Guest guest Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Adarniya Narasimha Guruji Namaste, Thank you very much for clarifying. Your expressions have always been very direct & convincing. Regards Vinayak P Tandle--- On Tue, 12/30/08, Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr wrote: Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr Re: IDEAL POOJA ROOM Date: Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 11:51 PM Namaste, > I kindly request you to please spare your precious time to let me/us > know what should a pooja room contain & what should be done > every day during pooja i.e., bathing of idols every day required. > Photo & idol of same diety to be kept or not etc.,. Please > elaborate. Your expalinations are very convincing. To me, the ideal pooja room is a clean and pure heart. Ideal pooja room is a heart that has no malice for anyone and no ego/pride. Ideal pooja room is a heart that does not feel proud when others praise one and does not feel bad when others abuse one. Ideal pooja room is a heart in which one's favorite deity is established firmly. Ideal pooja room is a heart that is peaceful and views everything and everyone with an equal vision, as a manifestation of one's favorite deity. Ideal pooja pooja room is a heart that does not feel great attraction or great aversion towards anything or anyone. Ideal pooja room is a heart that can engage in various kinds of actions without emotions normally associated those actions lingering in it. The purpose of a physical pooja room is to create an ideal pooja room as described above in one's heart. Exactly which articles and practices in the physical pooja room mould one's thinking to create the ideal pooja room described above in one's heart depends on who one is, what one's karmas and rinas are and how one's mind is conditioned currently. A particular photo of a deity and meditation in front of it may cultivate that spirit in one person after enough time. A particular idol of a deity and bathing of it everyday may cultivate that spirit in one person after enough time. One should use the articles and practices that appeal to one and that are suggested by one's gurus and elders. But the bottomline is that the ideal pooja room exists only in one's heart and one should never forget it. Choicest photos, idols, pooja articles and rituals in the physical pooja room are useless when one's heart is impure. Use a physical pooja room to create the ideal pooja room in your heart. * * * I would like to quote some portions from the book "Vasishtha's Yoga" by Swami Venkatesananda. This is a translation of "Yoga Vaasishtham" . Here Lord Siva teaches Maharshi Vasishtha how to worship the supreme lord of the universe. "It is he indeed who is worshipped by wise men in various ways and in various forms such as Siva, Vishnu, etc. Now listen to the ways in which he is to be worshipped. "First of all, one should abandon the body-idea (the notion that 'I am this body'). Meditation alone is true worship. Hence one should constantly worship the Lord of the three worlds by means of meditation. How should one contemplate him? He is pure intelligence, he is as radiant as a thousand suns risen together, he is the light that illumines all lights, he is the inner light, the limitless space is his throat, the firmament is his feet, the directions are his arms, the worlds are the weapons he bears in his hands, the entire universe is hidden in his heart, the gods are hairs on his body, the cosmic potencies are energies in his body, time is his gate-keeper and he has thousands of heads, eyes, ears and arms. He touches all, tastes all, he hears all, he thinks through all though he is beyond thiniking. He does everything at all times, he bestows whatever one thinks of or desires, he dwells in all, he is the all, he alone is to be sought by all. Thus should one contemplate him. "The Lord is not to be worshipped by material substances but by one's own consciousness. Not be waving of lamps nor lighting incense, nor by offering flowers nor even by offering food or sandalpaste. He is worshipped by self-realisation alone. This is the supreme meditation, this is the supreme worship: the continuous and unbroken awareness of the indwelling presence, inner light or consciousness. While doing whatever one is doing - seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing or talking - one should realize one's essential nature as pure consciousness. "One should contemplate that the Lord is the intelligence in the body. The various functions and faculties in the body serve that intelligence as consorts serve their lord. The mind is the messenger who brings and presents to the Lord the knowledge of the three worlds. The two fundamental energies, viz., the energy of wisdom (jnaana sakti) and the energy of action (kriyaa sakti), are the consorts of the Lord. Diverse aspects of knowledge are his ornaments. The organs of action are the gates through which the Lord enters the outside world. "He who contemplates in this manner is equanimity itself, his behavior is equanimous, guided by equal vision. He has reached the state of natural goodness and inner purity and he is beautiful in every aspect of his being. He worships the Lord who is the intelligence that pervades his entire body. " The worship is performed day and night perpetually, with the objects that are effortlessly obtained, and are offered to the Lord with a mind firmless established in equanimity and in the right spirit. The Lord should be worshipped with everything that is obtained without effort. One should never make the least effort to obtain that which one does not possess. The Lord should be worshipped by means of all the enjoyments that the body enjoys, through eating, drinking, being with one's consort and such other pleasures. The Lord should be worshipped with the illnesses one experiences and with every sort of unhappiness or suffering one experiences. The Lord should be worshipped with all of one's activities, including life and death and all of one's dreams. The Lord should be worshipped with one's poverty and prosperity. The Lord should be worshipped even with fights and quarrels as well as woth sports and other passtimes, and with manifestation of emotions of attraction and aversion. The Lord should be adored with the noble qualities of a pious heart - friendship, compassion, joy and indifference. "The Lord should be worshipped with all kinds of pleasures that are granted to one unsought, whether those pleasures are sanctioned by the scriptures, etc., or forbidden by them. The Lord should be worshipped with those which are regarded as desirable and others which are regarded as undesirable, with those that are considered appropriate and others that are considered inappropriate. For this worship, one should abandon what is lost and one should accept and receive what has been obtained without effort." * * * The above is the ideal pooja recommended by Lord Siva to Maharshi Vasishtha. To reach the mental state required for this pooja, one may have to perform other poojas and rituals that require conscious effort to do some things and avoid some other things. But the end goal is the reach the state of equanimity described above by Lord Siva. Best regards,Narasimha------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ homamDo Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ tarpanaSpirituality: http://groups. / group/vedic- wisdomFree Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro. home.comcast. netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAst rologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagan nath.org------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- - Adarniya Narasimha Guruji Namaste, I kindly request you to please spare your precious time to let me/us know what should a pooja room contain & what should be done every day during pooja i.e., bathing of idols every day required. Photo & idol of same diety to be kept or not etc.,. Please elaborate. Your expalinations are very convincing. Regards <deleted> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.