Guest guest Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Dear All, Finally, we are ready to discuss purification. You might have seen doctors get ready for surgery - they scrub their hands up to their elbows and then hold them up so that the dirty water runs down from the fingers down... In puja, we don’t go quite that far but we take steps to purify ourselves... Lets recap where we are We a) have invited Shiva, b) waved lights and incense as a way of honoring him c) asked for Gayatri's help in our puja d) honored the other guests that accompanied Shiva - by giving them a flower each (our way of giving our guests a drink as soon as they come in before we offer other substantial food) and now we are ready to get serious . We wash our mouth - to remove dirt in all levels - food, gossip, anger etc and then we wash our hands. So here goes.. Verse on ACHAMAN (which means cleaning mouth and hands) Pour some water in the right palm. Step 1: Say "Om Vishnu”, Sip water. Pour more water into palm if necessary Step 2: Say "Om Vishnu”, Sip water. Pour more water into palm if necessary Step 3: Say "Om Vishnu”, Sip water. Pour more water into palm if necessary Step 4: Wash the hand and dab with towel. So symbolically our mouths are pure and ready to sing the praises of the Lord. Our hands are pure to do seva to the Lord. Please note, after this step, please ensure that you do not use your hand to touch your face or body. This is just so that our hands continue to stay pure. The next step, is to respect ourselves by recognize the divinity within and to purify the ground that we are sitting on. So we lift our asan a little bit, draw the yantra - inside out - you put the dot or bindu first and then draw the triangle. The triangle is called the Kamakala or the perfections of the threes. It means that we have put our three gunas - sattva, raja and tamas into balance in the course of doing the puja. And then we offer a flower to the yantra. So the flower will be underneath your asan mat. Please use a small flower so that the size of the flower doesnt bother you during meditation. JAMI here is the step that you wanted me to prompt you!!!!! So we have purified our mouth and hands, our seats, now we are ready to purify the 10 directions. So we snap our fingers in the ten directions in the order N S E W NE SW NW SE UP DOWN. Remember, our altars (ideally) would be aligned so that the deities would be facing south so that we are facing north. So this means, when we snap our fingers we snap before us, behind us, to the right of us to the left us etc. And we chant Om Namah Shivaya during this finger snapping. Do you know what this means ... Shiva to the North of me, Shiva to the South of me etc etc Everywhere I look, I see Shiva and nothing else. JAI SHIVA!!!! Ok we will stop here for today and talk about sankalpas tomorrow. I look forward to hearing from you if you have any questions. Your assignment for today - Please chant until the point we have talked today and read the English as well. Love Nanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 > JAMI here is the step that you wanted me to prompt > you!!!!! > > > > So we have purified our mouth and hands, our seats, > now we are ready to purify the 10 directions. > > > > So we snap our fingers in the ten directions in the > order N S E W NE SW NW SE UP DOWN. So the question is, how do you physically snap behind without turning around on the aasana? I hope it's not a silly question. Jai Maa! --Aravind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Dear Nanda, I am a little confused because I thought we were to draw the yantra's on the altar 'in front of the seat', but I now understand we draw the first yantra underneath the seat, lifting up the front part of the seat, while being seated. The question is: do we draw the yantra underneath the seat on the floor (that is in my case on a small carpet?) Or should you have something underneath the seat to draw on? The other question I have is this: when looking for the meaning of the word 'adhara', ,I found that this word has a relation to the muladhara chakra, and that 'kama' can refer to the yoni and also to the center of the chakra. So I wonder if the mantra used to honour the Divinity within has some relation to the Kundalini shakti residing at the base of the spine? Thinking along these lines, with this mantra, then, you would be honouring the One Power, our sole Support and Source of Sustenance, manifest as your person on the seat. Reading this mantra, I feel that at this point in the puja you (the pujari, I mean) are really becoming 'present', all there, one-pointed. Which brings me to one other small question (or not so small, perhaps): is the dot in the middle what could be called 'the point of manifestation'? That's it for now. I hope I am making myself clear, otherwise just tell me to wait with questions like these until I have practiced the Shiva puja for some years...., with love, Henny , Nanda <chandimaakijai> wrote: > > Dear All, > > > > Finally, we are ready to discuss purification. > > > > You might have seen doctors get ready for surgery - they scrub their hands up to their elbows and then hold them up so that the dirty water runs down from the fingers down... > > > > In puja, we don't go quite that far but we take steps to purify ourselves... > > > > Lets recap where we are > > > > We > > a) have invited Shiva, > > b) waved lights and incense as a way of honoring him > > c) asked for Gayatri's help in our puja > > d) honored the other guests that accompanied Shiva - by giving them a flower each (our way of giving our guests a drink as soon as they come in before we offer other substantial food) > > > > and now we are ready to get serious . > > > > We wash our mouth - to remove dirt in all levels - food, gossip, anger etc and then we wash our hands. > > > > So here goes.. > > > > Verse on ACHAMAN (which means cleaning mouth and hands) > > > > Pour some water in the right palm. > > > > Step 1: > > Say "Om Vishnu", Sip water. > > Pour more water into palm if necessary > > > > Step 2: > > Say "Om Vishnu", Sip water. > > Pour more water into palm if necessary > > > > Step 3: > > Say "Om Vishnu", Sip water. > > Pour more water into palm if necessary > > > > Step 4: > > Wash the hand and dab with towel. > > > > So symbolically our mouths are pure and ready to sing the praises of the Lord. Our hands are pure to do seva to the Lord. > > > > Please note, after this step, please ensure that you do not use your hand to touch your face or body. This is just so that our hands continue to stay pure. > > > > The next step, is to respect ourselves by recognize the divinity within and to purify the ground that we are sitting on. > > > > So we lift our asan a little bit, draw the yantra - inside out - you put the dot or bindu first and then draw the triangle. > > > > The triangle is called the Kamakala or the perfections of the threes. It means that we have put our three gunas - sattva, raja and tamas into balance in the course of doing the puja. > > > > And then we offer a flower to the yantra. So the flower will be underneath your asan mat. Please use a small flower so that the size of the flower doesnt bother you during meditation. > > > > JAMI here is the step that you wanted me to prompt you!!!!! > > > > So we have purified our mouth and hands, our seats, now we are ready to purify the 10 directions. > > > > So we snap our fingers in the ten directions in the order N S E W NE SW NW SE UP DOWN. > > Remember, our altars (ideally) would be aligned so that the deities would be facing south so that we are facing north. > > So this means, when we snap our fingers we snap before us, behind us, to the right of us to the left us etc. > > > > And we chant Om Namah Shivaya during this finger snapping. > > > > Do you know what this means ... Shiva to the North of me, Shiva to the South of me etc etc > > Everywhere I look, I see Shiva and nothing else. JAI SHIVA!!!! > > > > Ok we will stop here for today and talk about sankalpas tomorrow. I look forward to hearing from you if you have any questions. > > > > Your assignment for today - Please chant until the point we have talked today and read the English as well. > > > > Love > > Nanda > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Oh Henny, I love your questions! And I love your depth of understanding! Where have you been all our lives, dear sister? I am not going to attempt to answer your questions. I'll leave that to Swamiji. But I just want you to know that your questions show us a lot of your inner beauty and depth. Loving blessings, Ardis On Mar 24, 2005, at 10:15 AM, henny_v_i wrote: > > > Dear Nanda, > > I am a little confused because I thought we were to draw the yantra's > on the altar 'in front of the seat', but I now understand we draw the > first yantra underneath the seat, lifting up the front part of the > seat, while being seated. The question is: do we draw the yantra > underneath the seat on the floor (that is in my case on a small > carpet?) Or should you have something underneath the seat to draw on? > > The other question I have is this: when looking for the meaning of the > word 'adhara', ,I found that this word has a relation to the muladhara > chakra, and that 'kama' can refer to the yoni and also to the center > of the chakra. So I wonder if the mantra used to honour the Divinity > within has some relation to the Kundalini shakti residing at the base > of the spine? Thinking along these lines, with this mantra, then, you > would be honouring the One Power, our sole Support and Source of > Sustenance, manifest as your person on the seat. Reading this mantra, > I feel that at this point in the puja you (the pujari, I mean) are > really becoming 'present', all there, one-pointed. Which brings me to > one other small question (or not so small, perhaps): is the dot in the > middle what could be called 'the point of manifestation'? > > That's it for now. I hope I am making myself clear, otherwise just > tell me to wait with questions like these until I have practiced the > Shiva puja for some years...., > > with love, > > Henny > > > , Nanda <chandimaakijai> wrote: > > > > Dear All, > > > > > > > > Finally, we are ready to discuss purification. > > > > > > > > You might have seen doctors get ready for surgery - they scrub their > hands up to their elbows and then hold them up so that the dirty water > runs down from the fingers down... > > > > > > > > In puja, we don't go quite that far but we take steps to purify > ourselves... > > > > > > > > Lets recap where we are > > > > > > > > We > > > > a) have invited Shiva, > > > > b) waved lights and incense as a way of honoring him > > > > c) asked for Gayatri's help in our puja > > > > d) honored the other guests that accompanied Shiva - by giving them > a flower each (our way of giving our guests a drink as soon as they > come in before we offer other substantial food) > > > > > > > > and now we are ready to get serious . > > > > > > > > We wash our mouth - to remove dirt in all levels - food, gossip, > anger etc and then we wash our hands. > > > > > > > > So here goes.. > > > > > > > > Verse on ACHAMAN (which means cleaning mouth and hands) > > > > > > > > Pour some water in the right palm. > > > > > > > > Step 1: > > > > Say "Om Vishnu", Sip water. > > > > Pour more water into palm if necessary > > > > > > > > Step 2: > > > > Say "Om Vishnu", Sip water. > > > > Pour more water into palm if necessary > > > > > > > > Step 3: > > > > Say "Om Vishnu", Sip water. > > > > Pour more water into palm if necessary > > > > > > > > Step 4: > > > > Wash the hand and dab with towel. > > > > > > > > So symbolically our mouths are pure and ready to sing the praises of > the Lord. Our hands are pure to do seva to the Lord. > > > > > > > > Please note, after this step, please ensure that you do not use your > hand to touch your face or body. This is just so that our hands > continue to stay pure. > > > > > > > > The next step, is to respect ourselves by recognize the divinity > within and to purify the ground that we are sitting on. > > > > > > > > So we lift our asan a little bit, draw the yantra - inside out - you > put the dot or bindu first and then draw the triangle. > > > > > > > > The triangle is called the Kamakala or the perfections of the > threes. It means that we have put our three gunas - sattva, raja and > tamas into balance in the course of doing the puja. > > > > > > > > And then we offer a flower to the yantra. So the flower will be > underneath your asan mat. Please use a small flower so that the size > of the flower doesnt bother you during meditation. > > > > > > > > JAMI here is the step that you wanted me to prompt you!!!!! > > > > > > > > So we have purified our mouth and hands, our seats, now we are ready > to purify the 10 directions. > > > > > > > > So we snap our fingers in the ten directions in the order N S E W NE > SW NW SE UP DOWN. > > > > Remember, our altars (ideally) would be aligned so that the deities > would be facing south so that we are facing north. > > > > So this means, when we snap our fingers we snap before us, behind > us, to the right of us to the left us etc. > > > > > > > > And we chant Om Namah Shivaya during this finger snapping. > > > > > > > > Do you know what this means ... Shiva to the North of me, Shiva to > the South of me etc etc > > > > Everywhere I look, I see Shiva and nothing else. JAI SHIVA!!!! > > > > > > > > Ok we will stop here for today and talk about sankalpas tomorrow. I > look forward to hearing from you if you have any questions. > > > > > > > > Your assignment for today - Please chant until the point we have > talked today and read the English as well. > > > > > > > > Love > > > > Nanda > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sponsor > > > <22305_0205_016_b_300250_a.gif> > <l.gif> > > Links > > • > / > > • > > > • Terms of > Service. > > Attachment: (text/enriched) [not stored] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Be Love, Berijoy http://www.egyirba.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You never miss your water 'til your well runs dry. Give thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 ArjunaJami Blakeley <jami108 > wrote: > JAMI here is the step that you wanted me to prompt> you!!!!!> > > > So we have purified our mouth and hands, our seats,> now we are ready to purify the 10 directions.> > > > So we snap our fingers in the ten directions in the> order N S E W NE SW NW SE UP DOWN.So the question is, how do you physically snap behindwithout turning around on the aasana? I hope it's nota silly question. Jai Maa!--AravindDo You ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Ardis Jackson <ardis1 (AT) verizon (DOT) net> wrote: Oh Henny,I love your questions! And I love your depth of understanding!Where have you been all our lives, dear sister?I am not going to attempt to answer your questions. I'll leave that to Swamiji.But I just want you to know that your questions show us a lot of your inner beauty anddepth.Loving blessings,ArdisBe Love, Berijoy http://www.egyirba.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You never miss your water 'til your well runs dry. Give thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Amazing Arjuna, thats what I do. Grace On 25/03/2005, at 6:48 AM, Arjuna wrote: > Bend your elbow up over your head and have your hand behind. > Arjuna > > Jami Blakeley <jami108 wrote: > > > JAMI here is the step that you wanted me to prompt > > you!!!!! > > > > > > > > So we have purified our mouth and hands, our seats, > > now we are ready to purify the 10 directions. > > > > > > > > So we snap our fingers in the ten directions in the > > order N S E W NE SW NW SE UP DOWN. > > So the question is, how do you physically snap behind > without turning around on the aasana? I hope it's not > a silly question. > > Jai Maa! > > --Aravind > > > > Tired of spam? Mail has the best spam protection around > > > > > > > > > > > Sponsor > > > <22305_0205_016_b_300250_a.gif> > <l.gif> > > Links > > • > / > > • > > > • Terms of > Service. > > Attachment: (text/enriched) [not stored] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Thanks, Nanda. With what do we draw the yantra with? Some more water? Or do we leave some water on our (ring finger?) from the purification step? Also, I'm following along in the Durga Puja book until my new Shiva Puja book arrives. Is the yantra the same for both? Does the point of the triangle point forwards/towards the altar in both pujas? , Nanda <chandimaakijai> wrote: > So we lift our asan a little bit, draw the yantra - inside out - you put the dot or bindu first and then draw the triangle. The triangle is called the Kamakala or the perfections of the threes. It means that we have put our three gunas - sattva, raja and tamas into balance in the course of doing the puja. And then we offer a flower to the yantra. So the flower will be underneath your asan mat. Please use a small flower so that the size of the flower doesnt bother you during meditation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Are we washing both hands in step #4? Or just the right? , Nanda <chandimaakijai> wrote: [....] then we wash our hands. [....] Step 4: Wash the hand and dab with towel. [....] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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