Guest guest Posted January 15, 2002 Report Share Posted January 15, 2002 Dear Mr.Birendra, It sure is nice to hear from you guys about these topics. I did not take any kind of offence about these. I am very happy that I am getting such nice responses from you and others like you. I am basically looking for a lot of answers. I have a lot of questions in mind and so far the answers I have got have only triggered more questions. I shall mail in detail about these questions in my next mail. In the meanwhile, I had asked some questions in www.allexperts.com on hinduism. My questions were: 1)I want to know the reasons why we have to light a lamp in front of god and why we have to give arti to them. Usually showing fire is considered as a defensive gesture. What is the reason behind this? 2)Why do we offer food items to god, after preparing it in the most sacred manner (not tasting, putting on untouched clothes etc)and ultimately eat the same food? Is this a practice or does it have any actual practical reason? I got answer which again are not to my satisfaction by one Mr.Avadooth: "Dear vijay, The supreme Lord is the only enjoyer. As he declares in the GITA - iam the only enjoyer and all that exists are the energies of the Supreme Lord. Hence everything we do and every thing that exists should be engaged for the pleasure of the Supreme person. Our dharma is engaging every moment of our existance to satisfy the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. So cooking is an activity to prepare delicious dishes for the pleasure of the Lord. After the Lord enjoys the delicious foods we partake it as prasadam. Food prepared for ones own sensual satisfaction is sin but food prepared with consciousness of pleasing the supreme and then partaking of prasadam leads to moksha or liberation. Since he is the supreme Lord and we are trying to please him we take utmost care and attention while preparing food stuffs. We cook for the Lord only after taking bath since after bath we are clean and in good consciousness. Also we should keep the kitchen clean to ensure dirt, cockroaches and other things does not get into food. How much your mother takes while cooking for you? similarly we should take special care to satisfy the beautiful Lord. More we work for our sensual satisfaction - more the misery. Work becomes joy and ecstacy when the motivation is to please the supreme person Sri Krishna. Bhakthi yoga is any authorised activity done with the pure motivation of pleasing the supreme.... Offering arotik is woshipping the eternal blissfull form of the supreme - it is also for the pleasure of the supreme. His sensual satisfaction is the goal and dharma of all living beings. Conclusion of Gita is that the Lord advises arjuna to give up all activities and engage activities for Lord's satisfaction only. For more details visit - www.gosai.com/chaitanya warm regards, Avadhoot " Thanks for your inputs and insight into a lot of things. Vijay Bhaskar _______ Get your free @ address at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 16, 2002 Report Share Posted January 16, 2002 dear vijay, > I am basically looking for a lot of answers. I have a lot of questions > in mind and so far the answers I have got have only triggered more > questions. I shall mail in detail about these questions in my next mail. > > In the meanwhile, I had asked some questions in www.allexperts.com on > hinduism. My questions were: > > 1)I want to know the reasons why we have to light a lamp in front of god > and why we have to give arti to them. Usually showing fire is considered Nice to hear from you, iam pleased by your inquistivness,persistence in efforts, ur sincerity in approach,sort of innocnece, i willingfully want to be helpful to u,iam only worried by the volume of questions, i have never seen somany of paras of questions, never before,so to make replies more managble we will deal with 1-3 paras at a time related to a topic(say for ex love), but i have time constraints due to lot of work load , so you can expect my replies only during the weekends, so try to check ur mails on monday or so, in mean time i may have some quetions for you, try to check mail atleast twice a week, imay or may not reply in between of the week,though ill be checking the mails, so before we begin 1)can you tell me something abt ur self,ur family, ur goals , ur hobbies, the things u like the most, the things you dislike, ur bad experiences, ur good experiences (this is not a condition, u can tell in breif , the highlights good/bad of ur life to the level that u feel ok, other wise you need not tell) this is only basically to understand u. i wonder how u can be at peace with somany questions unanswered, when did start ur quest, how long do u wish to continue, what are the other objectives of life in addtion to this. what are the efforts u put to achieve ur objectives in the past. where are located, what is ur job... Please answer only things that u feel comfortable, if you dont answer any of these things also its 100% OK with me, this is just trying to understand you, the quest you are doing is not a social norm, but still why do u want to do? osho is not realised person, that is for sure, so my request to u is dont take his teachings into consideration fianally who do u think created the sun and stars... i want to know what u believe, not what u read. talk to u later take care Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2002 Report Share Posted January 18, 2002 Namaste Sri Vijay! I suspect that you are a quasi/full blown vedantist so approaches of arati and pooja may not appeal to you. There are many approaches in Hinduism, all may not work for everyone and there is no sense is figuring out everything. I have a policy- use what helps me and discard the rest. > In the meanwhile, I had asked some questions in > www.allexperts.com on > hinduism. My questions were: > > 1)I want to know the reasons why we have to light a > lamp in front of god > and why we have to give arti to them. Usually > showing fire is considered > as a defensive gesture. What is the reason behind > this? I will attempt to answer this question. The path of bhakti consists in surrendering oneself to a higher source. This surrender does not come out of fear but out of profound love. So to start with I love the deity, and would do anything to please him; actually the start is when I need to get something done by him, so I try to satisfy/please him. What then starts out as a selfish activity soon blossoms into profound and soul love(much the same as many men fall in love head over heels initially out of exterior looks, and so fall in true love with the beauty inside). And then I like doing anything that pleases the deity. The fire is not a defensive gesture but is a portal to the inner astral world. Agni is the quickest conveyor to the devas. Fire also sancitifies the atmosphere. Now all this talk of astral and devas may seen unscientific but there are numerous people who have this astral vision developed. To have this vision one must have great powers concentration.. and when you have you can also see them. > > 2)Why do we offer food items to god, after preparing > it in the most > sacred manner (not tasting, putting on untouched > clothes etc)and > ultimately eat the same food? Is this a practice or > does it have any > actual practical reason? How does you mother prepare food? She (should if she does not already) prepares that with great love. When food is prepared by a person in a good attitude, there is a subtle difference that can be sensed by the discerning person. When food is prepared with hateful thoughts, that is sensed sometimes by those eating it. So when I have the greatest and holiest person visiting me, this greatest person knows all my thoughts and there is nothing that I can hide from him, so it behooves on me to prepare everything with a good attitude. And with accompanying cleanliness. During the height of poooja, the devas from the inner world do visit you. They are turned off by dirt both mental and physical and hence the need for such an attitude. In a more rational sense, the act of pooja is reflective of the person itself. By enforceing cleanliness outwardly, eventually one becomes clean on the inside also. When one becomes spiritually advanced once can discard all these outward precautions. Ultimately one realises that there is no difference between the upasaka and the upasana murthy; till one has this realization, he has to follow restrictions. Aum Namasivaya Vijay > > I got answer which again are not to my satisfaction > by one Mr.Avadooth: > > "Dear vijay, > > The supreme Lord is the only enjoyer. As he declares > in the GITA - iam > the only enjoyer and all that exists are the > energies of the Supreme > Lord. Hence everything we do and every thing that > exists should be > engaged for the pleasure of the Supreme person. Our > dharma is engaging > every moment of our existance to satisfy the Supreme > Lord Sri Krishna. > > So cooking is an activity to prepare delicious > dishes for the pleasure > of the Lord. After the Lord enjoys the delicious > foods we partake it as > prasadam. > Food prepared for ones own sensual satisfaction is > sin but food prepared > with consciousness of pleasing the supreme and then > partaking of > prasadam leads to moksha or liberation. Since he is > the supreme Lord and > we are trying to please him we take utmost care and > attention while > preparing food stuffs. We cook for the Lord only > after taking bath since > after bath we are clean and in good consciousness. > Also we should keep > the kitchen clean to ensure dirt, cockroaches and > other things does not > get into food. How much your mother takes while > cooking for you? > similarly we should take special care to satisfy the > beautiful Lord. > > More we work for our sensual satisfaction - more the > misery. > Work becomes joy and ecstacy when the motivation is > to please the > supreme person Sri Krishna. Bhakthi yoga is any > authorised activity done > with the pure motivation of pleasing the supreme.... > > > Offering arotik is woshipping the eternal blissfull > form of the supreme > - it is also for the pleasure of the supreme. His > sensual satisfaction > is the goal and dharma of all living beings. > > Conclusion of Gita is that the Lord advises arjuna > to give up all > activities and engage activities for Lord's > satisfaction only. > > For more details visit - www.gosai.com/chaitanya > > warm regards, > Avadhoot " > > > Thanks for your inputs and insight into a lot of > things. > > Vijay Bhaskar > > > _______ > > Get your free @ address at > > > Send FREE video emails in Mail! http://promo./videomail/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2002 Report Share Posted January 18, 2002 Namaste Vijay, The reply that you got from Avadhoot was a really good post. My rejoinder is that if you dont feel like doing this, then discard it. The feeling must come from within- now to those people who have this feeling from within, they try to impose it on everyone else just so that everyone can taste a small inkling of that love. But as with many good intentioned efforts this can backfire, forcibly doing something results in strong hatred. When that love is overflowing, God personally comes and gives darshan. I personally know of someone who has had several darshans of Krishna, now this person is a totally unassuming simple guy and one would not think that he is a spiritual giant. But over the course of many years, I realised his true worth. People like him are the real testimony that there is something at the end of the spiritual road. Aum namasivaya, Vijay --- Yoga man <childofdevi wrote: > > Namaste Sri Vijay! > > I suspect that you are a quasi/full blown vedantist > so > approaches of arati and pooja may not appeal to you. > There are many approaches in Hinduism, all may not > work for everyone and there is no sense is figuring > out everything. I have a policy- use what helps me > and > discard the rest. > > > In the meanwhile, I had asked some questions in > > www.allexperts.com on > > hinduism. My questions were: > > > > 1)I want to know the reasons why we have to light > a > > lamp in front of god > > and why we have to give arti to them. Usually > > showing fire is considered > > as a defensive gesture. What is the reason behind > > this? > > I will attempt to answer this question. The path of > bhakti consists in surrendering oneself to a higher > source. This surrender does not come out of fear but > out of profound love. So to start with I love the > deity, and would do anything to please him; actually > the start is when I need to get something done by > him, > so I try to satisfy/please him. What then starts out > as a selfish activity soon blossoms into profound > and > soul love(much the same as many men fall in love > head > over heels initially out of exterior looks, and so > fall in true love with the beauty inside). And then > I > like doing anything that pleases the deity. The fire > is not a defensive gesture but is a portal to the > inner astral world. Agni is the quickest conveyor to > the devas. Fire also sancitifies the atmosphere. Now > all this talk of astral and devas may seen > unscientific but there are numerous people who have > this astral vision developed. To have this vision > one must have great powers concentration.. and when > you have you can also see them. > > > > > > 2)Why do we offer food items to god, after > preparing > > it in the most > > sacred manner (not tasting, putting on untouched > > clothes etc)and > > ultimately eat the same food? Is this a practice > or > > does it have any > > actual practical reason? > > How does you mother prepare food? She (should if she > does not already) prepares that with great love. > When > food is prepared by a person in a good attitude, > there > is a subtle difference that can be sensed by the > discerning person. When food is prepared with > hateful > thoughts, that is sensed sometimes by those eating > it. > So when I have the greatest and holiest person > visiting me, this greatest person knows all my > thoughts and there is nothing that I can hide from > him, > so it behooves on me to prepare everything with a > good > attitude. And with accompanying cleanliness. During > the height of poooja, the devas from the inner world > do visit you. They are turned off by dirt both > mental > and physical and hence the need for such an > attitude. > > In a more rational sense, the act of pooja is > reflective of the person itself. By enforceing > cleanliness outwardly, eventually one becomes clean > on > the inside also. When one becomes spiritually > advanced > once can discard all these outward precautions. > Ultimately one realises that there is no difference > between the upasaka and the upasana murthy; till one > has this realization, he has to follow restrictions. > > Aum Namasivaya > Vijay > > > > > I got answer which again are not to my > satisfaction > > by one Mr.Avadooth: > > > > "Dear vijay, > > > > The supreme Lord is the only enjoyer. As he > declares > > in the GITA - iam > > the only enjoyer and all that exists are the > > energies of the Supreme > > Lord. Hence everything we do and every thing that > > exists should be > > engaged for the pleasure of the Supreme person. > Our > > dharma is engaging > > every moment of our existance to satisfy the > Supreme > > Lord Sri Krishna. > > > > So cooking is an activity to prepare delicious > > dishes for the pleasure > > of the Lord. After the Lord enjoys the delicious > > foods we partake it as > > prasadam. > > Food prepared for ones own sensual satisfaction is > > sin but food prepared > > with consciousness of pleasing the supreme and > then > > partaking of > > prasadam leads to moksha or liberation. Since he > is > > the supreme Lord and > > we are trying to please him we take utmost care > and > > attention while > > preparing food stuffs. We cook for the Lord only > > after taking bath since > > after bath we are clean and in good consciousness. > > Also we should keep > > the kitchen clean to ensure dirt, cockroaches and > > other things does not > > get into food. How much your mother takes while > > cooking for you? > > similarly we should take special care to satisfy > the > > beautiful Lord. > > > > More we work for our sensual satisfaction - more > the > > misery. > > Work becomes joy and ecstacy when the motivation > is > > to please the > > supreme person Sri Krishna. Bhakthi yoga is any > > authorised activity done > > with the pure motivation of pleasing the > supreme.... > > > > > > Offering arotik is woshipping the eternal > blissfull > > form of the supreme > > - it is also for the pleasure of the supreme. His > > sensual satisfaction > > is the goal and dharma of all living beings. > > > > Conclusion of Gita is that the Lord advises arjuna > > to give up all > > activities and engage activities for Lord's > > satisfaction only. > > > > For more details visit - www.gosai.com/chaitanya > > > > warm regards, > > Avadhoot " > > > > > > Thanks for your inputs and insight into a lot of > > things. > > > > Vijay Bhaskar > > > > > > > _______ > > > > Get your free @ address at > > > > > > > > > > > Send FREE video emails in Mail! > http://promo./videomail/ > Send FREE video emails in Mail! http://promo./videomail/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2002 Report Share Posted January 18, 2002 Dear Vijay, All you have said is fine. Love towards something cannot be be measured by anyone expect the person in love. A mothers love sure is unique and different. But my quest is not about the different interpretations of the process of puja, but about why. Love can be one reason. But these things as you said may be good for some and bad for others. I consider myself to fall in this bad category, as all i hve seen in this puja process is the ultimate torment of the females and kids of the house in order to abide by these rules of the puja. The male happily sits and just orders around about do this and that. But ultimately it is the female who does everything from arranging the alter, lamps, oil, wicks, flowers, rangoli, food and what not. Male members just sit and do the puja. Is that enough for the male to get the blessings of the god, while the female actually does all the work? How many of the females actually do it with devotion when their heart is torn between her hungry child and the demands of the husband and the process of doing the puja? If i have to consider it as love and affection towards god or the husband, what about the hungry child? is god greater than the hungry child? Well, these are my thoughts. I feel that a puja is a sacred issue between the beliver and his/her god - whoever it may be. One does not have a right to involve others in their spheres of devotion to please their god, while the rest of the house and the guests invited awaits the end of the puja in order to just eat and make merry. The worst part is the man of the house gets all the credit from all as it is he who performed the puja. This is again similar to a typical work atmosphere where your project manager takes all the credit for your work. Work and pooja are different. Work cannot be avoided as it is the bread earning factor. But a pooja can be more practicle and pious rather than all the pomp and show. So seeing all this, it does not make any sense about why should we offer god food when it is not god who eats, but the people around him. why do people get this pseudo feeling that the god is pleased, when actually it is their stomach which is filled? Well, these are my thoughts, which cannot be generalized. It is my personal quest to find out the meaning of things we do while performing puja. My quest will go on.... till i get the right answers or till i am subdued in this material world. Vijay Bhaskar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2002 Report Share Posted January 19, 2002 Namaste Sri Vijay! --- thesoulstealer <thesoulstealer wrote: > Dear Vijay, > > All you have said is fine. Love towards something > cannot be be > measured by anyone expect the person in love. A > mothers love sure is > unique and different. But my quest is not about the > different > interpretations of the process of puja, but about > why. All of us have different degrees of soul evolution. Some are young souls who have a lot to learn and will go through several good and bad experiences. Some are mature souls who had more experiences and so some practices come naturally to them like devotion. This is not saying that mature souls are always religious and immature souls irreligions. After all is not religion like the chocolate wrapper- one would not want to eat the chocolate wrapper would you?? Love can be > one reason. But these things as you said may be good > for some and bad > for others. > > I consider myself to fall in this bad category, as > all i hve seen in > this puja process is the ultimate torment of the > females and kids of > the house in order to abide by these rules of the > puja. I would not say that. Maybe you are a potential Valmiki. Now the kind of person who does pooja in the aforementioned manner is really an immature soul. > > The male happily sits and just orders around about > do this and that. > But ultimately it is the female who does everything > from arranging > the alter, lamps, oil, wicks, flowers, rangoli, food > and what not. > Male members just sit and do the puja. Is that > enough for the male to > get the blessings of the god, while the female > actually does all the > work? No blessing will accrue to him, who does pooja in this manner. > > How many of the females actually do it with devotion > when their heart > is torn between her hungry child and the demands of > the husband and > the process of doing the puja? > > If i have to consider it as love and affection > towards god or the > husband, what about the hungry child? is god greater > than the hungry > child? > > Well, these are my thoughts. I feel that a puja is a > sacred issue > between the beliver and his/her god - whoever it may > be. One does not > have a right to involve others in their spheres of > devotion to please > their god, while the rest of the house and the > guests invited awaits > the end of the puja in order to just eat and make > merry. This is not my definition of pooja- something to pass time till lunch comes. This is no different from watching a movie or any such thing... > > The worst part is the man of the house gets all the > credit from all > as it is he who performed the puja. > This is again similar to a typical work atmosphere > where your project > manager takes all the credit for your work. You know how the true son of God does pooja. He does it in his bed during the night so that noone else can watch. So he spends most of the night crying in devotional prayer. It is not about taking credit. I think that you are taking a very superficial look at ritual worship. Sometimes it is better not to do any worship at all rather than do worship in this manner. There are no doubt a lot of bad pooja doers out there in this world but that does not mean that pooja itself is bad. Every journey must start with a destination in mind. What is your goal in knowing all about this? Is it just to gather facts- if so then reading the encyclopedia Britannica would help. What do you wish to wean out of this. I suspect that you are less than satisfied with your job, circumstances etc and are trying to look deeper at what the true value of life is. Birendra made a point in asking you what your present situation in life is-career, goals etc. Each person is unique in the way he evolves and so what exactly are your inner motives?? Aum namasivaya Vijay > > Work and pooja are different. Work cannot be avoided > as it is the > bread earning factor. But a pooja can be more > practicle and pious > rather than all the pomp and show. > > So seeing all this, it does not make any sense about > why should we > offer god food when it is not god who eats, but the > people around > him. why do people get this pseudo feeling that the > god is pleased, > when actually it is their stomach which is filled? > > Well, these are my thoughts, which cannot be > generalized. It is my > personal quest to find out the meaning of things we > do while > performing puja. > > My quest will go on.... till i get the right answers > or till i am > subdued in this material world. > > Vijay Bhaskar > > > > Send FREE video emails in Mail! http://promo./videomail/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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