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Significance
of Hindu Method of
Pooja
The
concept of pooja in Hinduism is to worship an *idol* or a symbol
which represents the higher *ideal* such as God / Consciousness /
Reality.
While
the actual pooja steps are to welcome the Lord, offer Him place to seat,
water to wash hands, water for bath, perfume, food etc...
there is a deeper significance.
In
order to make this invocation (invoking higher ideal into the idol), we
need to have a focused mind. And one of the most common
"leakage" in our mind is through our senses (i.e. mind will
wander - your ears hear some noise and mind starts having thoughts in
that direction OR your nose smells something good and mind associates
the smell with some object and wanders in that direction etc.). In order
to avoid this "leakage", during pooja we need to occupy all
our senses focused in the direction of the higher ideal:
-
- for eyes we have
beautiful picture of the Lord
- for ears we ring bells or chant mantras / sing bhajans
- for nose we have inspiring fragrances of chandan and dhoop etc.
Thus,
our whole personality (Body + Mind + Intellect) are engaged in
unison towards one Higher goal.
Now
for the significance of various items:
Tilak:
The tilak covers the spot between the eyebrows which is the seat of
memory and thinking. The Tilak is applied with the prayer "May I remember
the Lord. May this pious feeling pervade all my activities".
Even when we temporarily forget this attitude, the Tilak on others acts
as a reminder to us.
Deepak:
Light represents
"knowledge" and darkness represents "ignorance".
The Lord is the knowledge principle (chaitanya), who is the source /
illuminator of all knowledge. Case in point: every human experience is
"illumined by" or "witnessed by" or "made
possible" by Consciousness which equates to the Lord.
By
lighting the lamp of "knowledge" we are trying to remove the
darkness of "ignorance". Ignorance that Consciousness is God
and I am conscious therefore, I am not different from God.
In
addition, we use deepak instead of say a light bulb because...
The oil or ghee in the lamp symbolizes our negative tendencies (vaasanas)
and the wick symbolizes the ego or individuality. When lit by spiritual
knowledge, our vaasanas get slowly exhausted and even the ego finally
perishes. The flame of the lamp burns upwards. Similarly we should
acquire such knowledge as to take towards higher ideals.
Aarati:
Having performed the pooja, we
see the beauty of the Lord in all His glory. Our minds are focused on
each part of the Lord as it is lit by the lamp. It is akin to open eyed
meditation on His beauty. The bell, singing, clapping denote the joy and
auspiciousness which accompanies the vision of the Lord.
The
philosophical meaning of aarati extends further. The sun, moon, star,
fire etc. are natural sources of light. The Lord is the source of all
these wondrous phenomena of the universe. As we do aarati, we turn our
attention on the very source of all "light".
The
mantra chanted while doing aarati (Na tatra suryo bhaati na chandra
taarakam....) means:
He
is there where the sun does not shine,
Nor the moon, stars and lightning.
Then what to talk of this small flame
Everything in the universe shines only after the Lord,
and by His light alone are we all illumined. |
