The IDEA is to spread awareness in young minds that Devipuram helps them connect to their own inner divinity through pujas. Devipuram also tries to give them a taste of how it feels to be worshipped like a Goddess or God. Once the young minds feel that, they will start empowering themselves and society. Bonding to goals of Devipuram (which is empowering spiritual connections for harmony) will develop.
What is spirituality?
The clear answer can be found in Upanishads. "Asato ma sadgamaya = move me to truth from untruth, tamaso ma jyotir gamaya= move me from darkness to light, mrityor ma amritam gamaya= move me from death to life, om santih santih santih= peace be to self, environment and for gods to be" is the meaning of spirituality. Among them, life is easily the most important. For, without life, nothing is important. And enthusiasm, enjoyment and vitality, are verily the juices of life.
The clear answer can be found in Upanishads. "Asato ma sadgamaya = move me to truth from untruth, tamaso ma jyotir gamaya= move me from darkness to light, mrityor ma amritam gamaya= move me from death to life, om santih santih santih= peace be to self, environment and for gods to be" is the meaning of spirituality. Among them, life is easily the most important. For, without life, nothing is important. And enthusiasm, enjoyment and vitality, are verily the juices of life.
Preamble:
Every person who is young and growing embodies many great qualities of
life such as innocence, enthusiasm, freshness, passion and love (of
beauty, music, dance, power, intensity, intellect, curiosity, and
adventure). Most progress has its origins in innovation, seeking fun,
curiosity and adventure. These are the qualities that make life worth
living. They are divine and deserve to be promoted. Recognising and
bringing out the divinity in a person enhances vitality, the quality of
life. This process is called adoration, gratitude, or bhakti.
I have
watched and enjoyed many times the Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel
showing middle aged, male priests doing abhishekam to Sri Devi, Bhudevi,
and the gorgeous muslim woman Nanchari loved by Lord Venkatesha. The
priests most lovingly poured the five nectars: milk, curds, ghee, honey
and fruit juices, on the bodies of the adorable Devis, applied sandal
paste, dressed and decorated them with flowers and ornaments with loving
care. Enchanting light karnatic music of Annamayya was playing in the
background. How fortunate these pandits are!
I often
used to wonder what would the priests do if the icons they were handling
suddenly came alive? Would they run away? Or would they enjoy even
more? These thoughts haunted me. In my mind's eye, the deities were
alive; they were experiencing the feel of flowing fluids over their
bodies, reacting to the hot and cold touches, enjoying the flowers and
perfumes of sandal pastes, and enjoying the attention immensely, and
blessing the people who are giving them so much recognition and
happiness. If this was not true there wouldn't be any point in doing the
puja, right?
If we
are to believe the Upanishads which declare with one voice, that the "
Body is the temple in which God lives and his life is the Goddess. The
Goddess expresses her different powers in different organs. So, keep the
body and mind clean and fit for the Goddess of life to live. "
There is
absolutely no reason why bhakti should be confined to icons of
god/desses alone. I think it may have been be a mistake to do so. It is
the right of every living person to be adored as a God/dess and then to
live up to it. The more you assert the right and demand it, the better
it will be for all. Because, when all of us are recognised and grow to
be gods and goddesses, the society grows. Bhakti, adoration,
appreciation, gratitude, expressed through recognition rituals holds the
single most important key to empowering the society. It converts every
being in it to a god. The society becomes an assembly of Gods. To
empower a disciple, the Guru has to recognise and worship the divinity
in the disciple. This is the real function of every Guru.
Everyone
craves for recognition. If we satisfy it, it becomes divine resource
development programme, not merely a human resource development. In fact,
hrd is a part of drd. Are there examples of such pujas in our culture?
Yes, indeed. In Kamakhya Assam, there is the tradition of worshipping a
5-year-old girl as the Goddess until she atttains puberty. She is the
presiding Goddess for the period. In Bengal, there are many sects who
worship girls (kanya puja) and women (suvasini puja). Even some monks of
Ramakrishna Mission do it in private. In South India, we do vratams,
and honour the ladies with gifts, saying, "the giver is who? gowri devi.
The receiver is who? Gowri Devi" When people take (deeksha)
empowerment, they are not called by their personal names anymore, but by
the deeksha names, such as "swamy, bhavani, brother, padre, etc. " The
idea that we are gods is deeply ingrained in our minds. It is hard to
find the name of a person that is not of a God or Goddess. When we read
gotra namas, it sounds as an ashtottaram or sahasram. In Devipuram we
do a puja called Triveni to all who request it.
Triveni
puja can be done in public. It is very attractive to watch, and is
thoroughly enjoyed by the worshippers and worshipped alike. We have
tried this puja in public as well as in private. We have tried it in
marriage functions. Including the bride and groom, 2500 people received
pujas at the same time in a recent marriage in Amalapuram and one in
Hyderabad. In every such instance, besides the enjoyment and fun, the
persons who received the puja and bath with milk, curds, ghee, honey,
and friut juices invariably felt going out of the body to some place of
transcendent peace, so enjoyable that they took some time to come out of
it. In short they have experienced some state of samadhi, nirvana or
transcendence.
Now I
feel confident that this works in most cases. I want to take this
wonderful process to large numbers of people, because it can deliver the
most desirable results in a most pleasant way in least possible time.
Once a person experiences transcendence, there is no going back, no need
to believe, because it is a reality for the person. They will be pulled
into spirituality in a strong current of Bhava Samadhi, which
ultimately benefits society.
Devipuram
is organising public pujas every friday, giving a chance for 8 adults
or couples to experience transcendence. The feeling at the pujas is
festive, yet pious. Each person or couple receives the following pujas
in sequence. First all their psychic lotuses are activated using
vibrations of mantras. Cosmic powers of Fire, Sun and Moon are invoked
into their genital, heart, and cosmic communications chakras. Powers of
all beings living on earth, in oceans, hot regions, air and space are
invoked into chakras 1 to 5. Time and eternal life are invoked into the
command and life chakras. All invocations are done with vibrations of
mantras and nyasa. Mahavakyas are given to write off all sins committed
so far, and to begin a new spiritual life full of Rasa.
Then a
most lovable bath and beauty session begins. While music flows, a head
bath with panchamritas is given, followed by shampoo, facial beauty
treatments, fashion dresses and wearing ornaments brought by
participants themselves. Puja with Khadgamala, treating their body as a
Sri Chakra follows. A beautiful arati concludes the puja. The people who
had these pujas done to them report amazing results. A full charging of
all chakras and stability in transcendental experience requires about 7
consecutive immersions committing one week every year for your contact
with divinity.
To establish divinity in yourself fully a few suggestions, call them recommendations if you wish, can be made.
1. Just as God lives in you, you live in your home. Just as you make your body and mind fit for God to live, you make your home and things in it fit for you to live. Therefore throw or give away things which you don't use like old clothes, and other articles. This creates more space and order for you to find things you want easily. It saves time. Also, give your home a thorough cleaning making it a part of the ritual.
2. The ritual symbolises purification. Try consciously to remain pure in thought, word and deed. Remember, purity does not mean you should make yourself miserable in any way.
3. Like gods, you belong to everybody and everybody belongs to you. You commit to be happy and to make others happy. Let go a little from your abundance to give to others, fast a little to feed others, and pray a little for better life to all. Set apart 1 week's wages (about 2% of earnings) for giving others.
4. Try to minimise speaking and internal chatter. It will help in listening to your own thoughts and discovering what is causing anger and hurt in you. These little acts go a long way to focus on well being of all. It supports you in everyway. You will also realise that the world is your family.
I
strongly urge you to make use of the opportunities at Devipuram to begin
with and get an initiation into divinity through an unforgettable puja
experience all your own. The pujas are available only for adults above
18 years of age. I invite you to make use of the excellent opportunities
presented by Devipuram. Stay at Devipuram for a week, charge up your
batteries fully and return. If you help in this process, there is a
possibility that this can become a great movement, a divine mission on
earth.
Love,
Amritananda
Amritananda
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