Guest guest Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 Dear All, G'day Grace! Good to hear from you and I admit I too am having some reservations about the conch talk. OK, let me give some background. We require TWO conches - one is a conch that we blow at the end of the puja, and the other is a conch with a little stand that it would rest on which is offered during the Arati. The problem is that the conch used during Arati is consecrated as part of advanced puja not beginner puja. Now when we do Arati at the Mandir, because someone has done the "Main" puja - ie the Cosmic Puja, the conch for Arati has already been consecrated, and all we have to do is to pick it up and do the dance. But in our Beginner Puja we DO not consecrate the conch, as you would have doubtless noticed. Now I am confused too - since we do not consecrate the conch during puja, how can we offer for Arati? Is it safe to say that for Beginner Puja Arati, we should not offer a conch but go ahead and offer the other items?Or do we keep a conch set aside for Arati, even though we havent used it for puja. This is my confusion. I have to ask Swamiji's sage advice. One conch ? Two conches? - Let Swamiji decide for us. I will post when he responds. Grace, you also said " I have on it (altar) the purified water, the cup for offerings, the cup with water for bath, and the cup with drinking water, the previously offered flowers, tea light, incense holder, camphor spoon, of course my idol. Did I forget anything?" At the end of your puja, you will take the cup with the offerings, stir it thoroughly and give a spoonful (or more) to yourself and your family. Therefore you can take away the cup after the puja. Similarly, the cup with water for bath too you would give a spoonful to each one at home. You could wash the camphor spoon and set aside. So all you would have left is your purified water, cup with drinking water, flowers, tea light, incense holder, maybe a fruit or chocolates (incase you used these in lieu of food). Your idol would be draped in a cloth, rudraksh, garland, sindoor, chandan etc. No..... I dont think you forgot anything. Please let me know of any further questions. Beste Henny, my only knowledge of Dutch is "Hoe Gat Het met U”, thanks to Googling for Dutch vocab, and now of course I know "Beste" too Correct, Prana Pratishtha has no bearing on our beginner puja. Ahem , lets all remember to put in a note for Parvati Saraswati to come and help us with intermediate and advanced topics. Yes dear Henny, you would be multi-tasking when doing the Arati. Simplest option is to play the Arati on a CD so that it takes away having to read the book. Then you could get up and dance and try to be ambidextrous and do two things simultaneously - ring the bells with your left and offer with your right I think you will get the hang of it very quickly especially since Shiva loves to see us exhibit our devotion. Henny asked,” do we also ring the bell continuously during the shanti verses, also with the left hand?" Yes, you would ring the bell in a few occassions 1) When offering lights and incense right at the beginning of the puja (sorry forgot to mention it earlier) 2) During the shanti verses 3) During Arati. Henny asked,” could we make the bell-ringing a mental exercise (just make the gesture) early in the morning if trouble with the neighbors is to be avoided?" Yes, you could! You want to be a good citizen too and so you would do what is most appropriate. Sometimes it makes sense, especially if there are small children around to preserve silence. Sometimes it makes sense to chant and ring for all that we are worth - who knows there may be a Len near you that is listening to your puja and getting inspired by it. BTW, Len, I LOVED your post! Thank you for sharing! More! More! Henny said,’ looking forward to day 16". Thanks Henny, you are the Best(e) ! My brother Rick gets 20 points (so far you are our valedictorian Rick - you have already notched all the extra points during the course) You gave a good example of a Stuti from the Chandi. You said, "In Chapter 5 - the "Ya Devi" Stutis sung by the Gods, immediately after the thoughts "Too Much" and "Too Little" insulted them. The Gods remembered the words of Chandi (Shree Maa), "In any time of adversity if you remember Me, then and there I will eradicate your every distress," and sang this lovely stuti to Her." It is called, fyi, as Aparajita Stuti - meaning - verses of praise of She who is unconquerable/invincible/undefeatable. Thank you for writing in Rick. You said, "My heart's desire is to praise Her continually." Thank you for your continued inspiration, participation and gentle presence . OK dear all, we are moving on the last part of our puja - Pranam - in my next post. Jai Shiva Nanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 Dear Nanda, Yes, I am confused by all the cups of water. I would have thought that once we had our purified water that that would surfice for bathing and drinking water for the murti. I suppose I was so confused I could not phrase the question adequately the last time. Thank you, Grace On 04/04/2005, at 4:14 PM, Nanda wrote: > Dear All, > > > > G'day Grace! <50.gif> Good to hear from you <40.gif>and I admit I too > am having some reservations about the conch talk. OK, let me give some > background. > > We require TWO conches - one is a conch that we blow at the end of the > puja, and the other is a conch with a little stand that it would rest > on which is offered during the Arati. > > The problem is that the conch used during Arati is consecrated as part > of advanced puja not beginner puja. > > > > Now when we do Arati at the Mandir, because someone has done the > "Main" puja - ie the Cosmic Puja, the conch for Arati has already been > consecrated, and all we have to do is to pick it up and do the dance. > > But in our Beginner Puja we DO not consecrate the conch, as you would > have doubtless noticed. > > > > Now I am confused too - since we do not consecrate the conch during > puja, how can we offer for Arati? Is it safe to say that for Beginner > Puja Arati, we should not offer a conch but go ahead and offer the > other items?Or do we keep a conch set aside for Arati, even though we > havent used it for puja. > > > > This is my confusion. I have to ask Swamiji's sage advice. > > > > One conch <06.gif>? Two conches?<20.gif> - Let Swamiji decide for us. > I will post when he responds. > > > > Grace, you also said " I have on it (altar) the purified water, the > cup for offerings, the cup with water for bath, and the cup with > drinking water, the previously offered flowers, tea light, incense > holder, camphor spoon, of course my idol. Did I forget anything?" > > > > At the end of your puja, you will take the cup with the offerings, > stir it thoroughly and give a spoonful (or more) to yourself and your > family. Therefore you can take away the cup after the puja. > > Similarly, the cup with water for bath too you would give a spoonful > to each one at home. You could wash the camphor spoon and set aside. > > > > So all you would have left is your purified water, cup with drinking > water, flowers, tea light, incense holder, maybe a fruit or chocolates > (incase you used these in lieu of food). Your idol would be draped in > a cloth, rudraksh, garland, sindoor, chandan etc. > > > > No..... <33.gif>I dont think you forgot anything. Please let me know > of any further questions. > > > > Beste Henny, my only knowledge of Dutch is "Hoe Gat Het met U”, thanks > to Googling for Dutch vocab, and now of course I know "Beste" too > <03.gif> > > > > Correct, Prana Pratishtha has no bearing on our beginner puja. Ahem > <04.gif>, lets all remember to put in a note for Parvati Saraswati to > come and help us with intermediate and advanced topics. > > > > Yes dear Henny, you would be multi-tasking when doing the Arati. > Simplest option is to play the Arati on a CD so that it takes away > having to read the book. Then you could get up and dance and try to be > ambidextrous and do two things simultaneously - ring the bells with > your left and offer with your right <11.gif> > > I think you will get the hang of it very quickly <14.gif> especially > since Shiva loves to see us exhibit our devotion. > > > > > > Henny asked,” do we also ring the bell continuously during the shanti > verses, also with the left hand?" > > > > Yes, you would ring the bell in a few occassions > > 1) When offering lights and incense right at the beginning of the puja > (sorry forgot to mention it earlier) > > 2) During the shanti verses > > 3) During Arati. > > > > Henny asked,” could we make the bell-ringing a mental exercise (just > make the gesture) early in the morning if trouble with the neighbors > is to be avoided?" > > > > Yes, you could! You want to be a good citizen too and so you would do > what is most appropriate. Sometimes it makes sense, especially if > there are small children around to preserve silence. Sometimes it > makes sense to chant and ring for all that we are worth - who knows > there may be a Len near you that is listening to your puja and getting > inspired by it. BTW, Len, I LOVED <35.gif>your post! Thank you for > sharing! More! More! > > > > Henny said,’ looking forward to day 16". Thanks Henny, you are the > Best(e) <10.gif>! > > > > My brother Rick gets 20 points (so far you are our valedictorian Rick > - you have already notched all the extra points during the course) > > You gave a good example of a Stuti from the Chandi. You said, "In > Chapter 5 - the "Ya Devi" Stutis sung by the Gods, immediately after > the thoughts "Too Much" and "Too Little" insulted them. The Gods > remembered the words of Chandi (Shree Maa), "In any time of adversity > if you remember Me, then and there I will eradicate your every > distress," and sang this lovely stuti to Her." > > > > It is called, fyi, as Aparajita Stuti - meaning - verses of praise of > She who is unconquerable/invincible/undefeatable. > > > > Thank you for writing in Rick. You said, "My heart's desire is to > praise Her continually." Thank you for your continued inspiration, > participation and gentle presence <01.gif>. > > > > OK dear all, we are moving on the last part of our puja - Pranam - in > my next post. > > > > Jai Shiva > > Nanda > > > > Sponsor > > > > Children International > > Would you give Hope to a Child in need? > > > <332170_011805_newchildforemail.jpg> > > · > Click Here to meet a Girl > And Give Her Hope > > · > Click Here to meet a Boy > And Change His Life > > Learn More > > <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 April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 ok--tell me--what kind of dancing is this we are supposed to do? > Yes dear */Henny/*, you would be multi-tasking when doing the Arati. > Simplest option is to play the Arati on a CD so that it takes away > having to read the book. Then you could get up and dance and try to > be ambidextrous and do two things simultaneously - ring the bells > with your left and offer with your right -- Be Love, Berijoy http://www.egyirba.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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