Day 6 Q/A feedback

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Day 6 Q/A feedback

 

Kumari said:

 

Swami gives a nice translation of the Gayatri Viddhi verses. I

would like to know why the Gayatri Viddhi goes after the worship

is started since the mantras are declarative, and purify all the

three bodies and beyond. One would think we would start our

puja with this set of mantras first.

 

Swamiji says:

First we want to welcome the Gods and Goddesses and tell

them who we are and what are planning to do. Then we

commence the process of doing it.

 

Kalachandra says:

 

I have a question about the Arati to Sri Ramakrishna. I offer light,

water, cloth, flower and fanner (I don´t know the name) with the

mulamantra. There are anny mantra? Is the same mantra Shiva

Puja:

Light: Om agnir jyoti...

Water:  mulamantra +ganga ganga snanam samarpaiami ( I

must ti chant before: Om Gange ca jamune caiva godavari...

Cloth: mulamantra + vastram samarpaiami

Flower: ete gandapuspe+mulamantra ( in this flower I can to do

prarthana and dhenu mudra with Om puspa maha puspa...

Fanner ?

 

When  I offer the camphor ?After the what? What mantra? This

mantra Shiva Puja advanced? Or these mantras are only to

Complet Puja?

There are anny mumber rounds in this offerings. (4 in feet, 2 in

heart, 1 in face, 7 around?) or this is not necessary?

 

Parvati says:

 

First we will distinguish between Shiva puja and arati.

 

When you do Shiva puja you will do all of the offerings (pgs.

23-27) beginner shiva puja book with the given mantra in the

book.

 

Ex: cloth: mulamantra + vastram samarpayaami

 

You can substitute Ramakrishna's muula mantra for Shiva's

muula mantra.

 

You will follow the instructions for the mudras as written in the

beginner shiva puja book. Ex: Page15 when purifying the water

use ankush mudra.

 

When purifying the flowers (pg.16 beginner shiva puja) you will

do prarthana mudra and dhenu mudra over the flowers. You do

not do these mudras during the offerings at the end.

 

The camphor offering comes after the incense and the mantra

is in the Advanced Shiva puja book page 15. You will recite the

aaraatrikam mantra and wave the camphor after offering the light

and incense in the beginning of the puja.

 

Now for ARATI.

 

Arati is a song and dance of praise. In the arati you will offer

incense, light, camphor, cloth, fan, flower plus other items which

you may or may not have but we will discuss later. When you

offer these items in arati you do not say the mantra. You can sing

Shiva's arati and offer these items as you dance, sing and ring

the bell.

 

One way to do the offerings during arati is to wave the articles in

a clockwise rotation 4 times around the feet, 2 around the heart

and 3 around face and 7 around whole deity.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Kaliananda says:

 

There is no question at this time I just wanted to

share the thought that as I read the transliteration

of "om payah prthivyam .........." - "om Earth is a

reservoir of nectar, all vegetation is a resevoir of

nectar, the divine atmosphere is a reservoir of

nectar, and also above."

 

I could not help but thinking of Beloved Mother Shree

Maa's song - You grant the best of all the worlds (Oh

Dark Night Mother). The divine nectar is everywhere,

waiting to flood our being, if only we would wake up.

 

May all perceptions shine forth with the sweet taste

of nectar for us.

 

Parvati says: Thanks for sharing this sweet verse. It is true that

the divine nectar is everywhere perhaps that is why Maa is

always reminding us to "wake up" in so many ways. That is why

she came to this earth plane, to remind us of who we are.

 

Q: May I ask please if these mantras may only be recited

in puja? May they be recited prior to japa? !

 

A: Yes. These mantras may be recited prior to puja.

 

Nanda

asks:

 

Why rudraksha ? Is there a

special reason why we offer Rudraksha to the deities as part of

ourofferings. What is the significance to wearing Rudraksha and

being gifted rudraksha by Maa and Swamiji ?

 

A:Defining the sanskrit and meaning of the word rudraksha may

help answer some of your questions:

 

Lord Siva is also known as Rudra. The meaning of the name

Rudra is traceable to the Vedas.

 

The word Rudra means asru trayate. Rudra asru trayate. Asru

means tears and trayate means to take away. Rudra who takes

away the tears of pain or suffering.

 

Now let's look at the word rudraksha:

 

Ru means to cry, pain, suffering

dra means to take away, stops

aksha means eyes or whole entire manifestation

Rudrasksha could mean that which takes away the tears,

suffering, or pain

Rudraksha could mean the eyes of Rudra which sees the whole

manifested existence.

We wear the eyes of Rudra that sees the whole manifested

existence when we wear a rudraksha.

 

Legend has it that Lord Shiva once entered a profound state of

meditation for the benefit of mankind for a very long time. When

he finally emerged from this state and opened his eyes, the

deep joy, peace, and love he felt for the human race was

expressed with sacred tears which ran down his cheek and fell

to earth. Each tear generated a rudraksha tree whose tiny fruits

are born of the tears of rudra—the Lord Almighty Himself.

 

Knowing that the Rudraksha takes away our tears of suffering

and pain why not offer this auspicious seed. Wearing

Rudrakshas offer protection and remind us of the divinity which

resides within and without this creation.

If you were gifted with a rudraksha from Shree Maa and Swamij

consider it a great blessing. You can either wear it around your

neck or use it as an offering in your puja.

 

FYI found this on the web:

 

Botanically, the rudraksha tree is known as Elaecarpus ganitrus

Roxb. These trees grow in very few places in the world including

the Himalayas of India and Nepal, as well as in parts of

Indonesia. They are large trees with a wide silhouette whose

flowers bloom annually. The rudraksha berry varies in size (3-40

mm; 1/8 to 1½ inches).

 

It has smooth light green skin and pulp much like a green

grape. Lodged within the pulp is a single round seed which has

a rough surface and a hole running through it from top to bottom.

 

It is these seeds which are the rudraksha beads. Each seed

also possesses fron 1 to 21 vertical lines running down its

surface, like the longitude lines on a globe. These lines are

known as mukhas, or facets, and are natural formations of the

seed. Seeds with one vertical line are known as ek-mukhi (one

facet); those with two lines are dwi-mukhi (two facets), and so

on. Each rudraksha has a spsecific meaning depending on how

many faces it has.

 

There is more information in the Devi Bhagavatam and Shiva

Puranas about Rudrakshas.

 

 

Kalachandra asked: (about purification of the maala.)

In this moment we need perform a japa ?

 

Parvati says: No. We do not perform japa when we purify our

maala. We just recite the mantra to our maala.

 

Ramya said:

We pray to our rosary to help us!

Why? Because our rosary holds all energy within it as its intrinsic

nature.

 

By saying the mantras with love and concentration - we become

one with the Divine Mantras. That helps us to manifest this

divinity in all our actions, thoughts and words -- we can attain our

ideal of

perfection (dharma). To attain this we gather adequate

resources (artha), invite only desires that help us attain our ideal

(kama) and acheive moksha (liberation). Isn't it interesting that

we are praying to our mala here to give us

perfection? With prayers to Her to help all Her children come

soon to Her and rest at Her Divine Feet!

 

Parvati said: Thanks for sharing your inspiration and insight

about the maala and how it helps us attain the four objectives of

life. You are right that all of our prayers and effort help us come

closer to Her.

 

Henny asked:

one question: are you supposed to actually take up your mala

and hold it in your right hand when you start reciting these

mantra's? And when

you have finished reciting, what do you do with the mala?

 

Ramya said:

 

I wear the mala around my neck, so i just take it out and hold it

for the duration of these three verses and then put it back. I have

seen other people, who have malas in bags, take them out and

hold them and then put the malas back in the bag. Whatever is

most comfortable for you!

 

Parvati said: I have seen both ways also. Also, I have seen

people who wear their maala and then touch it while it is around

their neck and recite the mantra for the maala. I agree that

whatever works best for you is best.

Thanks for asking the question, Henny.

 

May Lord Shiva continue to bless us and the universe with

peace.