Amazing 4 Days of Pooja has Commenced
The four days of pooja has commenced yesterday. What an absolute amazing experience! 
Along with our own panditji, there were three other main panditjis that took on the responsibility of performing the pooja. The two main panditjis were from the St. Louis temple and the Dallas temple respectively. What a wonderful job they did by explaining all parts of the pooja, getting the devotees involved in the pooja, and making it a once-in-a-lifetime experience! The last panditji was almost 82 yrs old, a professor from the City University of New York. At the commencement of the pooja, he was recognized as a solid factor in the success of our mandir.
As he shared the immense wisdom that he has about Hinduism, volunteerism, and the next steps for the devotees, I was just so impressed at how much knowledge he passed to us in such a short time. Here are some of the things he said that I want to share.
Many people from other religions will ask you about our religion, such as “Why do you have so many Gods?” or “How can you worship an elephant-God?”
You should answer by saying that in Hinduism, we worship many forms of the ultimate Supreme Being. As a Hindu, you should always be open to other religions no matter what they say to you because as Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-Gita that there are many different rivers that all flow into just one end. Explaining the fact that there are many religions that all flow into just one Ultimate Supreme Being.
In the English language, there is a saying, “Oh my God!”. Many of us say it without even thinking twice because its part of our daily lives. But in fact, we should not say such sayings.
The reason we should not say, “Oh my God”, is because there is no one God that we believe in. In Hinduism, we have many forms of God so in fact it is better to say the name of the God that you feel you should say such as, “Oh Ganesha!” or “Oh Ram!” Such a good point, and well noted in my part, because I say it quite often.
Yesterday in our local paper, there was an article about the four days of pooja. In the article it mentions that the panditjis had helped in the installation of idols ceremony in the temple. In fact this panditji from New York says that is the wrong way of saying.
Many religions denounce Hindus and our religion because they feel that we are idol worshippers. In fact that is wrong. We do not worship idols, we worship the many forms of that Ultimate Supreme Being.
He also talked about achieving vijay (victory) you must achieve three other Vs: vidya, vinaya, and vivek. Vidya means education. As you become educated, in the general sense, in a field such as engineering, computers, etc… In the religious sense, then you learn the fundamentals of Hinduism. Second is to attain vinaya, which in a religious sense would be to volunteer at the mandir or do any type of seva at any types of schools or nursing (aged) home. Third is vivek which means to attain buddhi. Attaining education is not enough, but you must be able to apply that as well, be able to understand why it happens. After achieving these three, then vijay just automatically happens, you won’t have to do anything for it.
He lastly talked about how the mandir is going to be different from now on. He says that are some things that shouldn’t take place such as gossip, money talks, and controversy of how the pooja was done. He says that you come to the mandir not to have social hour or to gossip but to be one with the many forms of God. He also said that you shouldn’t discuss how much money one has over the other at the mandir. Along with the same, the worst thing you could do is say that one person is more dharmic than the other, meaning that I believe more than that person. That should not happen, and it should be avoided. Lastly, there should be no question or doubt on how the pooja is conducted. No one pooja, even this one of Kumbhabhishekam, is not performed in one single way. Hinduism is quite an old religion, and many things were just passed down verbally from one generation to the next, so there is a chance of the conduction to be different, but it doesn’t mean that it is not right.
Well said. All is well said. I learned so much in just that ten minutes that it blew me away.
Alvida. Jai Mata Di.
May 31st, 2005 at 11:27 am
You surely seemed to have learned a lot from there Poojas. I agree with all of it, except for the “Oh My God” saying. On one side we say, that God is one, and on the other we should make it a point to mention what God we are refering to? I don’t think that makes much sense to me. I strongly believe that there is a Supreme power that controls this world. I have been bought up as a sikh, but all through my life, I have always been very close to the hindu religion as well. I think it’s the values that get instilled in you. I mean, when I think of God, it’s always the Sikh God’s that comes to my mind…but I believe in every other religion. But I can’t think about saying “Oh my God” and thinking of only one God. For me they all are equal & I don’t think there is going to be a conflict amongst them if I mention God in a generic way rather than being specific what God I am refering to…just a thought:smile:
May 31st, 2005 at 12:10 pm
Hmm… looks like punnu’s been learning loads. acha hai :)
May 31st, 2005 at 12:17 pm
thank you Poonam for sharing on the knowledge you got from Panditji to us and Well said Mannat, On this Issue I have no comments.. as pehle i was non believer in Murti or say different forms of GOD and now I am believer in multiple forms of god.. mera mann tab bhi shaant tha .. and ab bhi shaant hai.. Its totally one’s belief and perception noone can be justified with what he believes..
shabba khair
May 31st, 2005 at 12:25 pm
repharsing the last line ..upar kuch jaldi mein kafi kuch kha gaya .. likhne ke baad mere ko bhi samjh nahi aaya ke maine kya likha…
Its totally one’s belief and perception, in religious matters no one can be forced to believe what is not justified to him..
May 31st, 2005 at 2:48 pm
nice and well said words…I am from Chinmaya mission school…..so i attend all these Balavihar classes..I always used to wonder how am going to use those preachings in my life..but when I see the way am handling things in this current times I understand if not for those words and wisdom shared , I wouldnt have been able to handle it with calm and collected feeling….
god is one! be it in any form….
May 31st, 2005 at 5:20 pm
Yup Rashu dear.
True Manish.
Cool Indu.
Very intersting. Its great receiving such wonderful knowledge/wisdom from those who have had many more experiences. 
May 31st, 2005 at 9:45 pm
I liked the three V’s part…. nice point thr… once we attain the three V’s the other V (Vijay) automatically embraces us.. very true… :)
Hmmm…. even I got confused with the OMG part… cos I use it quite often too…
May 31st, 2005 at 11:48 pm
arre waah Poonam, itnaa saara gyaan itne kam time main milaa..wow. I havent listened to someone talk about hinduism in a long long time and this was great. The three V part makes so much sense……thanks for sharing :)
June 1st, 2005 at 9:21 am
No problem Kaush.
Even I learned so much that I couldn’t go without sharing. 
June 1st, 2005 at 10:49 am
I am cool with praying @ Temples. I used to religiously visit temple when I was in India. But I think that temple is not the only place where people can worship god, you can remember god anywhere you want, it doesn’t have to be infront of the murti. Lately, I started believing that helping others (who are in trouble), solving someone’s problem, making somebody happy is thy worship of the god.
We (my family and I) used to visit temple every tue. Everybody in my family used to get the prasad, except me. If someone offered me the prasad, I accepted it, but never went to the punditji to get it (like everybody else did.) No I didn’t have any ego problems, my thinking was that: I am samarth of getting good food and when I can afford to buy food for myself, then y shud I eat that prasad, which could be given to someone who can not afford the food. Its not that u r disrespecting god, but u r helping some needy to get his dinner (and may be the only meal he/she had the whole day.)
June 1st, 2005 at 11:01 am
Now your second point on prasad. My Mumma has always taught my bhayia and myself that receiving prasad is a blessing. Just because you are not getting prasad doesn’t mean a needy person is getting that…no that is not the case. Everyone who visits the mandir will get prasad. If you don’t get the prasad then that is a way of disrespecting God because its showing that you don’t want the blessings that He is giving you. I would really think over that point once more the next time you to the mandir because its really hurting yourself only.
June 1st, 2005 at 11:30 am
Poonam, I don’t agree with what you say. One’s beliefs & perceptions is what creates religion. Whatever gives the inner happiness to an individual is what matters. I don’t think there is any right or wrong way of worshipping God. And I don’t think by not getting prasad someone would disrespect God. God wants us to be a good human being by being kind and helpful to others. “Prasad” is something, which no God came up with. It’s a concept associated with most of the religions. I think we get the blessings from God by just being a good human being. Prayer is done ONLY for the inner satisfaction and that could be attained in any way.
I don’t pray or go to a mandir/gurduwara every day. But when I do, I do it only because I want to…not because I have to. That doesn’t make me drift away from God. I do make it a point to take prasad whenever I am at mandir/gurduwara…but that’s not just to take God’s blessings…it’s mainly because it gives me the inner satisfaction of being close to God. But then I cannot enforce that on anyone else. Religion or the way you preach religion cannot be enforced on anyone. There is no right or wrong way or worshipping. I know many people who are literally aethist and still are wonderful people who do a lot more for the betterment of the other ppl than I do (and I claim that I am very religious). Many times we have “blind faith” on religion, and again I feel, as long as that blind faith is not hurting anyone, and is making an individual happy, nothing else should matter.
Anyways….again, just a thought.
Am I becoming a queen of contradiction or what??? I hope u don’t take anything personally!
June 1st, 2005 at 11:39 am
The way you worship, may it be at the temple/gurduwara or in the presence in your home, is your own choice. I am saying that there is a reason that there are temples/gurduwara as a place where you can be one with God without having any interruptions/disruptions and a place where you can get away from the norm of life. This doesn’t require you to go every day or every week, it just requires you go when you feel like it.
I hope that is more clarifying to what I was saying.
June 1st, 2005 at 11:47 am
Interesting…
June 1st, 2005 at 11:48 am
Poonam I do agree with what u say. Infact, I myself am a very religious person, and believe in prasad, going to religious places, etc. But at the same time, I don’t think I could enforce my beliefs on someone else. All I am saying is that there is no right or wrong way of worshipping and by not taking prasad while you are in mandir, in no way disrespects God-as long as there is no cruel/bad intention behind that. All God cares about is that we be a good human being.
June 1st, 2005 at 11:53 am
We have kind of gotten off the topic but thanks for your views.
June 1st, 2005 at 11:56 am
yeah..we have…so I’ll stop here. I think religious concepts/beliefs are always very debatable and its amazing how different people perceive religion!
June 1st, 2005 at 12:16 pm
awesome read…
nice post Poonam…want to practice the vinay thing soon…made so much sense!
June 1st, 2005 at 8:35 pm
Thanks Priya.
Good to see you back after such a long hiatus.. Aati rehna..:wink:
June 2nd, 2005 at 4:15 am
seems there were lots of discussions reg me (Prasad) ;)
when I was away…
June 2nd, 2005 at 8:31 am