Guest guest Posted November 25, 2008 Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 Namaste Sergio, Kumari, and all family. Sergio, you asked many good questions. Let't read what Maa and Swami have to say about your questions. Please turn to page 266 in BEFORE BECOMING THIS, BY MAA AND SWAMI, Swami said: " People think that the time to be spiritual is when they are meditating or performing spiritual practice, but all the time is the time to be spiritual. Your spirituality cannot be awakened if you only do a few moments a day or a few hours a day. It can only be awakened if you live a spiritual life. It cannot be awakened as a practice. It's not about practices. It's about being in love with life. Practices are valid because they remind us to live the spiritual life. " Now let's turn to page 269 in BEFORE BECOMING THIS, HOW TO CHOOSE A PRACTICE: Swami first speaks about inspiration, and the need to follow inspiration and discover for oursevles if it is right or wrong for us. We will know if it is the right inspiration... " if we start the practice with a minimum of engagement and and effort until we find that it's really neat. It will make us want to give more effort; it will pull us in. " Page 270-271... " you fall in love gradually or you fall in love head over heals at first sight. Either way, once we have made the commitment, we want to honor that commitment and pursue it with conviction. " " When you love so much that you don't think about all the distractions and you only think about your beloved, then you really are the lover. " Question: " What do we need to do to get to that place? Swami replies, page 271: " You keep trying, " Just because I didn't fall in love at first sight, I'M not going to try it anymore. " You take the small inspiration you do get and cultivate it. Try to put yourself in the position of a lover instead of waiting to be loved. First you become the lover, and after a while you become the beloved. I mean when you become a lover, you become the person you love the most. You know what it is like to love. So you give yourself over to that love. That is pure love without selfishness. You love yourself because you know your true self. When you love your true self, you know God. You know your beloved. You make friends with your best friend, the closest person to you, yourself.....When we love God is such a way that we become a lover, then we are putting out the energy of love, and automatically it will come back to us. " Page 275, GETTING STARTED: " You can start by repeating a mantra " . Page 277: " You could choose one for yourself, or, you could allow a Guru to choose mantras that would be more efficient in guiding you to the types of energies that you, as an individual, will want to inculcate. " Page 278: " If you don't have a mantra, you could start with Om Namah Shivaya, which means I bow to the Consciousness of Infinite Goodness. Us that mantra because Shiva is the Guru of all Gurus.....Start with the five lettered mantra if you don't have a Guru. He will send you a Guru who is appropiate for your personal development. When you worship any of the Deities, you are worshiping all the other deities. .....Pick any one of the mantras you know and use it. If you don't know a mantra, then say it in English. " Page 280: How to use a mantra: " You can create a ritual of worship, which will focus your mind and make it habituated to sitting still. We call that ritual of worship puja. Puja is guided meditation. It will calm the mind. All you have to do is follow the instructions and recite the mantras and you will be guided into a state of meditation. there are many forms of puja. A simple puja would begin by lighting a candle and a stick of incense and putting a flower on a altar. Then sit for a few minutes and say : Om Namah Shivaya. " , either internally or out loud. You can say it out loud at the beginning until it feels natural to recite it internally. You can keep your eyes closed or open and look at the candle or your flower. from that simple puja, you can get more sophisticated and elaborate. " Now swami goes on and describes how to sit, breath, deal with thoughts, etc., while meditating. I do not feel it is necessary to quote the whole chapter this evening. But, the main point is this: take a simple practice, start now, and practice it daily, better at the same time and same place, twice a day. As you become more familiar with the simple practice, then, as Swami suggests, you will naturally be drawn into more elaborate and lengthy puja. Now, if you want to practice the Chandi, that are shorter versions one can do daily. The Kavach is wonderful. do that daily, as well as Durga Puja. Durga and Chandi are the same. Durga puja is just a shorter Chandi Path. It is much easier to begin Durga Puja for Beginners, as it only takes 20 minutes to perform the puja. Then add some verses, or a chapter or 2 from the Chandi when you can sit for a longer period of time and really feel compelled to express your love of Durga / Chandi by singing more of Her praises. One does not need to be initiated nor perform any " life giving ceremony " in order to create an altar. Find a nice picture, or a small statue, of the Deity you wish to worship, create a small altar on a low table, put several folded blankets on the floor in front of the table, sit down, cross your legs, sit with straight back, light a candle and incense, and begin worship, or meditation. It is that easy. Now you have a sacred space. Close your door, hang a DO NOT DISTURB sign on it, and you have your meditation cave. Just begin simply and be easy. If you cannot chant in Sanskrit, neither can I. Read the mantras in English, so you understand what your are saying. Then buy a CD of Maa or Swami chanting the Chandi, or Beginner shiva Puja, or 1000 Names of Kali, and follow along until you are comfortable, then read them yourself. On page 282-283, Swami tells us that the ancient Rishis performed these same pujas that they are giving us in these texts. This is part of an established tradition that came through a lineage of teachers and Maa and Swami are cultivating it, and passing it along to us. Page 283: " Pujas are designed as building blocks. They are modular so that you can construct your own puja. Every individual will make his or her own puja. A puja is designed in such a way that once you have the basic structure and foundation in place, you can erect any kind of edifice that you choose upon that foundation. " Page 284: " The preliminary pujas that we are speaking about can be performed without the presence of a physical teacher. As we get more sophisticated in our forms of worship, we will want to consult more sophisticated teachers so we have an example of how the puja is performed and the mantras pronounced. the will give us instructions and indicate how to enhance our puja. " Oh, one last thing, when you begin puja, pray to Maa and Swami to guide you. You do not have to meet them, face to face, to feel their love and attention. Just ask, and you will receive.Maa says She hears, EVERY PRAYER, EVERY PRAYER. You would not have come to this club if you did not have a connection with them already. You are truly blessed. Hope this helps. Choose one mantra, one Deity, one text, and begin. Once you have been practicing it daily for several weeks, bring your observations and questions and we will all dive deeply together to gain new knowledge and experience. Jai Ma Jai Swami vishweshwar , " mjfisher2005 " <mjfisher2005 wrote: > > My understanding of the prana prasthita is that the Deity is first > conceived of within the devotee's heart and then " transferred " to the > image. There are specific ceremonies to transfer the presence back > into the heart are there not? Also, Mother graciously receives what > we are able to give. It is good to be regular in practice, but I > believe Mother understands when circumstances come up where we cannot > offer regular worship. For example I am going to have to pack up > most of my shrine before I move. My murti of Ma Kali is now not > being worshipped and I will transfer Her to my new home, where, once > I move there I will again worship Her. This is unavoidable, but I am > doing the best I can. I am stil meditating and worshipping, but I > cannot use the image I have been using. But, this is a lesson to > me. It helps me to simplify my practice in some ways and to broaden > it out to new practices and also to realize Mother is with me, > whether the image is there or not. Maybe others can clarify this > with more information than I can. > > Om Jai Kali Ma! Om Namah Shivaya! > Kumari > > , " Sergio Knipe " <sergio.knipe@> > wrote: > > > > Dear friends, > > > > I am v. impressed by the warmth of your replies! It's nice to find > people > > willing to share their own experience. > > > > I do have further questions I would like to raise. Again, I & #8217;m > not > > sure whether similar questions have already been raised in the > past; if > > so, I don & #8217;t mind if you wish to ignore my queries or get back > to me > > personally (rather than via the whole list). Anyhow, here goes: > > > > 1)I know Shree Maa and Swamiji place a lot of emphasis on the > recitation > > of the Chandi Path. My Sanskrit is not brilliant at the moment, and > it > > would be difficult for me to recite the whole text decently, while > also > > grasping the meaning of what I am saying. For the past couple > years, I > > have been reciting a few times a day the Saptashloki Durga, which I > > understand is a & #8216;condensed & #8217; version of the Chandi. I was > > wondering whether this is a suitable practice, or whether it might > be best > > for me to start from the recitation of something else. Also, I was > > wondering about the Devi Kavacham: is this open to all? > > > > 2)Some time ago, I ordered the booklet for the simple Durga puja. I > have > > never used it so far, because it still seemed a little hard for me. > I > > would now like to give it a try, but I have one significant doubt: > is the > > ceremony of pranapratistha not a prerequisite to perform puja? If > so, I > > would not be ready for it (having a living deity in your house > entails > > quite a bit of responsibility, I would imagine!). > > > > 3)Finally, assuming a person were to start the puja, could she > regard (and > > invoke) Swamiji and Shree Maa as her gurus, even if she has never > met them > > in person and has never been acknowledged by them as a disciple? Or > would > > it be better to skip the part about the guru in the puja? (Or take > the > > deity as the guru? & #8230;) > > > > I thank you in advance for any replies. > > > > Sergio > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 25, 2008 Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 Thank you for sending these quotes to us, Respected Elder Brother Vish. Swamaji and Shree Maa make things very clear and on a very lofty spiritual level. It is just like falling in love. I fell in love suddenly it seems. But when I think about it I was getting ready for this for years. When I had found an image of Kali (She is in the form of Bhavatarini Kali from Dakshineshwar) I became very excited. I immediately began to think " Mother is coming to live with me, how wonderful! " I began to have the desire to offer Her a place to live and to serve Her and take care of Her. It has grown from there. I have had some wonderful experiences since that day, but could not find a place to " hang my hat " with other devotees and to see the Divine manifested in a human form. I had many uncertanties, like you Sergio. Was this the correct path for me. Was I qualified? Was I, being a Westerner not allowed to call myself a Hindu? Did I have to get initiated again? (I was initiated years ago, but wondered if it ever " took " ) I have led a life, sometimes, that was not very pure, would I be accepted? Could I even do it? Now I am here and I am able to talk about all these things and know that it will be understood. And I am learning, day by day, more and more and feeling this path deeper and deeper in my heart. It is now part of me. And along with Mother came Mahadeva. And then I experienced a Kali Puja as it would be done at Dakshineswar which was a festival of joy and through that I came here. To true teachers and true devotees. Pranams to Swamaji and Shree Maa. Om Jai Kali Ma! Om Namah Shivaya! Kumari , " inspectionconnection108 " <inspectionconnection108 wrote: > > Namaste Sergio, Kumari, and all family. Sergio, you asked many good > questions. Let't read what Maa and Swami have to say about your > questions. > Please turn to page 266 in BEFORE BECOMING THIS, BY MAA AND SWAMI, > Swami said: " People think that the time to be spiritual is when they > are meditating or performing spiritual practice, but all the time is > the time to be spiritual. Your spirituality cannot be awakened if you > only do a few moments a day or a few hours a day. It can only be > awakened if you live a spiritual life. It cannot be awakened as a > practice. It's not about practices. It's about being in love with > life. Practices are valid because they remind us to live the > spiritual life. " > > Now let's turn to page 269 in BEFORE BECOMING THIS, HOW TO CHOOSE A > PRACTICE: Swami first speaks about inspiration, and the need to follow > inspiration and discover for oursevles if it is right or wrong for us. > We will know if it is the right inspiration... " if we start the > practice with a minimum of engagement and and effort until we find > that it's really neat. It will make us want to give more effort; it > will pull us in. " > Page 270-271... " you fall in love gradually or you fall in love head > over heals at first sight. Either way, once we have made the > commitment, we want to honor that commitment and pursue it with > conviction. " > " When you love so much that you don't think about all the distractions > and you only think about your beloved, then you really are the lover. " > Question: " What do we need to do to get to that place? > Swami replies, page 271: " You keep trying, " Just because I didn't fall > in love at first sight, I'M not going to try it anymore. " You take > the small inspiration you do get and cultivate it. Try to put > yourself in the position of a lover instead of waiting to be loved. > First you become the lover, and after a while you become the beloved. > I mean when you become a lover, you become the person you love the > most. You know what it is like to love. So you give yourself over to > that love. That is pure love without selfishness. You love yourself > because you know your true self. When you love your true self, you > know God. You know your beloved. You make friends with your best > friend, the closest person to you, yourself.....When we love God is > such a way that we become a lover, then we are putting out the energy > of love, and automatically it will come back to us. " > > Page 275, GETTING STARTED: " You can start by repeating a mantra " . > Page 277: " You could choose one for yourself, or, you could allow a > Guru to choose mantras that would be more efficient in guiding you to > the types of energies that you, as an individual, will want to inculcate. " > Page 278: " If you don't have a mantra, you could start with Om Namah > Shivaya, which means I bow to the Consciousness of Infinite Goodness. > Us that mantra because Shiva is the Guru of all Gurus.....Start with > the five lettered mantra if you don't have a Guru. He will send you a > Guru who is appropiate for your personal development. > When you worship any of the Deities, you are worshiping all the other > deities. .....Pick any one of the mantras you know and use it. If you > don't know a mantra, then say it in English. " > > Page 280: How to use a mantra: " You can create a ritual of worship, > which will focus your mind and make it habituated to sitting still. > We call that ritual of worship puja. > Puja is guided meditation. It will calm the mind. All you have to do > is follow the instructions and recite the mantras and you will be > guided into a state of meditation. there are many forms of puja. A > simple puja would begin by lighting a candle and a stick of incense > and putting a flower on a altar. Then sit for a few minutes and say : > Om Namah Shivaya. " , either internally or out loud. You can say it out > loud at the beginning until it feels natural to recite it internally. > You can keep your eyes closed or open and look at the candle or your > flower. from that simple puja, you can get more sophisticated and > elaborate. " > > Now swami goes on and describes how to sit, breath, deal with > thoughts, etc., while meditating. > I do not feel it is necessary to quote the whole chapter this evening. > But, the main point is this: take a simple practice, start now, and > practice it daily, better at the same time and same place, twice a > day. As you become more familiar with the simple practice, then, as > Swami suggests, you will naturally be drawn into more elaborate and > lengthy puja. > Now, if you want to practice the Chandi, that are shorter versions one > can do daily. The Kavach is wonderful. > do that daily, as well as Durga Puja. Durga and Chandi are the same. > Durga puja is just a shorter Chandi Path. It is much easier to begin > Durga Puja for Beginners, as it only takes 20 minutes to perform the > puja. Then add some verses, or a chapter or 2 from the Chandi when > you can sit for a longer period of time and really feel compelled to > express your love of Durga / Chandi by singing more of Her praises. > One does not need to be initiated nor perform any " life giving > ceremony " in order to create an altar. > Find a nice picture, or a small statue, of the Deity you wish to > worship, create a small altar on a low table, put several folded > blankets on the floor in front of the table, sit down, cross your > legs, sit with straight back, light a candle and incense, and begin > worship, or meditation. It is that easy. Now you have a sacred space. > Close your door, hang a DO NOT DISTURB sign on it, and you have your > meditation cave. > Just begin simply and be easy. If you cannot chant in Sanskrit, > neither can I. Read the mantras in English, so you understand what > your are saying. Then buy a CD of Maa or Swami chanting the Chandi, or > Beginner shiva Puja, or 1000 Names of Kali, and follow along until you > are comfortable, then read them yourself. > On page 282-283, Swami tells us that the ancient Rishis performed > these same pujas that they are giving us in these texts. This is > part of an established tradition that came through a lineage of > teachers and Maa and Swami are cultivating it, and passing it along to us. > > Page 283: " Pujas are designed as building blocks. They are modular so > that you can construct your own puja. Every individual will make his > or her own puja. A puja is designed in such a way that once you have > the basic structure and foundation in place, you can erect any kind of > edifice that you choose upon that foundation. " > Page 284: " The preliminary pujas that we are speaking about can be > performed without the presence of a physical teacher. As we get more > sophisticated in our forms of worship, we will want to consult more > sophisticated teachers so we have an example of how the puja is > performed and the mantras pronounced. the will give us instructions > and indicate how to enhance our puja. " > > Oh, one last thing, when you begin puja, pray to Maa and Swami to > guide you. You do not have to meet them, face to face, to feel their > love and attention. Just ask, and you will receive.Maa says She > hears, EVERY PRAYER, EVERY PRAYER. > You would not have come to this club if you did not have a connection > with them already. You are truly blessed. > > Hope this helps. Choose one mantra, one Deity, one text, and begin. > Once you have been practicing it daily for several weeks, bring your > observations and questions and we will all dive deeply together to > gain new knowledge and experience. > > Jai Ma Jai Swami > > vishweshwar > > > > > > , " mjfisher2005 " <mjfisher2005@> > wrote: > > > > My understanding of the prana prasthita is that the Deity is first > > conceived of within the devotee's heart and then " transferred " to the > > image. There are specific ceremonies to transfer the presence back > > into the heart are there not? Also, Mother graciously receives what > > we are able to give. It is good to be regular in practice, but I > > believe Mother understands when circumstances come up where we cannot > > offer regular worship. For example I am going to have to pack up > > most of my shrine before I move. My murti of Ma Kali is now not > > being worshipped and I will transfer Her to my new home, where, once > > I move there I will again worship Her. This is unavoidable, but I am > > doing the best I can. I am stil meditating and worshipping, but I > > cannot use the image I have been using. But, this is a lesson to > > me. It helps me to simplify my practice in some ways and to broaden > > it out to new practices and also to realize Mother is with me, > > whether the image is there or not. Maybe others can clarify this > > with more information than I can. > > > > Om Jai Kali Ma! Om Namah Shivaya! > > Kumari > > > > , " Sergio Knipe " <sergio.knipe@> > > wrote: > > > > > > Dear friends, > > > > > > I am v. impressed by the warmth of your replies! It's nice to find > > people > > > willing to share their own experience. > > > > > > I do have further questions I would like to raise. Again, I & #8217;m > > not > > > sure whether similar questions have already been raised in the > > past; if > > > so, I don & #8217;t mind if you wish to ignore my queries or get back > > to me > > > personally (rather than via the whole list). Anyhow, here goes: > > > > > > 1)I know Shree Maa and Swamiji place a lot of emphasis on the > > recitation > > > of the Chandi Path. My Sanskrit is not brilliant at the moment, and > > it > > > would be difficult for me to recite the whole text decently, while > > also > > > grasping the meaning of what I am saying. For the past couple > > years, I > > > have been reciting a few times a day the Saptashloki Durga, which I > > > understand is a & #8216;condensed & #8217; version of the Chandi. I was > > > wondering whether this is a suitable practice, or whether it might > > be best > > > for me to start from the recitation of something else. Also, I was > > > wondering about the Devi Kavacham: is this open to all? > > > > > > 2)Some time ago, I ordered the booklet for the simple Durga puja. I > > have > > > never used it so far, because it still seemed a little hard for me. > > I > > > would now like to give it a try, but I have one significant doubt: > > is the > > > ceremony of pranapratistha not a prerequisite to perform puja? If > > so, I > > > would not be ready for it (having a living deity in your house > > entails > > > quite a bit of responsibility, I would imagine!). > > > > > > 3)Finally, assuming a person were to start the puja, could she > > regard (and > > > invoke) Swamiji and Shree Maa as her gurus, even if she has never > > met them > > > in person and has never been acknowledged by them as a disciple? Or > > would > > > it be better to skip the part about the guru in the puja? (Or take > > the > > > deity as the guru? & #8230;) > > > > > > I thank you in advance for any replies. > > > > > > Sergio > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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