Manmanaa bhava madbhakto madyaajee maam namaskaru |
Mamevaishyasi satyam te pratijaane priyosi me ||
Fix thy mind on Me, be devoted to Me, sacrifice to me, bow down to Me.
Thou shalt come even to Me; truly do I promise unto thee, thou art dear to Me.
-Bhagavad Gita chapter 18 verse 65
Translation by Swami Sivananda
One Pointed Focus, a direction that we all require in our lives, is what the above verse emphasizes, which is the key reason temples all over have just one idol in the Garbha Griha.
Garbha = womb and griha = house.
Garbhagriha is the innermost sanctum sanctorum of the temple where the supreme deity resides.
Ideally, in a Garbhagriha only one energy stays just like in a mother’s womb, where only one energy is created and a twin who becomes the sibling can only share stays.
Just like in our room where we are not comfortable with any other energy but are fine with our immediate family members and don’t mind sharing our room with our spouse, child, or our pet. Right?!
Similarly, the energies or the Gods in the Puja room also need to be in sync with each other. Worshiping one God or his family or energies related to him is favoured in a Puja room.
Supposing, you want to install Shiva or a Linga in your Puja room, you can then place idols of Parvati, Ganesha, Kartikeya or Nandi.
to be a part of your Puja room;
If you want to install Lord Vishnu you can place Lakshmi and Garuda alongside;
If installing Lord Rama, then you can have Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman;
If installing Jesus Christ, then Mother Mary;
If installing Parsvanath Tirthankar then you can add His Yakshas Dharanendra and Padmavati and the serpents.
Unfortunately, in normal practice, almost all Indian households have multiple idols in the Puja room. Apart from having idols, yantras and photos of various deities from generations, even idols received as gifts are placed in the Puja room. All these are merely adorning the Puja room and seldom serve the purpose of actually being there and releasing the required energy.
Ideally, only one main idol for Puja is advised and rest of the energies or Gods can be remembered mentally(mansik).
The whole idea is to bring your concentration to one energy so that the flow is smooth like water flowing effortlessly from a pipe or like electricity being passed through an electricity line.
Early morning when you enter your Puja room you should be able to bring your focus to an energy that is unhindered, uncluttered and continuous.
Mandir/Puja room/Altar
Mandir means a Temple, a place where you connect to the Divine in You, Your true Self.
As Om Swamiji in his video “Harmony with Nature” beautifully quotes from the novel, The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, “If there is No God, all is permissible then. If we removed God or religion out of the equation, then the concept of morality disappears. If morality disappears, people will do anything. Before any lowly crimes are committed, before they are called illegal we see them as immoral. Question if they are legal or not comes afterwards.”
We need the concept of God to keep us grounded and free from immorality. Our Puja room where this energy resides must be minimalist, clean, serene and appealing.
Heyam Dhukham Anagatam |
The Misery which is not yet come can be avoided.
-Patanjali Yoga Sutra Ch 2 Verse 16:Sadhana Pada
-Translation by Swami Vivekananda
The above quote is from Patanjali Yoga Sutra, a pre-classical ancient scripture written by Sage Patanjali having 195 sutras(many scholars argue for 196 sutras) divided into 4 Padas or chapters namely Samadhi, Sadhana, Vibhooti and Kaivalya. The union of mind and body is explained in these Sutras. This union of mind and body can only be achieved with one-pointed concentration.
If we are focused, then we become very mindful of our acts thus saving our energy and reducing our Karma occurring from the present act.
The Big Question is HOW?!
We are born into pious families because of our Sanchita Karma.
We are using up our past Karmas and thus enjoying our present life because of our Prarabdha Karma. To avoid any future suffering, we must channelize the energies with our mind and attract such energies that give us peace and life with minimum suffering.
For this, to happen, we need to be in Union with ourselves.
It’s like a bank account, we can deposit, save, withdraw as per our requirements.
Lord Sri Krishna in The Bhagavad Gita says we can achieve this Union in 4 ways:
Karma Yoga : Selfless service to the Needy.
Bhakti Yoga : Devotion to Guru, Parents, Form, Formless.
Raja Yoga : Meditation.
Gyana Yoga : Knowledge.
That is why it’s important to have a good and serene energized Puja room in the house. Let me elaborate further…
Janmaushadhimantratapahsamadhijah siddhayah ||
The Siddhis are attained by birth, chemical means, power of words and concentration.
Sage Patanjali says in Chapter 4 Verse 1: Kaivalya pada
Translation by Swami Vivekananda
By further splitting the above verse;
जन्मओषधिमन्त्रतपस्समाधिजाः सिद्धयः ॥१॥
janma-oṣadhi-mantra-tapas-samādhi-jāḥ siddhayaḥ ॥1॥
My own commentary to delve deeper into the meaning of the above verse ;
Janma-Birth: We are born into a pious family thus get a conducive environment to further evolve our soul.
Osadhi-Medicine: Ayurveda Scriptures have certain secret combinations which make our annamaya kosha(physical body)very strong, thus making it a satvik body as well as preparing it for the below-mentioned points.
Mantras-Chants. These are supersonic sounds which when chanted repetitively trigger certain areas of the brain which changes the structure of the brain pattern, thus giving us the desired result. Mantras when done with a Satvik body and intake of proper Osadhis(medicine) give powerful results.
Tapas-Austerities: Penance- Helps in further building willpower and thus making the mind very strong. Like Jainism has hard penance to fast for a fortnight to a month or Hatha Yoga has certain key Asanas which helps the body to do tapas in extreme conditions and many other bandas which helps in Kundalini movement.
Samadhi-Concentration: Union of body and mind where body becomes irrelevant and Mind is able to fix its focus completely on a form, Formless, Yantra, Mantra or any Object.
Jah- produced from
Siddhayah-Attainment: Extraordinary powers attained by a human through the above means which goes in order of birth then osadhi(medicine) then mantra followed with tapas then samadhi,finally giving rise to Siddhi.
So going by the above scriptures for a common household man, Bhakti Yoga and Concentration can be obtained only from a pious environment that can easily be created in your Mandir (Puja room).
A household man achieves his goal by doing the Purusharthas: Dharma, Artha, Kaama, Moksha.
Scriptures say that we must earn with Dharma and keep our families happy by fulfilling our duties which in turn leads us to Moksha. You need not be a Sage to achieve Moksha. Just by fulfilling your duties without any attachment and concentrating on Him and not wanting any fruits of your action, you can become one with Him.
So kindly energize the Puja room in your own house with full faith and devotion in order to add to your Agami Karmas (Future actions that result from your present actions). You need not go to caves or forests to find the Bliss. You can get this just by sitting in your own Puja room.
The moment you sit in the Puja room you should be able to connect to your higher consciousness to feel eternal peace and bliss through complete one-pointed concentration.
I can’t emphasize enough on the power of Single Point Focus:-Reference Book IKIGAI, by Hector Garcia And Francesc Miralles, the International Bestseller that “Several studies conducted at Stanford University by Clifford Ivar Nass describe our generation as suffering from an epidemic of multitasking.
Studies indicate that working on several things at once lowers our productivity by at least 60% and our IQ by more than ten points.
Concentrating on one thing at a time may be the single most important factor in achieving the flow”.
Go On, Awake, Arise and Start your Day in a Serene Puja Room.
MOKSHA MŪLAM GURU KRIPĀ
The root of liberation is by the grace of Guru.
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