Why gurupuja this way
Namaskar,
Everybody is aware about the term Guru puja. This spiritual practice is also known as varnarghyadan, offering the colours of the mind, pratyahara yoga etc.
Call & response format
It is well-known in the hearts and minds of bhaktas that the best style of Guru puja is the call and response format. In this way, an aspirant can best ideate on Sadguru during Guru puja. Because in Guru puja we directly look at Sadguru or visualise Him seated in front of us. And the call and response format during collective Guru puja best allows the mind to focus - since one need not use mental energy wondering how the tune will be sung etc.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Over the years when any bhukti pradhan or senior margii reverentially requested Sadguru Baba for Guru puja to be done, then it was understood that Guru puja must be done in call and response format - where one person was designated as the leader, and everyone else would repeat thereafter, one line at at time. By this way the experience would be enhanced.
In DMCs, this call and response style was the norm. Rarely, only when there was an extreme shortage of time and / or due to the lateness of the hour, was it done in another quicker way. So the best approach for Guru Puja is for it to be done by call and response.
Special link with Baba
In Ananda Marga, we know that our Guru puja practice is a very special endeavour - it is an essential element of our ideational link with Sadguru Baba. Through the process of Guru Puja, we are able to offer our everything at His lotus feet and surrender unto Parama Purusa, making ourselves clean and blemishless.
Our Guru Puja chant is bha'va oriented, as it is ideational in nature and helps one move toward Parama Purusa. That is why we should employ the call and response format as far as possible. Because chanting Guru puja in the classical call and response manner during our collective gathering intensifies the inner sweetness of Guru puja. In that case, everyone has the opportunity to fix the mind on the Goal during the chant and not be side-tracked by thinking about how the next line should be sung. When we do Guru puja it is the bha'va (ideation) that is most important, not any other factor. Here see what happens when any song or chant loses its bha'va (ideation).
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "Once [it] loses its basic property to maintain parallelism with bha'va, it becomes useless." (1)
Conclusion
So we should do everything and anything to maintain the highest bha'va during Guru Puja - and that entails employing the call and response system at our collective gatherings.
Namaskar,
In Him,
Manotosh
Marc Ricoli
Meaning of pratyahara
Ananda Marga philosophy says, “Question: What is pratyáhára?”
“Answer: Pratyáhára is derived: prati – á – hr + ghaiṋ. The word áhára literally means “assimilating” or “taking something within”. As a yogic practice, pratyáhára means “withdrawal of the mind from external objectivity and goading the withdrawn mind toward Parama Puruśa”. (2)
Once all margiis and wts experience the sweetness that can be attained by doing Guru Puja in the call and response format, then everyone will want to continue in this intimate way.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "The general psychology is that once people experience something subtle, they automatically discard the crude. This continuous progress from the crude to the subtle, and from the subtle to the subtlest aspects of life, comes within the scope of aesthetic science, and in this process of movement ultimately we reach a state in which our refined tastes, refined feelings, and refined expressions transport us into the realm of Eternal Beauty." (3)
Guru puja purifies the mind
In Ananda Marga, we know that our Guru puja practice is a very special endeavour - it is an essential element of our ideational link with Sadguru Baba. Through the process of Guru puja, we are able to offer our everything at His lotus feet and surrender unto Parama Purusa, making ourselves clean and blemishless.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Ananda Marga Philosophy states, "This very psycho-spiritual phenomenon is operating behind the process of varn'a'rghyada'na [offering of colours]: 'O Lord, make me colourless so that I may move towards You without any hesitation'." (4)
Guru Puja is one of the highest practices. But the real sweetness of Guru puja cannot be achieved through haphazard or ordinary measures - it must be practiced in the right manner, per Sadguru Baba's system.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “ In Ananda Marga Sadhana, the method of withdrawing the mind from degrading tendencies, and absorbing oneself in the colour of the Great, is called Pratyáhára Yoga (the yoga of withdrawal) or Varńárghyadána (the offering of colours). All people have a particular attraction for one or another object or activity and as soon as they become attracted to an object, then their minds become coloured with the colour of that object. You can withdraw your mind from the colour of that object and dye yourself in His colour by offering Him the captivating colour of the object that has attracted you: this is the real Pratyáhára Yoga. The word Pratyáhára means “to withdraw” – to withdraw the mind from its object.” (5)
Here the sole aim is to increase the spiritual value and sweetness of Guru puja. That will only help to enrich one’s spiritual life.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "Once people had heard something rhythmic and melodious, they could no longer appreciate any crude song or music." (6)
Only Brahma is the Guru
In Ananda Marga, we know that only Brahma is the Guru. That is the speciality of tantra. Surrendering to Guru is the highest endeavour in life - to secure a place at His lotus feet, by His grace.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Brahmaeva gururekah náparah.
[Only Brahma is the guru, no one else.]
Ananda Sutram says, "Purport: Brahma alone is the guru. Brahma alone directs the units to the path of emancipation through the media of different receptacles or bodies. No one except Brahma conforms to the real significance of the word “guru”." (7)
Ananda Marga ideology says, "So then who is the guru? In Ananda Sútram it is said, Brahmaeva gururekah náparah [“Only Brahma is the guru, no one else”]. His secrets are known to Him alone, and so He is the guru, He is the jagatguru [guru of the universe], He is the supreme guru. No second entity can be the guru, can play the role of guru." (8)
Ananda Marga ideology guides us, "Táraka Brahma is the only guru, and nobody else can be the guru." (9)
Ananda Marga ideology guides us, "“Brahmaeva Gurureka náparah”. That is, Brahma Himself is the Guru. There cannot be any second Guru. His secret is known to Him only, and He expresses Himself through a framework, a form." (10)
Why it is important to do Guru puja out loud
Ananda Marga ideology guides us, "When kiirtana was first invented, the psycho-philosophy behind it was this: at the time of kiirtana, the vocal cord sings, the ears hear, and the hands and feet dance, and thus all the organs are kept preoccupied with the divine. They are not allowed to move wherever they want but are kept engaged. There is a popular Indian superstition that when ghosts are not kept busy they break the necks of their prey. Similarly, if the sensory and motor organs are not kept engaged in the attainment of the divine, they may lead one astray." (11)
So the same science which Baba describes above about the benefits of chanting kiirtan applies to our practice of Guru puja. By chanting out loud more indriyas (organs) are involved and that helps ensconce the mind in the practice, thus bringing success.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, "How can you become more attentive? Usually you acquire academic knowledge by studying with the help of the eyes. To aid the process of memorization, however, you may also use your tongue. That is, while reading loudly, two sense organs are used, the eyes and the tongue, and thus you will derive a double benefit. Moreover, if you read aloud, your ears will also hear those sounds, and thus this method of reading is more beneficial for students." (12)
Here the main idea is that when the mind receives a message through multiple organs: eyes, mouth, ears etc, the information gets more deeply set in the mind.
Thus when we do our Guru puja mantra out loud, then that gives the mind the maximum opportunity to become deeply ensconced in the practice. The subtle vibration touches the mind in multiple ways through multiple organs.
The specialty of Guru puja, colour festival, varn'a'rghyada'na [offering of colours]
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "'By surrendering all the colours of my mind to You, I want to become colourless.' This surrender to the Supreme Consciousness propels human beings towards Him. So this colour festival is not merely an outward play; it is purely a psycho-spiritual phenomenon. This very psycho-spiritual phenomenon is operating behind the process of varn'a'rghyada'na [offering of colours]: 'O Lord, make me colourless so that I may move towards You without any hesitation'." (13)
References
1. A Few Problems Solved - 3, Song, Dance and Instrumental Music
2. Yoga Psychology, Questions and Answers on Meditation
3. Prout in a Nutshell - 10, Supra-Aesthetic Science and Music
4. Liberation of Intellect: Neo-Humanism
5. Subhasita Samgraha - 3, Vibration, Form and Colour
6. Prout Nutshell - 10, Supra-Aesthetic Science and Music
7. Ananda Sutram 3-9
8. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 30, Hara's Seven Secrets
9. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 2, Guru Krpa Hi Kevalam
10. Anand Vacanamrtam - 3, Guru Puja
11. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 8, 'Sadhana, Abhidhyana and Kiirtana'
12. A Few Problems Solved - 7, 'Faculty of Knowledge-5'
13. Neo-Humanism: Liberation of Intellect, 'Inner Asset'
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Humanity unto divinity - not animality
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "The fact is that the creatures advance, in the flow of pratisaincara, along a systematic path. Human beings are just the most evolved creatures, but those human beings who are just evolving from animal life are still very near the borderline between animal and human life. So although they have human bodies, their thoughts, recollections and behaviour remain similar to those of animals to some extent; their existence is full of animal propensities, they have little spiritual awareness, and they are propelled mostly by lower propensities. They do not want to hear good words; even if they hear they do not want to understand; and even if they want to understand, they cannot." (1)
In His above teaching, Baba is addressing the gay / lesbian, bisexual community, and others who are besieged by sensual proclivities and indulgent pleasures etc. The members of these groups have their own justifications for why they do what they do. They never want to listen to anything dharmic. Just they are engrossed in their own desires. Such persons are very close to animals. So they are never going to understand Ananda Marga ideology.
In so many discourses, Baba guides us that Ananda Marga is the path of humanity unto divinity - not animality. This concept is utterly lost on those advocates and members of the gay and lesbian community.
Reference
1. Namah Shiváya Shántáya, Disc: 17
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Why Prout denounces capital punishment
Prout philosophy states, “You know that nothing is perfect in this universe of relativity. So it is quite natural that the judicial system of the world, whether in the past, present or future, can never be perfect. Therefore nobody should be given capital punishment on the basis of this imperfect system.”
“Each and every individual, whether they are a criminal or not, can claim a chance to rectify their conduct from the society. So in PROUT’s legal structure everybody should get ample scope for rectifying their character and conduct. If a person is condemned to capital punishment, he or she won’t get such scope, so PROUT denounces this sort of punishment.”
“But in very special cases, where a person has become a demon and is going against the collective interest and there is no chance of rectification, circumstances may arise which warrant capital punishment. For example, during war this exception may sometimes be permissible. But generally we should not support this punishment on principle. Punishment should be appropriate to the offense.” (1)
Reference
1. Prout in a Nutshell - 15, Talks on Prout
