To: AM-GLOBAL
From: V.J.K. Rajpurhit
Subject: Baba Story: Deoghar DMC Guru Puja
Baba
"Ga'n geye tumi path calechile balechile kan't'h mela'te..." (P.S. 2788)
Purport:
Baba, You are so gracious-- most beautiful. That day when I saw You
while moving on the path, You were singing. And that very time You told me
that I should follow the song accordingly and sing. That I should emulate
Your style. Baba, You are so charming. Even then because of my shyness, I
was standing at a distance looking at You-- I did not come closer.
Baba, after that I could not follow the song because of my shyness and
fear. And also there was a strong doubt in my mind: I was thinking that
You are not my own. But Baba You graced me and granted me samvit and
all the confusion and dilemmas were wiped away. So now I am searching You
everywhere on & off the path. Baba You are so gracious.
Wandering around I was searching You in the deep forests and jungles, as
well as in the vast, frozen lands surrounding the huge ice-covered
mountains. But I could not get You anywhere externally. Even in those
hard to reach places in the dense forest that is not at all accessible--
there also I could not get You. So now I am searching You only in my mind;
and today, by Your grace, You have granted me samvit. Baba, please come
in my bhajans, kiirtan, sadhana, and dhyan and make my life successful...
Note: Baba has blessed us by giving us this special guideline that we
should not search Him externally. But unfortunately some dogmatic people
continue to seek Him out in various holy lands or mahasamadhi places etc.
In their naivete and innocence they do not understand this aforesaid Baba's
teaching.
== BABA STORY: DEOGHAR DMC GURU PUJA ==
Namaskar,
Last week, a letter was posted about Baba's correction of the
pronunciation of Guru Puja during Kullu DMC.
(http://am-global-01.blogspot.com/2008/10/baba-dmc-stories-from-my-diary.html)
At that above DMC (Nov 1 '79), Baba instructed how we must be very
careful in pronouncing the two terms, Gurave & parama'. The first should
be stated as Gurave, not Guruve; and, parama must be pronounced with a
long "a" (ucchi) at the end.
Below, this letter also presents a scene from a DMC wherein Baba is
correcting the pronunciation of Guru Puja. This occurred at Deoghar DMC
(1984). For your review, a sound file has been placed on the AM-GLOBAL
blog. (http://www.am-global-01.blogspot.com/)
SCENE AT DMC IN DEOGHAR
On that day of January 8, 1984 at Deoghar DMC, Baba beautifully
concludes His discourse-- What is Dharma.
Then Baba graces all by reciting Samgacchadhvam, followed by 'Omn
Shanti, Omn Shanti, Omn Shanti'. Then Baba showers His special blessing
of varabaya mudra upon all present. This is all quite apparent by
listening to the audio file on the blog.
Then the request is made for Guru Puja to be done, Baba grants
permission, and the then PA Ramananda indicates that Karunananda should
lead the Guru Puja.
During the first round of Guru Puja, a mistake in pronunciation is
committed, and Baba lovingly unleashes His sentient anger so as to
properly teach us the correct way to do Guru Puja. By listening to the
sound file, one can hear Baba scold Karunananda multiple times for
mispronouncing one of the key words in our Guru Puja chant. Of course
Baba is not really angry, rather He is feigning anger to get our
attention and learn the proper way. As the all-compassionate Sadguru,
this is Baba's divine working style. Many who were around those days
came to understand this about Baba.
After Guru Puja, Baba gives His "Let everybody be happy...Let everybody
see the bright side..." blessing.
IMPORTANCE OF GURU PUJA
Before detailing the nature of the correction at that particular DMC,
let's take a moment to reflect on the great importance of our Guru Puja
practice. Since we do this multiple times daily, we should always keeps
its significance in mind, as well as the best way to practice it. .
THE USE OF TANMATRAS IN GURU PUJA
Of course in the practice of Guru Puja, every sadhaka offers a lotus
flower.
After kneeling in the proper posture one should close their eyes and
with the palms open visualise the form a mental lotus. The colour of the
lotus will be the colour of that worldly object which is most dominating
or disturbing to their mental flow during sadhana.
For instance if one is facing financial difficulties or if one is just
greedy for money, then that sadhaka should visualise a green lotus-- or
the dominant colour of money in their locale.
The idea being that each every material object has 5 tanmatras, or
inferences. All the tanmatras should be utilised in Guru Puja when
offering a mental lotus. This makes the mind more involved in the
practice and provides a very strong and positive effect. The five
tanmatras are: Sound, touch, form (sight), taste, and smell.
Money makes a crumpling sound when it gets stuffed into a bag or taken
out of a wallet. And it has a smooth feel to it since it is made out of
paper. So when doing Guru Puja the lotus takes on a crumpling type of
sound as well as a smooth touch. Those represent the first two tanmatras.
Since the third inference is form, then that is the time to visualise
the colour of the louts, which in this case is green.
The 4th tanmatra is taste. And the taste of money is known to all. So
when doing this practice then the taste will be as if one is chewing on
dry paper.
The 5th and final inference is smell. That also should be utilised in
Guru Puja. Hence the whole lotus which get pictured in the mind takes on
the smell of money.
Applying these five tanmatras are very important to our Guru Puja practice.
BABA'S EXPLICIT EXPLANATION
And here following Baba Himself has given this below guideline which is
highly linked with how tanmatras are to be used in that practice of Guru
Puja.
Baba says, "Any object which creates bondage in the mind has its own
particular colour. In those early days people used silver coins. While
thinking of those silver coins, their minds would be coloured silver.
Today, people's minds are coloured by the thought of paper currency. When
someone thinks of an iron safe, one's mental object becomes the iron
safe. When someone goes to the bank to deposit money, the bank's
signboard becomes his or her mental object... All such things become a
person's mental objects, one by one. The mind always takes something as
its object, each object having its specific colour." (NKS, '97 Edn, p. 174)
And like that each and every tanmatra or inference takes effect in the
mind. So in our Guru Puja practice they should all be offered to Guru.
Baba guides us as follows.
Baba says, "Surrender all one's mental colour to Parama Purus'a, and
thus free oneself from the bondage." (NKS)
PRONUNCIATION IS ALSO IMPORTANT
In addition to using all the 5 tanmatras, other key aspects of Guru Puja
are: Bhava (ideation), purity of mind, and pronunciation.
Some may think it is okay to mumble or blatantly mispronounce words when
doing Guru Puja, or even skip words entirely. But this is not at all
proper.
Rather we should orally or mentally recite-- depending on the
circumstance-- each word with diamond-like clarity and precision.
And that is exactly what Baba is expressing that the DMC in Deoghar.
EXACT CORRECTION AT THAT DEOGHAR DMC (1984)
Specifically, at that Deoghar DMC, when Karunananda begins reciting Guru
Puja everything is ok, at least is the first stanza. The problem arises
when he begins the second stanza of the first round of Guru Puja.
Dada begins reciting, "Ajinana..." and within a few seconds Baba
forcefully interrupts him.
The problem was that Dada was saying, 'Ah-john'. And Baba emphatically
states that that is the wrong pronunciation leftover from the Rg Veda.
The tantric or Yajurvediiya pronunciation is 'Ah-gyan'. And that is the
way are to say it. That is what Baba explains.
Unfortunately, Karunananda could not understand this right away, and
again he mispronounces it and then again Baba corrects him, only this
time more forcefully. This happens two or three times until finally the
term ajinana is properly pronounced.
It is only then that Guru Puja is allowed to continue.
By listening to the audio file on the blog, the correct pronunciation
will be clear to all.
So we should all pay particular attention to our pronunciation of the
Guru Puja mantra. Without proper pronunciation, Guru Puja will lose its
effect. We should all then be adamant to strictly follow Baba's many
pronunciation guidelines regarding the recitation of Guru Puja.
BABA'S BLESSING
It is Baba's grace that He has come to lovingly correct all our wrongs
and show us the path to salvation. He even pays careful attention that
we should recite our Guru Puja chant properly, as exhibited at that
Deoghar DMC of 1984.
Baba says, "That Guru, that expression of Parama Brahma that dispels all
your spiritual darkness is Parama Brahma. That is, Parama Brahma
exhibits Himself in the form of Guru just to dispel your clouds of
ignorance and spiritual slumber." (AV-3)
Namaskar,
Vidyasagar
