrit, and Vairochani means “She who radiates brilliant light.” It seemed clear that I was having darshan of Mother in her powerful form as Vajra Vairochani.

With the combination of the sacred homa fire, the torrential downpour of rain, and the intensely powerful lightning crackling all around us, my subtle body felt energized and activated beyond belief. According to David Frawley, Vajra Vairochani is another name for Chhinnamasta, who represents the free flow of the kundalini energy within the sushumna, or central energy channel. So it’s not surprising that the appearance of Vajra Vairochani in the form of thunder and lightning would cause my own kundalini energy to flow intensely up my spine.

This experience seemed to highlight how intimately connected the Vedic tradition is with Nature, and how Sri Lalita Sahasranama is profoundly connected to the five elements as well as the subtle body of light within us. After the homa, when I came close to Amma to receive her blessing, Amma began laughing sweetly when she saw me. Touching her head to mine, she said in a joking manner, “We had fun at the homa, didn’t we!” I just smiled, too immersed in bliss to speak.

Om vajra vairochanyai namaha
I offer my loving reverence to Divine Mother, who illuminates my heart-space like a brilliant flash of lightning