Rituals and Practices Flashcards
(17 cards)
Most important elements surrounding Puja
Most common ritual in Hinduism
Makes the gods feel like a royal guest (host guest relationship)
Crosses boundaries of caste, class, and gender
What is Puja?
Worships deity via an image or object
Offerings of prasad and aarti
Includes Darshan - seeing and being seen
When is puja done?
Mostly done daily, often before breakfast
Japa
Recitation, often the name of a god
Vrata *
ritual/vow
“if you do x for me i’ll do y for you”
common offerings: fasting, silence, pilgrimage
vrats tap into shakti
Aarti
Offering of light
Prasad
Blessed food offered to the gods
Often eaten after the ritual
Impolite to not finish your serving
Darshan
The act of seeing and being seen
Murti
Icons of the gods
The eyes are of high importance (how the murti comes to life, darshan)
Worship often includes bathing and decorating it, and other acts of puja
Mandir
Temple
Sadhana
Tantric practices found in ritual manuscripts and oral commentary
Kundalini and yoga
Shakti visualized as a coiled serpent at the base of the spine
Crown chakra is seen as Shiva
Shakti rises to Shiva
Sexual union of the two is achieving moksha
Diksha
Initiation, requires a guru
Mantra
Sounds, verses, and incantating that can do 5 things:
please the gods, ward off evil, cook soma, transform consciousness, and manipulate reality
Yantra
Sacred geometry, like a mandala but features squares and triangles
Gives magical powers, aids in mediation
Bindu is the sacred center
Mudra
Sacred Hand Gestures
Visualization
One of the main practices of tantra
