PRADAKSHINA, CIRCUMAMBULATION

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PRADAKSHINA, CIRCUMAMBULATIONBefore worship, and sometimes during the puja, we walk three times around the Deity, the shrine or the temple. This is called pradakshina, "right-facing," referring to keeping the Deity to our right by walking clockwise, never counterclockwise. By this custom we deliberately withdraw our awareness from worldly matters and direct it toward the Divine. As we circle the God, subtle psychic worldly bonds that naturally accumulate during the day in the human aura are broken. Thus, circumambulating the Lord three times brings us into a pure, one-pointed, worshipful state of consciousness