Performing Puja.

[Baobobtree]

Namaste all.

Perhaps this is better suited for the Bhakti Yoga subforum, but I'm very unsure of where to post this. I've done short pujas before (heck I usually do at least one a week now), but I'd really like to know, how to do the more elaborate pujas or rituals one can perform. Would anyone be able to tell me how to do such? Thanks in advance.

[saidevo]

Namaste Baobobtree.

Hindu home pujas that involve no homa are peformed under the guidance of a text book. These books are usually available in Hindu bookshops; most are in vernacular; check if there are any publications in English.

Hindu home pujas that involve homas are best done under the guidance of an Acharya (priest).

Brief discriptions of some pujas are given in many Websites but most directories refer to a single Website as having a comprehensive collection, and that Website is:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8891/

Check if this Website is of any help and do let us know how you find it. The best way to do an elaborate puja might be to acquire a textbook, take the services of a priest for the first time performance and then do it yourself.

All the best!

[sm78]

Namaste all.

Perhaps this is better suited for the Bhakti Yoga subforum, but I'm very unsure of where to post this. I've done short pujas before (heck I usually do at least one a week now), but I'd really like to know, how to do the more elaborate pujas or rituals one can perform. Would anyone be able to tell me how to do such? Thanks in advance.

As saidevo said most simple and common nitya puja vidhis that are carried in a standard hindu household are done with help of small booklets which are readily available in India, in regional languages. This are compilations from shastras with regard to a specific puja or vrata. I wud suggest you search for such manuals on nitya puja on your ista devta.

However puja gets more complex than this only when one is endowed to perform higher and complex rituals through successive dikshas.

[yajvan]

Hari Om
~~~~~~

Namaste B,

Saidevo and SM has given good advice... To perhaps offer you a 'get started' book of 30 pages, consider Ganesha Puja Vidhi . It outlines the materials needed, the sequence of events, the puja, pictures, etc. It is published by Central Chinmata MIssion Trust. Here is the site and the book cover
http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDF666/



pranams

[Eastern Mind]

There is also a simple 'getting started' puja in 'Loving Ganesha" by Himalayan Academy, if I'm not mistaken. But puja can be very simple, waving of lights, and not a whole lot more. Back when I was learning a simple one for the service I was called to as a pandaram, I was guided to that reference. Most temple priests would offer advice on 'getting started, too. Personally, I found the 'mental preparation' part as tricky, yet useful, as the actual rite performing. Aum Namashivaya

[yajvan]

Hari Om
~~~~~

There is also a simple 'getting started' puja in 'Loving Ganesha" by Himalayan Academy, if I'm not mistaken. But puja can be very simple, waving of lights, and not a whole lot more. Back when I was learning a simple one for the service I was called to as a pandaram, I was guided to that reference. Most temple priests would offer advice on 'getting started, too. Personally, I found the 'mental preparation' part as tricky, yet useful, as the actual rite performing. Aum Namashivaya

Namste EM,
for me ,as taught, it is the level of inspiration, who one calls to consciousness (devata) at the time.

This is a key difference in mimamsa and performing yajya with inner significance. The Mimamsaka may say , it is perfecting the ritual, and only the exact performance is of import; Others say it is the subjective experience, as the homam is being performed on the conscious level of the sadhu/ritvik or yajamana. ( I subscribe to the 2nd notion).

There is a nice story in the Chandogya Upaishads on this , I will look it up and post it.

pranams.

[Arjuna]

Namaste all.

Perhaps this is better suited for the Bhakti Yoga subforum, but I'm very unsure of where to post this. I've done short pujas before (heck I usually do at least one a week now), but I'd really like to know, how to do the more elaborate pujas or rituals one can perform. Would anyone be able to tell me how to do such? Thanks in advance.

Namaste,

Traditionally pujas are done by qualified priests (usually brahmanas). If one wants to make a puja he/she orders it as yajamAna. Otherwise one should get initiation into some Hindu tradition and get instructions from his/her Guru.

Technical details of rituals are available in numerous paddhatis, nibandhas and original Agamas.

[yajvan]

Hari Om
~~~~~


Namaste,

'If one offers Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.' ...Sri Krsna, Bhagavad Gita - Chapt 9.26

[Baobobtree]

Namaste all.

Thank you all so much for the links and advice. I'll be sure to look into all these links :).



'If one offers Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.' ...Sri Krsna, Bhagavad Gita - Chapt 9.26 Namaste Yajvan.

I think I should clarify that I don't want to do proper puja because I thought it was the only proper way of making an offering to God, but rather because I want to gain a proper cultural udnerstanding of how rituals are performed, and because I've found the more elaborate and orthodox the ritual, the better a connection I feel towards God.

[Eastern Mind]

Namaste all.

Thank you all so much for the links and advice. I'll be sure to look into all these links :).

Namaste Yajvan.

I think I should clarify that I don't want to do proper puja because I thought it was the only proper way of making an offering to God, but rather because I want to gain a proper cultural udnerstanding of how rituals are performed, and because I've found the more elaborate and orthodox the ritual, the better a connection I feel towards God.

Some people may see puja as symbolic, there are many levels. From a mystical point of view, God (whichever one the puja may be focussed on) enters (in a stronger way) the area of the shrine room, the statue, or the picture, during puja. In a way, you are saying "Ganesha, (or whichever deity) please come and bless me." All of the rituals are done to call the presence. The Gods too are familiar with the rituals. The ringing of the bell is an indicator at first that the puja is about to begin, then after that God hears the bell (10 or more times clearer than we do). The incense is lit in the same way.. The Presence of God can smell it, and can sense someone has come to receive blessings. The Presence can see you as well. (better than you can see him) Devas also come. In temples that is one reason why pujas are scheduled. Devas and souls that are between births also attend, and they will gather nearby before the puja begins, and attend just like those of us with physical bodies. Upon one's death, this is a reason why people avoid ritual for a period of 21, 31 days, or even a year. They (devotees) want the soul to be able to make a complete break, so that they can freely choose on another life. So doing ritual; the 'correct' way is important. A Vaishnava puja is done a certain way to attract Vaishna devas. If you're worshipping Ganesha, you chant His names, not Siva's or Durga's. (I remember when I had 108 names of Ganesha and Siva memorized, there was one name that was common to both. Because of the way memory works, occasionally when I hit that name, I would switch to the other God, by accident. It wasn't that I'd notice the change in names, but that I'd notice the change in vibration. So I'd have to stop the chant, and begin over. I hope you have had fun learning a simple puja , Baobob. Aum Namasivaya