PUJA
In his book My Guru and His
Disciple, writer Christopher Isherwood details his experiences
as an initiate in the Vedanta Society of Southern California. Much
of the book describes the routine at the Society's residence
and temple in Hollywood. He talks about puja as part of the
ritual worship there.
Puja is designed to concentrate the mind on God, or
Brahman, and thus to heighten devotion. It is offered to any one of
the many aspects of God, often to one of His divine forms such as Kali
or Shiva, or to such incarnations as Rama or Krishna. The
deity may be represented by an image, photograph, or other symbol.
Worship may be performed with sandalpaste and
flowers. It may also be performed with as many as five items, such
as, again, sandalpaste, a flower, a stick of incense, a light, and
food, or even with the addition of ten more items. In
most centers of the Ramakrishna Order a ten-item worship is performed
daily for benefit of the whole religious community, along with a food
offering distributed afterwards. A sixteen-item
worship is offered on special days, such as
Kali puja and the birthday of Sri Ramakrishna, to
name just two.
In some Ramakrishna monasteries, Jesus is honored with
a Hindu ritual worship, especially at Christmastime. Each gesture or action during a puja must be
done with the worshiper's mind concentrated on its symbolic significance, which
serves to remind him or her that deity, offerings, utensils, and the
devotee are all Brahman. The ritual worship is therefore nondualistic.
The meditations accompanying it embrace Vedanta
philosophy, metaphysics, and mythology, and are concretized in the accessories
used. Puja reconciles the path of devotion with the path of
knowledge, ranging, as it does, from the devotee's meditation on his or
her identity with Brahman, to worship of the deity as an honored guest.
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