मानस पूजा🔗

(Worship in the heart)

Visualize your inner space to be a seat at your heart chakra - the heart center. Mentally invite the Master to this seat within.

om hṛt-padmamāsanaṁ dadyāt / sahasrāracyutāmṛtaiḥ / pādyaṁ caraṇayor-dadyāt / manastu arghyaṁ nivedayet // tena amṛtena ācamanīyaṁ / snānīyaṁ tena ca smṛtam // ākāśatatvaṁ vastraṁ syāt / gandhaḥ syāt gandhatatvakam // cittaṁ prakalpayet puṣpaṁ / dhūpaṁ prāṇān prakalpayet // tejastatvaṁ ca dīpārtham / naivedyaṁ syāt sudhāṁ budiḥ // anāhatadhvanirghaṇṭā / vāyutatvaṁ ca cāmaram // sahasrāraṁ bhavet chatraṁ / śabdatatvaṁ ca gītakam // nṛtyam indriyakarmāṇi / cāñcalyaṁ manasas-tathā // sumekhalāṁ padmamālām / puṣpaṁ nānāvidhaṁ tathā // amāyādyair-bhāvapuṣpaiḥ / arcayet bhāva-gocaram // amāyaṁ anahaṅkāraṁ / arāgaṁ amadaṁ tathā // amohakam adambhaṁ ca / adveṣa-akṣobhakau tathā // amātsaryaṁ alobhaṁ ca / daśapuṣpaṁ vidurbudhāḥ // ahiṁsā paramaṁ puṣpaṁ / puṣpaṁ indriyanigrahaḥ // dayā puṣpaṁ kṣamā puṣpam / jñānapuṣpaṁ ca pañcamam // iti pañcadaśair-bhāvapuṣpaiḥ saṁpūjayet sadgurum

Offer a flower at the Master's feet

Explanation:

These original sutras are from the Tantric tradition.

om hṛt-padmamāsanaṁ dadyāt : I offer my heart as a seat for the Master. The heart referred here refers to the center of your being - the place where you feel yourself when you close your eyes and remember your name.

sahasrāracyutāmṛtaiḥ : Amṛta - nectar of bliss - which comes from the sahasrāra - the energy center at the top of the head - I offer to the Master. The nectar from the sahasrāra comes from a sense of deep gratitude or connection with the Master. When we understand the purposelessness of life, the healing effect starts happening in us and we start enjoying the amṛta which makes us deathless.

pādyaṁ caraṇayor-dadyāt : I offer the same amṛta to wash His feet with deep gratitude.

manastu arghyaṁ nivedayet : I offer my mind as a flower at His feet. We are no more struggling with our mind.

tena amṛtena ācamanīyam : The same amṛta, I offer as water to Him to rinse His mouth.

snānīyaṁ tena ca smṛtam : The same amṛta, I offer to Him for His bath.

ākāśatatvaṁ vastraṁ syāt : To the Master who is one with Existence, what can I offer? The whole sky - ākāśa - I offer as cloth to Him!

gandhaḥ syāt gandhatatvakam : The earth I offer as sandal paste to Him. cittaṁ prakalpayet puṣpam : Citta is the collected saṁskāra or engrams or engraved memories that are stored in us as a result of our past and they affect our decision-making. The citta, the many thoughts that come to our mind, I offer as flowers at His feet. The old memories, the visualization, I offer as flowers at His feet, and they will never be taken back.

dhūpaṁ prāṇān prakalpayet : The whole prāṇa - inhalation and exhalation - is the incense stick for Him. The breath which is going in and out, I offer as incense stick to Him. It means that your whole life is made only for the Divine. Breathe only for Him. Let Him breathe to His heart's content.

tejastatvaṁ ca dīpārtham : The light that shines without any outside source, this source-less effulgent light is tejas. Even Sūrya, the Sun, is not tejas. Scientific research says that Sūrya may cool down after a few million years. The only source-less light is the ātma, the soul or the individual consciousness. That, I offer as ārati. I offer my very soul, my very consciousness, the very individual feeling of 'I' as an ārati to Him.

Another deeper level meaning according to Advaita philosophy of non-duality is, the individual consciousness is the reflection of the super consciousness in the mirror of your body-mind. If your body-mind is polished so deeply, your consciousness reflects and that reflection is the individual consciousness. You offer that reflection directly towards the source itself. You turn yourself towards your enlightenment. Now your individual consciousness is directed in so many directions: I am this…I am that…Instead, if it is used this way, you see the source. You use that light to see God. The individual consciousness is the light to see God or Enlightenment. What you think as you, should be directed to see that Light. Tejastatvaṁ ca dīpārtham -The source-less light which is in me is the light to see God. In our body, there are seven places that shine with tejas, for example - the eyeballs, the center of the nails, etc. Tejas is the energy which shines in our body. Once the soul leaves the body, at the time of death, this tejas leaves the body. The One who locks the tejas within, the enlightened Master, his body never perishes. This tejas tatva we offer as dīpam (lamp) to the Master.

naivedyaṁ syāt śuddhāṁ budiḥ : The pure intelligence, which happens with enlightenment and the constant remembrance of purposelessness or nirvāṇa, I offer as naivedyaṁ - food - to the Master. The nectar flowing in the sahasrāra on the attainment of inner clarity is offered as the naivedyaṁ or offering of gratitude.

anāhatadhanirghaṇṭā : The anāhatadhvani - the uncreated sound of silence - is the bell for the pūjā or offering. The unheard sound or the sound which is created when the planet Earth or the whole Existence is moving, is the bell! Āhata is the sound that is created with two objects. Anāhatadhvani is the sound which is created without even the presence of any object. It is the sound that we hear in our heart when we are silent, when our mind is not crowded by thoughts. It is the vibration of our very being.

vāyutatvaṁ ca cāmaram : Vāyu is the breeze or air that I offer as fan for Him. Inside us, there are 5 prāṇas or vāyu or air movements: air that is going in, stay in, spreading all over, cleaning and coming out. These five air activities, I offer as cāmaram for Him.

sahasrāraṁ bhavet chatram : When we become enlightened, our sahasrāra blossoms with gratitude like a thousand petalled lotus; which I offer as an umbrella for Him. śabdatatvaṁ ca gītakam : The śabda, the principle sound of the universe, is the music for him. Śabdatatva means that which converts air into sound. In the area near the throat, this śabdatatva is present. The Sanskrit language has been created to purify the śabdatatva. There is a mechanism which converts part of air into sound. When we chant in Sanskrit, the remaining part of the air also gets purified. Sanskrit is the only language, which vibrates from the mūlādhāra - base of spine. All other languages come just from the lips. At least for ten minutes, if we chant any Sanskrit mantra, it will completely clear the śabdatatva. The vibration created by Sanskrit language goes inwards also, unlike other languages. This śabdatatva, I offer as music at the feet of the Master. It also means, we should maintain the purity of our words. Whatever comes out of the throat is a song sung for the Master. So only healing words should come out.

nṛtyam indriyakarmāṇi : Whatever our indriyas or five senses do, whether smelling, eating, seeing, touching or listening, we offer everything at the feet of the Master. They are offered to the Divine as a dance for him. Only in the presence of the Master (universal consciousness), these senses function. By offering these senses back to Him, we pay our deep respect to Him. All the movements of our body are a dance that we perform in His presence. It means that we cannot have ugly body language! Our whole body language should be graceful - a dance that we are performing to please Him. Decide today that everything you do will be done with patience and in a graceful way.

cāñcalyaṁ manasas-tathā : The ever wavering mind is offered as a dance to Him! sumekhalāṁ padmamālāṁ puṣpaṁ nānāvidhaṁ tathā : I offer this girdle of lotus flowers, made of the blossomed emotions as described further

amāyādyair-bhāvapuṣpaiḥ : The absence of māyā; illusion becomes this flower we offer at the feet of the Master.

arcayet bhāva-gocaram : I offer all my blossomed emotions at the feet of the Master.

amāyam anahaṅkāram : Ahaṅkār is the ego which is constantly putting itself between us and the Self. It is the identity that we show to the outer world. I offer the flower of freedom from this ego at the feet of the Master.

arāgam : Freedom from attachment and not giving power to your fantasies. When your body gets filled with the power to actively involve itself in sexual pleasure, when your body has enough energy to enter into the sexual act, the same fantasy, the same visualization will fill your inner space so much, but after the act is over, after the release of the fluids, the same fantasy does not have the same influence on your inner space. The energy which empowers your fantasies along with your hormonal build is called raga. When the power is about to give life to these fantasies, your whole body will have a special energy. If you do not allow those fantasies to become active, these energies will stay with you forever.

amadaṁ tathā : Mada means pride and amadam means no pride. Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahamsa says that one has to give up attraction and repulsion that constantly trigger our lust and greed, and are not allowing our mind to be contented in the present moment. amohakaṁ : Freedom from illusion

adambhaṁ ca : And freedom from the instinct of flaunting

adveṣa : Freedom from hatred

akṣobha : Steadfast

kau tathā : Constant awareness

amātsaryam : Freedom from jealousy

alobhaṁ ca : Freedom from greed

daśapuṣpaṁ vidurbudhāḥ : The wise ones count these ten blossomed qualities as flowers

ahiṁsā paramaṁ puṣpam : Non-violence is the Supreme flower among all the flowers, and is the most fragrant.

puṣpam indriyanigrahaḥ : Refraining the senses from speaking out to the world or not reacting to anything brought to the mind's eye through the senses

dayā puṣpaṁ : Flower of compassion

kṣamā puṣpam : Flower of forgiveness,

jñānapuṣpaṁ ca pañcamam : Flower of enlightenment.

iti pañcadaśair-bhāvapuṣpaiḥ saṁpūjayet sadgurum : We offer these 15 supreme emotions in the form of flowers at the feet of our most revered and respected Guru. These 15 types of flowers that we are offering for worship have their own qualities with respect to colour, form and fragrance. They are symbolic representations of our feelings. Our feelings have their own role in our lives. Just like flowers give happiness to others by sacrificing their lives, likewise, we have to sacrifice our life through mind, body and deeds, for the welfare of society. We are offering them as a sacrifice close of love at the feet of our Beloved Master. Those who can offer all these things will be close to being a Master by himself.

With the above mantras we worship the Master in our inner space. Once you understand the meaning and along with the chanting have the 'click', it is enough. Remembrance is enough.