For Puja Dates, please check our calendar click here>>
What is a puja?
Puja (literally an offering) is a Meditation Ritual on one of the Bodhisattvas or Buddhas. It is a ceremony in which prayers are offered to the Buddhas to request their blessings or invoke their help.
Why are there different pujas?
There are different pujas for different purposes in our lives. There are pujas for meditation practice, purification, removing obstacles, long life, death, illness, business, and so on. Pujas are performed to avert and clear the three types of obstacles, conditions which prevent us from achieving our worldly and spiritual goals.
Pujas can be performed for various purposes:
For the dying ~ to help pacify their mind and decrease fear during the time of death.
For the deceased ~ to bless and guide their mind to a higher state of rebirth and liberation.
For sickness ~ to remove obstacles to mental and physical health.
For success in one’s activities ~ for removing obstacles to success in one’s activities, be they worldly or dharma.
The puja performed depends on the type of problem and the individual’s karma. Buddha taught us pujas for everything that we need in this life and also future lives. Buddha himself experienced and practiced many different rituals or pujas in his life.
How much does it cost to have a puja performed?
There is no limit to the amount of a donation that can be made. It depends on one’s financial ability and how much you want to make as an offering toward the pujas. Some pujas are complicated and require a lot of materials and a great deal of time to perform.
How do I know which puja I need to do for myself and my family?
Ask a Lama or Sangha member which puja is appropriate.
The Three Types of Obstacles
• Worldly obstacles ~ these affect day to day life, relationships, business, finances.
• Inner obstacles ~ these affect our health or mental state.
• Secret obstacles ~ these obstruct the attainment of innate wisdom.
By doing meditation, prayers and offerings with sincere motivation, unfavorable circumstances that bring problems may be changed. It is said that prayers performed by ordained ones are especially powerful and effective as they are done on the base of pure morality.
What to bring to a puja
It is always appropriate to bring some kind of offering, either for the puja, the sangha or for the centre itself. In the cooler days and evenings a warm rug is a good idea.
What is a suitable offering?
Offerings of food , flowers or financial contribution (in an envelope) are appropriate.