Puja question(s)

Vinayaka said:

In the broadest sense, any person can do any puja any time. Just as any driver can drive any vehicle, with or without training, or a license, as long as they know a few prerequisites like turning a key, etc.

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At the same time,at times initiation is necessary.To be able to consecrate a temple training is needed and initiation is prerequisite step.Without training no installation can happen and without initiation there is no training.For specific kind of pujas(which are usually advanced/complex/tradition specific in nature) additional knowledge is needed but general puja is simple and undemanding.Only a professional can handle a truck or fly an airplane however no license is needed to ride a bicycle as it is simpler than the rest.

Also it depends partly on what kind of Moksha the sadhaka is aiming for.(I'll continue the rest of the post in Shaivism Discussion thread as putting it here would be digressing from the OP.)
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Vanakkam,

My Ishta-Dev is in the home shrine but the main focus of my puja is Sri Ganesha, always. I almost never include the other deities in Ganesha puja, or only on specific events or occasions I go no further than recitation of the names of the deity with rice/flowers.

Worship of my Isha-Dev is continual every moment and day, and internal.

In short, I never do puja to my Ishta Devta. Only to Sri Ganesha. Yet there is not a single moment where I do not worship my Ishta Devta... This is why I answered "rarely/never pray to other deities" in the poll

Aum Namah Shivaya

I strongly believe God is One with many Names and many Manifestations so I guess my answer can be Yes I do or Other. When praying I try to use as many of the Names I can remember at that stage and I do say several different mantras as well

Sanskrit does have good vibrations though. The vibration of the sound is nicely aligned with the vibration of what it refers to, at least to a greater extent than many other languages. I think this may be true of some other languages too.

Bhadr said:

Also it depends partly on what kind of Moksha the sadhaka is aiming for.
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Yeah, the type of 'moksha' depends on the type of 'puja'.

Aupmanyav said:

Yeah, the type of 'moksha' depends on the type of 'puja'.

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I was talking about pujas in connection with Diksha.
Here is a short summary from the scriptures about Puja in Diksha context.
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...worship is two-fold: external and internal; again service is three-fold, differing in the view of speech, body and mind;

Panchada Kathyate Sadhbhi Sthathaiva Bhajanam Punah
Tapah Karma Japo Dhyanam Gyanam Chetyanupurvakam

further explained as five-fold,viz,Karma,Japa,Tapa,Dhyana and Gyana.

The Guru imparts to the sishya the Shaivite conduct of life in proportion to the student's shraddha and Bhakti as well as grasping capacity.

A piece of gold sheds off its impurities when put in fire so also does the disciple due to the contact with the preceptor who imparts Siva diksha.

Samsararogadukhasya Bheshajam Muktisadhanam
Stanaschaitaischa hey Gauri Sivadikshatu Karayet ||

O Gauri,for the jiva that is under the spell of Maya,afflicted by kleshas such miseries,worldly ills etc., being whirled in ocean of worldly existence,Siva diksha is the elixir.

Sri Upamanyu said:
Which results in Siva sambandha Vijnana and which dissolves samsara Pasha bandhas,that samskara is known as Siva diksha.It shatters the fetters(pashas) that bind the jivas(pashus).

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Initiation is of many kinds and usually it is graded or step by step.The Sivacharya knows what is suitable for the sishya and thereafter determines how he/she should do various sadhanas.
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Before commenting (or reading the whole post), let me give you a like (just because of the beginning).

Sri Upamanyu said:
Which results in Siva sambandha Vijnana and which dissolves samsara Pasha bandhas,that samskara is known as Siva diksha. It shatters the fetters (pashas) that bind the jivas (pashus).

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Aupmanyav is lucky. By the grace of Lord Shiva and Mother Gauri, the 'pashas' that bound him stand shattered. He has achieved liberation. After all, he is (supposedly) a descendant of the same sage, Upamanyu (or perhaps another*).

* Actually, my 'gotra' is 'Bhoot Upamanyu', so to say the 'older Upamanyu'. So evidently, there were more Upamanyus than just one.

Assuming this means home puja(s) (verse going to Temple)...

Basically because my PERSONAL murti is Hanuman, the main puja is to Hanuman in the mode of Hanumanji as a Brahmacharya (celibate student) and a manifestation of the 11th Rudra (Shiva).

After that, I might be what some may consider "wild" with variation but in fact is pretty much a persistent venue, and that includes prayer to Ganesha (actually and specifically to Ganapati first but not as elaborate, then Hanuman more elaborate) and the following:

(1) Ganapati (General of the Ganas or Shiva's "troops" viz Shiva's Army, also called Ganesha or Shiva's son)... (mantra)

(2) Hanuman - this is the primary adoration ... (mantra chants included, my own prayers, songs)

(3) Annapurna the Queen of Kashi and Goddess of Grains and Food (Parvati, the Great Goddess) ... (verses from a famous song and then BEGGING Mother Give me Food/alms)...

(4) Ganga Maa (Ganges River, specically of Varanasi) (my own prayers and bhajan)

... so of Devatas and Devi it is Ganapati, Hanuman, Annapurna, Ganga.

(5) A Guru which I will not name but is no longer here and came from Telegu Land to Varanasi and Who was a devotee of Kali Maa and the formless and Shiva...

But I can also do puja in my house to:

Sita Ram - Puja

Kali Maa - but this is not exactly puja, only a very special person can be an actual Kali Pujari

Durga Devi - Puja

Nandi (Shiva's Bull) - offerings to

Garuda (Vishnu's mount) - offerings to

Also there is Shani Dev (Saturn), Surya (Sun), a special puja for Radha Krishna.

... Others

In TEMPLE that is different and obviously I do not do puja in Temple, here I go to MANY including Murugan. Shiva at the TEMPLE but there is a Clan Murti of Shiva also. But I do japa to Shiva. I will go to Kali Temple. I GO TO ANY AND ALL TEMPLES.

I DO NOT chant Gayatri.

I may also go to Jain Temples, Sikh Gurdwara and Buddhist Temples. I have Indian Buddha in form and poster in the house, these came from my wife, one is on an entrance when entering the home but facing outside to world or guests and you see when coming in. But no puja to Buddha per say but honestly I do acknowledge with a prayer if I am becoming too enraged with anger and need "anger management" - so in other words if I get crazy angry I find Buddha and what Buddha says makes me normal. But also Hanuman makes me normal. But mostly I am a nice, unangry, person 90%.

However - no God is my goal. Experiencing Hinduism is my goal.

The saṁpradāya i follow has the following approach:
1) sandhyāvandana - prescribed rituals three times a day: karaṇa-śuddhi, arghya, gāyatrī-japa, aśtākṣara-japa, deva & other tarpaṇa, digupasthāna, kṛṣṇa mantra, and śiva-pancākṣara.
2) ātmopāsana and guru mantra-japa; this is the antaryāga or antahkaraṇa pūjā of the unique form of nārāyaṇa within our ātma;
3) pūjā in sālagrāma (aniconic) and other icons (repetition of the above in external implements) in the following order: a) nārāyaṇa, lakṣmī, b) mukhyaprāṇa, sarasvatī & bhāratī, c) garuḍa, śeṣa, & rudra, and their consorts, d) indra, soma, mitra, varuṇa, yama, viśvaksena, gaṇapati, skanda, etc... The order is based on the abhimāni (principal deity) of various tattvas (~principles) like a) & b) ātmābhimāni (principal deity of jīva) c) antahkaraṇābhimānis ie., deities controlling the five forms of our manas (~mind) - cetana, citta, ahankāra, buddhi, manas and d) indriyābhimāni (deities controlling our senses) and bhūtābhimāni (those controlling the physical bhūtas like gaṇapati for ākāśa, etc). In these too specific form of nārāyaṇa as recommended in śāstras is worshipped for example sankarṣaṇa form of nārāyaṇa as the antaryāmin of śeṣa and rudra.

sarvadevanamaskaraṁ keśavampratigacchati |

श्रीमध्वेशकृष्णार्पणमस्तु ।

Oh wow. Thanks that I am not so technical - village Hindu, you know. To me, the Lord comes just by calling. I call, he comes (or for that matter, the Mother. One of the two will certainly come). So simple.

ShivaFan said:

But I can also do puja in my house to:

Sita Ram - Puja

Kali Maa - but this is not exactly puja, only a very special person can be an actual Kali Pujari

Durga Devi - Puja

Nandi (Shiva's Bull) - offerings to

Garuda (Vishnu's mount) - offerings to

Also there is Shani Dev (Saturn), Surya (Sun), a special puja for Radha Krishna.

... Others

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Interesting you say that. I've thought about doing that myself. I have a number of deities in my shrine: Hanuman, Shiva, Krishna (my ishta-devata whom I do puja to), Durga, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Rama Parivar, Ayyappa, Murugan, Narasimha, Kali, Ganesha, Gayatri Devi. Those are small brass and resin statues. I also have a few small pictures of Dakshinamurthy, Kala Bhairava, Dhanvantari, Venkateshwara. All those deities are the ones I feel drawn to and revere for one reason or another. So you see, I have quite the pantheon but I think it would be out of control to do an individual puja to all of them. I decided a long time ago it is impossible to say prayers to all of them in one puja, so I say other prayers at other times. I went with a collective obeisance: oṁ sarvebhyo devebhyo namaḥ during the puja. I suppose one could do a collective puja in the form oṁ sarvebhyo devebhyo [pushpam, phalam, dhupam, deepam, etc.] samarpayami.

I DO NOT chant Gayatri.

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Just curiosity, any particular reason? I've seen it go both ways that anyone can chant it v. only initiates can chant it.

Aupmanyav said:

Oh wow. Thanks that I am not so technical - village Hindu, you know. To me, the Lord comes just by calling. I call, he comes (or for that matter, the Mother. One of the two will certainly come). So simple.

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Spoken like a true atheist, lol.

Oh, yes, unashamedly. They are my beacons, my culture figures. Why should not I love them?

Jainarayan said:

sarvebhyo devebhyo (pushpam, phalam, dhupam, deepam, etc.) samarpayami.

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IMHO, one 'bhyo' is enough - 'Sarva devebhyo'. You seem to be in a tearing hurry. Yes, IMHO, it can be done, but visualize all those whom you want to address. Without visualization, just by saying, it will not be enough - 'dhyana'.

Gosh, puja... I am terribly lax lately. Sometimes I will do puja every day (i.e aarti to Ma) but it tends to taper off sadly. When I DO puja I offer flowers (only sometimes though), incense and the lamp to Ma. I have a gorgeous poster given to me by my former neighbours of Shiva, Parvati, Ganesh and Murugan. When I perform aarti I do it looking lovingly into Ma's eyes.

Aupmanyav said:

Oh, yes, unashamedly. They are my beacons, my culture figures. Why should not I love them? IMHO, one 'bhyo' is enough - 'Sarva devebhyo'. You seem to be in a tearing hurry. Yes, IMHO, it can be done, but visualize all those whom you want to address. Without visualization, just by saying, it will not be enough - 'dhyana'.

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You are right about dhyana and visualization. Though my shrine might be more than a little crowded and busy, it's an aid to visualization and thought. Words and sound are energy, but so is thought. I believe they go hand in hand in this case.

DeviChaaya said:

Gosh, puja... I am terribly lax lately. Sometimes I will do puja every day (i.e aarti to Ma) but it tends to taper off sadly. When I DO puja I offer flowers (only sometimes though), incense and the lamp to Ma. I have a gorgeous poster given to me by my former neighbours of Shiva, Parvati, Ganesh and Murugan. When I perform aarti I do it looking lovingly into Ma's eyes.

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Don't forget there is manasika and antharyagam puja, both are forms of mental puja... doing it in your head.

Jainarayan said:

Don't forget there is manasika and antharyagam puja, both are forms of mental puja... doing it in your head.

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I don't know why but I have trouble holding an image of Ma in my head. Scratch that, it's a lie. I have a condition known as face blindness and while it's not severe it does make holding faces in my mind extremely difficult. It is always better if I have an actual image as my brain doesn't struggle to form a picture then.

DeviChaaya said:

It is always better if I have an actual image as my brain doesn't struggle to form a picture then.

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You could carry a small, wallet size picture of her and take it out wherever you happen to be. I'd be happy to print out (on glossy photo paper) an assortment of your favorite images and send them to you. PM me if you're interested.

Jaya Nitai

Apologies for the lateness of my answer. I never actually do formal deity worship (only very rare festival occasions) . Usually the only time I worship the form is when I write and meditate on the syllables of the Holy Name. Most of my puja is done when I chant Japa (the Mahamantra, and I usually focus on either Lord Radha Krsna, or Sri Sri Nitai Gaura), or when I sing Kirtan. In Kirtan, I don't think I have a strict order. Usually I feel sing a bhajan to Lord Nitai first, but then the rest of the bhajans are spontaneous depending on the mood. It may the appearance day of a certain personality, so I may glorify them. Sometimes I get into to the mood to glorify Lord Shiva, sometimes the Gopis, sometimes I sing a Bhajan to Lord Gaur, or Radharani. Radharani's Name has been especially sweet this past month (as it was Her month hahaa). Been obsessed with the following verse about Her:

jaya jaya Radharani caranaravinda,
jinke carano mein rahe Sri Govinda

"All glories to the two Lotus Feet of Sri Radhika. In these two feet Lord Govinda always resides"

Also simply singing radhe radhe radhe jaya jaya jaya sri radhe is so sweet that one feels like never stopping.

Jainarayan said:

You could carry a small, wallet size picture of her and take it out wherever you happen to be. I'd be happy to print out (on glossy photo paper) an assortment of your favorite images and send them to you. PM me if you're interested.

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Oh @Jainarayan, you are too sweet. But that is a wonderful suggestion. I will have to find my favourite images and get them printed.