Purifying the 5 elements

by Eleni

​Have you ever done an elemental purification practice in yoga, but have never fully understood them? From a non-dual Tantrik perspective, the five elemenst of earth, water, fire, wind and space elements aren’t just aspects experienced in nature. They are considered phasic energies of pure light that press into this world to have visual appearance of reality arise,. And all of this happens within the space of he mind.
What the hell does all this mean????

One of the most pragmatic ways to understand the five elements is to think about the qualities of each and how they are expressing through our emotions and ways of being in the world. When we engage in elemental purification practices, we want to purposefully invoke the karmas of each element so that we can resolve them and transform.
Consider each element in the following way:
EARTH qualities: associated with the continuity of experience and the continuity of awareness, immobility, grounded
Purified earth: stability, persevering, security, confidence in your own psychology
Unpurified earth: subborness, inflexible, holding on to emotions, attachment, close mindedness.
WATER qualities, it is moist and binds things together, it gives cohesiveness.
Purified water: Generosity, compassion, sensuality, nourishment
Unpurified: not strong in conviction, neediness (way too much cohesion), greed and craving
FIRE qualities: Luminous, clarity, dynamism
Purified fire: optimisim, inspiration, enthusiasm, warmth in life, courageous
Unpurified: over ambitious, destructive, always angry, too abrasive, over joyous
WIND qualities: movement, strength, the mover of all elements
Purified wind: Powerful, animate, reciprocal, fast, being able to sense things
Unpurified: anxiety, paranoia, weakness, too much thinking
SPACE qualities: it holds and hosts everything that can arise within it, expansive, undisturbed
Purified space: equonimous, expansive, unconditional
Unpurified: lonely, dissociative, disorientation, confusion