Hey George, I replied to you but your email service refused the message.
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of llundrub Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 12:17 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [FairfieldLife] Ben Collins hosting a great blog on vedic rituals Ben is totally awesome. I am considering being included in his trip to Varanasi for September when he will have 108 pundits doing a Shivaparvati mahayajna. I really really recommend his services for yajnas. His main pundit Seetharam did the Rudram for George Harrison's funeral in India. At any rate, his group is the best. I also recommend www.kalighat.net as any funds going to Calcutta help them. Moreover Sanjay there is extremely personable and helpful. Not to mention their pujas are very inexpensive compared to the valuable outcome of nature's support. Finally there is another super cheap yajna service but I will not mention who they are here as I don't wish to get them too much business or they might jack their prices. If someone wants to know then PM me. But for straight forward honest to goodness Veda power Ben is the best. Okay, props over and out. IMO I would sponsor Ben before TMO McPundits. From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of george_deforest Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 12:04 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Ben Collins hosting a great blog on vedic rituals Ben Collins is hosting a great blog -- "Puja Insights: Thoughts on vedic rituals and the spiritual traditions of India." sample of todays blog: Abishekam -- divine bathing, March 27th, 2007 by BenCollins pujamarch-2007-010.jpg <http://www.puja.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/pujamarch-2007-010 .jpg> It is an interesting part of the vedic tradition, that the murti in atemple must be purified in various ways. One of the most enjoyable iscalled abishekam. It is, in its essence, a process of giving the murtia bath to purify it so that the deity (Lakshmi in this case, seenabove) will happily take residence in the temple and bless the devotees. Soin that sense, the murti is seen as a "container" for the deity andthat container must be properly maintained. For example, each monthwhen the Moon is in the nakshatra (vedic constellation) called UtaraPhalguni, Lakshmi receives a bath (abishekam). Mantras are chanted andwater, then milk, buttermilk, yogurt curd, scented sandalwood paste,turmeric, rose water, and other ingredients are poured over her. image shown: http://www.puja.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/pujamarch-2007-010. jpg
