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Thread: Paraa Puuja (परापूजा)

  1. #1

    Paraa Puuja (परापूजा)

    Paraapuja is a beautiful prayer supposedly written by Sri Adi Shankaracharya.

    The word puja is defined as : purnat jyayate iti puja, that which is born out of inner fulfillment, is puja.

    The purpose of all puja (prayers) is to discover this inner fulfillment. An advaitin does not perform a puja to please God, he performs the puja to surrender the "displeased person" and dissolve that displeased person leaving total fulfillment.

    In Hinduism, there are lot of prayers addressed to different Gods, the God of this particular prayer is formless Presence , Existence Itself - or what is termed Being , Self or Atman. In this prayer God is not worshiped with a form, but as the formless presence.

    Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi says in his text called Upadesha Saram that "abedha bhavana, feeling of oneness is better than bedha bhavana or the feeling of separateness." This prayer is "abedha bhavana, the feeling of oneness" ... it starts as a feeling and dissolving the separateness leaves one abiding as Self - provided, ofcourse, that we have he required clarity and conviction.

    The aim of this series of articles is to share through these writings, the vision of our own inner fulfillment.

    Lets see the verses of this text with an attitude of meditation and verify for ourselves how they transform our lives once and for all.

    Usually, when a puja is done, one takes the aid of an idol and the God is invoked in that idol. Then , the devotee offers flowers, incenses etc to that idol and meditates that that is all offered to the God via the idol. This is a very systematic approach and has its value. Here, however , the prayer goes a step above , the God is worshiped as the formless Being, and so, what kind of offerings can be done ? Lets see ...


    VERSE 1:
    aanandesaccidaanande nirvikalpaikaruupiNi |
    sthite.advitiiyebhaavevai katha.Npuujaavidhiiyate ||

    आनन्देसच्चिदानन्दे निर्विकल्पैकरूपिणि।
    स्थितेऽद्वितीयेभावेवै कथँपूजाविधीयते॥

    Anande : that which is of the form of pure Bliss
    satcitananda: that which is of the form of sat-cit-ananda
    nirvikalpaikarupini stithe : Which is of available as formless presence.
    advitiye : which is one without a second
    bhave: that being
    vai: decidedly
    katham: how
    pujavidhiyate : ( can there be or what is) the method of prayer ?

    That Being which is Ever Blissful SAT-CIT-ANANDA, the thoughtless Presence which is one without a second , what is the method of prayer to such a one ?
    Why is it difficult to perform a puja or prayer to such a God ? Because , we have no way to "Grasp" this God. If the God is an idol or available as in some tangible form, its possible to perform some kind of offerings etc to such a god, but here is a God who is formless, omnipresent and not graspable by thought... if it is beyond the reach of thought, how can I grasp it ?

    The point is ... this God is not "Grasped", one "Abides" in this God. This form of Self Abidance, says Sri Adi Shankaracharya , is the highest form of Bhakti. We will appreciate this in the posts to come ... the idea is to revel in that God and discover our own fulfillment here and now. Lets see how the teaching can really transform us if only we are ready to see through its lens.

    Love!
    Silence
    Last edited by silence_speaks; 21 November 2014 at 09:09 PM.
    Come up, O Lions, and shake off the delusion that you are a sheep

  2. #2
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    Re: Paraa Puuja (परापूजा)

    Namaste .

    Thanks for sharing ...

    To understand the information correctly explaination of following terms are necessary. Can you provide?

    #1.displeased person

    #2.inner fulfillment

    #3.bliss


    Quote Originally Posted by silence_speaks View Post
    Paraapuja is a beautiful prayer supposedly written by Sri Adi Shankaracharya.

    The word puja is defined as : purnat jyayate iti puja, that which is born out of inner fulfillment, is puja.

    The purpose of all puja (prayers) is to discover this inner fulfillment. An advaitin does not perform a puja to please God, he performs the puja to surrender the "displeased person" and dissolve that displeased person leaving total fulfillment.

    In Hinduism, there are lot of prayers addressed to different Gods, the God if this particular prayer is formless Presence , Existence Itself - or what is termed Being , Self or Atman. In this prayer God is not worshiped with a form, but as the formless presence.

    Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi says in his text called Upadesha Saram that "abedha bhavana, feeling of oneness is better than bedha bhavana or the feeling of separateness." This prayer is "abedha bhavana, the feeling of oneness" ... it starts as a feeling and dissolving the separateness leaves one abiding as Self - provided, ofcourse, that we have he required clarity and conviction.

    The aim of this series of articles is to share through these writings, the vision of our own inner fulfillment.

    Lets see the verses of this text with an attitude of meditation and verify for ourselves how they transform our lives once and for all.

    Usually, when a puja is done, one takes the aid of an idol and the God is invoked in that idol. Then , the devotee offers flowers, incenses etc to that idol and meditates that that is all offered to the God via the idol. This is a very systematic approach and has its value. Here, however , the prayer goes a step above , the God is worshiped as the formless Being, and so, what kind of offerings can be done ? Lets see ...


    Why is it difficult to perform a puja or prayer to such a God ? Because , we have no way to "Grasp" this God. If the God is an idol or available as in some tangible form, its possible to perform some kind of offerings etc to such a god, but here is a God who is formless, omnipresent and not graspable by thought... if it is beyond the reach of thought, how can I grasp it ?

    The point is ... this God is not "Grasped", one "Abides" in this God. This form of Self Abidance, says Sri Adi Shankaracharya , is the highest form of Bhakti. We will appreciate this in the posts to come ... the idea is to revel in that God and discover our own fulfillment here and now. Lets see how the teaching can really transform us if only we are ready to see through its lens.

    Love!
    Silence

    [To be continued ... ]
    Anirudh...

  3. #3

    Re: Paraa Puuja (परापूजा)

    Dear Anirudh ji,
    Namasthe! Glad to see your read this post.

    Total Contentment : is another word for bliss or inner fulfillment.

    Displeased person : a lacking individual: any sense of being a lacking person.

    Love!
    Silence
    Come up, O Lions, and shake off the delusion that you are a sheep

  4. #4

    Re: Paraa Puuja (परापूजा)

    Friends,
    Let us try to appreciate the overall context in which these simple verses should be meditated upon. When the context and the meaning is appreciated, these simple verses become powerful aids to meditation by revealing our own true nature.

    The Human Pursuits:

    In sanskrit, the word "Purushaartha" means a goal sought after by people.
    All human ends (what we all seek - the purusharthas) are classified into four categories: artha (security), kaama (Fulfillment of Desires), Dharma (Harmony : roughly), and Moksha (Freedom, Liberation). Lets try to understand each of these.

    Artha and Kama refer to security and pleasure respectively. We all seek security in the form of money, relationships and various kinds of possessions. When a person seeks security, he is said to be going after Artha.

    We also seek satisfaction through senses... like music, physical comforts etc. These are called kama.

    Then there is Dharma, this refers to the pleasure from harmony like friendship or helping another person. I feel happy when I help a suffering person get rid of the suffering, this pleasure is dharma - since i am neither satisfying my senses nor seeking security through it. Dharma is a very big topic in itself, but loosely we can call it living in harmony with the law - the law which is place and time dependent. So I do not violate the traffic rules, do not hurt anyone, do not tell a lie, do not throw my waste material in the neighbor's compound, do not have illicit extra marital affairs, do not do anything to create disharmony in the society. This is called Dharmic lifestyle.

    The dictum is that one should fulfill desires and acquire securities without deviating from the Dharma. So a person who accumulates money by taking bribes is going after Artha, without giving importance to Dharma. A Dharmic lifestyle is a fundamental prerequisite for religious living.

    Lets now proceed to the fourth Purushaartha:

    Moksha:

    Moksha means freedom, freedom from what ? If there is something binding us, we seek a way out of that bondage, that is moksha. It is freedom from something I do not want. Though this is a purushartha we all seek, most of us do not do it knowingly. For example a person seeking artha, security is seeking freedom from insecurity. So this person is seeking moksha in a sense, but when this person looks for not a temporary release but a permanent kind of release , its called moksha.

    If I am totally pleased with myself as I am, then I have achieved moksha... in other words, i am totally contended, or satisfied with myself as I am. When I say "as I am", I mean that I do not require a change in the situation ... If I think I will become secured by earning some more money, I am looking for a change in the situation. That cannot be termed moksha. Moksha means I realize that I do not need to change the situation to be "Pleased with myself". Contentment does not prohibit one from achieving anything in life.

    These verses of the text are really aimed at helping us discover this inner contentment. I will spend a little more time elaborating on Moksha before getting into the first verse.

    Love!
    Silence
    Last edited by silence_speaks; 21 November 2014 at 09:36 PM.
    Come up, O Lions, and shake off the delusion that you are a sheep

  5. #5
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    Re: Paraa Puuja (परापूजा)

    Namaste Silence speaks ji

    I am not sure if it is the part of your offering and with some specific intention(s),however I believe my comments will add value to your efforts.

    #1. If possible give the original sloka(m) along with its meaning. You have done it in the first post. You can continue.

    #2. Most likely during translation the meaning and purpose is lost. So give meaning (how you wish the reader to understand them as) to complex words.

    #3. The content is too small. Make bigger posts . In my opinion without knowing the basics no one jumps into philosophical subjects.

    #4. Most importantly you haven't told us why you want us to follow this way of performing pooja.

    Us --> the readers
    Anirudh...

  6. #6

    Re: Paraa Puuja (परापूजा)

    Dear Anirudh ji,
    Namasthe!

    I will elaborately explain each verse as I proceed with the text. My usual practice is to make notes as I study a text. Right now I am studying Paraa puuja. So as I study , these elaborations are my musings on that.

    I have already explained the reason why this prayer is important by citing Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi's upadesha saram where he says : "Abedha bhavana, the feeling of oneness or no separation, is better than bedha bhavana or the feeling of separateness". [as to why this has to be so will also become clear soon as we proceed with the discussion]

    Puja, as I mentioned earlier, is by definition that which is born out of inner fulfillment. Any form of prayer can be used to discover it within, provided there is clarity about the meaning !

    All the words in the verse will be explained. Right now I am just discussing the first verse here ...

    Love!
    Silence
    Come up, O Lions, and shake off the delusion that you are a sheep

  7. #7

    Re: Paraa Puuja (परापूजा)

    Moksha (Continued):

    Moksha, is freedom from bondage, as we have already seen. The very fact that we "seek" means there is something that is "not-ok" and we are looking for ways to circumvent that. Thus, a seeker is a person who is trying to find a way out of a certain lacking situation.

    When the seeker thinks that what he lacks is money, possessions, sense pleasures etc, he is looking outwards for a solution to his own emptiness. He is , unknowingly, seeking liberation from his own sense of emptiness - but looking outwards for a solution. Lets take the example of money. The poor person thinks he will be satisfied if he has a little money, but the fact is there is already someone who is rich and dissatisfied! When one is subtle enough to see this, one slowly develops a certain understanding that the sense of emptiness cannot be got rid off through material possessions. This understanding leads to what one calls a spiritual quest. A quest to discover completeness through spiritual practices and spiritual means. This person is termed a mumukshu, one who desires moksha or purnatvam.

    The Search

    Everyone , knowingly or unknowingly are seeking fulfillment or total contentment. When I seek it in the material possessions , i am seen as a materialist while when I seek within, through spiritual practices , I am seen as a spiritual person. Vedanta adds a queer twist to this whole search by stating that "You are Purna , Ever Fulfilled. Ever Complete" !
    But if I am ever fulfilled, why do I see myself as a lacking person ? What vedanta says may be true, but it does not seem to be my own experience ... thus, people often conclude that one has to "become purna or complete" ... But that is not what the vedantic teaching is ! Vedanta is saying "You are Complete here and now" ... while people always seem to think that "I have to become Complete" ! One set thinks I will become complete through material gains and so is trying to become complete through material possessions while another set of people think that we can become complete through a spiritual experience and are therefore looking for spiritual experiences. While Vedantic statement is not that you become complete through a process: it says you are complete here and now !! Muktha eva asi sarvada [you are ever free -- Ashtavakra Gita].

    However what Vedanta says is not important for me, what is important is what I experience in my day to day life. How do I change that ? While Vedanta is saying one thing, I seem to experience something else: this is called Viparita bhavana, the opposite feeling or experience. This has to be corrected through inquiry , which is what is the aim of the present study. As we study and learn this, through the understanding we will be in a position to negate this Viparitha Bhavana and see the Truth as presented in Vedanta. Once we get the vision of Vedanta, we see ourselves as Ever Fulfilled and Free... that is total liberation.

    Love!
    Silence
    Last edited by silence_speaks; 22 November 2014 at 09:05 AM.
    Come up, O Lions, and shake off the delusion that you are a sheep

  8. #8

    Re: Paraa Puuja (परापूजा)

    Vedanta: Seeker and the Sought Are One:

    What we seek , therefore , is total contentment, and this is what vedanta says is our own true nature.

    The first verse says anande-sat-cit-anande ... to the one who is of the form of this total satisfaction. it is not referring to an extra-terrestrial God sitting somewhere outside this creation to monitor our activities. The verse says "to The one who is of the form of Bliss or Total Contentment" ... it is a reference to our own true nature.

    In other words it says : the seeker is seeking what he already IS! That is the seeker is seeking his own true nature. Seeker's true nature is the sought!

    Very interesting! But why do we not see ourselves as complete and fulfilled? Our own experience seems to contradict the scriptures , isnt it ? We are unfulfilled if we miss a little sleep , we are unhappy if our security or desires are not fulfilled! So there is great insecurity ... how can we say we are fulfilled in such a circumstance ? It would have been better had the scriptures said "you can become fulfilled" ... then we could approach it with a process. However, the scriptures are straight away addressing us as "Totally Fulfilled" , as if its given! You are Purna, Ever Fulfilled, this the claim of Vedanta and this is what a proper teacher of vedanta has to present. But how do we tackle our current experience ?

    Experience is as good as Our Interpretation Of It:

    How do we explain our own experience which seems to contradict the vedantic vision ? Well, lets ask a very pertinent question: is it the interpretation of experience or the experience itself that is the real problem ?

    Lets explore this aspect carefully...

    Love!
    Silence
    Last edited by silence_speaks; 04 December 2014 at 01:28 AM.
    Come up, O Lions, and shake off the delusion that you are a sheep

  9. #9
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    Smile Re: Paraa Puuja (परापूजा)

    Namaste Silence SPeaks ji

    Your notes reminds a old expression? "Journey to picnic should be as enjoyable as picnic itself"

    Hope to hear more on Para Pooja...
    Anirudh...

  10. #10

    Re: Paraa Puuja (परापूजा)

    Experience is as good as our interpretation of it. That is why when two people face a tough situation, they react differently, the difference is in their outlook. Suppose I am faced with a calamity and I take it as a challenge, that is one way of looking at the situation - afterall human life is full of struggles, lets be strong. Thats one approach.
    Another approach is to allow meekness to take over.

    The way I look at the situation makes the "True Experience" for me, not just the external event. I look at a mirage, and taking it to be a water body, i run after it. Another person also sees the mirage, but he knows that its a mirage, so he does not run after it ! What we see is just the same, the way we have interpreted is totally different and consequent reaction is also different.

    Vedantic claim is that all our suffering ... is like a shadow imagined to be a ghost. What we see is only a shadow, but because of the way we look at it, we have taken it to be a ghost. Thus , the solution lies in correcting our vision, our understanding. For this, Vedanta provides us with a way of looking. It is, as if, saying : "Lets look at the world like this and see how its no more a trouble" ...

    "If we look at the world with the vedantic vision, life becomes a joyous long holiday.... every moment is a moment of bliss." We have to get this vision and live it out in our own lives. This is the objective of all teaching.


    A Prayer Is Not For the God:

    When we pray to God, we do not pray for the sake of the God, the prayer is an attempt to discover our own "Purnatvam" or "Completeness" or fulfillment. Lets define prayer very rigorously:

    Prayer is that process which starts with a person who feels incomplete or unfulfilled and leads to the discovery of total fulfillment.

    This is the aim if all puja. When we do a puja, we start with a person who feels he is incomplete, meek, unhappy .... and then we invoke God ... in this process, the incomplete person is "dissolved" ... leaving only total completeness ! This is how any puja should be used. Sanathana Dharma is a very holistic system, it starts from where we are and slowly lifts us to the vision. The principle is "the ground on which you have fallen, you can get up by taking support of the same ground" . We feel incomplete ... lets start there ... and we use that sense of incompleteness to invoke God ! Our intensity of the sense of incompleteness would give us more energy to invoke God ... and as God is invoked, if the vision is clear, one cannot stand apart ... one automatically gets dissolved... leaving only the Totality!

    The method is very systematic and clear : but it works only when the vision of vedanta is clear. When the vision is clear, it works as nidhidhyasanam.

    Ok, all this was the introduction. Lets now try to see how this simple invocation can lead us to the discovery of inner fulfillment !

    For this, lets try to understand this word: "SAT-CIT-ANANDA" ! this will give us clarity about the vision... and then we shall see how we can use these prayer verses to discover inner fulfillment. As I already pointed out , without the clarity of vision, a prayer might just become an emotional outburst which would atbest be a temporary relief. With the vision, prayer becomes nidhidhyasanam!

    [To be Continued ...]
    Come up, O Lions, and shake off the delusion that you are a sheep

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