An Offering

Today’s the last day of Adhika maas and one of the things I’m not willing to forego under any circumstance is puja!

My friend was sharing with me today what parenting has taught her. She said no matter how ill she feels, even if her body is racked with the worst pains she will get off her bed and feed her child.

I was wondering whether I was devoted to anything to such a strong degree – and I remembered – No matter how ill I feel and today’s one of those days – I am racked with flu and a bad cold, still, I will come to my workplace and perform Samuhik Guru Puja!

One of the many definitions by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is – Any action performed with a sense of fullness and gratitude is puja.

But when i say puja I also mean that ritual of thanksgiving and to put it precisely – I mean performing the ‘Guru Puja’ – remembering the knowledge that has passed down since millenia from Master to devotee, and feeling that burst of joy and gratefulness:  that I am here – end of the line – receiving the Wisdom of Infinity from such exalted souls!

Chanting and singing with lights, flowers, fruits and incense can be so uplifting, the biggest treat for the soul!

Again Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, my Master, reminds us: Don’t think that by doing Puja you are pleasing the Gods. Puja is for yourself – to please your soul! God needs nothing from you!

But when you have been given so much and the fullness overflows, what do you do?Where do you let your outpourings flow? Into the puja. Into and out of the shining vessel of your heart.

You whisper your love to the Universe.

There is nothing to offer and yet one offers. What do you give the Creator, the One who has created the flowers of love and the radiance of the sun? You are overwhelmed by this love : a love that only gives and forgives and never takes back – and you don’t know what to do with it!

So with flowers in my hands and a song in my heart I offer myself back to the Universe.