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Learn Guru Pooja Yourself
Significance of Guru Pooja
Guru or the Master is the One who dispels the darkness of ignorance and illuminates our lives with pure knowledge. Guru Pooja is worship of the Guru and offering of obeisance at His feet. By offering obeisance and gratitude to the Guru, we repose our faith in Him, whose feet are roots of worship and the root of liberation. Guru Pooja, when done with profound sincerity can cause one to live a life of overwhelming gratitude not just towards the Master but towards Existence as a whole. click here for printer friendly Directions & Mantras only click here for printer friendly Mantras only
Materials needed for Pooja:
Guru Paaduka (Feet symbolizing the feet of the Guru) on a plate
Flowers (a handful) on a plate
A bilva leaf (You could offer water instead, if bilva leaf is unavailable)
Take a flower in your hands, remember the Master's form
and chant the following. The following two verses offer
humble obeisance to the Master and the lineage of Masters
who have time and again appeared to steer man towards
realizing the Self.
While chanting the following mantras,
do the following.
om aim etat paadyam - sree gurave namaha
Offer water from the udrani (cup) at the
Masters feet (Symbolizes washing the Masters feet).
Offering water
om aim yesha arghyaha - sree gurave namaha
Offer water from the conch shell at the Master's
feet. (Symbolizes offering rice, bilva leaf, flowers
and arugam pullu - sacred grass)
om aim idam aachamaneeyam sree gurave namaha
Offer water from the udrani at the Master's
feet (Symbolizes offering of water to rinse His mouth).
Ceremmonial Bath
om aim idam snaaneeyam - sree gurave namaha
Offer water from the kamandalu (holy water
jug) at the Master's feet (Symbolizes offering water
for His ceremonial bath).
Clothing
om aim idam vastram - sree gurave namaha
Offer the saffron cloth at the Master's feet. This
is done by taking water from the udrani and circling
it over the saffron cloth three times and offering the
water at the Master's feet. (Symbolizes offering clothing
to the Master).
Sandal and vermillion
om aim yesha gandhaha - sree gurave namaha
Dab your finger in the sandal paste and kumkum
powder. Apply the sandal paste to the Master's
feet first, followed by the kumkum on top of
the sandal paste. (Symbolizes offering sandal and kumkum
to the Master)
Flowers
om aim idam sachhandana pushpam - sree gurave
namaha
Take a flower, dip it into the sandal paste and offer
it at the Master's feet. (Symbolizes offering of our
desires to the Master)
Bilva leaf
om aim idam sachhandana bilva patram - sree
gurave namaha
Take a bilva leaf, dip it into the sandal
paste and offer it to the Master's feet. (The bilva
leaf is believed to have a cooling effect on the
deity to which it is offered. It's three leaves stand
for creation, sustenance and destruction. It also symbolizes
the three eyes of Lord Shiva)
Incense
om aim yesha dhoopaha - sree gurave namaha
Ring the bell with your left hand, take the lit incense
sticks in your right hand and move it in a circle near
the Master's feet. (In the incense, we see the potential
that is in ourselves, just as the incense itself is
worthless until it is put to the flame. We know that
our lives are useless too, unless our potentials are
fulfilled. In the incense we also recognize that our
lives are just as fleeting as its sweet smoke.)
Lamp
om aim yesha deepaha - sree gurave namaha
Ring the bell with your left hand, take the lit lamp
in your right hand and move it in a circle near the
Master's feet. (The glory of the Master's feet is intensified
by the light emanated by the lamp)
Food
om aim idam sopakarana naivedyam - sree gurave
namaha
Offer the food at the Master's feet (Symbolizes
offering food to the Master).
om aim idam paanaarthodakam - sree gurave namah
Offer water from the udrani at the Master's
feet (Symbolizes offering drinking water to the Master).
om aim idam punaraachamaneeyam -
sree gurave namaha
Offer water from the udrani at the Master's
feet (Symbolizes offering water to rinse the Master's
mouth).
Lit camphor
Offer Aarati (lit camphor) to the Master
while chanting the following mantra. Ring the
bell with the left hand while moving the lit camphor
in a circle with right hand. (Camphor burns itself out
completely without leaving a trace. It represents our
unmanifested desires. So also if we were to take refuge
in the Master's feet to obtain knowledge, these desires
will get burnt out. Although the camphor burns itself
out, it emits a nice perfume. On a human plane it means
that we should sacrifice ourselves to serve society,
in the process spread the perfume of love and happiness
to all.
Aaraatrikam (waving lamps as an offering)
Fold your hands in a namaskar (bring both
your palms together at chest level)
Take a flower in your hands, make three circles around the lit camphor with it and offer it to the feet of the Master.
Take a few flowers, position them between folded hands and chant these mantras.
