Within the teachings of Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov we can find a great many methods of purification. He taught us that purity is the foundation of spiritual life so disciples work to eliminate impurities on all planes of our being.
Methods of purification
Practising the Yoga of Nutrition and doing a weekly 24 hour fast are both good ways to cleanse our physical body of toxins. The daily breathing exercises also help to purify the bloodstream and clear the mind as they improve brain function.
Perhaps one of the most challenging tasks facing disciples is to rid their astral body of all those self-centred, animalistic feelings and desires that originate from our obstinate lower nature: for instance, sensuality, anger, aggression, jealousy, fear, possessiveness and selfishness in all its guises.
To truly have ‘a heart as pure as crystal’, we have to free ourselves from the grip of these lower manifestations. One way of doing that is to pray, to listen to or play sacred music and to sing the mystic songs of master Peter Deunov. Music, prayer and song all serve to awaken those feelings of devotion to the divine and universal love through which the higher Buddhic nature expresses itself.
The four elements
The teachings of Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov indicate how we can enlist the help of the angels of the four elements in our work of purification. Each element has a specific work to do in relation to our physical and subtle bodies. Here is an extract from ‘A New Earth’ where he describes this elemental work:
‘All human beings have seeds of negativity in their subconscious, and these seeds have no difficulty in finding suitable conditions in which to grow and thrive. Eventually they can become a real handicap in the lives of their hosts. This is why, when disciples are already well advanced on the path of evolution, they are given the task of penetrating into the depths of their own subconscious and, with the help of the angels of the four elements- the angels of earth, water, air and fire- of getting rid of those toxic seeds. They either burn them with the help of fire, scatter them with the help of wind, drown them in water, or bury them in the earth. In this way they achieve total freedom.
It is important to know the particular role of each of the four elements.
Earth
The earth has the particular property of absorbing our impurities. It acts as a magnet to attract and soak up every kind of dirt and impurity, and sends it all down to be processed and transformed in its underground laboratories, You can see for yourselves how the earth absorbs and transforms all our wastes and gives them back to us in the form of flowers and succulent fruits. This is why, whenever you feel weighed down by problems, anxieties or impurities, I advise you to give them to the earth.
Make a little hole in the ground and put your fingers into it, and then talk to the earth as to an intelligent, living being, asking it to relieve you of all that torments you. Say, ‘Oh Earth, my mother, you have given me all the elements of my physical body, and I thank you for them. And now I beg you to take away all the impurities that have been accumulating in me for years, and to send them to your marvellous workshops and laboratories. Transform them into the purest elements and then send them back to me, so that I may accomplish my work in the world.’ To conclude, you can recite the cabbalistic formula: Taro-Tora-Rota-Tarota- Rotaro.
Water
Water is an element that is particularly effective for purification, for it has the capacity to extract and absorb elements from whatever it flows through. On the etheric plane, also, water has the same capacity to retain and absorb etheric elements, and this is why initiates work with water in order to wash away psychic impurities. They pronounce certain formulas and use certain substances in order to exalt the water and enhance its power.
But water can only help you to obtain true purification if you use it as a medium through which to reach the spiritual, cosmic water that is above and beyond psychic water. Until you make contact with that water, you can never completely wash away the layers of impure fluids that cover you.
Using water mentally
Sometimes you feel the need to purify yourself when it is not possible to have a bath or wash with water. That does not matter: you can still take a spiritual bath and wash yourself mentally. Imagine the coolness of water on your skin, the sensation of a shower of water pouring over you and washing away all your impurities. A spiritual bath can really truly cleanse you because, after all, water is not primarily physical. True water can only be found within the human heart; this was the water that Jesus was speaking about when he said, ‘From his heart will flow rivers of living water.’
Physical water is simply the medium through which we make contact with spiritual water.
Air
On a windy day, go out and walk in the wind and ask the Angel of air to blow away all your cares and impurities.
Fire
Fire represents the borderline between the physical and the etheric worlds; it is a door opening on the world above. This is why fire makes the divine world more accessible to us.
Exercise in front of an open fire
Have you ever wondered exactly what happens to make dead, dark, twisted branches so bright and beautiful?
Isn’t it miraculous to see something that was so black being transformed into something so luminous? But you can do the same: when you are in front of your own fireplace, you can use your imagination to burn your dead branches- that is, all your atavistic, instinctive tendencies. All that useless dead wood- into the fire with it! Fire is capable of converting everything into heat and light, and it is you who stand to gain; otherwise, what use would all those dead branches be to you? They can give you neither warmth nor light because you lack the power to transform them. Give them to the fire, and it will give them back to you in the form of light and heat.’
Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov
So, once this work of purification has begun, it becomes evident that the task necesitates a whole science! For anyone who wishes to learn more, there are many more methods and prayers in ‘A New Earth.
Related content:
Purity is the foundation of spirituality
It’s inspiring and educative. Thanks