Guruji's teachings
A short passage from Guruji's book on the heart of the ritual: you change your own character, and the final step is the Shakti Puja, where adoration becomes union.
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.
The Navāvaraṇa Pūjā
This transformation of your own character is what is important in the ritual. You start with your present situation, whatever that is—whatever fears, lusts, greeds, possessiveness, hunger for power, and all kinds of limitations, whatever your feelings of separation imply. It is from this starting point that you have to move, to shed your inhibitions one by one and learn what it means to have intercourse with the world.
Every aspect of your life is maithuna, or intercourse, not just sex. Sex is redefined in Tantra as the enjoyment of beauty. Tantra teaches that you do not have to own a thing in order to enjoy it.
Do you own the ground that you walk upon?
Do you own the air that you breathe?
Do you have to own the sun, the stars, the moon, and the clouds in order to see and enjoy them?Ownership is not there, except in the broad sense of:
“Yes, I own the whole world!”
The Śakti Pūjā
After these sixty-four offerings (upacāras), you have brought Her close to you and you have embraced Her. This embrace has been so deep that She has penetrated your body and is residing there in the lotus of your heart as a golden girl, sixteen years old.
That transformation has happened.
Your bodies have not remained separate. They have merged into one. That is the yab-yum, Śiva and Śakti.
The concept of this union is the final step. It is the Śakti Pūjā.
In the ritual, there is no union. There is no union because you are adoring the Mother. For the purpose of your pleasure, your happiness, and your enjoyment, you are thinking of Devī as different from you, and so you are able to adore Her.
Like a child, we make-believe in these Gods and Goddesses in front of us. And the magic is that they become real. We worship them and then we bring them back into ourselves.
This is the notion of pūjā, which is a total absorption into the Other—the Divine.
The Devī Pūjā has to be done in Advaita. That is the only way it can be done. Because She is all power, and power needs to be controlled. Otherwise it is like driving a high-powered car with an accelerator but no steering wheel.
You are bound to end up in a disaster.
You have to have a steering wheel to control the way you are going, no matter what speed. The more speed, the more control you must have.
Without discipline you cannot achieve what you want.
The more power you have, the more control you must have over your tongue, because what you are going to say is going to come true. You cannot afford to say bad things even in dreams. You have to have that much control over your behavior.
These are the various aspects of Tantra, at a glance.
From the teachings of Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswati (Guruji). Original post: "USCP (1998): The Navāvaraṇa Pūjā; The Śakti Pūjā", 19 April 2016, https://amritananda-natha-saraswati.blogspot.com/2016/04/uscp-navaavarana-puja-shakti-puja.html. From Guruji's book, shared on his blog.
This short passage tells you what the ritual is for. The Navavarana Puja is worship of the nine enclosures of the Sri Chakra, and Guruji says its point is the change in you.
The Shakti Puja is the last step, where the Goddess you adored moves into the heart. That is where outer worship becomes inner worship.
The warning on discipline is practical. Devi puja is powerful, so the practitioner needs steadiness, care with words and a teacher. Any related practice is for willing, consenting adults, and is explained here only at a high level.
Guruji says what matters is the transformation of your own character, moving step by step from fear, greed and possessiveness towards unity.
It is the final step. After the sixty-four offerings, the Goddess is embraced and settles in the lotus of the heart. Guruji calls the union of Shiva and Shakti the final step.
Guruji says every part of life is maithuna, meaning intercourse with the world. He says Tantra redefines sex as the enjoyment of beauty.
He says Devi is all power, and power needs control. Without discipline, it is like a fast car with no steering wheel.
Read the original: USCP (1998): The Navāvaraṇa Pūjā; The Śakti Pūjā, on Guruji's blog. Guruji left his body in October 2015. This post was shared on his blog in 2016.
If something in this teaching landed for you, the best next step is a short private conversation.
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