Guest guest Posted April 23, 2002 Report Share Posted April 23, 2002 Dear Raja Thank u very much X u interesting posting. you <<I do believe in the power pooja and jaap . it has its own effect>> me I too do believe that puja (pronounce puya) [rituals] and japa (yapa) [prayers] can deliver benefits to the performer. you <<Ya this pooja u cannot do on ur own u gotta get it done from some pujari who usually does this pooja>> me Yes indeed, we need the help or services from a professional to do the job. A pujari (puyari) is usually well trained and knows what he is doing. There are different pujas (puyas) for different rituals. I am writing this including the guidance to the pronunciations, on behalf of newcomers. By being a Vaisnava student, i am aware of Indian (India) culture. Notice that here i am indicating Indian from India, because in the West we have Indians as well but they may be from Canada, America, Mexico, Central America, South America or Australia. Sometimes we mention Indians like if they were Hindus, but not all of them are Hindus, that is why i call them from India. I speak as a guy that grew in Western culture, brainwashed by a "patriotic" culture and a "Roman and Apostolic" inheritance. However, i have dug into the essence of my education and find that it is the same for all other cultures and positive in essence. I have know in the West many pujaris that have different skills. We can find them in charge of the worship of the deities in Hindu temples. Once i did go to the Hindu Temple at Newcastle Upon Tyne in the North of England, and several pujaris were performing pujas. There was a particular pujari doing a nava graha puja, or a ritualistic ceremony to the 9 (nava) grahas (planets or centres of energy). In another puja, the leading pujari asked the audience in the close circle (those persons, men and women, that were sitting close to him and close to the main altar), about their nama naksatra (their natal Moon constellation). Then the pujari did the puja saying "May God protect Asvini naksatra people", This he did for each naksatra mentioned to him. For the nava graha puja, the pujari that was coming from South India, chanted Sanskrit mantras for 3 hours non-stop and by memory. In a similar way, when you require to build your house, you need the services of an architect or builder. You cannot build your own house, unless you are expert at doing that. Pujaris as well know their jobs well, but they have to know the kind of japa required. Like in every department of knowledge, we have experts an we have cheaters. According to our karma, we will get what we need. There are some pujas that are free and others that we have to pay for it. Some pujas require expensive items and therefore the expensive fees. For example, for a Surya Yagya (A ceremony to the Sun), only first class ingredients are allowed and ruby dust as well. In essence, a pujari is supposed to live only from donations, but unfortunately, we are living in Kali yuga, the age were most people take things for granted and do not know how to donate properly. Therefore a fee is recommended. In Vedic times, the Vedic king used to support pujaris, astrologers and musicians, but we do not have a Vedic government..........Yet. you <<pls note that i have done this pooja for myself thru a pujari in trimbakeshwar (nasik) this was told to me by my astrologer >> me I do understand that at Nasik, we can find very good pujaris experts in Naga puja (Naga means snake). The nagas are mentioned in Vedic literature. They are living beings having magical powers. Among the most advanced of them, they have the knowledge of how transform themselves into any form that they want. Among the lesser nagas, we find the ordinary snakes. Nevertheless, the killing of a snake, even by accident, brings the course of the nagas, which is very powerful indeed. In Mexico, we have what we call the Nagual, or a shaman (brujo), that can change shape at will. I remember the tales when young, that certain people in a remote village, were running after a wild dog that was in reality a nagual. People were close to get him when the dog became a raven and flew out of their reach. you <<first i would suggest that u ocnsult a proper astrologer and find out if actually there is any sarp dosh>> me sarp dosh means the course of the snake (sarpa) or serpent. This sarp dosh can be seen by a Vedic astrologer from the Vedic horoscope, provided that he/she (the astrologer) knows how to read it. In general, we do not find that information in books, we require a special training and teachers to learn that branch of astrology. We can see that there is a lot to learn in Vedic astrology, some cheaters may try their tricks on this but there is a warning, "keep away from what you do not know, because the reactions are heavy". In Mexico the English word HEAVY, means like in "It is Heavy man", something that it is difficult to carry, a burden, a challenge, or heavy stuff, something that it is difficult to understand or to approach. To kill or insult a snake brings a reaction. We may not remember to have kill a snake, or we may not have killed a snake in this life, but what about the deeds done in a previous life? A Vedic horoscope indicates the present reincarnation which is based in the desires (Venus) and activities (Mars) done in previous lives. The 4th house, its owner, and the Moon, generally indicate the mentality, the way of thinking of a person. But the intentions are indicated from the 5th house. The intentions of the person are the most important thing in life. Good intentions are rewarded and bad intentions are chastised. The planets indicate the equations to be solved. Mother Durga (known as mother Nature by most of the cultures) gives the soul a suitable body, according to his desires and intentions. If the soul wants to be a murderer, the soul will reincarnate in the body of a murderer that has those evil intentions and tendencies, and the murderer therefore will be punished either in this life or in the next. If the soul wants to be the president of a country and has enough merits "to buy that body", then Durga devi, will give to that soul, a body that is destined to be a President. Therefore, the Vedic horoscope indicates all tendencies to be experienced by the soul inside that body. When we die, higher authorities "read" our intentions and decide where we are going to be send to. That "reading" is done very fast, like in the scanning done by a super computer. Our ordinary language is to slow to communicate. The reading of the intentions from any individual is faster that language, faster than the mind or intellect. When we become vegetarian, we change our mentality (Moon), our Intellect (Mercury), our behaviour (Jupiter), our karma (Mars), our desires (Venus) and our destiny (Saturn). Because of free will, we have the chance to choose between eating meat and be a lacto vegetarian. Both paths are different and give different results. In a similar way, by choosing to be Vedic astrologers, higher authorities give to us the facilities to develop what we are best at. The branches are many, natal, yearly, compatibilities, agriculture, architecture, medicine, meteorology, mantras, yantras etc. You choose and you will get. you <<and u can consult from him regarding where it should be done>> me A good vedic astrologer expert on that can tell you. I have to say that Vaisnavas (worshippers or followers of Vishnu, Krishna), do not rely on all those pujas. There is not harm in them and it is like when going to the dentist or doctor, we do get a suitable treatment to our ills. However, we Vaisnavas rely more in Krishna's Grace. Of course we should try remedial measures to our ills, but on a higher level we know that Krishna is the Supreme controller. We should avoid fanaticism. But we should develop our intelligence. I remember that a devotee told me that one day that he was in a terrible pain, and someone came and told him "just chant your prescribed mantras and you will be alright, remember that you are not this body". To this, my friend reply, "Because you are not in this body, that is why you do not understand this pain" The Srimad Bhagavatam, which is the cream of the Vedas, tells of how at the beginning of this Kali Yuga, Maharaja (Majaray) Pariksit (Parikit), was coursed by a brahman (from the priestly class) boy, to die at the end of the 7th day from the course. Maharaja Pariksit was then the Emperor of the Earth, and with his Vedic training he could easily counteract that course. However, he did not counteract it because he saw that course as Krishna's grace. He therefore left his position as a Vedic king of Hastinapura, (now New Delhi) and went to the banks of the Ganges to hear the Srimad Bhagavatam, from Sukadeva Goswami, who was a self-realised soul, a pure devotee of Krishna. Thanks to that sacrifice, we inherited the Srimad Bhagavatam. you <<also i would say that some people have commented on the list that u can be fooled for this , it could be possible also some people have said that the charges are exorbidontly high , well for me it was around Rs.5000/- this also was told by my astrolger that the amount would be in the range of 7000/-- to 8000/- but this pujari was the one from who we conduct our rudri pooja at trimbak every year >> me I believe that you have paid about $US 160, which many people pay more for other remedies. Those that can afford to pay that, then it is their choice. i have been to a Vedic ceremony in London in which a recommended donation of $16 was fixed. We were about 60 persons and therefore, the pujari paid for his ticket and paraphernalia used in the ritual. But of course, it was not a naga ritual. Talking about being cheated. According to our karma, we receive a body that is destined to be cheated. Therefore our belief system is conditioned to think that we are on the right track, when in fact we are cheated. Like Bob Marley sings "You believe that you are in heaven, but you are in hell". Sometimes, we "wake up" in this life from being cheated and rectify our direction. But sometimes, we continue being cheated all throughout this life. It is a question of karma. Sometimes we are cheated 2, 3, 4 times until we have paid all our karma or have learned our lessons. One of my teachers said one day, that we are like the wolf in the cartoons, we stand up on the railroad and see the train coming. We say "The train is not going to hit us", and we are hit by the train. Later on, we do the same thing again, and we say again "The train is not going to hit us again", and we are hit again until we learn our lesson. Do not stand up on the railroad in front of the train. Best wishes Natabara Das Attachment: (image/gif) clip_image001.gif [not stored] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 30, 2002 Report Share Posted April 30, 2002 Dear Natabara, thank you for your kind and interesting answer. you wrote: <<I have verified with care and attention your planets and yes, it seems that you have got a lottery winner (if we could call it like that). Yes, it looks from that reading that you have got the curse of the nagas.From the absolute plane, we can say that you are lucky that you did not get a more worst course that that. There are the course of a brahman, or the course of a guru, both worst than the naga curse.>> I agree, yes, I may not be very lucky or rich, but I'm neither too unlucky, my life - compared to those who truly suffer - is a lucky one, for which I can't complain. I calculated that the curse in question (from the higher spirits) applies to about 8 percent of the population, so I'm not really that worried. I was more interested in the difference between the "higher" and "lower" spirits the author was referring to. I think you have helped me to understand more what the main issue is, as relates to karma and incarnations. you wrote: <<Any more questions?>> Well, I did ask the questions about the outer planets. But I don't want to impose on you, and I do not want you to get any stress and feel ill with all my questions, you have been kind enough to answer this. So, no need to answer. Thank you again and take care Best regards Maddalena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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