Last Updated on September 1, 2006 by
~~OM~~
Shree Maa often talks about, “Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram – Truth, Infinite Consciousness and Beauty.” Shree Maa says, “If you live in truth and beauty, you will get infinite consciousness.” When we watch Mother, hear Her speak or listen to Her singing, we know She is living in Truth and Beauty. In Her every act and move we see, we feel and we admire these qualities.
We want to learn how we, too, can imbibe these qualities and be in that place of perfect truth, beauty and pure love. “Step by step, my children,” She tells us lovingly with a smile.
One step we can all begin with is worship or puja. Maa does puja every single day multiple times, beginning many hours before day break. Puja is the Sanskrit word for worship; it is composed of “pu” and “ja” and means that which gives birth to merit.
Shree Maa and Swamiji tell us that, “Worship means attention.” When we do any action with complete attention, we are engaged in worship. Therefore, puja is not limited to the time we sit in front of our altar, but can conceivably fill every moment of our lives. The practice of doing puja each day helps us to make our entire life a festival of worship.
At the tender age of four, Shree Maa started doing puja in Her family shrine every day. She learned all the mantras and mudras and vidhis to worship numerous deities. As she grew older, she was often invited to neighbors’ houses to do worship there also. Every morning before day break she got up to bathe in the pond and wear a red-bordered puja saree, and sat down to worship. One day when she was a little girl, she went to the pond in the pre-dawn darkness and slipped and fell. She hurt her hand and was not even able to move. She was in a lot of pain and her hand had to be tied in a sling. Still, she did not let that pain stop her from doing her worship.
In India, Maa went from house to house teaching people how to do puja. She encourages us to do puja and to learn the mantras. “If you learn the mantras by heart, the Gods will always be with you,” She once told us. In America too, Shree Maa and Swamiji have helped many, many devotees set up altars in their houses and to get started with regular worship to make their house into a temple.
Shree Maa and Swamiji say, “Worship is the bridge by which we cross from duality to non-duality.”
This week we will be discussing puja, “what are the steps, what does it mean in practice, how we can use this practice to make all of life a puja (worship).”
Please join us in worship!