--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradh...@...> wrote: > > Most of the puja is blatantly religious. For example, the puja > contains the traditional shodashopachura pujana - the puja of 16 > offering. The puja of 16 offering is common in Hindu worship as a way > to "receive" or connect to a particular God. In this case the God is > the Guru, the Guru God or Guru Deva; "Guru Dev":
AVAHANAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering invocation to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. ASANAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering a seat to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. SNANAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering a bath to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. VASTRAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering a cloth to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. CHANDANAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering sandal paste to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. AKSHATAN SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering full unbroken rice to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. PUSHPAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering a flower to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. DHUPAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering incense to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. DEEPAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering light to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. ACHMANIYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering water to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. NAIVEDYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering fruit to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. ACHMANIYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering water to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. TAMBULAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering betel leaf to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. SHRI PHALAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH Offering coconut to the lotus feet of the blessed Guru, I bow down. [reposted for clarity - apparently the Sanskrit doesn't post properly] === Many properly trained TM teachers can verify from directly perceived experience [and have many times to me personally] that indeed this complete Puja invokes the presence of Guru Dev [Swami Bramhananda Saraswati]. In my teacher training course, Maharishi explained that in essence, the initiator 'becomes' Guru Dev when the mantra is imparted from that deep level and given to the initiate. It's a very gentle and sublime, but powerful experience. For me personally while teaching, it has varied unpredictably in intensity. Some times while reciting and performing the Puja I have transcended and felt that I was losing track of where I was in the recitation - however at the same time noticing that the Puja continued flowing like a river as if all by itself. --Apparently some TM teachers don't seem to have experienced that. I have no definitive explanation for that. As a TM teacher trained by MMY, I have always had serious reservations about introducing TM wholesale into public schools claiming it's strictly a non-religious relaxation technique. To me personally, it's blatantly dishonest.
