RE: puja basics

[Guest guest]

"....Your request for a handbook duly noted and passed on to

Swamiji. Let

us see what he has to say...."

Dear Latha,

This is great news!

 

"...Yes, I will take everyone's input and compile them into one email

and forward Swamiji.

 

I have seen when Swamiji waves the lights during Arati - he starts

with the crown of the deity and slowly waves it clockwise across the

entire length of the deity. Almost as if he were meditating on each

and every part of the deity that he was waving the light over. A

beautiful must see ... and I am sure some people here can describe

some memorable Arati's with him.

 

JAI MAA

Latha..."

 

This is, actually, one of the questions I have personally..the

waving of the light during Arati. I have seen Arati done here in the

USA in a variety of settings as well as in India at samadi shrines

and in ashrams. It always varies a little. Sometimes the light is

waved to the guru's feet (left,right and then around in a clockwise

fashion) and sometimes from the crown down through the chakras of

the murti and sometimes in a pattern that is like the nyasa for

Devi. This is another one of those "so much information/not alot of

clarity" situations for me. One of my sevas (for a number of years)

was to care for the murti of Bhagavan Nityananda at a local center.

I wanted to perform the slower Arati (sort of how you describe

Swamiji doing it above). I had seen it done that way in Bhagavan's

samadi shrine but could not find anyone here who knew how to do it

or could teach me how or explain the why of it. I am really happy

that we have the opportunity to discuss these things here and to

have Swamiji to ask questions of.I have been really longing for this

knowledge for a long time!

One of the things that I discovered when I first began to try and

learn more about puja was that it was a way of "connecting" things

(the 3 worlds, the past, present and future, the form of the Deity,

the essence of the Deity and the pujari, the Deity, the pujari and

the community, etc.). I learned that there is nothing "extraneous"

in a puja. It's like a language and like an ecstatic science. For

me, learning the way things have been done for centuries is not

about "getting it right". It's so much like sitting for puja in one

of the asanas that are given to us. It's not so much that this is

the "proper" way to sit; it's more that sitting this way allows the

energy to move through your nadis in the best possible way. The same

with puja. The more clearly the puja is performed, the more open the

flow of communication between the Deity and the pujari. I'm saying

this because I know, from personal experience, that there is a

tendency to either get obsessive about doing things the "right" way

or to rebel and say, "why SHOULD I do it that way"?. I've definitely

had both of those experiences. It took me quite a while to realize

why learning why we do things in certain ways was to my benefit and

not some way of "squashing my individuality".

Thanks alot, Latha, for opening this forum on puja.

best love,

sadhvi

[Guest guest]

Dear Latha,

Just one more puja post (as you can tell...a major interest!).

During Shivaratri I went to the Mahalakshmi Temple early in the

afternoon. The Shaivite priest was preparing for the homa that would

happen later in the evening. I was sitting on a rug near him and,

every once in a while, he would ask me to go and get something from

downstairs or to wash some fruit or whatever. All the time, he was

wrapping the kalasam with thread in this incredibly intricate

pattern. Although he would be asking for this and that, his entire

energy was focused on this "wrapping process". It was clear that

what he was doing was of great significance. I remember

thinking, "That's the way I'd like to do my painting...with that

kind of focus and the understanding of something very profound

happening, even though, to all extents and purposes, it looked like

a simple action". Later on, I asked several people what it was that

he had been doing but no one knew and I knew that it was not

considered acceptable to ask the priest directly. Finally, I met

someone who did know the significance of what he was doing. She said

that the string he was wrapping around the kalasam represented the

nadis of the body of the Deity. They had to be put on in a very

particular way in order that the nadis of the Deity "worked"

properly. He was, essentially, creating the body from the nadis up.

Now, when I see the kalasam wrapped in string, I understand the

significance of it. Before, it just seemed like a kind of

interesting "decoration". Watching him sitting there, totally

focused on this "hidden" part of the puja was really wonderful to me!

Oh, one other puja story...well this is my only posting all

weekend so....When I was in Ganeshpuri, India, I got up very early

one morning to walk down into the small town for Arati at

Nityananda's samadi shrine. On the way, I walked by a very old

shrine to Badra Kali at the time of morning Arati. The shrine is

very small and the murti of the Deity is very large. There are

Christmas lights all around her and it has a festive, almost

carnival-like atmosphere. The conch sounded and the pujari/priest

came out dressed in a sari and covered with jewels. He waved the

arati lamp to BadraKali and, at the same time, danced wildly around

the murti in a state of complete ecstacy. All the while, there were

conches being blown, bells rung, Arati blasted out into the street.

The shrine was very dark and the Arati lamp intensely bright.The

priest seemed as though he was in a trance, dancing wildly and

waving the lamp over every inch of the murti. The priest in his sari

and the murti of the Devi almost seemed to merge into one being. The

feeling was so primordial. It was like being present at the time of

Creation! Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped...and

there was complete silence and no movement. I don't think I have

ever seen anything so strange, mysterious and amazing in my life!

signing off for the weekend,

sadhvi

[Guest guest]

cool cool cool. it is all the inner state. that is nityananda all

over, too. i never went to india ... but saw a documentary about

something like that on the tube ... there was a group that had an

intense ceremony of piercings ... when they were "in sate" so to

speak, the devotees could get these big nails slid into their cheeks

by their guru. there was no negativity, no blood. the documentary

featured a woman from england who went through this experience, she

said she had no pain. then, they dance through the strets. in fact,

the entire event was out in the open, in what appeared a public

space.

 

the similarity is in the chaos. this must sweep away the lesser

mind. do you do bhajans or anythign like that? i read in

nisargadatta they did that every day, it sounded similar, with the

banging of any drum you could get your hands on, the conches, and

everything else, lots of noise!

 

s

 

 

, "nityashakti" <sadhvi@p...>

wrote:

> Dear Latha,

> Just one more puja post (as you can tell...a major interest!).

> During Shivaratri I went to the Mahalakshmi Temple early in the

> afternoon. The Shaivite priest was preparing for the homa that

would

> happen later in the evening. I was sitting on a rug near him and,

> every once in a while, he would ask me to go and get something

from

> downstairs or to wash some fruit or whatever. All the time, he was

> wrapping the kalasam with thread in this incredibly intricate

> pattern. Although he would be asking for this and that, his entire

> energy was focused on this "wrapping process". It was clear that

> what he was doing was of great significance. I remember

> thinking, "That's the way I'd like to do my painting...with that

> kind of focus and the understanding of something very profound

> happening, even though, to all extents and purposes, it looked

like

> a simple action". Later on, I asked several people what it was

that

> he had been doing but no one knew and I knew that it was not

> considered acceptable to ask the priest directly. Finally, I met

> someone who did know the significance of what he was doing. She

said

> that the string he was wrapping around the kalasam represented the

> nadis of the body of the Deity. They had to be put on in a very

> particular way in order that the nadis of the Deity "worked"

> properly. He was, essentially, creating the body from the nadis

up.

> Now, when I see the kalasam wrapped in string, I understand the

> significance of it. Before, it just seemed like a kind of

> interesting "decoration". Watching him sitting there, totally

> focused on this "hidden" part of the puja was really wonderful to

me!

> Oh, one other puja story...well this is my only posting all

> weekend so....When I was in Ganeshpuri, India, I got up very early

> one morning to walk down into the small town for Arati at

> Nityananda's samadi shrine. On the way, I walked by a very old

> shrine to Badra Kali at the time of morning Arati. The shrine is

> very small and the murti of the Deity is very large. There are

> Christmas lights all around her and it has a festive, almost

> carnival-like atmosphere. The conch sounded and the pujari/priest

> came out dressed in a sari and covered with jewels. He waved the

> arati lamp to BadraKali and, at the same time, danced wildly

around

> the murti in a state of complete ecstacy. All the while, there

were

> conches being blown, bells rung, Arati blasted out into the

street.

> The shrine was very dark and the Arati lamp intensely bright.The

> priest seemed as though he was in a trance, dancing wildly and

> waving the lamp over every inch of the murti. The priest in his

sari

> and the murti of the Devi almost seemed to merge into one being.

The

> feeling was so primordial. It was like being present at the time

of

> Creation! Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped...and

> there was complete silence and no movement. I don't think I have

> ever seen anything so strange, mysterious and amazing in my life!

> signing off for the weekend,

> sadhvi

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/17/04 8:31:46 AM Mountain Daylight Time, sconnor (AT) austin (DOT) rr.com writes:

cool cool cool. it is all the inner state. that is nityananda all

over, too. i never went to india ...

Om Devotee,

In most temples in India the pujas number approximately 6 daily,

usually starting at dawn. For my stays in various areas of India

from South to North the temple is the center no matter where it is

located ! The pujaris are usually well versed in the esoterics of

puja and no detail is to small to do or understand. In the fine

example of detail of the nadis this is passed to the devotee

understood or not and this is the reservoir that these impressions

are passed to for later understanding.

Love to All,

Om Nama Sivaya,

Kanda

[Guest guest]

dollynityashakti <sadhvi (AT) prodigy (DOT) net> wrote:

Dear Latha, Just one more puja post (as you can tell...a major

interest!). During Shivaratri I went to the Mahalakshmi Temple early

in the afternoon. The Shaivite priest was preparing for the homa that

would happen later in the evening. I was sitting on a rug near him

and, every once in a while, he would ask me to go and get something

from downstairs or to wash some fruit or whatever. All the time, he

was wrapping the kalasam with thread in this incredibly intricate

pattern. Although he would be asking for this and that, his entire

energy was focused on this "wrapping process". It was clear that what

he was doing was of great significance. I remember thinking, "That's

the way I'd like to do my painting...with that kind of focus and the

understanding of something very profound happening, even though, to

all extents and

purposes, it looked like a simple action". Later on, I asked several

people what it was that he had been doing but no one knew and I knew

that it was not considered acceptable to ask the priest directly.

Finally, I met someone who did know the significance of what he was

doing. She said that the string he was wrapping around the kalasam

represented the nadis of the body of the Deity. They had to be put on

in a very particular way in order that the nadis of the Deity "worked"

properly. He was, essentially, creating the body from the nadis up.

Now, when I see the kalasam wrapped in string, I understand the

significance of it. Before, it just seemed like a kind of interesting

"decoration". Watching him sitting there, totally focused on this

"hidden" part of the puja was really wonderful to me! Oh, one other

puja story...well this is my only posting all weekend so....When I

was in Ganeshpuri, India, I got up very early

one morning to walk down into the small town for Arati at Nityananda's

samadi shrine. On the way, I walked by a very old shrine to Badra Kali

at the time of morning Arati. The shrine is very small and the murti

of the Deity is very large. There are Christmas lights all around her

and it has a festive, almost carnival-like atmosphere. The conch

sounded and the pujari/priest came out dressed in a sari and covered

with jewels. He waved the arati lamp to BadraKali and, at the same

time, danced wildly around the murti in a state of complete ecstacy.

All the while, there were conches being blown, bells rung, Arati

blasted out into the street. The shrine was very dark and the Arati

lamp intensely bright.The priest seemed as though he was in a trance,

dancing wildly and waving the lamp over every inch of the murti. The

priest in his sari and the murti of the Devi almost seemed to merge

into one being. The feeling was so

primordial. It was like being present at the time of Creation! Then,

just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped...and there was complete

silence and no movement. I don't think I have ever seen anything so

strange, mysterious and amazing in my life! signing off for the

weekend,sadhvi

Tax Center - File online by April 15th

[Guest guest]

hm, so it is not working on the level of understanding westerners

are accustomed to at all, it is even defferent than the popular

impressions of spirituality, and different from the clean non-

dualist philosophies as well. it is working in the spiritual body

prior to mental comprehension.

 

s

 

, kandaaran@a... wrote:

> In a message dated 4/17/04 8:31:46 AM Mountain Daylight Time,

> sconnor@a... writes:

> cool cool cool. it is all the inner state. that is nityananda all

> over, too. i never went to india ...

> Om Devotee,

>

> In most temples in India the pujas number approximately 6 daily,

usually

> starting at dawn. For my stays in various areas of India from

South to North the

> temple is the center no matter where it is located ! The pujaris

are usually

> well versed in the esoterics of puja and no detail is to small to

do or

> understand. In the fine example of detail of the nadis this is

passed to the

> devotee understood or not and this is the reservoir that these

impressions are

> passed to for later understanding.

>

> Love to All,

> Om Nama Sivaya,

>

> Kanda