Can we imagine life without the sun? With a rising sun, we feel like being reborn. Everything is filled with new Prana, or life force. The entire nature is blooming and birds are singing. After a dead and calm night, every day is rising with new life energy and opportunities; it is like a victory over darkness. Without the blessing of the sun, there is no light, no heat, no oxygen, no plants, no food, and no animals. In short, there would be no life without the sun. Tapan Kriya is a very simple sadhana to immerse ourselves with the divine rays of the sun.
The Law of Giving and Receiving
This universe runs on a Law of Giving and Receiving. It is a dynamic cycle of life where every existence has a reason, and everything depends on something else. There is a proverb that says ‘we can’t get anything free in this world’. We are thankful for scientific inventions, but we have to pay for every small comfort in our lives. As social individuals, we survive because of our friends and family, and in return, we have to show our care and respect towards them. In Hinduism, we are preached that we also have a debt of our parents’ and Guru’s teachings and their unconditional love! Nothing is free.
The Only God We See
Now, this understanding makes us think about the sun. Sun is the prime source of vitality and sustainer of life on earth. It fills us with a new life force every morning to bring us out of temporary death. It provides air for us to breathe, food to eat, and water to sustain our life. But we shouldn’t take its blessing for granted; it also deserves some respect and attention in return. So how do we pay back a debt to the sun, which is responsible for our existence?
Sun is the only ‘God’ we see with our naked eyes. In ancient times, when people didn’t have a concept of different deities and religions, Sun was their ultimate God. Their lives were connected with nature and the cycle of the sun and they used to live happily for more than a hundred years. But nowadays, because of scientific inventions, the quality of our life is compromised due to our disconnection with nature, or Prakruti.
What is ‘Tapan Kriya’?
Tapan Kriya helps us to re-establish this connection. The word ‘Tapan’ is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘tap’, which means ‘to burn’. It is closely related to the spiritual word ‘Tapasya’ which means ‘burning off past karma through the heat of penance or austerity’. Sun is the direct reference of heat, also known as Tapan. And ‘Kriya’ means to practice.
In short, Tapan Kriya is like taking a sunbath to purify our whole inner being. Offering water with our positive feeling is also a part of this sadhana; when this water gets vaporized, positivity also gets amplified. It is the simplest way to reach a lot of living creatures at one time and create a positive atmosphere. Let’s learn how to perform it.
Performing Tapan Kriya
Every morning, stand in front of the rising sun with some water in a small pot, while chanting the following mantra:
Oṃ Suryadeva! sahstramso, tejorase jagatpate,
Anukampaya mam bhaktya, grihanardhyam divakara
Om suryaya namah, adityaya namah, bhaskaraya namah
If you don’t know the sun mantra, then the Gayatri mantra can be chanted:
Oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ tatsaviturvareṇyaṃ
bhargo devasyadhīmahi dhiyo yo naḥ prachodayāt
– Rigveda 3.62.10
Offer this water to the sun in a continuous thin stream; and pray, ‘I pour my good feelings with this water and offer it to you. With your heat, please spread it to every living entity in this world’. This is the fastest and surest way to spread positive energy to the whole world. Leave a sip of water in the pot at the end. Take two or three drops of this water on left palm, rub them together to spread it evenly on both palms. Then face wet palms towards sunlight, chant Gayatri mantra for twelve times (you may chant only three or five times).
During the mantra chanting, feel like you’re absorbing prana or the vitality of the sun through wet palms to the whole body. This prana is helping to purify by burning all my past karmas. Afterward, apply these energized palms on the head, face and whole body to absorb radiating energy of the sun to every cell.
Tapan Kriya is part of my daily morning routine. This whole practice takes only two minutes. In this short time, we can show our deep admiration to Sun God, who blesses us with new consciousness every day; and offer our healing prayers to every creature in the world.
Definite Way to Enhance Mental Power and Intellect
It is a good practice to connect our children to nature and the sun and also increase their memory and intelligence. When I teach this practice to children, their innocent minds sometimes ask:
“Then, how can I practice this sadhana on cloudy days, if I don’t see the sun?”
Well, we all know the power of mental prayers. The energy of the sun is still reaching mother earth. So we can practice the sadhana facing the direction of the sun, and it will bring the same result.
“What can I do on harsh winter days, when I can’t step outside of my house?”
During winter days, I stand close to a window or any glass door where I can see the sun. I put a live plant pot in front of me. So, the water which I offer goes to the plant, while I perform the sadhana with the same devotion.
The radiating energy of the sun is the ultimate source of life. Sun is the center of the whole universe. Movement and changes of every planet depend on the sun, including seasonal changes. It provides us heat and light, which inspires us to be a positive light to others.
Mother Nature is suffering from continuously increased negativity. When it is too much for her to handle, she tries to balance herself with natural calamities. With Tapan Kriya, we can easily help our beloved Mother and every living creature by spreading positivity. Let’s make this effective practice as an unseparated part of our daily routine, and connect more and more people to practice it.
