Puja & Japa Without the Need of Initiation by Aravind Krishna

April 27, 2005

Puja and Japa without the need of Initiation

a) Japaby Aravind Krishna

..` ïImaÇe nm>.||om þrŸm˜tre nama×||

...OM shrImAtre namaH..If a person is not initiated in any mantra that exalts her

glory, or if he is deaf and dumb or if he is just afraid of the mishap in a

wrong recitation, are we to conclude that he is not qualified to worship the

Divine Mother? Members would definitely disagree. Then what might be the best

way to proceed? A unanimous answer would be to seek the right Guru and act as

per his advice. But if that is not possible for now, is there some other

alternative? Our revered Ravi shankar suggested manasa puja for worship. That

would be the best worship to offer. If you need a mantra to recite, the best

one would be, ..shrImAtre namaH..The reason being, every one of us have been

initiated to this mantra by the highest guru, there own mother. No matter in

whatever language we learnt it mA, ammA, amme, mother. all these multilingual

synonyms just mean shrImAtre namaH.

But there is some thing more to shrImAtre namaH than the other calls. My grand

father has written a concise tamil commentary on lalita sahasranama and in that

he has translated 'ShrI mAtA' as 'sarvotkR^iShTamAna mAtA'.The one thing that

differentiates all other mAtA-s from this mAtA is her sarvotkR^iShTatvam. What

is that sarvotkR^iShTatvam? Though a neighbor's child also demands affection,

not to the extent of her own in the case of a worldly mother, but She being the

mother of all chetana and achetana vastu has the capability of viewing all that

exists equally and showers her grace. shR^iti describes this as 'yasmAd bhUtAni

jAyanti' - From whom all creation are born. Now it's convincing that she can

provide dharma, artha kAmAdi sukham as we are her beloved beings, but beyond

that, GYAna? The very word mAtA answers that, mAti, mimIyate, mIyate or miti -

to measure, to know. (nyadhita mimAna ivAvani.m padAni). Hence mAtA is mAna -

meya vastu rUpiNi. She is the

seer, seeing and the seen 'tripurasundari'. Meaning she is brahma vidhyA or brahma vidhyA svarUpiNi.

One other important aspect in this mantra is that it represents the core concept

of devi worship namely; shivashaktyaikya.m' mAtA in masculine is - to know, one

who knows all that is to be known or parameshvara. The feminine aspect is

conveyed by the creation phenomena 'yasmAd bhUtAni jAyanti'. Hence

vimarsha-prakAsha aspect is embedded in ShrI mAtre namaH.Lets just chant

...shrImAtre namaH..(I am not including praNava as some may say initiation is

needed for that).

...OM shrImAtre namaH..

b) Manasa-Pujaby Ravishankar Mayavaram

If one does not know any formal pUja, one can do a manasa pUja. It can be done

anywhere, at any time, you dont have to spend a paisa on pUja materials. manasa

pUja is worshipping in mind. You imagine the entire sequence of worship. It is

no inferior to actual worship. In fact it is superior, as it is easy, and

engages the mind without distraction. In actual pUja you may be sitting at

altair and thinking about your bank account. But in mAnasa pUja it is not

possible.Read about the Greatness of Manasa-Puja here.

A very nice Manasapuja-text is Mantra-Matrika-Pushpamala by shrimad Adishankaracharya.

I am going to use mostly English. But you can find support in many works like

sahasranAma, mInAxI pancharatnam etc.

What I am going to describe is something like a shoDasha upacharam. Where we

invite ambaaL, perform bath, decorate HER, do pUja to HER and worship HER. 16

steps upacharam is a standard way to worship. But you can do the same in 64

steps or more. It is better to pray with understanding. It can be English or in

any language. Ultimately it is in the language of heart and love that matters.

1: Meditation (dhyAnam)(this section is long, but cant you write Giga Bytes

and Giga Bytes of description of HER)O Mother, in truth, you are beyond name

and form; and you are beyond words and thought. How can I then meditate on you?

But out of your boundless compassion, you have assumed many forms and names. I

am grateful to you. Forgive my ignorance of seeking you in one form, when all

forms are yours and your are beyond it too. But my limited human mind can not

do anything better.O mother I meditate

on you as mInAxI. In my mind's eye I see you beautiful, captivating form radiant

like thousand crore rising suns. When I focus in that light and I see you in

close, I see your beautifulform as lady with a greenish hue, wearing a nice red

silk saree with a broad and wide golden border, and a dark green blouse. You

hair is so dense, dark, and well groomed, I think it is like entire dark

cosmos. It is nicely adorned with many beautiful flowers. I wonder whether your

hair gets the fragrance from the flowers or these flowers get the fragrance from

thee. Beauty of thy hair is partly covered by this shining crown with adorned

with diamonds and pearls. What a beautiful face! It is like blemishless full

moon, or full blown lotus flower. Your eyes, they are like fishes swimming in

the flow of compassion arising out your face. Lips put the bimba fruit to shame

in its red color. When you smile, your bright white teeth flashes like

lightning! Your forehead is like ashTami moon and

adorned with sandal paste, musk and kumkuma. Your nose is like champake flower,

I can even say kumkuma chimizh. You ears are adorned with nice rings, which

have have form of shrIcakra.You neck is soft and shaped like a conch. It is

adorned with so many jewels, I wonder how it bear them. Why not? Are you not

the one who bears all our troubles. These jewels must be no big deal. I look at

your well formed breast, I think they are filled with jnAna and bhakti. I envy

jnAnasambhanda who was blessed to drink from it. Was he not kumara swami. That

is why he got it, I guess. Your waist! is it there or is it not there? I am

unable to decide. How does it bear the weight of your breasts? They are

slender than lightning. And the nice, gem studded belt on your hips,isnt it

beautiful. Mother how can I describe your thighs? Only Lord shiva knows its

beauty. You calves are so beautiful like quiver of manmatha, covered in red

cloth. Your ankles are so smooth and I see no bone

protrusion there, I guess it is covered by flesh. You are arms are beautiful.

They beat the wish fullfilling creepers in their might. The parrot that is

sitting on the flower held in the right hand, to me it resembles entire veda-s.

Does it utter all the vedamantras just by being in your presence? I wish I were

that parrot. Actually I am your parrot, all my words are yours, isn't it? Am I

not merely repeating it!You are arms are adorned with nice keyura and angada.

Look at your feet. Why is it so red? Is it because you roam on hard (to

understand) stones called upanishads? Or it is red out compassion. You toe

nails glitter and may its radiance dispel its ignorance. Your feet is like

radiant lotus flowers. Your anklets have nice bells, which makes such sweet

sound when you walk slowly like a swan!O ambaa, come to in this form of mInAxI.

I wish to worship you. I know you need no worship, you can not be flattered.

Yet, out of love I want to

worship you. I know nothing about worship, yet I want to worship you. Please

give me the knowledge to worship, I meditate on thy form. May your grace make

my meditation deeper.2: Invitation: (AvahAnam and dhyAnam presented sometimes

in different order. I prefer this order)O ambaa, you are there every where. You

are all pervading. Isn't it my stupidity, I invite you to some place. How can

you come to a place, when you are already there. But you have to forgive this

child'sstupidity. Now I imagine that you are always in my sahasrAra, a place

which I have never frequented. But I invite you to come in front of me so that

I can worship you well. Mother come unto in the form of mInAxI so that I may

lovingly worship you. Mother come in front of me and please be seated in this

beautiful ratna simahasanam, with soft cushion pads. (this step is called Asana

samarpaNam).

3: Washing the feet (pAdyam):(paadyam is washing the feet, this whole text I

intend to write a direct conversation with ambaa. Even if we do not have that

privilige in so-called reality, at least we can imagine that).O ambaa, how

privileged I am to hold your feet. Brahma, vishhNu and rudra are waiting in

line to see it. Brahma runs behind the path you have walked and collects the

dust from thy feet and creates the 14 worlds. Knowing that it is your dust,

vishhNu is holding it up and protecting it with this thousand heads, and rudra

being upset for not having such privilege, at the time of praLaya, makes dust

out of it and smears it all over his body and enjoys the dust of your feet. Is

not, that this dust gives all boons?, it is like a bright sun of jnAna to those

who are in avidya, to the dull witted it bestows intelligence, to the poor all

the wealth. This dust of your feet, we call it thirumaN (holy sand), the

red sand of madhurai has become the kumkumam for all of us, as your feet touched

it. Before I wash your feet let me collect the little dust on it. amma, I am

indeed blessed. Please place your feet on this well adorned golden plate. Make

my mind like this plate. Let me wash it pure water mixed with nice fragrances.

May this pure water I imagine be the amR^ita that arises out of union of shiva

and shakti in sahasrAra. O dear mother, as I wash your feet with this water,

please wash my mind with jnAna. It has become impure and dirty. Its rotten dirt

attracts the flies kama and krodha. Please make my mind pure, so that it becomes

fit to be slippers for you. See you do need a nice slippers, the crowns of

brahmAdi deva-s studded with precious stones rub on them when they do

namaskarams and it hurts your feet. Out of compassion you are unmindful of

that. Nobody else is able to see that because the light that comes of your toe

nails reflects on their crowns and fill the whole

space with such a radiance.Let me now wipe your feet with a soft cloth and make

them dry. I will decorate it nicely with sandalwood paste, and kumkumam. Even

though I had removed the slighlty dried marudhani (henna?) from your feet.

Those beautiful adorning marks are still there. Mother let me do paada pUja to

your feet with the flowers of my heart.* Now I do not run around in dense

forests, high mountains, and deep lakes in search of flowers. Mind is the best

flower I have. I will offer it to you. My mind can also imagine many more

flowers, I will offer them all unto you. May the feet that kicked yama to save

markaNDeya save me as well. May the feet which bears the wholeuniverse, bear my

burdens also. May the feet which offers abhaya and boons, bless me with undying

devotion. May the feet which

excel lotus flowers in softness and radiance, step and dance on my mind. Mother

teach me to remember and worship thy feet always.Mother may I be blessed now

sipping the water that washed your feet. It has been my prayer to for a while,

asking how long should I wait before I get a chance to drink the water which

washed your feet and that has the particles of undried marudhaani and the dust

of your feet. Drinking which in the past even made dumb persons to not just

speak, but pour out brilliant verses on you.4: Washing hands:O ambaa, may I now

wash your hands with this pure water. Mother may thy hands guide and protect me.

May thy hands which bear the universe, bear my burdens and free my mind from

worries, so that I can contemplate on you always. The sugar cane bow you are

holding is indeed mind, the sweet essence of bliss which arises from the Self

is masked in it by the dark crust of ignorance. The five flowers

you are holding are my senses. Instead of being misused as arrows seeking after

the luring objects of the world, teach me to make a garland out of them to

offer at thy feet. Mother I have two great enemies, kAma and krodha. Control

the rAga which is a manifestation of kAma with the noose you have and control

the krodha which manifests as deveSha with the goad. Please take control of

me. I do not want any free will. May I be a instrument in thy hands. Use it in

which ever way you want. Poets sometimes compare your beautiful hands to

kalapaka valli. Your hands excel kalpaka valli. That creeper will grant only

what one desires. Often one's desires and wishes are error prone, and misguided

by ignorance and dur-vAsana-s. I am fortunate, that you do not give me what I

want. But you always give me what I need. How dangerous my condition will be if

only you give what all I want. Not knowing that sense inclined desires are

honey-coated-poison, I seek them always. But in

retrospect I remember with gratitude how many times your hands have come to my

rescue and thwarted my stupid desires. Mother may this be my prayer and

understanding: Do not give me what I want. Give me only what I need. I am a

stupid child who will ask for ice cream when I am having a high fever. It is

upto you my Mother, whether you give me the ice-cream which will destroy me or

a bitter medicine which will heal me.Mother may I anoint your hands with this

perfumed sandal wood paste. Mother you are most respectable and qualified

(arhati), if not to you, to whom then can one give the arghyam? My true

offering to you will be rejoicing in the bliss of Self, which is indeed you.

Mother your hands are soft and gentle, with long slender fingers adorned with

diamond rings. Your arms shine with resplendent keyura and hara. And your

strong bhuja-s never tire of taking care of this world, by destroying the

wicked and protecting the good. Mother as I anoint your

hands, may I contemplate on their greatness. Teach me to leave all my worries to

your hands, and may my mind in peace always contemplate on thee. Hold my hands

and gently lead me away from untruth to truth, from ignorance to wisdom, and

from the cycles of birth and death to liberation in thee.

5.AchamanIyam or Purificatory Sipping:O ambaa! You are purest of the pure and

the most auspicious, you may then ask why I should give these three drops of

water for purification. I have a reason for this and support comes from the

ancient incident. Do you remember once Lord ganesha went around you and Lord

shiva and claimed the fruit for going around the Universe. My reason and desire

is the same. Besides it is you who said in devI bhagavatam, the greatness of

achamanam. Mother may I offer the first drop of water chanting AUM bhUH svAhA,

by this I request you to make the physical world with all its beings pure. At a

human level, may that purify my body. External purity of body comes from healthy

and balanced living. Guide me to lead such a life.Mother may I offer you the

second drop chanting AUM bhuvaH svAhA, by this I request you to make the astral

world and all the beings therein become pure. Mother at

my level, make my mind pure. Purity to mind comes from speaking truth and

leading a life without hypocrisy. Mother I am the worst hypocrite in this

universe. But your grace can make even a sinner like me pure.Mother may I offer

you the third drop chanting AUM suvaH svAhA, by this I request you to purify all

beings in the causal world. Mother at my level, I request you make my soul pure.

Mother this ideational realm can be purified only by bhakti, which a constant

flow of thoughts towards thee. Mother I am so bad, I do not mind wasting hours

in vain acts and spiritually damaging things. To watch TV or listen to radio or

chat about politics, I have always boundless energy. In such acts, years looks

like minutes and time runs away fast. But when it comes to meditation on thee,

even minutes look like years. So dense is my avidya. Only your grace can make

be better. The darkness of this world is removed by one Sun. They say you have

sahasra kOTi Surya prakAsham, if I am still in

dark, that means I am so far away from you. I am limited by space and time, but

you are not. By offering this water, I ask you to come close to my physical

presence and remove my darkness.Mother please accepts these three drops of

water given to you with love. Entire universe, in all levels, physical, astral

and causal is within you. If you will, then we all will be pure in that

momentitself. Mother be gracious.

To be continued ...

* Even though pAdyam in a normal pUja is just a passing mention, onecan do it

for quite a long time mentally, as much time one has.Complete mInAxI

ashhTottaram with meanings are available online isavailabe to do ashhTottara

pUja to the feet at this point (back)

http://www.ambaa.org/essays/without_init.htmDo

You ?

April 28, 2005

Peace, Gajanana JimjiAum Ganesh <aumganesh .au> wrote: