Before anyone reads this, please note that I am not interested in ISKCON, nor do I care what Krishna said in the Srimad Bhagavatam, etc. I have visited an ISKCON temple, I have read Bhagavad Gita As It Is and heard many an audio lecture of Prabhupada, and I do not care for such a religion. I wish you all luck on your path but I do not want to hear your comments. Thank you.

Now to my trouble... I have been studying Hinduism and Advaita Vedanta for a few years now. I find Advaita to be the most comprehensively true system of philosophy I have ever seen and believe it is true. I also feel from the bottom of my heart that God speaks to me as Siva, that God is Siva as far as I can ever understand him, and my studies in Saivism have only strengthened this assumption. However I am faced with many conflicts that I don't know how to solve. First of all, I do not know how to go about worshipping Siva. I pray daily and practice bhakti yoga as taught by Swami Vivekananda because it is the most thorough description I can find that makes sense, but I am a weak human being and sometimes feel that I need to be reminded of God's presence when lust and anger start to grow in me. Japa and puja appear wonderful solutions but I have no guru to give me a mantra and I don't know how to do puja, nor do I know where I can go to get supplies for one. The only Hindu temple nearby only offers Siva worship services when I am at work in the evenings. I have become so desperate for a formal worship that I began to go to Church again, but I just feel dishonest and disconnected there.

I can't begin to imagine how someone could help with these problems but I ask these questions anyway in the hope that Siva will see my effort and need and shed some light on this overgrown path of mine. Thanks in advance and God bless all of you.

himalayanacademy dot com

I have visited and read much of the info on this site. I also own one of their books. But I haven't found any specific information on worship, just general rules like "do puja, japa and temple worship regularly."

I am a follower of Lord Shri Hari , but I also dont belong to the category of fightingon who is better and who is superior. The Lord is in the heart and he shows (guides) as he likes as he has got no one to command.

I felt good about your sincere request about worhsipping Lord Shambhu. If thats for the Mukhthi, then its similar to worship Lord Visnu as Shiva can get you Mukhthi thru Visnu just like a Great Acharya can do.

I can help you this matter of how to worhsip Shiva and what are the basic requrements and so on. But I need time as I also live outside India and it might take a while to get in touch with folks following Shambhu ardently....

Dont you worry, Shambhu wil take care if you are sincere..

Someone said truely

Kailasavasa Gaurisha Isha
Thailadhareyanthe Manasu kodo Hariyalli.........shamboooooo

Meaning:
Oh the one the Lord of Kailasa, the Lord of Mata Gauri...
Please bless me so that I could think ofthat supreme lord Shri hari, always

Hari hari bol

read the shivamahapuran and the linga puran and u will learn

honestly look for their online books the pujas are in there, actually i would suggest their book on ghanesha it is much better for a beginner from what i read recently.

i have deep affection for siva also but i am not sectarian about it. follow krishna or siva or kali, it is all in your karma. i am in between myself so i am not a big spiritual advisor i just know mostly general info about hinduism.

Thanks to all for your answers. I will check himalayanacademy again more carefully. krishnadas, thanks for your understanding. God bless and keep you all.

All I can find is Ganesha puja, but I will try to do this until I find Shiva puja... perhaps Ganesha will help me

I don't want to sound dramatic or weird, but since I started reading Loving Ganesha, I feel as though I am falling in love with Him. I feel as though all this time when I pray it has been Him calling me to pray, and every time I am frustrated it is He that guides me back to understanding and calm. But at the same time I am afraid to start worshipping Him... consciously I see no difference between Ganesha and Shiva (I have read that in some scripture Shiva told people to worship Ganesha, and I have also read that Ganesha is the mind of Shiva in material form), I am also not sure whether it is okay to stop trying to worship Shiva for now and give into my desire to worship compassionate Ganesha.

I also was wondering if it is okay to do puja without doing it perfectly... for instance I cannot find kumkum anywhere, so is it okay to not offer this? Should I just imagine myself offering it when that part of the puja comes or should I cut that part of the puja out completely?

Thanks again for all your help, everyone!!

If you want to worship Lord Shiva, start with simple puja. Don't worry whether you are making mistakes. Get a shivalinga and offer bilva leaves to it while chanting om namah shivaya. Pour milk and pure water over the shiva linga as an offering. Pray to him to teach you what else to do.

water, a flower, incence, candy and japa all please lord ghanesha. shiva even excepts meat if the devotee gave it in loving ignorence.
the lord is pleased by anything in good heart and true love. like japa if you do a billion rounds a day it means nothing if your heart aint in it. the lord is pleased with you saying a mantra one time then then millions of heartless ones.
puja is honestly a few symbols sacred to the deity and a few gifts and japa and songs sung in loving devotion and BOOM you have done puja. the more you learn the more your qualified the more you experiance the more it more your feel.

traditionally ganesha is the first to be worshiped in all hindu pujas, cause he helps everything go smooth in all rituals ceramonies and pujas.

the more i am reading the more i get the idea that god is please with attempt most of all and wants us to feel good about worshiping him not worried about it.. stop worrring about heaven hell and the after life, besides it is the moment you need to worrry about and the future of this life and first and formost pleaseing the lord..