Originally Posted by
silence_speaks
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 ... ]
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