Beginner Puja –Day 5- Lots of Q&A

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

Lots of neat questions coming in!

Michael from Seattle says “I have a disabled homeless person I see

every day who sells roses on the sidewalk for any donation. I think I

will combine my flower puja with a bit of seva to the homeless. Good

idea?”

Henny in a similar vein says, “I wondered if it would be ok to use

'artificial' flowers. The flowers you can buy here are heavily

sprayed with pesticides and their cultivation takes a heavy toll on

the environment, so I normally tend to avoid buying them, preferring

to let flowers blossom where, when and for how long they will anyway.

It is not that I do not want to give the 'real deal' and I will if

needed”

Well Michael and Henny, I bow to you for your compassion and

environmental friendliness. I humbly think that this is the purpose

of worship – to turn us all into compassionate beings, responsible

for our actions in this world.

Henny, specifically, strictly speaking, we are talking of

“Gandhapushpe” which means “scented flowers”, so the “real deal” is

to get good aromatic flowers, BUT we have used artificial flowers to

decorate some of the altars at the Mandir – as sometimes we have to

make do with what we have.

So YES, you CAN use artificial flowers for worship.

Michael further wanted to know if there “Are there any recordings of

this done slooooooowly enough for me to learn the proper

pronunciation?”

Grace took the words outta my mouth:

“The recording of the beginners Shiva Puja by Swamiji is really slow and easy to follow “

One interesting tidbit, did you know that if you played the Beginner

Shiva Puja CD and turned the “balance” knob on your stereo, if its to

the left you hear Swamiji chanting the mantras, and if you turn the

knob to the right you would hear Maa chanting “Om Namah Shivaya” in

the background. Just something for you to try out!

Also, if you get the Beginner Durga Puja CD – you would hear Maa

chanting the mantras (but the balance knob thing doesn’t work on this

one).

Jami said, “I have also read that in a pinch, one can substitute

akshat, washed and dried rice mixed with a drop of ghee and some

turmeric, for fresh flowers. Is this true?”

Jami, yesssss, I have used this myself in India, but have also

forwarded your question to Swamiji to get his take on your question.

Another aside, once Maa talked about a little tradition that She had

grown up with. When her family got a new bag of rice, they would

promptly set aside a little of it away. (I forget the reason She

gave). And Maa said that She still follows this tradition.

It stuck in my mind so much that I have reserved a little box to store

the first fistful of rice from a new rice bag. I use this rice as my

akshat for puja.

Grace brought up another good question:

My question is where do I put the music stand with the book? I need to

be able to read the mantras at the same time that I am placing the

flowers on the altar.

Well, Grace, you could put the music stand in the spot reserved for

book holder in my diagram of the suggested positioning of the altar.

But, in my humble opinion, music stands are better served for long

chanting – like Chandi or a Sahasranama. For pujas, since you want to

see the deity, without the music stand being in your face, I would use

a lower book holder not higher than the height of your altar. Did that

help?

Thank you Grace for sharing how you place flowers in your altar. You

said “I tend to place them at her feet and let the pile build up.Then

I start placing them in her hair and anywhere else on the statue that

they will fit and stay”

And you know what, that’s what Swamiji does to other deities around

the Mandir (that are not on his immediate altar). He walks around,

chants a mantra or two and places flowers – on the palm of the idol,

on nook between the neck and shoulder, on the foot, on the vahana …

sorta like what you are doing.

Berijoy, now how did I answer your questions before you even asked

them huh? I must have some kind of ESP – anyway I am glad that you

are following along the discussion.

I read about you and Grace discussing your altars and you Berijoy

mentioned my first altar. My first altar wasn’t very high, but my

second altar is about 12-15 inches. I think the height of your altar

should depend on

Your height

The height of your idol or picture – so that either your eyes at the

level of the face of the deity (you want to look face to face at your

beloved) OR you are looking slightly up. You don’t wanna look down for

the simple reason that you are bending your spine and that’s a no-no

during puja and meditation.

Just a few suggestions and hope you will try it to see what works ergonomically for you.

Onto Henny !

Yes, I am keeping a slot open for a Visiting Professor for our Asana

lesson. Most likely, senior disciple Parvati Saraswati will post on

this question. Stay tuned!

Speaking of Parvati Saraswati, you might want to make friends with

her, Michael from Seattle, cuz she KNOWS the Hanuman Puja.

Henny asked “Is Savitur, the Light of Wisdom, the Light that is seen

on the physical plane as the Sun, and considered to be male? So that

Gayatri, as the incessant pursuit of Wisdom, could be seen as

incessant longing for union? So that our invocation means our desire

to share in that longing, taking us away from what obscures the Light

and closer to it? (I am trying to understand the meaning of meditation

during the puja)”

Well, Henny, Savitri is the daughter of Surya. My take is that our

longing for union and pursuit of wisdom are two sides of the same

coin –our yearning to unite with God spurs us in the direction of

wisdom. Maybe, others in the group could pitch in on Henny’s

question.

Someone asked Swamiji once, what was the difference between meditation

and puja. And Swamiji said “No difference”.

All the external steps that we are doing in our formal puja is only to

make our recalcitrant senses help focus inwards ie meditation.

Another question from Henny “where do you keep the flowers before

offering, when seated before your altar? “

Henny, in my diagram, I have placed the tray of flowers to the left

and the tray with the offerings to the right. If you have one large

tray containing everything put it either to the left or right –

whichever side is convenient for you.

But talking of left and right, didja know that everything you do

(unless it involves two hands), you need to do with your RIGHT hand.

For the lefties of the world, my heart goes out to you, but, please

use your right hand when waving lights, offering flowers and doing

anything that involves only one hand.

Howdy Jana!!!!! Welcome to the discussions and you will catch up

admirably. I am putting the compiled posts in a single file and

update it regularly … please look for Beginner Puja.doc at

Beginner%20Shiva%20Puja/

Jana presented an interesting problem with visiting family and wants

her puja items outta sight when some folks visit. Given this

situation, which is better for her?

In her words

“Is it better to either

Set up the altar in a little-used corner of a room and pack it away occasionally, or I can

Set the altar up in a more-used room where I could use the CD player,

but I'd have to pack everything up after each puja.

Which would be preferable? Are there issues with cleaning up after puja or putting things away”

Well, Jana, my take is option 1, so that you can establish a little

routine and corner for peace. Option 2 is not desirable for the

simple reason that your deities are gonna live like nomads packing up

ever so often. While there are no elaborate rituals to close up shop

after a beginner puja, it can be tedious to keep repeatedly setting

up and closing down. So my vote is 1. But I would like to know what

others suggest.

My dear Morningsong, how good to hear from you on the group. You asked

“I buy a couple of flower bouquets weekly (cause I know Maa loves

them) and I put them in vases on my altar. Do I need to take them out

to use them as offerings, or can I leave them as they are?“

Nanda says it would be nicer to pluck em and use em during the puja.

There is a lotta difference in my mind to a pretty vase and

decorating your beloved. To me its like asking almost “I have bought

a beautiful outfit, should I display it and admire it or should I

wear it?” WEAR IT is my vote. Similarly adorn your deity with the

flowers.

Morningsong also says: “should I perhaps mist them with water to

"freshen" them for reuse throughout the week?”

When you close the shop in the night, be sure to take the flowers off

and dip them in water. This is for the simple reason that you need to

keep things clear for the next morning when you will start all over

again.

Well, it has been nice to get all these questions dear ones. This

evening I will start on purification and Jami the clicking of fingers

in 10 directions happens in the evening’s post. (I told ya I’d tell

ya)JAI MAA

Nanda

[Guest guest]

well if you are using the individual petals instead of flowers, what do

you do?

 

Nanda wrote:

> My dear */Morningsong/*, how good to hear from you on the group. You asked

>

>

>

> “/I buy a couple of flower bouquets weekly (cause I know *Maa* loves

> them) and I put them in vases on my altar. Do I need to take them out

> to use them as offerings, or can I leave them as they are?“/

>

>

>

> */Nanda/* says it would be nicer to pluck em and use em during the

> puja. There is a lotta difference in my mind to a pretty vase and

> decorating your beloved. To me its like asking almost “/I have bought

> a beautiful outfit, should I display it and admire it or should I wear

> it?/” *WEAR IT* is my vote. Similarly adorn your deity with the flowers.

>

>

>

> */Morningsong/* also says: “/should I perhaps mist them with water to

> "freshen" them for reuse throughout the week?”/

>

>

>

> When you close the shop in the night, be sure to take the flowers off

> and dip them in water. This is for the simple reason that you need to

> keep things clear for the next morning when you will start all over again.

>

 

--

 

Be Love,

 

Berijoy

 

http://www.egyirba.net