Guest guest Posted December 24, 2000 Report Share Posted December 24, 2000 Namaste Madhavaji, A Shloka (which is supposed to be from the Tantrasara) defines Pooja as the following. "Prathama Prathima Pooja Japasthothraadi Madhyama | Utthama Maanasee Pooja Soham Poojotthamotthama || " Worshipping the idol is the first step. Better than this is repetition of the holy name or chanting holy verses. Better stiil is contemplation and the last and highest state is to realize , "Iam He"." Anand --- "Madhava K. Turumella" <madhava wrote: > One of our Members Sri PBV Rajan recently asked me a > question: What is Puja? > What is the importance given to it in our system. I > would like to put this > question to all the members of this distinguished > list, in order to bring > forth a meaningful discussion. Yours answers, > insights, comments in this > regard are highly appreciated. Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. / Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 24, 2000 Report Share Posted December 24, 2000 Ayamhi sarva kalppanaam sadhricheenomatomamah Madbhava Sarva bhooteshu mano vakkaya vrittibhi Of all methods of worship,the best in My opinion is to look upon everyone as Myself in thought,word and deed! Thus spoke Bhagawan Sri Krishna in Uddhava Geetha. Anand Natarajan <harihara.geo wrote: Namaste Madhavaji, A Shloka (which is supposed to be from the Tantrasara) defines Pooja as the following. "Prathama Prathima Pooja Japasthothraadi Madhyama | Utthama Maanasee Pooja Soham Poojotthamotthama || " Worshipping the idol is the first step. Better than this is repetition of the holy name or chanting holy verses. Better stiil is contemplation and the last and highest state is to realize , "Iam He"." Anand --- "Madhava K. Turumella" <madhava wrote: > One of our Members Sri PBV Rajan recently asked me a > question: What is Puja? > What is the importance given to it in our system. I > would like to put this > question to all the members of this distinguished > list, in order to bring > forth a meaningful discussion. Yours answers, > insights, comments in this > regard are highly appreciated. Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. / eGroups Sponsor Discussion of Sankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman. Advaitin List Archives available at: http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/ For Temporary stoppage of your Email, send a blank email to <advaitin-nomail > To resume normal delivery of Email, send a blank email to <advaitin-normal > To receive email digest (one per day) send a blank email to <advaitin-digest > To to advaitin list, send a blank email to <advaitin-> Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 24, 2000 Report Share Posted December 24, 2000 DIVINE PUJA In Divine puja you are All... The body is the action. The wisdom you ascertain is the light.. the light of Consciousness The senses are the wafting fragrance of Life in the transient realm... The whisk is the breath of life - which gives life to the vehicle of form..... and the Prasad is the ego self layed at the feet of the Divine... When ALL ego self and action and outcome is surrendered totally.... All that remains is the All - or God - The Source - the Divine Constant - That Which Is - Truth - Consciousness - Bliss.... beyond the ego form, of seeming bound divisions is the Truth of Existance... All Existance is a Divine Puja and you are the Divine Prasad... Ego - is the offering - Form or body -the action - and That Which Is offered to is Self devoid of ego sense, Truth Beyond Division...... yet also form in the transient.... Non - dual ...... forever Non-Dual..... ever in Form and Non-Form.... the transient that rests in the Constant.... Nature seen and spirit unseen form the One..... and yet beyond is the void or emptiness of Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss..... the Self of All... beyond birth and death..... permeating All and yet separate and distinct.... beyond the paradox of minds illusions and forms divisions..... The Ocean of Divine Consciousness is the basis of All Life.... All that is seen and unseen..... That Which Is... Beyond All Concepts and divisions yet seen in all its glory within the seeming duality called life and existance..... Love and Blessings _______________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 25, 2000 Report Share Posted December 25, 2000 Harih Om Sri Ganga Karmokar: Namsakar, Beautifully said! Welcome to the list and thanks for sharing your wisdom. We are looking forward to your active and continuos participation, warmest regards, Advaitin List Moderators advaitin , "Ganga Karmokar" <crystalkundalini@h...> wrote: > DIVINE PUJA > > In Divine puja you are All... >...... > That Which Is - Truth - Consciousness - Bliss.... > beyond the ego form, of seeming bound divisions is the Truth of Existance... > All Existance is a Divine Puja and you are the Divine Prasad... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 25, 2000 Report Share Posted December 25, 2000 On Sun, 24 Dec 2000, Anand Natarajan wrote: > > Namaste Madhavaji, > > A Shloka (which is supposed to be from the > Tantrasara) defines Pooja as the following. > > "Prathama Prathima Pooja Japasthothraadi Madhyama | > Utthama Maanasee Pooja Soham Poojotthamotthama || > > " Worshipping the idol is the first step. Better than > this is repetition of the holy name or chanting holy > verses. Better stiil is contemplation and the last and > highest state is to realize , "Iam He"." > > Anand > > --- "Madhava K. Turumella" <madhava > wrote: > > One of our Members Sri PBV Rajan recently asked me a > > question: What is Puja? > > What is the importance given to it in our system. I > > would like to put this > > question to all the members of this distinguished > > list, in order to bring > > forth a meaningful discussion. Yours answers, > > insights, comments in this > > regard are highly appreciated. > namaste. I was planning on writing for sometime what I understand by pUjA, both from the readings of the various books and by contemplation. Shri Madhava's question and shri Anand Natarajan's response reactivated this hitherto-subdued thought again. The ancient sages know that they are the paramAtmA, the non-dual formless SELF. Yet, they have digested the thinking jale viShNuH sthale viShNuH viShNuH parvatamastake jvAlAmAlAkule viShNuH sarvaM viShNumayaM jagat.h and they have worshipped the feeling of God and have enjoyed unparalleled bliss. Not only that, they have described certain procedures of pUjA in the vedas and in purAnAs and opened the doors for others to follow them. The nine stages of bhakti we see in the bhAgavata is part of that description. Concerned that ignorant people, being fully immersed in saMsAra, may forget that non-dual SELF and of the bliss associated with that Knowledge, these sages, with foresight, described pUjA vidhAnA-s so that human can concentrate his/her attention on God. A convincing example of the importance of pUjA for us advaitins is the description of bhagavatpAda shri shankara in the literature. shri shankara is a bhakta of unparalled magnitude, yet the foremost commentator on the non-dual SELF. The best description of shri shankara that I came across is: antaH shAkto bahiH shaivaH sabhAbhyAM vaiShnavottamaH vyAkhyAnakAle cAdwaitI .... why pUjA ? The human, suffering through various miseries of saMsAra, wishes to get out of that cycle. When he/she finds that all human effort does not lead to any tangible solutions, the human surrenders him/herself to an unknown higher entity. We have seen this many times. From that moment, the human comes forward to worship God. This particular worship of God is with an associated sought-out solution for the fulfillment of desire and is called sakAma pUjA. This sakAma pUjA is not without benefit because it develops a belief in God and it recognizes the God as the higher authority. But a more important pUjA is kr^itajnatApUjA. One of the greatest virtues a human can have is kr^itajnatA (gratitude). When the human has that quality, he/she will be surely blessed with IshwarapUjA. When a human X helps human Y, Y is forever grateful to X and that is natural. Also natural is that the human must forever be grateful to Ishwara the one responsible for our life, who is everything for us and who gives us the well-being. The one who is aware of this gratefulness to God cannot but worship or do pUjA to God. pUjA is an external sign of the inner gratitude. This pUjA is niShkAma pUjA or kr^itajnatApUjA. We all know how happy we feel when we get the opportunity to express our (real) gratefulness to someone else. That joy will be increased thousand-fold when we do kr^itajnatA pUjA, for ever being grateful to God for giving us the opportunity for what we are. Now let us look at the origin and meaning of pUjA. "gauravita prItihetu kriyA pUjA" The actions that are done in order to cause favorable attitude in one who is respected is called pUjA. The one who is respectable is the one who has achieved eminence in any of the facets. To cause a favorable attitude in that one towards us, we perform pUjA. In whichever way we see, God is the most respectable entity. So, pUjA is action done to cause favorable attitude in Him. However, we know God as nityatr^iptA (ever satisfied), nirapekshA (with no desires) and impartial with no special affection to anyone whether one conducts pUjA or not. Then, what is the purpose of pUjA? The statement "gauravita prItihetu kriyA pUjA" can be interpreted in the following way: "gauravita prIti" can be interpreted as saptamI tatpuruSha rather than ShaShTi vibhakti. Then the meaning is prIti towards gauravita (affection or pleasing towards God), i.e., pUjA are those actions which when performed will increase our affection towards that respectable eminent person. So, we are doing pUjA not for a favorable return from God, but for increasing our prIti towards God, i.e, to take our mind away from the transient desires of the saMsAra and to concentrate our mind on the more permanent God. The God may be saguNa or nirguNa, it does not matter, it is a higher ideal from our transient desires. The most respectable entity is the Atman and the one who is devoted to that Knowledge of the SELF is the greatest devotee. Regards Gummuluru Murthy ------------------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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