by Dr Divya Dhasmana
The Himalayan Institute (HI) in Pennsylvania, USA conducted a 6 month long Maha Sri Yaga in Khajuraho, India from September 2025 to March 2026.
Put simplistically, it was a time to combine human effort with the spirit of nature and access the sacred. Now. At this time of great need.
People had the opportunity to participate and contribute in person via a 15 day fire offering that occurred monthly.
What follows is a personal recollection of my visit. That, which is currently available to me. As with all life changing experiences, the experience continues.
Looking back on October 2025, by Divya Dhasmana
How does one describe an experience?
How does one describe an elevated feeling with mundane language?
It is impossible.
Poets perhaps succeed.
I am not a poet.
But I will try.
One word.
Sri.
As that was my whole world in the three weeks there. I shall return to Sri in due course.
First, allow me to set the scene.
The campus in central India is simplicity, beauty and elegance. In all its roles. From fulfilling a Maha Yaga practice, to providing gifts to the staff, or joyously celebrating Diwali or a birthday party for a five year old earth soul.
The grass is green and cared for, the borders neat. The expansive banyan tree at the entrance shares and spreads her majestic branches generously, allowing shelter and companionship to humans and cows of the campus. The smaller banyan tree of the 64 yoginis and Mother Matangi is distinctly conspicuous adjacent to the Shrine. An other worldly space. Very singular.
The cows hold their heads high. They look comfortable and own their space.
The coloured birds perch on display, or fly by, and sing their songs.
The flowers radiate their vibrance and life force. Orange marigolds. Lots and lots, rows and rows of marigolds. Magenta hibiscus, pink honeysuckle, yellow oleander. Nature standing tall, lining the footpaths. As it does our lives.
Overlooking all of us during the practice was Mother Divine, looking down, guarding, protecting, watching, loving.
For me, the day began early in the dark (my room partner was up an hour earlier still!) to exercise either on the roof of the building or when it rained, in the sheltered practice hall in front of the main house. I shared the space with a meditator or two, shrouded in silent prayer.
Just before 6, I would save a cup of chai in my room to drink later, then hastily make my way for 6 am prayers. Fortunately, I would just make it in time for the first bell. Others would be in the sadhana chamber already, preparing their breath for prayers. My practice then began, first in the sadhana chamber, then on the roof adjacent to the Havan Kund, in the sun facing Ma. The entrance of the Shrine, the Maha Mandapa contains the wisdom of Sri Vidya, the sadhana chamber the vibration of her unconditional love, and all through the campus is her breath.I felt genuinely nourished by the 15-day Maha Yaga practice. There was a force that motivated and moved one to participate. No inertia. Of course, the physical food was no different. Bright colours (esp the purple homegrown dragon fruit) on a plate satisfied all layers of senses. Meeraji’s nourishing hand was everywhere to be felt. The chatter over meals was explorative and friendly. Panditji’s late morning lecture would follow on most days. Sometimes a circuitous route (because how DO you convey an experience…) but always the transference of that something which lit the fire inside. To want more. To be more.
Then followed the group Sri Sukta practice of 30 recitations. The first day I counted and lost track. The second I kept track but ended up exceeding the count. The third day I correctly counted. Vasanas. Then in the days following I stopped counting and tried to be.
The afternoons were generally free. Sometimes friendly yoga. Then chai and Indian snacks at teatime to break the day. I loved the chai and snacks! I would then return to a period of practice before the evening group Havan. Occasionally I would eat the evening meal if I felt hungry. For someone who is usually always hungry, it was a refreshing surprise not to crave food. Havan was a chance to offer the sacred into the fire of deities who transformed it and dispersed it as appropriate to replenish depleted mother nature. Offering. Giving. Listening. Grateful. (It strikes me that I am able to write the least about the most significant part of the 3 week practice. So much more to learn…) Panditji would also reach out to someone at the end of the practice and discuss something seemingly everyday. But actually he was touching those who needed it. He always knew when and how.
It really felt like an ashram. A place to practice, to connect with the divine without and within. Like a hive, there is a large team of people who work quietly with vigour, behind the scenes, to keep the physical aspects just so. They are respectful whilst performing their duties. Serenity pervades. The kind that results from powerful vibrations that only nature provides. This is a place where dimensions are experienced.
The vibration changed noticeably when the practice ended. The space closed. I yearned to stay and wept in front of the banyan tree. She told me my time there was complete. My job was out there in the world. Not here. I was to go.
And so, I did. Changed. Yes. Alive to my inner world. Yes. Ready for the outer world. Certainly not. But that was the job. To bridge the two. A whole lifetime spent not wanting to wear the badges of the world but feeling that I should. A turning away from the inner world, which was pulling, but not receiving. In limbo. A foot in either world and a heart in only one. A heart that I didn’t make time for. Stuck. It meant that things had to change going forward.
And so, life continues. I make myself sit down daily and breathe and practice. I search in nature for other ways to access consciousness. I try and remember.
Sri
Back to Sri.
Always back to Sri.
I see her smiling, resting, being.
She radiates fullness, ripeness, a dew-covered rosebud at dawn.
Gloriously confident in her being, beautiful, tingly, alive, vibrant, thrilling, quietly glowing. All is present simultaneously.
To me. For now.
Forever changed and forever changing.
I am indescribably (again) grateful to the Himalayan Tradition and its custodians for lighting my cobblestoned path. For adding glitter and glow, warmth and wisdom, curiosity and exploration and a reason to truly BE.
Please visit this sacred space. Click here to visit the HI Khajuraho website.
As is said by HI – on a T-shirt I have!
‘Join the practice
Change the world’
HI at Poulstone:
If you are already familiar with HI, come to an August gathering for a Sri Sukta practice weekend at Poulstone. Contact divya@poulstone for more information.
If you want to find out more, come to join a series of events that we are organising. Contact rajesh@poulstone for further information.
Join in at Poulstone
If you want visit or volunteer at Poulstone, do get in touch.
Mother Tree Mornings occur on Fridays, and involve gardening, coffee and cakes! Contact divya@poulstone to learn more.
