Guruji's teachings
Guruji explains why the first act in the temple is lighting the lamp, and what the lamp, the two wicks, the oil and the ghee stand for.
From the book Understanding Sri Chakra Puja (1998) by Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswati (Guruji), edited from questions asked by Devi Parvati at Devipuram. Shared on Guruji's blog. Originally published at amritananda-natha-saraswati.blogspot.com on 19 April 2016.
oṃ hrīṃ rakta dvādaśa śakti yuktāya dīpa nāthāya namaḥ
Then when we enter the temple, the first thing we do is to light up the lamp. The lamp is the symbol of the guru. The guru, like the lamp removes your ignorance, the darkness. Rakta dvādaśa: rakta means the blood. Dvādaśa means twelve. Śakti-yuktāya means associated with the twelve powers. The twelve powers are located in the heart center. The heart center has the twelve-petalled lotus there. The guru is located in the heart center. Rakta also means the raja guṇa, the desire for movement, the desire to move the heart. That is the kind of knowledge that the guru gives. Dīpa nāthāya namaḥ – dīpa is the light, the lamp. You light the lamp and say the guru is not here, so this is my guru. So you see the invocation of your spiritual guide immediately. You do not think of the guru as the individual, but as the light.
What about the white and the red wicks on the two lamps kept on two sides? White and red are the colors of the semen and blood. The semen is white and the blood is red. Both are sticky things which are very objectionable to the priests. So the ritual prescribed by priests uses symbols for them. But both these substances contain the DNA and RNA codes essential for creating life. So on one side you have the white wick which symbolizes the semen and on the other side the red wick which symbolizes the blood.
Oil is the symbol of the female orgasmic fluid and ghee is the symbol of semen. That is why we offer ghee into the homam, a fire ritual. The homa kuṇḍa is supposed to be the female genital. Into that you offer the seed. Every offering, every act of pūjā in ritual is suggestive of a release of every tension, an orgasm, called Brahmānanda, the Ānanda of Brahmā, of creation. The word orgasm is not being used in any limited sense. Any release of tension is orgasm. When you are facing a situation where tension is developed, the moment you resolve or release the tension, resolution of a conflict, that is called an orgasm in Tantra.
From the teachings of Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswati (Guruji). Original post: "USCP (1998): Lighting the Lamp", 19 April 2016, https://amritananda-natha-saraswati.blogspot.com/2016/04/uscp-lighting-lamp.html. From Guruji's book, shared on his blog.
Lighting the lamp is where outer worship starts in this lineage. It is also an inner act, because the lamp stands for the Guru in the heart.
Guruji says the symbols in puja, the wicks, oil, ghee and homam fire, point to creation itself. The priests' ritual uses symbols where Tantra speaks plainly. This site keeps the details at a high level.
The idea to hold on to is release. Each small act of puja is a way of letting a tension go, and that is what the lineage calls bliss. Homam and puja are learned with a teacher.
Guruji says the lamp is the symbol of the Guru. Like a lamp, the Guru removes the darkness of ignorance.
He links the lamp to twelve powers placed in the twelve-petalled lotus of the heart centre, where the Guru is located.
He says white and red are the colours of the two substances that carry the codes of life, and the ritual uses wicks as symbols for them.
Guruji says every act of puja suggests a release of tension, and he calls that Brahmananda. He says any resolution of a tension counts, in the broad sense.
Read the original: USCP (1998): Lighting the Lamp, on Guruji's blog. Guruji left his body in October 2015. This post was shared on his blog in 2016.
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