What is pooja and why should one perform

[Guest guest]

What is pooja and why should one perform it?

God is worshipping us every day! Imitating all that god is dong to us is pooja.

An action born out of a blossomed mind is pooja. Honouring from the heart which

is full is pooja. Gurudev throws new light on the meaning of the word pooja.

OM NAMAH PRANAVARTHAYASHUDDHA JNANIKA MOORTHAYENIRMALAYAPRASHANTAYADAKSHINA MOOTHAYE NAMAHA

 

Understand the word ‘pooja’. ‘Poo’ means ‘poornatha’, fullness. ‘Ja’ means ‘born

out of’. That which is born out of fullness is pooja. When your consciousness

becomes so full and in that state when you do an action that is known as pooja.

When heart is full and you are overwhelmed, when an action is done out of that

overwhelming state and gratitude is expressed, that is known as pooja.

The Voice of Consciousness

What is pooja? Imitating all that god is doing to us is pooja. God has given you

crops and grains, so you offer rice. God has given you water and you offer

water. Perfumes have been given and you offer perfumes. Fruits have been put on

trees for you and you offer fruits. He is doing arati to you by (taking) sun and

moon everyday and going around you, so you light a lamp and imitate that arati.

God is worshipping you everyday! We imitate that. God wishes that you be happy.

“We have created so many varieties for you. There is so much diversity in the

creation for you. Even then why do you remain sad? Only one type of vegetable

was no created. Creation of flowers was not stopped at one variety. Varieties

of flowers, vegetables, people, colours! When such a diverse creation has been

created, by looking at something so beautiful, waves of beauty should arise in

you everyday! You should live in love and celebration. Instead you are sad,

bothering about small little things. Awake.” This voice is heard form the

consciousness everyday. When one can have this message of the Creation, one is

filled with so much of gratitude and that which arises out of the gratitude

knows as pooja.

Honouring from the heart which is full is known as pooja. It is very difficult

to expresses the emotions. How can they be expressed? However you express an

emotion, you will still feel that the expression has fallen short of the

emotion felt inside and the expression is never complete. Worship, feeling

joyful inside.

The meaning of Aarti

First important ritual in a pooja is to establish god in your body parts. Divine

is seen in every part of the body. It is said that you have to become God in

everyway to worship god. The end of the pooja ritual is known as aarti. What

does aarti mean? It means complete happiness. “Rati” means joy. ‘Aarti’ means

complete joy, which does not have sadness as its tail. Behind every joy there

is a tail of sadness. The tail of every sadness is joy. Even in misery, there

is some flow of joy. Even if no joy is present in sadness, then at least the

satisfaction of having got pity for the sadness exists. When people express

pity for the sadness suffering, people tend to enjoy the pity. That happiness

which does not have sadness as its tail and that happiness which is complete in

it is known as aarti. How is aarti done? A lamp is list and taken round God in

all the four directions.

What does this lamp signify? It signifies that, life is a light. In whatever

manner you tilt the fire its direction is always upward. Similarly life’s

direction too should always be upward. And where should it move around? It

should always move around the Divine. This is known as aarti.

When the mind blossoms

Next is ‘mantra pushp’. Purification of the mind is done by the mantra and the

mind blossomed like a flower. And that blossomed mind is offered to the divine.

By performing aarti mind blossoms and becomes like a flower. Such a mind is

offered… by this act of offering, ego in you is vanquished.

What is ego? The feeling that ‘I am something, I am separate from the

creation’. ‘there exist mountains, trees and rivers on this earth and so I too

exist’ – this knowledge is absent. ‘I am different from this creation. I am

special’ this feeling is ego. Moving from I am something’ to ‘ I am…’

Everything exists, I too exist; mountains exist and so do I. I am not

separate’. Surrender helps you move towards this oneness from separate. In

reality, surrender is an illusion. What is there to offer and to whom? When

everything belongs to him, then what is there to surrender and to whom to

surrender? Till you become aware that everything belongs to Him, not just on

the physical level, but also on an experiential level, the act of surrender

becomes essential. In surrender there happens a balance

between bhakti [devotion] and advaita [the knowledge of non-duality]. You

realise that dvaita [duality] and advaita [non duality] are one and the same.

You recite God’s name not to make God happy. By reciting God’s name your

consciousness become pleasant. Therefore you recite God’s name. God never

desires that you recite His name. What differences can that make to Him? It is

better that you do not call Him. He can sleep in peace, you repeatedly call Him

and trouble Him. By reciting a name, the qualities present in that name blossom

in your consciousness. What happens if you sit and think about your enemy?

There is such a sense of discomfort happening in your nervous systems then you

are filled with restlessness and an intolerable feeling arises in you and you

feel suffocated. If you keep thinking of your enemy for 15 to 20 days

constantly, all your nervous system becomes like your enemy.

Similarly, if you keep thinking of a nice person, one who is always happy, your

consciousness too becomes happy. Whatever feeling you contain, your body

shapes up accordingly. A person in too much worry expresses his worry through

his face. Blood pressure rises in such a person’s body and it is full of

restlessness – the vibration around such a person changes. The vibrations

around a sad person are so heavy. If a person is happy, you feel the vibrations

of happiness around such a person. Therefore, God’s name is recited not to make

God happy. God does not desire that you recite His names. Therefore you have

been given a desire to recite or not to recite the names of God. If it was

God’s desire that you recite His name, then you would not have had any choice,

you should have recited His name.

Ancient and yet new

Surrender, sharangati or namaha is the same. What is namaha? Where mid does not

exist. Mind means consciousness is outward bound. Mind views the scene through

the eyes. It is the mind which sees. Even if the eyes are open and mind is else

where, then is it possible for you to see? Even if the waves of sound are

dashing against the eardrum and your mind is elsewhere, then can you hear? You

cannot listen. It is the mind, which communicates with the external world via

the eyes, ears, nose and skin. The same mind, which is already, in touch with

the intellect, vies the impressions and thought is the dream. It is the same

and one consciousness which is outwardly bound through the sense in the form of

the mind, If you reverse the word ‘man’ it becomes namaha. Mamaha becomes

namaha. That mind which is inward bound is namah.

What is the need to utter the age old mantras? But whenever you recite it, it is

new. Mind too is ancient. Your mind is then, twenty thousand years old.

The body is new every moment. In the same way, mind is ancient, but at the same

time it is new. It is like the river Ganges which is flowing from thousands of

years, but the water in it is fresh. In the same way, mind is very ancient, but

at the same time it is new. The body too is, similarly. You assume that your

body is old, forty, fifty years old… in spite of the age it is still new. In

spite of having your body from fifty years, this body of yours is fresh. You

have just eaten bread and vegetables in the morning and the energy obtained out

of it is new. It is ancient and yet new.