Siva Puja -- Shri Sankar Viswanathan and members

[Guest guest]

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA

 

Dear Shri Sankar Viswanathan and members of the Devi Mandir group:

 

I was reading your posting below and found it very informative. I

will be in the process of saving it in my computer and reading it

very carefully.

 

I would like to also add my opinion to this: Realizing where we are

located some of us don't have he right material and to do the puja

outline in Swami Satyananda Saraswati's Shiva Puja booklet so what

is one to do?

 

Here are three points that I was able to put together, intuitively I

knew what I am about to outline but was not able to conceptualize

it. So here is an attempt as a start:

 

1 Shiva is also known as Ashutosh, which means "Who is quickly

satisfied." He expects nothing from you but a small amount of love

and devotion.

 

2 Shiva does not necessarily expect flowers but a simple leaf

will do.

 

3 Shiva is considered as Bhole, which means "very simple, not

complicated" and He is ready to do anything for His bhaktas.

 

"God Shiva is Immanent Love and Transcendent Reality."

 

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA

 

 

, "Sankar Viswanathan"

<sankarrukku@g...> wrote:

>

>

> A great effort Nanda. For the information of the non-Indians,

> performing a Puja is not very common even among the Hindus in

India.

> It is common in states like West Bengal where as it is rare in

states

> like Tamil Nadu and Kerala. I am not going into the historical

reasons

> for this sorry state of affairs.

>

> Among the living Saints Mata Amrithananda Mayi (Ammachi as she is

> called – Mother in Malayalam) is trying to inculcate this habit

> among the Hindus in India.

>

> Swamiji has always emphasized the Puja. His books have helped us in

> understanding about Puja and also follow the correct procedures.

>

> I am so happy that so many of us are taking up the Puja. Thanks to

> Nanda for undertaking this.

>

> I am no expert in Puja, but would like to add my two cents. The two

> most important things in Puja are Shraddha and Bakthi. Bakthi is

> devotion. Shraddha is faith, respect, or reverence. In preparation

for

> any Puja reverence is of utmost importance.

>

> We want the best flowers, best ingredients and best materials for

> Puja. You start spending more time for preparation than the actual

> Puja. I remember about an Ashtami Puja that we were doing some

years

> back. It needed a lot of flowers. The flower seller used to deliver

> the flowers. We used to spend hours sorting them out so that there

are

> no wilted or immature flowers. This took as much if not more time

than

> the actual Puja. On Sivaratri night I spent a lot of time in

sorting

> the Bilva leaf clusters.

>

> 1. Do not offer wilted or immature flowers in Puja. Any flower

can be

> offered depending on what is locally available.

> 2. Now about the flowers after the Puja. They are normally

removed the

> next day. We call this Nirmalyam. (Which language I do not know. We

> use words from so many different languages in my house) Do not

throw

> these in the garbage can. If you have a garden these can be buried

in

> the earth around trees or scrubs. The best way is to put them in a

> river or pond. We keep these at home and once a week or so, put

them

> in the Adi Ganga River nearby.

>

> But I do not know whether you are permitted to do this in U.S.

Nanda

> can advise regarding this. The point is that you show reverence to

the

> old flowers/materials also.

>

> About Puja materials please check the sites in this category.

>

>

http://dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Hinduism/Shopping/

>

> From what I have seen in these sites you get better Puja things in

the

> U.S than India. Please check the credentials of the sites before

> placing an order, since many of these are fly by night operators. I

> will check on the sites and let you people know. I am so excited

about

> this.

>

> I will write about a great Bell that you can get for your Puja

later.

>

> Jai MAA !!!