Re:to Ardis- Beginner Puja – Day 17 – Series Finale

[Guest guest]

Dear elder sister,

 

I know you speak from experience, so your encouragement is very

valuable to me,

 

with love,

Henny

 

, Ardis Jackson <ardis1@v...> wrote:

> Oh Henny,

>

> Your expression is so beautiful. I am convinced that the fruition

of

> your efforts will come about.

> The regular offering of this simple puja will bring you your heart's

> desire. It will become a part of you.

>

> Lord Shiva will manifest in your heart and life.

>

> Ardis

>

> > I want you to know I am very

> > grateful for this wonderful seed that has been given me. And now

I am

> > going to cultivate this tender sprout that has come up: I am

going to

> > water it by practicing this puja until it is in my blood and I am

> > going to enrich the earth by looking up all the stories behind

Shiva's

> > names and behind the names of all the deities to whom we are

offering.

> > I am going to give it air by practicing japa and I am going to

let it

> > grow in the sun's light by opening my heart and hopefully this

little

> > plant is going to surprise me with a beautiful flower one day.

> >

> > I bow to Lord Shiva, white as jasmine,

> > I bow to Shree Maa and Swami Satyananda Saraswati,

> > I bow to you, Nanda,

> > and I bow to all who have made these lessons such a valuable

> > experience,

> >

> > with love,

> > Henny

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > And, as you do, you realize you forgot--- In

(AT) (DOT)

> > com, Nanda <chandimaakijai> wrote:

> > >

> > > Dear All,

> > >

> > > This is IT! We have reached the end of our journey – the study

of

> > the theory of puja , and the beginning of a new one – the actual

doing

> > of the puja.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > I would like to wrap up with a few topics. I still have a few

open

> > questions from the old posts that I will get answered in a few

days.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Cleaning the puja area. Preparation for the next day.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > At the end of the day, when you are ready to wind down

business, you

> > would clear your puja area. This means you would remove flowers,

any

> > offerings, rudraksh and the cloth that you offered during puja.

You

> > would also remove the water (give it to a plant if possible), and

make

> > your altar as clean as possible.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Remember we dispose old flowers and akshat under the foot of a

tree

> > on in running water if possible. If you offered fruit, you could

share

> > it with friends and family as prasad.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Oh one thing, Swamiji suggests that we chant the Gayatri mantra

(Om

> > Bhur Bhuvah Svah ... pracodayat ) when we start the cleaning.

This

> > means your could either chant it once before you start OR like

Maa has

> > suggested elsewhere you could keep this mantra going while you

> > complete this task and prepare for the next day.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > It is all up to you!

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Final Exams

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Write a thesis in 10,000 words (you can write it in Dutch,

Henny if

> > you prefer) on Shiva Puja Practice and its impact on World

Economy

> > from a Socio-political-religious perspective. (Alright Alright

Just

> > Kidding!) ...

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > I was looking through Rosie's bio on the group and in that she

> > mentions "Maa had asked me to learn Beginner Siva Puja. Then

after I

> > learned the puja, she asked me to write down WHY I do puja. I

tried

> > very hard to find a nice and concise statement that summed up

their

> > teaching, but truly, I kept feeling that I do puja because they

do

> > puja and because they asked me to too."

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > So taking a leaf from Rosie's book, can you email me

> > (chandimaakijai ) WHY you do puja ?

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > I will take your responses, compile them into one post and also

send

> > it off to Maa and Swamiji.

> > >

> > > We will get their blessings to our responses, as a way of

clarifying

> > our goals and commitment to our puja.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > When things don't go as planned and we want to take refuge, we

can

> > go back to  our reasons why we want to do puja,

> > >

> > > And take heart in the fact that we have shared them with Maa

and

> > Swamiji and they have blessed this endeavor.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > So think on this carefully - WHY do I want to do Puja? - And

send it

> > to me by Friday 8th 5 PM Pacific Time.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Also if you are not comfortable sharing your "WHY" with the

group ,

> > do let me know and I will not include it in my post, but will

forward

> > only to Swamiji.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Where do we go from here?

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Well, I speak from personal experience here; it is amazing how

much

> > we learn when we try to explain the practice to others. So if you

> > benefit from your practice, I would humbly request you to try to

> > teach/explain the Beginner Puja to a friend. You will then find

your

> > own questions getting answered in the process.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > So one thing you could do is to share the learning.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Another thing we could all do is to expand our puja. This means

> > learning mantras that expand our current practices. And we can

give

> > ourselves some time in the next few weeks/months - and learn

> > intermediate or advanced techniques that we can add to our pujas.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Lots of possibilities and thankfully we have our Gurus to guide

and

> > inspire us.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > I bow down to Shree Maa and Swamiji for making this forum

available

> > for our growth.

> > >

> > > I bow down to you, dear readers , for your satsanga.

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > > Jai Shiva

> > >

> > > Nanda

> > >

> > > 

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

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