Hari Aum.
We are currently still in the auspicious month of adhika masa. Any spiritual practice done during this time is said to be particularly beneficial.
I therefore thought that I would share my views on how to do a puja-- this is mainly for those who may have so far practiced various types of meditation but who may not yet have explored the world of devotional/ritualistic worship of God.
As we all know, the yogis say that God is everywhere. From time to time, when we feel particularly connected with the divine within ourselves, we may even feel this. Self-realised yogis are aware of this fact all the time.
A puja is a method used to honour the omnipresent, omnipotent, all-pervading almighty Supreme Being in a specific object, such as a diagram (a yantra), an idol (representing the form of the personal aspect of God) or other sacred object.
A puja can be as elaborate or as simple as one would like (it all depends upon the time available and one's knowledge and training in the art of puja).
The most important ingredient in conducting a successful puja is devotion to God. The most wonderfully elaborate puja, conducted by a priest with great knowledge of Vedic rites and scriptures, is futile if done in a rushed, business-like manner (as is sometimes sadly the case in temples) with little evidence of devotional feeling.
The reality of life for most of us spiritual seekers, is that we have very little time for anything elaborate. Most of us have to juggle all sorts of commitments in daily life, related to home, family and work. Fitting even a little mantra recitation or meditation into our hectic schedules may itself be challenging, let alone attempting to perform any more elaborate worship.
In the past, I have purchased books describing in detail the Sanskrit mantras and techniques of performing pujas in the traditional way. If I have a fair amount of time sometimes, I do try and perform the puja the traditional way. However, due to the pressures of time, I do admit that I mostly perform what I call an 'informal puja'.
And so, for those people who may also be short of time, but who would still like to be able to perform a puja every now and again, I thought I would share a simple method in case this may be useful.
This method draws upon the basic framework of a traditional puja, but the emphasis is on two things, namely mantra recitation and devotional feeling.
This evening, for instance, I performed an informal puja for Mother Kali. There was no particular reason and I had not planned it at all. I happened to be performing a rather mundane task (of dealing with some laundry) when I randomly began to think of Mother Kali and how beautiful She is. I then thought it would be quite nice to perform a small puja for Her and did so. It was a very good experience and I felt quite happy afterwards.
I therefore thought I would share my technique with those of you who may like to experiment with this spiritual practice.
So, here are the steps:
1. Prepare yourself-- physically and mentally:
i) Physical cleanliness:
It is a basic requirement to be physically clean when performing a puja. Traditionally, one would be expected to bathe and wear clean clothes. However, if one is short of time, I feel it is quite reasonable to simply wash one's hands (and if needed, the face and feet). The clothes that one is wearing should also be relatively clean.
ii) Mental cleanliness:
One should also feel mentally clean prior to performing a puja. By this, I mean, one should not be in a state of agitation or in the grip of emotions (especially negative ones). If one is feeling grumpy, tired, lazy or there is some other issue, the best thing is to sit down and do a little mantra recitation-- that will be calming and cleansing. After this, if one feels better, one can consider doing the puja.
iii) Devotional feeling:
One should not do a puja in a forced sort of way, out of a sense of obligation. You know, that feeling, when one doesn't really want to do something from the heart, but one feels obliged to, as a sort of duty. That is really not a good time to do a puja. Again, the best thing to do here, is to sit and do some mantra recitation. If that generates some feelings of devotion, one can then do the puja. If not, then I would say it is best to wait until the devotional feeling appears.
The best time to do a puja is when one spontaneously finds oneself in a devotional mood, when one really feels in the mood to do one.
2. Prepare the materials:
Even a simple puja requires some basic materials, such as:
i) A sacred object in which one plans to worship the Divine, eg. an idol, a yantra or something similar (there are additional, traditionally used objects associated with each deity, e.g. the Shaligram for Vishnu/Narayana).
ii) Something to offer the Divine.
Now, traditionally the things that are offered include:
-light (representing the fire element)
-incense (representing the air element)
-milk, honey, water (representing the water element)
-flowers (representing the space element)
-fruits (representing the earth element)
There are said to be five 'great elements' in Nature which comprise everything that exists in the material world. When we offer things that represent these to the Divine, we are effectively saying that we offer all these to God, all aspects of our own nature to God, who is the origin of us and all things. This helps create a feeling of unity with God, a closeness to Him/Her, and draws His/Her grace and blessings upon us.
There is also a tradition of treating the Divine as a dear friend or relative. This involves inviting Him/Her to one's home (invoking the Divine within the idol for example), and then offering God a bath, clothes, jewellery, food, drink, lights, incense etc.
For a simple puja, one does not need to physically offer all of the above. It is ok to offer only whatever is comfortably available; if one is short of time/energy, and feels stressed at the prospect of having to get together a whole lot of materials, that is not helpful for creating devotional feeling.
Far better to maximise the time spent reciting mantras and prayers after invoking the deity, rather than running about spending the limited time available in collecting together lots of materials.
So, basically, put together any or all of the above. In the Gita, Krishna says that He is happy to accept very simple offerings such as a fruit, flower, leaf or just water if offered with devotion. The devotion is the key. A single item or two offered with devotion is perfectly fine for a puja.
3. Prepare a space:
The space should be clean. It does not always have to be a specially set aside puja room or space (though this is nice to have if possible). If time is very pressing, frankly, one can do this anywhere in the house where one can sit comfortably and spend some time in solitude (e.g. at least 15-30 minutes). One generally should not be around other people unless they are participating (as this creates a mental distraction) though there can be exceptions to this too if needed.
4. Get started
There are Sanskrit mantras for literally every aspect of a puja, from invoking the Divine, to making offerings, to making requests for blessings (whether spiritual or material) and even saying thank you and goodbye until the puja is done again.
For those unfamiliar with Sanskrit, it is perfectly fine to speak in one's native tongue, whatever that may be.
A simple puja format:
i) Invocations:
Invoke Ganesha, the remover of obstacles and protector. He is traditionally worshipped first in any ritual. If you do not know a mantra for Him, just say, "Ganesha, please bless me and remove all obstacles from the performance of this puja, and let it be completed successfully".
Then, if you wish, invoke other favourite deities and your Guru before starting the main worship. Just speak to them, in your own language, and ask for their blessings, guidance and protection.
ii) Invoke the deity you wish to worship in the sacred object. For example, just say, "Mother/Father, please be present in this idol /yantra and accept my worship".
As Sivananda says, speak freely like a child to God, there is no need to be formal, it is much better not to be overly formal. Speak to Him/Her with the same familiarity as you would speak with your own parents or other close beloved relatives. Be frank and at ease, that is the approach advised by the yogis.
iii) Repeat some prayers and mantras of your liking:
Now, you should feel that you are facing the Divine who is truly present in the idol/yantra (regardless of whether or not you know it/feel it, this is a reality). The yogis say that the fact is that the Divine responds to our prayers, as we are His/Her children.
If we say, "Please be present here", then He/She will absolutely be present. This is simply a fact. (By the way, there are different types of Divine presence; there is the abstract all-pervading presence/omnipresence, and then there is the personal presence of God with form. It is the God with form, not the abstract Divine, that we are invoking in a puja).
So, now that you have God in front of you, in full manifestation, you can offer some prayers or mantras of your liking. This may be something you have prepared in advance, or something that spontaneously comes up, or a mixture.
Also, even if you do recite mantras or a formal prayer or sloka, do some spontaneous worship, do speak to God. The yogis say that it is a very good thing to talk to God, to share what you are going through, how you feel, what help you need, what you are thankful for, just anything you want to tell Him/Her. Again, think of Him/Her exactly as you would a relative or friend and do not be shy or reserved. It is good for the heart to open up to the Divine. He/She knows everything about us anyway, there is nothing hidden from the Divine.
iv) Offer some materials that you like/have available:
It is not mandatory to repeat complex mantras while doing this. It is okay to simply repeat the mantra of the deity. E.g. Om Namah Shivaya while offering Him fruit, flowers etc. In fact, this is the most spiritually important bit of the puja.
To recite the mantra of God, in His/Her direct presence, while making offerings with devotion is the most vital part. This bit should constitute the majority of the puja. (If one has limited time, this is the part to focus on; a few less materials is ok, but the more mantra recitation, the better).
Say to God something along the lines of, "Please accept these offerings as a mark of my devotion to You". "Please grant me devotion, please let me walk the path of dharma always, please let me be Your instrument, please keep me close to You, let me achieve the spiritual goal of life" or whatever it is that appeals to you, that you want.
Note- It is unwise to ask God for anything remotely ignoble; if there are any ignoble thoughts, which frankly, are bound to occur sometimes, it is sensible to say, please accept all that is noble and all that is ignoble in me, as both have their origin in You who are the origin of all things.
The great Guru, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa used to advise this, i.e. offering all the positive and negative in ourselves to God, as this would lead to strengthening of the positive, and transformation of the negative into positive over time.
The yogis say, the best thing one can ultimately offer God, is oneself. More than all the materials we may offer, the single most valuable thing we possess is ourselves-- our very self (body, mind and soul, all aspects of our being).
And this, the yogis and Gurus say, is what God wants the most, as we are made of Himself. We are not separate from Him; He wants us to recognise this. He does not need our material offerings, but we benefit when we offer these.
Finally, one should not offer meat, eggs, alcohol or any intoxicants to the Divine (and one should ideally abstain from these in the hours or days before performing a puja. These are regarded as spiritually unhelpful and most seekers gradually give these up entirely over time). Generally, plant-based fresh foods or dairy products should be offered, preferably things that are sweet in flavour (not bitter/sour/pungent).
v) Conclude with final prayers and thanks (and maybe an apology):
Just as we may thank our relatives and friends for accepting our invitation and coming to our homes when we say goodbye and say it was nice to see them, the yogis advise doing the same at the end of a puja.
Again there are specific mantras for this, but it is perfectly fine to say thank you in one's own language. One can simply say, "Thank you for being present here and for accepting this worship. Please bless me, please bless all beings, etc."
Also, there is a tradition of offering an apology for any mistakes made or lack of devotional feeling. We are, after all, facing the Supreme Being when we perform a puja and it feels appropriate to apologise for any mistakes we may have inadvertently made.
For example, if we have friends over, and our child happens to have just scattered their toys about the area, we might sometimes say "Sorry about the mess!" or something polite to express an apology for the inconvenience to our guests.
Similarly, with a guest such as God, it is regarded as quite appropriate to offer an apology. No matter how sincere we are, we are not perfect and are bound to make some mistakes in our worship.
The traditional prayer of apology can be translated into English or something similar can be said, e.g. "Please forgive any mistakes in performing this puja, and please pardon me for the lapses in /lack of proper devotion, please correct any mistakes that have been made".
vi) Sit quietly for a while afterwards and reflect upon the experience, even if just for a few minutes (do not immediately rush into company or plunge into any material activity); Sivananda says this helps to keep the spiritual vibrations intact.
So, there you have it. A simple puja that can be done relatively easily on any day at any time. One can also do puja mentally (I've written about this elsewhere on this blog); however, the yogis say, it is good to combine this with the occasional physical puja/worship as this engages the physical aspect of our being (and it is good to engage all aspects of our existence in worship, both physical and mental).
One final note:
One should not be afraid of God when doing pujas. It is a common habit in India in particular to be worried that God may be offended if we get something wrong in our worship. That is simply not true.
The only offensive thing in the spiritual world, according to the yogis, is the deliberate cultivation of bad character or being indifferent to one's own flaws (e.g. being chronically untruthful/hurtful towards others), and not doing anything remotely useful for anyone else during one's lifetime on Earth.
That approach creates an unfortunate block in receiving the blessings from our worship, whether puja or anything else (we will still be transformed by mantra/puja etc, but only very slowly, because we are simultaneously creating blocks in our own progress).
However, accidental slip-ups in pronunciation of Sanskrit mantras/slokas, imperfect materials for worship, and even lapses in concentration and devotion, are very common and very forgivable by God, so say the yogis. We do not have to worry about performing perfect, flawless worship all the time; we just need to do the best we can (even if we feel it isn't all that great) when we worship, and that is all really.
I would therefore recommend doing the occasional physical puja in addition to mantra recitation/meditation etc as it certainly creates a unique feeling. There is a special effect created by spending some time in the company of one's favourite deity in this way and in sharing one's thoughts and feelings with them.
May God bless us all with true devotion and the ability to perform regular worship.
I just want to say that I discovered the Kali sahasranama stothra this evening and found it very beautiful. Am sharing a link to this below:
Om Sri Mahakalikayai Namah.
Om Namo Narayanaya.
Hari Aum Tat Sat.
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