Well, I know that's a big decision but...

[Nyingjé Tso]

Vanakkam,

So, I crossed some lines for this Ganesh Chathurti, quite unexpetedly to be honest. It was supposed to be a private matter, but ended up having a indian friend coming as I was about to do the puja. Not a simple puja, but more like what a pundit would do for someone (yes, I train under the eyes of Sri Ganesh on this auspicious chathurti ) So...I did it anyway, but with guests...Indian guests ! But strangely not much pressure, I was really determined, even if I still lacked some practical training...And I did the puja all in sanskrit, in the exact manner a priest would have done.

You cannot imagine the intense pleasure I felt ! I was intensely happy and honored to do this for someone, and for God, especially Sri Ganesh ! After we were done, my indian friends were speechless. I asked "was it good?", they answered that it was awesome. Almost perfect, only two little pronounciation mistakes. But I was only practicing for a week, so it was still acceptable. I handed them kumkum and chandhan but my friend insisted that I put it myself on him. He even touched my feets, I was very uncomfortable, because I am not a priest and do not deserve this :/ But I was still very happy to have been able to do this. And also to have received such praise from indian people...I was more expecting to be rejected or have weird looks, but no. One of my indian friend even told me "for a non indian with only one week of practice and such devotion, God gave you a gift". They all even insist that I continue this way !

I went to another place where a SatyaNarayana pûja, and was warmly welcomed in the close circle just near the priest. I was kind of...disappointed however, he wasn't speaking good and his phone was ringing, and just...Answered the call ! A priest ! Stopping in a middle of a puja for answering a call ! This is really a sad world =__="

Anyway again, I only faced...Acceptance from indian people. When we sang the aarti, I was given the mic to sing along with other ladies. When it was time for aarti, I had the honor to hold the thali and to do it. It was just so amazing. Entering such a small and closed world, being a part of it, to have been able to prove myself and to have been accepted in this very close circle of priesthood. Some indian friends even ask me when I am going back home, because they want me to do the puja again instead of going to see the priest in their pandals !!

I said to myself "This Chathurti I will ask Ganesha to bless me in my priestly learning, and if he don't want me to follow this way, then I will let it go."

Looks like I had no need to even ask; Sri GaneshJi already answered...
I am so happy. So, so much happy ! Iwill learn more and hope to be able to go on this way and serve other hindus and God !

Aum Namah Sivaya

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

Vanakkam,

So, I crossed some lines for this Ganesh Chathurti, quite unexpetedly to be honest. It was supposed to be a private matter, but ended up having a indian friend coming as I was about to do the puja. Not a simple puja, but more like what a pundit would do for someone (yes, I train under the eyes of Sri Ganesh on this auspicious chathurti ) So...I did it anyway, but with guests...Indian guests ! But strangely not much pressure, I was really determined, even if I still lacked some practical training...And I did the puja all in sanskrit, in the exact manner a priest would have done.

You cannot imagine the intense pleasure I felt ! I was intensely happy and honored to do this for someone, and for God, especially Sri Ganesh ! After we were done, my indian friends were speechless. I asked "was it good?", they answered that it was awesome. Almost perfect, only two little pronounciation mistakes. But I was only practicing for a week, so it was still acceptable. I handed them kumkum and chandhan but my friend insisted that I put it myself on him. He even touched my feets, I was very uncomfortable, because I am not a priest and do not deserve this :/ But I was still very happy to have been able to do this. And also to have received such praise from indian people...I was more expecting to be rejected or have weird looks, but no. One of my indian friend even told me "for a non indian with only one week of practice and such devotion, God gave you a gift". They all even insist that I continue this way !

I went to another place where a SatyaNarayana pûja, and was warmly welcomed in the close circle just near the priest. I was kind of...disappointed however, he wasn't speaking good and his phone was ringing, and just...Answered the call ! A priest ! Stopping in a middle of a puja for answering a call ! This is really a sad world =__="

Anyway again, I only faced...Acceptance from indian people. When we sang the aarti, I was given the mic to sing along with other ladies. When it was time for aarti, I had the honor to hold the thali and to do it. It was just so amazing. Entering such a small and closed world, being a part of it, to have been able to prove myself and to have been accepted in this very close circle of priesthood. Some indian friends even ask me when I am going back home, because they want me to do the puja again instead of going to see the priest in their pandals !!

I said to myself "This Chathurti I will ask Ganesha to bless me in my priestly learning, and if he don't want me to follow this way, then I will let it go."

Looks like I had no need to even ask; Sri GaneshJi already answered...
I am so happy. So, so much happy ! Iwill learn more and hope to be able to go on this way and serve other hindus and God !

Aum Namah Sivaya

Thats amazing! How wonderful! You must indeed have a gift. I take it as a sign that the role of pandit is not just for Indians or for men. You may always encounter humbugs and stubborn traditionalists, but remember these moments! Be encouraged!

I myself have trouble memorizing the simplest bhajans and mantras and I envy those who can sing to God.

I love that one of your friends was so moved by your devotion that he paid you the honor of touching your feet. No piece of paper will afford you that kind of respect. You have shown them that you have a the spark of God in you (as we all do of course).

Keep it up!

:camp:

PS. Your story makes me want to have you over to do puja at my house! :namaste:

 

[Viraja]

I envy you, JayaBholenath!

 

[Kalidas]

...Your opinions are always welcome.

So, Vanakkam everyone,

I have recently taken a big decision that I would like to share with all of you. Every insight is welcomed, just please hold to your opinions while respecting my decision.
It was never something easy for me to be a Hindu "without temple". I live in a desert of Dharma, without any priest, any temple around. Festivals and important samskar have always been marked, during all these years as a hindu, by solitude and sadness. Serious practice of Dharma is not only absent, but also subject to all terrible misconceptions you can imagine. Well...for me that is very sad.
I learn sanskrit and all my puja are made in this language, with the mantras, I try to stick as much as per tradition and always had great results. The vibrations and feeling is something truly amazing that reinforce greatly my faith, even if I am isolated.
I've tried to look for bhakta, hindus around, but they are quite well hidden, if there is any. Since there is no temple, there is no meeting place. I am completely short on time and money to invest in a temple project, and it would cost way too much for me in time and money to travel to the capital even once a week.
I investigated this "shortage" in temple and priests and I was looking for a way to contribute my time and knowledge in helping hindus and put away all the dusty misconceptions associated with this religion. I saw that more and more women were involved as pujari, and that womens were now initiated in Vedic rituals.
This made me think, and after much thinking I've decided that I would take priestly courses.

I know this is a big deal, a lifetime dedication. But I'm not aiming to become a temple priest (anyway, which temple here would want that ? A female priest !) I am already investing much time in study of agamic scriptures and rituals, as well as vedic chanting, and I plan to invest more time in it, aside of my studies. I've contacted a purohit that is thinking about giving me basic priest course in vedic chanting, jyotish, and scripture studies.
What I would like to, is to use that knowledge to be of service of hindus like me in my country, who live far away from their legacy. I want them to be able to formally celebrate at home an important puja, to be able to have a homa, in all respect of vedic tradition, even if a temple is not here. I want people to discover and rediscover Dharma trough that.

I know that I am a woman, a westerner, a convert, not a Brahmin, I know all of that and I have nothing to say to all of that. What I know too is, that it is motivated for the good of Hindus, for the good of sanatana Dharma, that doing this will not bear harm to anyone.
This is a lifetime selfless service I wish to do, as long as there is nobody else in my place to take this responsability.
I do not wish to be a scholar, to debate, or anything. I just wish to be of service to sincere bhakt, of service to my religion, to uphold the tradition.
That is why I will go on and study more, if God allow me, to take priestly courses, and to be able to perform puja in sanskrit as per the tradition in people's home.
Please note that this is a very serious decision. I think some people here know me from long now, and I hope they can be witness to my dedication and sincere intentions.

Om tat sat

Aum Namah Shivaya

YOU GO GIRL!

But seriously that is awesome! I know you can do it, you have faith that is unshakable and a your intention are pure so you will do it I can tell.
I would wish you luck but you don't need it you have the Gods and Goddesses on your side along with your just all around awesomeness!

 

[Vinayaka]

Nice ... if you keep your humility in devotion I think most people can sense it, and frankly, in many cases its downright refreshing.

 

[illykitty]

I hope no one minds me posting here...

Jaya, this is so amazing! You are very helpful and gifted and it would be crazy of anyone to tell you otherwise. It's a great goal that you have and I hope the best for you.

 

[Nyingjé Tso]

Vanakkam,

Thank you everyone, you cannot imagine how much it mean to me :") I am so happy and so feel so humble doing this, It would so awesome if all of us could meet and enjoy a time together at a temple, then sing aarti and bhajans....I hope one day we will do that ! ^^
Illykitty, of course you can post here ! And you are my cat sister now. Thank you ! XD

VinayakaJi, do not worry about humility and devotion. Everytime I pray to Shiv, I bow and visualize Him putting His feets on my head. I am no more than a fragile and world bounded little spark, Never I will have pretention to be superior than the fire. It is a great pleasure to do these puja for others and for God, but it is not motivated by pride or ego. I take complimentss only to fuel my motivation and give a meaning to what I do. When someone say a compliment about how the puja was conducted, then I take it as a sign that the job was well done. Many indiqns friends told me I am gifted by God, but I don't think so. Anyone can do it right ? And what interest the supreme Lord could have in such a little tiny spark ? I am nothing. I can only become. Because only in our purest part, in our soul, we hold the potential of everything. But this body ? God gifted ? I don't think xD
I don't want to be rude VinayakaJi, but forgive me I have to say it: you have been a great inspiration to me, on this forum and another. If I should have any pride about the Hindu I am now, then all merits goes to you, I gladly give them to you. You have been, allthese years, a teacher for me,with Gurudev. So just thank you and please don't stop sharing your wisdom and don't stop inspiring young Hindus like you inspired me !

Fireside > anytime, if I ever go back to the us I'll let you know, let's meet at a temple !

Tomorrow morning someone from the building will come to have darshan and they will come at the same as I do puja...the husband is a Brahmin....I am worried to pronounce wrong and deceive them :'0 Sri Ganpati will help me, I hope ! I do only for Ganesh love.
...
Still I am tense xD pray for me ahah !

Aum Namah Sivaya

 

[Vinayaka]

You see, at one time many years ago I was in such a position ... a priest ... there is a mantra to be used when someone touches your feet "I do not deserve this, I do not deserve this, I do not deserve this,". It happened, and there were days when my ego sort of went, "Oh wow, I must be great!" even for a moment. So I tell you this cautionary tale from experience alone. But I trust you are far wiser than this one at that. Another trick is to pass the credit onto someone else, like God. I see you know that one already too.

 

[ratikala]

namaskaram jayabholenath ji :namaste

sorry I have missed this post up to now ...

...Your opinions are always welcome.

So, Vanakkam everyone,

I have recently taken a big decision that I would like to share with all of you. .......


....... I saw that more and more women were involved as pujari, and that womens were now initiated in Vedic rituals.
This made me think, and after much thinking I've decided that I would take priestly courses.

jai jai , I wish you every sucess :namaste

yes ,here there are many female pujaris especialy envolved with deity service this seems to particularly suit their temprement .allthough prehaps your traditions are a litle different to ours .

what kind of courses are available ?

I know that I am a woman, a westerner, a convert, not a Brahmin, I know all of that and I have nothing to say to all of that. What I know too is, that it is motivated for the good of Hindus, for the good of sanatana Dharma, that doing this will not bear harm to anyone.
This is a lifetime selfless service I wish to do, as long as there is nobody else in my place to take this responsability.

do not worry , the body is a temporary thing , whether you are born in a western or female body is not realy so important it is the motivation which realy counts .

I do not wish to be a scholar, to debate, or anything. I just wish to be of service to sincere bhakt, of service to my religion, to uphold the tradition.
That is why I will go on and study more, if God allow me, to take priestly courses, and to be able to perform puja in sanskrit as per the tradition in people's home.
Please note that this is a very serious decision. I think some people here know me from long now, and I hope they can be witness to my dedication and sincere intentions.

Om tat sat

Aum Namah Shivaya

best wishes jaya bholenath , may you find good teachers :namaste

 

[ratikala]

Vanakkam,


VinayakaJi, do not worry about humility and devotion. Everytime I pray to Shiv, I bow and visualize Him putting His feets on my head. I am no more than a fragile and world bounded little spark, Never I will have pretention to be superior than the fire. It is a great pleasure to do these puja for others and for God,

we have a very nice expression about our attitude to service , ....''Dasa Dasanu Dasah'' , which translates loosely as '' Servant to the servant , to the servant of his lotus feet '' , if we remember this we will remain ever humble :namaste

for us because of our tradition when we serve we serve on the instruction of our gurudev , so we are his servant , and he in turn is servant to his guru , .....who at the end of the line is servant to the lotus feet of the lord ,

to me it also gives me great joy to serve for the benifit of others and for the happiness of gurudev :namaste

every night I think this , it makes me very happy .

Tomorrow morning someone from the building will come to have darshan and they will come at the same as I do puja...the husband is a Brahmin....I am worried to pronounce wrong and deceive them :'0 Sri Ganpati will help me, I hope ! I do only for Ganesh love.
...
Still I am tense xD pray for me ahah !

Aum Namah Sivaya

do not be nervous , do not worry about your pronunciation just focus on the lotus feet
ganesha will I am sure remove all obsticals

I will ask our ganesha this evening , that he send you every blessing , and our deitys also will send blessings to you sister ji

 

[Kalidas]

Vanakkam,

Thank you everyone, you cannot imagine how much it mean to me :") I am so happy and so feel so humble doing this, It would so awesome if all of us could meet and enjoy a time together at a temple, then sing aarti and bhajans....I hope one day we will do that ! ^^
Illykitty, of course you can post here ! And you are my cat sister now. Thank you ! XD

VinayakaJi, do not worry about humility and devotion. Everytime I pray to Shiv, I bow and visualize Him putting His feets on my head. I am no more than a fragile and world bounded little spark, Never I will have pretention to be superior than the fire. It is a great pleasure to do these puja for others and for God, but it is not motivated by pride or ego. I take complimentss only to fuel my motivation and give a meaning to what I do. When someone say a compliment about how the puja was conducted, then I take it as a sign that the job was well done. Many indiqns friends told me I am gifted by God, but I don't think so. Anyone can do it right ? And what interest the supreme Lord could have in such a little tiny spark ? I am nothing. I can only become. Because only in our purest part, in our soul, we hold the potential of everything. But this body ? God gifted ? I don't think xD
I don't want to be rude VinayakaJi, but forgive me I have to say it: you have been a great inspiration to me, on this forum and another. If I should have any pride about the Hindu I am now, then all merits goes to you, I gladly give them to you. You have been, allthese years, a teacher for me,with Gurudev. So just thank you and please don't stop sharing your wisdom and don't stop inspiring young Hindus like you inspired me !

Fireside > anytime, if I ever go back to the us I'll let you know, let's meet at a temple !

Tomorrow morning someone from the building will come to have darshan and they will come at the same as I do puja...the husband is a Brahmin....I am worried to pronounce wrong and deceive them :'0 Sri Ganpati will help me, I hope ! I do only for Ganesh love.
...
Still I am tense xD pray for me ahah !

Aum Namah Sivaya

Us going to temple together one day would be awesome! I wonder if anyone has ever thought of doing one online? I know other religions have services online. I am curious how that would work?

 

[Nyingjé Tso]

Vanakkam,

Sorry for not being in the DIR much xD The lack of internet and crazyness of Chathurti and magic of India and all this stuff. It takes of your time.

Us going to temple together one day would be awesome! I wonder if anyone has ever thought of doing one online? I know other religions have services online. I am curious how that would work?

I don't think I've ever seen more than a forum where Hindus could look for others Hindus in the area to meet...But yeah seriously, it would be awesome. Let's be crazy and all meet one day get blessings at a holy temple !
I definitely want to meet those in the US/Canada, as it's possible for me to head there after my studies for work.

So since last time I kept performing pûja and learning more, I got the correct chanting (I don't know how but YAY) and more than that, got the blessings of a very traditionalist Brahmin (double YAY) that was convinced of my seriousness and happy to share with me his knowledge and daily sadhanas. I feel blessed. Not special. Just blessed. To have a resolve is good, to be accepted by friends is good, by Indians it's better, but by a traditional practicing Brahmin ? Now that's magical. And one of my Indian friend told about me to his family in another state, and...I am welcome in the family house to meet and train with his accomplished mother, who is a very advanced spiritual woman.
I just can't believe that. Sri Ganesha, is that all your doing ??

We did visarjan of our Ganapati (I'll post photos once the madness here is over) it was a sad moment, but a happy one too. We kept the sand from below the sea where our Ganapati were put to rest...And melt, since it is all in natural clay.

Things are going fast, so fast ! Too much fast ! I feel like having took 10 years in 2 weeks !

Aum Namah Shivaya

 

[Kalidas]

Vanakkam,

Sorry for not being in the DIR much xD The lack of internet and crazyness of Chathurti and magic of India and all this stuff. It takes of your time.



I don't think I've ever seen more than a forum where Hindus could look for others Hindus in the area to meet...But yeah seriously, it would be awesome. Let's be crazy and all meet one day get blessings at a holy temple !
I definitely want to meet those in the US/Canada, as it's possible for me to head there after my studies for work.

So since last time I kept performing pûja and learning more, I got the correct chanting (I don't know how but YAY) and more than that, got the blessings of a very traditionalist Brahmin (double YAY) that was convinced of my seriousness and happy to share with me his knowledge and daily sadhanas. I feel blessed. Not special. Just blessed. To have a resolve is good, to be accepted by friends is good, by Indians it's better, but by a traditional practicing Brahmin ? Now that's magical. And one of my Indian friend told about me to his family in another state, and...I am welcome in the family house to meet and train with his accomplished mother, who is a very advanced spiritual woman.
I just can't believe that. Sri Ganesha, is that all your doing ??

We did visarjan of our Ganapati (I'll post photos once the madness here is over) it was a sad moment, but a happy one too. We kept the sand from below the sea where our Ganapati were put to rest...And melt, since it is all in natural clay.

Things are going fast, so fast ! Too much fast ! I feel like having took 10 years in 2 weeks !

Aum Namah Shivaya

I hope one day we could. Like maybe raise money to travel to India? Who knows. It sure would be fun.

Sounds exciting. I am very happy for you

 

[StarryNightshade]

Congrats to the OP!

I have a question, since (I'm assuming) you're a "convert", and thus not a Brahmin, are many Pujaris laypeople? Or is Pujari, in a way, just another word for "preist"?

 

[Vinayaka]

Congrats to the OP!

I have a question, since (I'm assuming) you're a "convert", and thus not a Brahmin, are many Pujaris laypeople? Or is Pujari, in a way, just another word for "preist"?

Pandaram is the general term. It simply means non-Brahmin priest, and pandarams can perform many functions including assistants as well as main priests when there is no Brahmin (priest) present.

 

[StarryNightshade]

Pandaram is the general term. It simply means non-Brahmin priest, and pandarams can perform many functions including assistants as well as main priests when there is no Brahmin (priest) present.

Thanks for the clarification!

If you know, and out of curiosity on my part, are temple/priest assistants expected to live the life akin to a priest? Living a chaste/celibate lifestyle (if their school/sect has celibate priests), adhering to a vegetarian diet, etc.; or are they usually just lay-people who assist with rituals and pujas?

 

[ratikala]

namaskaram starry ji :namaste

Thanks for the clarification!

If you know, and out of curiosity on my part, are temple/priest assistants expected to live the life akin to a priest? Living a chaste/celibate lifestyle (if their school/sect has celibate priests), adhering to a vegetarian diet, etc.; or are they usually just lay-people who assist with rituals and pujas?

I am speaking only from a vaisnava perspective but as each sect is a little different , ....

to us when we take initiation we are considered twice born , first we are born into material life , then when taking initiation we are reborn into spiritual life , we may then undergo training to do temple pujari duties and perform rituals .

when we take initiation we are vowing to keep to a strict vegetarian diet , to abstain from alcahol and all intoxicants and to live a pure life , we are also agreeing to keep other precepts and to keep up a sertain level of sadhana (practice ; mantra recitation and reading ) ..only if we can do this are we fit to serve , then we usualy train under a senior pujari and take instruction from the guru and slowly work our way through learning temple duties .

our temple preists are sometimes married but the way marraige is veiwed is very different to a conventional marraige of course we love each other but our marrage is centered around supporting each other through spiritual life , the initiate is adhering very closely to the varnashrama dharma, (the duty which is correct to follow at different stages in ones life)

so in our tradition only initiates can assist or perform any temple pujari's function , (ritual or worship) and usualy only when they have reached a certain stage in their training .which often means yes they are usualy living a prety chased life style ...

hope that explains a little from a vaisnava perspective :namaste

 

[Vinayaka]

Thanks for the clarification!

If you know, and out of curiosity on my part, are temple/priest assistants expected to live the life akin to a priest? Living a chaste/celibate lifestyle (if their school/sect has celibate priests), adhering to a vegetarian diet, etc.; or are they usually just lay-people who assist with rituals and pujas?

Priests in Saivism must be married. This does not apply to monastic priests in monasteries (maths, aadheenama, etc., in India). Assistant priests are generally Brahmin as well, but in some places, because of a lack of Brahmins, others have assumed the roles.

I'm thinking mostly where Hinduism has spread with indentured labour and the British Empire (Guyana, Trinidad, Mauritius, South Africa, Fiji, etc.) In those cases generally Brahmins didn't go.

The assistants would need to adhere to vegetarian diet etc., yes, except in those linguistic/ethnic areas where the Brahmins aren't already.

 

[Nyingjé Tso]

Vanakkam,

Well, time for some news/updates/stuff:

All is going pretty well, I can now do names recitations and 2 different kind of puja perfectly. Sanskrit is easy to talk for me... BUT NOT TO WRITE DAMMIT xD
Jyotish is horribly complicated and I'm still waiting to learn it formally from a priest.

Speaking about this... I had a priest helping me via email then Skype... But apprently being a woman is a very serious problem for some (many?) so, I don't have a teacher anymore and I'm kind of stuck regarding learning new things, especially the more mystical/technical sides and scriptures studies.

ANYWAY let's keep positive, because I have NO intention to give up... So, I'll try to find a kind scholar/priest/someone that accept teaching me...

Aum Namah Shivaya

 

[NobodyYouKnow]

My ex-husband was a non-Brahmin priest, and I occasionally took over a few pujas when he was unavailable to do so, but the position comes with a lot of full-time commitment.

I learned a bit of Jyotish, but it was indeed, way too complicated for me, so I just thought; 'scratch that'.

I don't think I'd have the patience or dedication to make it a 'full-time job' and no matter how much you enjoy doing Puja, that's what it will become in the end...a job...a chore.

This is why I never pursued it. There's also so much preparation...so much setting up...I figured I wasn't 'cut out for it' any more than being a 'reserve on the bench' - also, for one week a month I was basically laid flat anyway - couldn't do anything during that time...

All the best with doing this anyway. It is a very noble calling and I hope you get the most out of the experience. God bless.

Om Namah Shivay