Hello

May 12, 2005

Hi, my name is Joan and I just joined the group. I am very new to this

and don't understand very much but have a desire to learn. I sent for

Chandi 1 and 2 but it was recommended by Nanda that I start with

beginner Puja - Shiva or Durga. I don't know what that is. Can

someone help me - please excuse my ignorance - I just would like to

know where to start.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. - Sincerely, Joan

May 12, 2005

OM NAMAH SIVAYA

Dear Joan,

Nanda and others would be able to better speak about the particulars

of puja or methods of worship. in general i think start with what you

love. God is love, so do what you love and see where it takes you.

I believe it was Shree Maa who once said, "Do whatever is in your

heart. love God, you cannot fail, and keep going!"

JAI MA

, Joan <jonnie5656> wrote:

> Hi, my name is Joan and I just joined the group. I am very new to

this and don't understand very much but have a desire to learn. I

sent for Chandi 1 and 2 but it was recommended by Nanda that I start

with beginner Puja - Shiva or Durga. I don't know what that is. Can

someone help me - please excuse my ignorance - I just would like to

know where to start.

> Any help would be greatly appreciated. - Sincerely, Joan

>

May 12, 2005

Greetings Joan,

The first question I feel any aspirant should ask herself is, "What is my

goal?"

That is to say, why are you doing this sadhana (spiritual work)? What is

the goal of your spiritual work?

If you don't have a goal, then your sadhana may not be as focused as it

could be. Focus delivers results and the results we desire are what we

should set as our goal. Its a happy cycle of positive karma that we build

through our spiritual practice.

Puja at its most basic level is a prayer to Goddess. Each puja was written

with the idea that the devotee performing it will want certain qualities

to manifest within themselves. These are qualitites of the God or Goddess

who is the subject of the puja. For Durga, we desire clarity (the opposite

of confusion), we desire honesty (the opposite of deceit), we desire truth

and we desire peace. (both of which have no opposites)

Nanda recommended either the beginner Shiva or the Durga puja because they

are shorter, less complicated, and a perfect way for an English speaking

person to begin to understand the beautiful complexities of Sanscrit, the

language of our anchient and conscious ancestors.

I reccomend the Shiva Puja. To me, Shiva represents one pointed attention,

focus, pure desire and intention, and a depth of devotion that the other

dieties bow down to. Shiva can provide you with the foundations on which

to build a life devoted to God, to that consciousness from which

everything springs.

I suggest you read the entire script in English, aloud if possible,

several times through and contemplate the meaning of the words. The

sanscrit mantras are powerful all by themselves, but the meaning squares

the power of the sanscrit. And each level of understanding (because the

sanscrit is true at many many levels) increases the power and depth of the

sanscrit mantram.

Pronounciation is difficult at first. Don't become frustrated and don't

care how badly you feel you are pronouncing it, in fact if you know you

are mis-pronouncing it, feel happy, because that means as soon as you can,

you'll fix your pronounciation. God does not care how badly pronounced the

words are as long as your intent is to realize Him. And the more your

realize Him, the better will be your pronounciation.

It is very difficult to describe the pure power of these texts. Those

anchient Masters (Swamis) as well as the modern one who brought the texts

to us have the uncanny ability to mix metaphore with analogy and allegory,

wrapping up so much meaning within meaning that they litterally turn the

world of objects and relationships upside-down, utilizing it to connect

with God, instead of allowing it to fool us into believing we are distinct

and alone. To reiterate: the Masters use reality to show us how to see

beyond reality. There is no greater Gift.

Puja is one method to attain inner peace, acceptance, love and surrender

to God. It is the easiest and most anchient method to gain the bhava

(right attitude) to realize God.

So, what do you want from all of this? What is your goal? Set it down on

paper, hang it on the mirror and look at it every morning.

Don't tell anyone what your goal is. Keep it on your mind and keep it a

determining factor in every decision you make, in every act you perform.

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA

> Hi, my name is Joan and I just joined the group. I am very new to this and

> don't understand very much but have a desire to learn. I sent for Chandi

> 1 and 2 but it was recommended by Nanda that I start with beginner Puja -

> Shiva or Durga. I don't know what that is. Can someone help me - please

> excuse my ignorance - I just would like to know where to start.

> Any help would be greatly appreciated. - Sincerely, Joan

>

May 12, 2005

Dear Joan,

welcome! As I have just learned how to perform Shiva beginner's puja

myself, I thought it might be a good idea to tell you that all you

need to start with (on the practical side of things) are the Shiva

beginner's puja book + the cd (so you can hear Swamiji chant the

Sanskrit and practice the pronunciation by chanting along) AND the

Shiva beginner's puja class file which you will find in the file

section of this site. I recommend that you take that file and use it

as if you were following the class, day by day. Each day, a part of

the puja is discussed and since all those trying to learn the puja had

the opportunity to ask questions, I think most of the questions that

may arise are dealt with there. Practice each day the part that is

discussed. When you have finished the class, you practice the whole

puja as often as you can.

I can tell you from experience that even though you may struggle in

the beginning and you may be so busy trying to get everything right

that you don't have the time to realize what you're doing, after a

while it becomes a beautiful and life-changing experience which you'll

look forward to every day. At least that's how it is for me.

As you are interested in learning puja, I take it that you feel a

longing for a closer contact with the Divine. Don't worry about

anything, just begin practicing (you have to begin somewhere) and Lord

Shiva will teach you everything,

with Love,

Henny

P.S. and don't hesitate to ask questions.

, Joan <jonnie5656> wrote:

> Hi, my name is Joan and I just joined the group. I am very new to

this and don't understand very much but have a desire to learn. I

sent for Chandi 1 and 2 but it was recommended by Nanda that I start

with beginner Puja - Shiva or Durga. I don't know what that is. Can

someone help me - please excuse my ignorance - I just would like to

know where to start.

> Any help would be greatly appreciated. - Sincerely, Joan

>

May 12, 2005

I'll check back in tomorrow and let u know how the reading

went.henny_v_i <HvI (AT) SoftHome (DOT) net> wrote:

Dear Joan,welcome! As I have just learned how to perform Shiva

beginner's puja myself, I thought it might be a good idea to tell you

that all you need to start with (on the practical side of things) are

the Shiva beginner's puja book + the cd (so you can hear Swamiji

chant the Sanskrit and practice the pronunciation by chanting along)

AND the Shiva beginner's puja class file which you will find in the

file section of this site. I recommend that you take that file and

use it as if you were following the class, day by day. Each day, a

part of the puja is discussed and since all those trying to learn the

puja had the opportunity to ask questions, I think most of the

questions that may arise are dealt with there. Practice each day the

part that is discussed. When you have finished the class, you

practice the whole puja as often

as you can.I can tell you from experience that even though you may

struggle in the beginning and you may be so busy trying to get

everything right that you don't have the time to realize what you're

doing, after a while it becomes a beautiful and life-changing

experience which you'll look forward to every day. At least that's

how it is for me.As you are interested in learning puja, I take it

that you feel a longing for a closer contact with the Divine. Don't

worry about anything, just begin practicing (you have to begin

somewhere) and Lord Shiva will teach you everything,with

Love,HennyP.S. and don't hesitate to ask questions. --- In

, Joan <jonnie5656> wrote:> Hi, my

name is Joan and I just joined the group. I am very new to this and

don't understand very much but have a desire to learn. I sent for

Chandi 1 and 2 but it was recommended by

Nanda that I start with beginner Puja - Shiva or Durga. I don't know

what that is. Can someone help me - please excuse my ignorance - I

just would like to know where to start.> Any help would be greatly

appreciated. - Sincerely, Joan> > > > > >

> > Small

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May 13, 2005

, Joan <jonnie5656> wrote:

> thank you everyone for your responses. I printed them all and

will read them tonight. I have to say, I'm a little confused, but

hopefully after reading all of the e-mails I will have a better

understanding of what to do. Thank you all again! Sincerely, Joan

> I'll check back in tomorrow and let u know how the reading went.

>

Hi Joan,

Swamiji always advises us to start small. So while you are reading

up on material and learning a puja, it might be a good idea to start

off with small mantras.

For example you could learn the Maha Mrityunjaya mantra - which is a

good mantra to ward off illnesses . As a group, many of us chant

this mantra 21 times on Saturday (at any time of their choice). And

we offer this mantra to help heal those that need it .

Why not learn this mantra as a start ? And as an added bonus

participate in the Prayer Club on Saturdays ? We have a sound clip

of this mantra, along with text and meaning.

If you would like to participate in the Prayer club , please contact

our beloved Karen at _prayer_club and request

your name to be added to the Saturday prayer list.

And as Henny said, at any point in time, feel free to ask questions.

We are all here to help each other out.

JAI MAA

Nanda

May 13, 2005

Hello Joan!!!

Jai Maa!

Chris

, Joan <jonnie5656> wrote:

> Hi, my name is Joan and I just joined the group. I am very new to

this and don't understand very much but have a desire to learn. I

sent for Chandi 1 and 2 but it was recommended by Nanda that I start

with beginner Puja - Shiva or Durga. I don't know what that is. Can

someone help me - please excuse my ignorance - I just would like to

know where to start.

> Any help would be greatly appreciated. - Sincerely, Joan

>

May 13, 2005

Welcome to the group! That is probably sound advice from Nanda. Siva

or Durga puja - beginer would be best. If you relate to God as

Father, then you might like to try the Siva puja. It brings a deep

sense of peace. If you relate to God as Mother, then you might like

The Durga puja. She brings peace too, and also a feeling of energy

and divine grace.

All the best of luck to you.

Jai Maa!Joan <jonnie5656 > wrote:

Hi, my name is Joan and I just joined the group. I am very new to this

and don't understand very much but have a desire to learn. I sent for

Chandi 1 and 2 but it was recommended by Nanda that I start with

beginner Puja - Shiva or Durga. I don't know what that is. Can

someone help me - please excuse my ignorance - I just would like to

know where to start.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. - Sincerely, Joan

May 13, 2005

thank you so much for your e-mail. you gave me a lot of hope. i will

try your suggestion of the beginner class as soon as i find it. i am

also joining the sat. prayer group (i think). i will trust that i

will get the help i need if i just put in the effort. thanks again

for taking the time to respond to my e-mail. Sincerely, Joanhenny_v_i

<HvI (AT) SoftHome (DOT) net> wrote: