Day 16: Shiva puja class-offerings

[Guest guest]

Day 16 shiva puja class-offerings

 

Om Namah Shivaaya to all,

 

We are almost finished with our expanded Shiva puja class.

Many thanks to all of you. Today we will focus on the offerings at

the end of the beginner Shiva puja book.

 

In the beginner shiva puja book on pages 23-26 are the

offerings. We will recite the expanded mantras from the

Advanced Shiva puja book which coincide with the offerings

listed in the beginner book except there are a few extra

offerings in the advanced book which you will find in 2 different

section of the Adv. book. It is your choice if you want to include

some of the extra offerings or just follow the outline of the

beginner book offerings.

 

Offerings from the Advanced Shiva puja book:

 

1. pg. 175 invitation to Lord Shiva- aavaahani mudra- see picture

pg. 167 (not in beginner book)

 

2. pg. 175 offer Lord Shiva a seat in your heart-hold both palms

up in front of your heart finger tips touching thumbs out . Make a

seat for Lord Shiva to sit in. (not in beginner book)

 

3. pg. 176- foot bath- put some water on your Shivaa lingam if

you have one or on a flower if you don't. (use saamaanyaarghya

water)

 

4. pg. 103- milk bath- pour milk on Shiva lingam or put the next 5

ingredients into a bowl. ( infinite ocean of purity) Shree Maa always pours milk

on her Shiva lingam. If you want you can pour milk on your lingam and then make

the 5 nectar bath in a bowl or use water for the other 4 offerings and pour

water on the lingam as you recite the mantras for the yogurt, ghee, honey and

sugar.

 

5. pg. 103-yogurt (consciousness which can be perceived)

 

6. pg.104- ghee (illumination of consciousness)

 

7. pg. 105-honey(sweetness of creation)

 

8. pg. 105- sugar (nourishment)

 

9.pg.105-five nectar bath- mix all ingredients together

 

10. pg. 105-scented oil (not in beginners puja-offer rose water

into 5 nectar bath)

 

11. pg. 106 -scented bath (not in beginners puja- sweet smelling

perfume-your choice sandlewood oil is nice for Shiva)

 

12. pg. 107- cloth (needs to be new piece of cloth, but you can

offer it each day. You can put the cloth on your Shiva lingam or

on the side of your altar) Remember to be careful with lights and

incense around the cloth that might be on your altar.

 

13. pg.107-108 sacred thread(not in beg. book)- 9 pieces of

thread tied together (we get ours from India or the local Indian

store)

 

14. pg 109- rudraksha- offer rudraksha bead(s)

 

15. pg. 109- maala- can offer rudraksha maala or other maala(not in beg. book)

 

16. pg. 101 at the top -sindhu -(mantra begins: om

sinduuramarunabhaasam......) offer directly onto the shiva

lingam

 

17. pg. 102- sandle paste- offer paste onto the shiva lingam- you can draw the

three lines on your lingam. (Shree maa generally offers the sandle paste first

and then the sindhu and turmeric).

 

18. pg. 102- turmeric- offer tumeric powder ( not in beg. book You can get

turmeric at any market or local Indian store.)

 

19. pg. 179- rice- offer a few grains of rice

 

20. pg. 110- flower garland (we generally use small carnations to make the

garland, marigolds are nice when they are in season) Offering the flower garland

adds a nice bhava to the puja. Try it and see how you feel afterwards.

 

21. pg. 180 -food offering- can offer a piece of fruit or any other

item that is not jhuta or you can cook something. If you cook at

home it is nice to offer the food that you might make throughout

the day at your altar. You can sprinkle a little water from your puja

on the food to be offered and a flower and recite the food offering

mantra. Little by little we transform our house into a temple filled with divine

vibrations, divine prasad, and divine beings!

 

22. pg. 181- drinking water- offer a little water into a cup

 

23. pg. 110-111- flower- offer a flower

 

This concludes the list of sacred offerings. These offerings and

mantras will be used in most of the pujas. Remember that the

bhava is the bottom line and you can offer any or all of the items

by pulling them out of your heart. You can also use a drop of

water, a flower or a petal.

 

Also remember that there are 3 ways to perform puja.

1. shubda-with sound

2. pumsa-moving the mouth only without sound

3. manas-in the mind only. No outward movement, body is still

like in silent meditation.

 

Homework: Read through the expanded mantras in sanskrit

and/ or transliteration plus the English.

Try to combine the expanded mantras on a separate sheet so

you don't have to flip back and forth in the advanced book since

the mantras are on different pages. Add this sheet to the back of

your beginner shiva puja so when you get to the offerings you

can find all the mantras easily.

 

Good luck and om namah shivaaya!

[Guest guest]

Dear Parvati,

 

thank you for guiding us through the offerings.

I have a question about the mudra's:

-there are two avahani mudra's in the book, one on page 167, which, if

I understand correctly, we use at this point, and one on page 173.

Could you please explain why there are two mudra's called 'avahani',

which are used with the same mantra, and what the difference is?

-the offering of a seat to Lord Shiva with the hands: are the hands

held flat or more like a cup? Does it look like the sannidhapani mudra

on page 174 with the elbows close to the body? Or are the hands held

with the fingertips towards each other and touching in front of the

heart with the elbows sticking out? (sorry if I am unclear)

 

and another one about the mudras we learned to perform with the water

purification, which confused me when I tried to recite and do the

mudras this morning: at which point in the mantra do we change from

matsya to dhenu to ankusha mudra? Or is that of no importance?

 

thank you very much for your time and consideration,

 

with love,

Henny

 

 

in this puja, we use the one,

"parv108" <parv108> wrote:

> Day 16 shiva puja class-offerings

>

> Om Namah Shivaaya to all,

>

> We are almost finished with our expanded Shiva puja class.

> Many thanks to all of you. Today we will focus on the offerings at

> the end of the beginner Shiva puja book.

>

> In the beginner shiva puja book on pages 23-26 are the

> offerings. We will recite the expanded mantras from the

> Advanced Shiva puja book which coincide with the offerings

> listed in the beginner book except there are a few extra

> offerings in the advanced book which you will find in 2 different

> section of the Adv. book. It is your choice if you want to

include

> some of the extra offerings or just follow the outline of the

> beginner book offerings.

>

> Offerings from the Advanced Shiva puja book:

>

> 1. pg. 175 invitation to Lord Shiva- aavaahani mudra- see picture

> pg. 167 (not in beginner book)

>

> 2. pg. 175 offer Lord Shiva a seat in your heart-hold both palms

> up in front of your heart finger tips touching thumbs out . Make a

> seat for Lord Shiva to sit in. (not in beginner book)

>

> 3. pg. 176- foot bath- put some water on your Shivaa lingam if

> you have one or on a flower if you don't. (use saamaanyaarghya

> water)

>

> 4. pg. 103- milk bath- pour milk on Shiva lingam or put the next 5

> ingredients into a bowl. ( infinite ocean of purity) Shree Maa

always pours milk on her Shiva lingam. If you want you can pour milk

on your lingam and then make the 5 nectar bath in a bowl or use water

for the other 4 offerings and pour water on the lingam as you recite

the mantras for the yogurt, ghee, honey and sugar.

>

> 5. pg. 103-yogurt (consciousness which can be perceived)

>

> 6. pg.104- ghee (illumination of consciousness)

>

> 7. pg. 105-honey(sweetness of creation)

>

> 8. pg. 105- sugar (nourishment)

>

> 9.pg.105-five nectar bath- mix all ingredients together

>

> 10. pg. 105-scented oil (not in beginners puja-offer rose water

> into 5 nectar bath)

>

> 11. pg. 106 -scented bath (not in beginners puja- sweet smelling

> perfume-your choice sandlewood oil is nice for Shiva)

>

> 12. pg. 107- cloth (needs to be new piece of cloth, but you can

> offer it each day. You can put the cloth on your Shiva lingam or

> on the side of your altar) Remember to be careful with lights and

> incense around the cloth that might be on your altar.

>

> 13. pg.107-108 sacred thread(not in beg. book)- 9 pieces of

> thread tied together (we get ours from India or the local Indian

> store)

>

> 14. pg 109- rudraksha- offer rudraksha bead(s)

>

> 15. pg. 109- maala- can offer rudraksha maala or other maala(not in

beg. book)

>

> 16. pg. 101 at the top -sindhu -(mantra begins: om

> sinduuramarunabhaasam......) offer directly onto the shiva

> lingam

>

> 17. pg. 102- sandle paste- offer paste onto the shiva lingam- you

can draw the three lines on your lingam. (Shree maa generally offers

the sandle paste first and then the sindhu and turmeric).

>

> 18. pg. 102- turmeric- offer tumeric powder ( not in beg. book You

can get turmeric at any market or local Indian store.)

>

> 19. pg. 179- rice- offer a few grains of rice

>

> 20. pg. 110- flower garland (we generally use small carnations to

make the garland, marigolds are nice when they are in season) Offering

the flower garland adds a nice bhava to the puja. Try it and see how

you feel afterwards.

>

> 21. pg. 180 -food offering- can offer a piece of fruit or any other

> item that is not jhuta or you can cook something. If you cook at

> home it is nice to offer the food that you might make throughout

> the day at your altar. You can sprinkle a little water from your

puja

> on the food to be offered and a flower and recite the food offering

> mantra. Little by little we transform our house into a temple filled

with divine vibrations, divine prasad, and divine beings!

>

> 22. pg. 181- drinking water- offer a little water into a cup

>

> 23. pg. 110-111- flower- offer a flower

>

> This concludes the list of sacred offerings. These offerings and

> mantras will be used in most of the pujas. Remember that the

> bhava is the bottom line and you can offer any or all of the items

> by pulling them out of your heart. You can also use a drop of

> water, a flower or a petal.

>

> Also remember that there are 3 ways to perform puja.

> 1. shubda-with sound

> 2. pumsa-moving the mouth only without sound

> 3. manas-in the mind only. No outward movement, body is still

> like in silent meditation.

>

> Homework: Read through the expanded mantras in sanskrit

> and/ or transliteration plus the English.

> Try to combine the expanded mantras on a separate sheet so

> you don't have to flip back and forth in the advanced book since

> the mantras are on different pages. Add this sheet to the back of

> your beginner shiva puja so when you get to the offerings you

> can find all the mantras easily.

>

> Good luck and om namah shivaaya!