Guest guest Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Kali puja class Day 3 Kali Puja Book by Swami Satyananda Pages 9-29 Pgs.9-10 We will begin our puja by reciting the introductory mantras called Kashkandika. Kashkandika is recited each time we sit down. Each time we are going to express our gratitude to the Gods and Goddesses for allowing us the priviledge of letting us sit down and meditate. Many of the pujas begin with these same mantras. Pgs. 11-13 The first description on pg. 11 describes Maha Kali. All of her weapons allow her to take the head of egotism to her self and as long as the head of egotism stays with her, we remain free. That is why Shri Ramakrishna recommended us to keep our minds at the feet of Kali. The second description is of Maha Lakshmi, the destroyer of the great Ego. She is also called Mahishasura Mardini, the great ruler of duality. She holds the rosary of alphabets which signify the 54 letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. All of the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet stand for all of the vibrations that can possibly come into existence and go out as well. This is the japa of MahaLakshmi. Pg. 12-The third description is of Maha Saraswati, the slayer of self conceit and self deprecation. In her hands she holds the bell of continuous tone. All of the asuras grab their ears and run away when they hear the sound of the bell. Therefore, when we do puja, it is a good idea to ring a bell! Pg. 13- The fourth description is of Chandi and all of her many forms. Pg.13-14 Offering of light/incense Here we will wave a candle in a clockwise circle in front of our deity or picture and recite the offering of light mantra. You can use a tea light or ghee light made out of cotton and dipped in ghee. Note: Please be extra careful whenever offering an open flame like a candle. Keep it away from any kind of cloth. It is best to try and keep it in some kind of contained holder. Offer one stick of your favorite incense as well. (Make sure you have an incense holder nearby to put it in.) You can also ring a bell during these offerings. It helps create a nice bhav. Pg. 15 We recite the following mantras and offer respect to the earth, atmosphere and other Gods. The meaning of these mantras are very beautiful. Here is one example: "Om Earth is a reservoir of nectar, all vegetation is a reservoir of nectar, the divine atmosphere is a reservoir of nectar, and also above. May all perceptions shine forth with the sweet taste of nectar for us." Pg. 15 bottom (folded hands) recite the Gayatri mantra with hands in prayer position. pg. 17 (touch rosary) This is the purification of our maala. We pray to our maala too "illuminate the meanings of all mantras and to grant us the highest perfection." pgs. 18-19 offer flowers This will be our first flower offerings on the altar. You can place them wherever you like on your altar. You can use whole flowers or petals. Pg. 19 (tie a piece of string around right middle finger or wrist) Recite this mantra only. We do not do tie the string around our own finger or wrist unless we are doing puja for another person. Then we wrap a string around their wrist and recite this mantra. This is the mantra which reminds us that we are bound with God. Pg. 20 (acaman) Purification of mouth We will take a little water from our puja pot, pour it into our right palm and take a sip of water with each mantra saying it out loud. Om vishnu(3x) take 3 sips. After the 3rd sip, pour a little water into your right palm then dry it off. (You will need to keep one towel or paper towels nearby for this purpose. Swamiji alsways keeps one roll of paper towels on his right side and a towel across his lap when he does puja.) Pg. 20-21 (purification of mouth con't) Recite the purification mantra. This mantra reminds us that the Impure and the Pure reside within all objects. Pg. 22 Asan shuddi(purification of the asan.) Every deity sits on a yantra so we are also going to sit on a yantra. Follow the instructions in the book of how to draw the asan yantra, The bindu signifies the origin of creation. the equilateral triangle signifies that all of the threes are in perfect balance or harmony. We have the 3 gunas, the 3 qualities of creation, preservation, an preservation, Maha Kali, Maha Lakshmi, Maha Saraswati, A U M, etc,. All of the threes are in harmony. This is where we sit. Pg. 22 Bottom (touch seat) We touch both sides of our asan. Hands touching the earth or ground. Pg. 23 Recite the following mantras offering respect to the Guru and his/her lineage all the way to Lord Shiva. Page. 23-29 Sankalpa Before the sankalpa we are going to clap our hands 3 times then snap our fingers in the 10 directions and say Kali's mantra as we snap our fingers. We are going to make pure all ten directions so that Kali's mantra is vibrating in every direction. Clapping dispels all negative or enimical energies. The sankalpa is a vow or promise. It is also a statement of our goal. When you recite the sankalpa you will substitute the name of the place you are in at the time. Ex: if you live in Chicago then you will say : Om adya jambudvipe(America) deshe, (Illinois) pradeshe, (Chicago) Nagare, (the name of your Mandir- you can give it a name or say Devi Mandire, (Ashwin) mase, (krishna) pakshe, (chaturdasi) tithau, (Satyananda Saraswati)Gotra (or use your own if you know it.) sri (recite your own name) kritaitat sri kali kamah puja karmaham sri kali pujam karishye. (Note: I have included the Sanskrit month, day, pakshe for those of you who will be doing Kali puja on Friday, October 20.) During the sankalpa you can offer any prayer you like to Mother. Before we take the sankalpa we take a flower in our left hand and sprinkle some water on it and say,"Vishnu om tat sat." Then we cover the flower with our right hand and recite the country, state, month, day, name, etc. Then we offer our flower on the altar and recite the rest of the sankalpa starting with "om yajjagrato duramundetui...... and ending with om shanti..... Pg. 29 middle Right after the sankalpa there are 2 kali mantras on this page that are just a straight recitation. Recite these mantras only. Homework: Please read through these mantras. If you know how to read Sanskrit then practice these mantras in sanskrit. If not, read the transliteration and the English. Ask questions and share your ideas and thoughts. May Kali Maa bless us all! --- parv108 <parv108 > wrote: > Dear All, > For those of you who do not have a Kali puja book, > here is the introduction. > Please read through it and post about any idea, > thought, feeling or experience you have > about Kali. This can be an ongoing discussion. > > On Thursday, Oct. 12 we will discuss pages 9-29 from > the Kali puja book. > > 'Kal' means Darkness; Kali takes away that Darkness. > She takes away the darkness from > every individual who strives in the path of > perfection by performing the spiritual > disciplines of purifying austerities. Just as all > the colors of the spectrum mix into black, yet > still black remains black, so too, Kali, who is > completely Dark, Unknowable, takes away all > the Darkness, yet She, Herself, remains unchanged. > > 'Kal' means Time and 'i' means the Cause; Kali, the > Cause of Time or She Who is Beyond > Time, activates Consciousness to perception, allows > Consciousness to perceive. > She wears a garland of the heads of impure thoughts, > which She has severed from the > personalities of Her devotees. She cuts down all the > conflicting concepts which debate > their various ideologies within the arena of mind, > silences the tumultuous roar of mental > conflict and the anguish of egotistical attachment, > takes the physical manifestations to > Herself, and makes a garland of perplexity. Thus She > wears all karma as an ornament, > while She stops the chattering voices of the active > mind, so that Her devotees can > experience the purity of inner peace in the > absorption of solitude. > As the Destroyer of Madhu and Khaitabha, Too Much > and Too Little, She puts Her devotees > in the balance of divine meditation. > > She is called Camunda, the Slayer of Anger and > Passion, who cuts down all the angry > thoughts and impure passions along with their > tremendous armies. When Canda and > Munda, Anger and Passion, hurled thousands of > discuses at Her, She merely opened wide > Her mouth, and all of those terrible opposing > weapons entered the gateway to infinity, > absorbed into Her being without effect. > > She took all the horses of the cavalry of thoughts, > along with their chariots and > charioteers; elephants along with their drivers, > protectors and armor; and uncountable > thousands of warriors of the army of thoughts; She > put them into Her mouth and > hideously began to chew. She took all the soldiers > of the armies opposing divinity, the > entire army of thoughts, projections, speculations, > and immediately She digested them all. > Witnessing the destruction of confusion, the Gods > experience extreme joy! See how many > contemplations, prejudices and attitudes from which > we have been freed! Having given up > all the difficulties, all the thoughts, the very ego > itself, to Kali, the mind experiences the > utmost peace and delight! > > Raktabija, who performed great austerities, was > awarded the boon that whenever a drop of > his blood would touch the ground, in that very same > place a new Raktabija would be born > with the same vitality, courage and strength, the > same capacity to captivate the mind. > Rakta means red, the color; it also means blood and > passion; most specifically, a passion > for something - Desire. Bija means the seed; > Raktabija literally translates as the Seed of > Desire. > > See how he manifests in action. In order to > accomplish his desire, he multiplies into > countless new desires with the same intensity, the > same capacity of captivating the mind, > all of which seek fulfillment as well. As we find > desire for one thing, one drop of blood has > touched the ground, and immediately, automatically, > a new 'something' is required in > order to fulfill that desire. Another drop. > > This goes on indefinitely, causing a continual > necessity to act. Every time a Seed of Desire > touches the ground, a new Seed of Desire is born in > that very same place. Ultimately the > entire earth has been filled with Seeds of Desire. > Seeing this and understanding fully well the > tremendous import and significance of the > all-pervasiveness of desire, the Gods became > extremely dejected. In great alarm we all > called to the Divine Mother for help. 'Oh > Compassionate Kali, stick out your tongue and > drink up all the desires of existence. Only your > mouth has sufficient capacity to consume > all desire! And when you will have digested all > desire, then the Gods will be free from > desire.' > > This is why She shows Her very lovely, red, > protruding tongue -- in order to make all > existence free from desire. > Kali is most often depicted as standing upon the > corpse-like form of Lord Shiva, dancing > upon the stage of Consciousness. She is the > perceivable form of Consciousness. > Consciousness is awareness. Rather than the actor, > Consciousness is the witness of all > action. That is why Lord Shiva is shown as a > lifeless corpse: still, immobile, his eyes are > fixed, trained on the image of the Divine Mother. > All that Consciousness perceives is the > dance of Nature. > > She is dancing to infatuate Him, causing Him to > direct His attention to Her. But Shiva does > not forget that it is Nature who is dancing, not I; > and He remains the silent Witness. This > body is Nature. I am Consciousness, the silent > witness of the actions of Nature. I am not > the performer. This body acts according to its > nature, because that is its nature. > Remembering this, I am free, one among the audience > in a theater watching the drama of > life. > > Kali is Nature personified -- not necessarily the > dark force of Nature, but all of Nature: > Mother Nature, as She dances upon the stage of > Consciousness. As all the qualities reside > together, the three Gunas: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas; > activity, desire and rest, Kali embodies > the Three. However, She is more frequently > associated with Tamas. Tamas means > darkness, but not necessarily in the sense of > ignorance. There is a darkness which > exposes the light. Kali as the personification of > Tamas, is the Energy of Wisdom. > She spreads Her darkness over worldly desire, makes > seekers oblivious to the transient > externals, totally self-contained within. Pure > Consciousness knows that the world of > matter will continue to revolve according to its > nature, in a cyclical flow of creation, > preservation and transformation - the wheel of life. > It goes on of its own accord. > When one can reside within, without identification > or attachment to the ever-changing > externals, then the supreme truth can be realized. > > Kali is jnana shakti, the energy of Wisdom, the > intuitive illumination within, as compared > with the intellectual contemplation of the external. > Knowledge is conceived, wisdom is > intuited. When Kali takes away the darkness of the > outside world, She grants illumination > of the inner world. Such is Her Grace. > > With Kali's Love we become unattached, free from > reaction, the silent witness of the > stimulus and response which action and interaction > brings. We cease to react emotionally > to the circumstances of life, and rather plan our > actions for the optimum efficiency; so that > all the sooner we can complete our necessary > contributions to creation according to our > karmas, and spend the balance of our time delighting > in Universal Consciousness. This is > the path that Kali shows. > Swami Satyananda Saraswati? > Devi Mandir, 1989 > > > ~~OM~~ > > > > > > > > , "parv108" > <parv108 wrote: > > > > Dear All, > > > > Om Shri Gurave Namah! > > Om Gam Ganapataye Namah! > > Om Sang Saraswatyai Namah! > > Om Kring Kalyai Namah! > > > === message truncated === Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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