The Samashti Upasana or Cosmic Puja, is the meditation and worship of all the forms of divinity in existence; all the deities of the universe. Pu is punya, which means merit. Ja is jata, which means giving birth. Puja is activity that gives birth to merit. The action of the greatest merit is to guide one's awareness into the presence of God and to maintain that presence for as long as possible. Through puja we offer all that we possibly can to God and thereby experience peace. This worship is intended to lead us to that objective. Swami Satyananda Saraswati has translated the Cosmic Puja so that we may use it to instill within us that quality of true reverence for all of life in which we actually pay attention. By performing this worship we become so absorbed in the union between the perceiver and the object of perception that we go beyond all duality.Derived from the Chandi Path, the Cosmic Puja describes methods of worship the Divine Mother in her forms as Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, and Mahasarasavati. Included is the "Panch Devata Puja," the worship of the five divisions of the Hindu Dharma: Shiva, Shakti, Vishu, Ganesh, and the nine planets. Other pujas in this book include: bhuta shudhi (enlivening energy centers), the Yantra Puja, Agni Prajvalitam (enkindling of sacred fire), the establishment of the Sanskrit alphabet in the body, the establishment of life, worship of the Divine Mother's body, the worship of her divine weapons, and much more. This book is an anthology of practices which accompany and augment the Chandi Path.

Imagine a world without beauty, myth, celebration or ritual. It seems that to feel fully and vibrantly alive, these experiences are essential to us. Devotional ritual speaks this language of the heart, but can be a confronting aspect of Buddhism for some people in the West. Skilfully steering us through the difficulties we may encounter, Sangharakshita leads us through the sevenfold puja, a sequence of devotional moods found in Tibetan and Indian forms of Buddhism

In the West, the varied body of texts and traditions known as Tantra for more than two centuries has had the capacity to scandalize and shock. For European colonizers, Orientalist scholars and Christian missionaries of the Victorian era, Tantra was generally seen as the most degenerate and depraved example of the worst tendencies of the so-called 'Indian mind': a pathological mixture of sensuality and religion that prompted the decline of modern Hinduism. Yet for most contemporary New Age and popular writers, Tantra is celebrated as a much-needed affirmation of physical pleasure and sex: indeed as a 'cult of ecstasy' to counter the perceived hypocritical prudery of many Westerners. In recent years, Tantra has become the focus of a still larger cultural and political debate. In the eyes of many Hindus, much of the western literature on Tantra represents a form of neo-colonialism, which continues to portray India as an exotic, erotic, hyper-sexualized Orient. Which, then, is the 'real' Tantra? Focusing on one of the oldest and most important Tantric traditions, based in Assam, northeast India, Hugh B Urban shows that Tantra is less about optimal sexual pleasure than about harnessing the divine power of the goddess that flows alike through the cosmos, the human body and political society. In a fresh and vital contribution to the field, the author suggests that the 'real' meaning of Tantra lies in helping us rethink not just the history of Indian religions, but also our own modern obsessions with power, sex and the invidious legacies of cultural imperialism.

Throughout the Indian subcontinent there are territories and areas wherein culture, geography, and the archetypal cosmos interact with each other to create a sacredscape that is infused with meaning, cultural performances and transcendent power. These sacred sites possess extensive mythological associations where believed that spirit can cross between different realms. In a broad perspective such studies falls within the realm of cultural astronomy, which has two broad areas, viz. archaeoastronomy, concerned with the study of the use of astronomy and its role in ancient cultures and civilizations; and ethnoastronomy that studies the use of astronomy and its role in contemporary cultures. The seven essays in this volume deals with the critical appraisal of studying cultural astronomy and cosmic order and its implications in India, illustrated with case studies like heritagescape of Khajuraho, where stone speaks; manescape of Gaya, where manes come and bless the devotees; Deviscape of Vindhyachal, where goddess resorts; Shivascape of Kashi, where Shiva dances in making order; Shaktiscape of Kashi, that possesses the spatial ordering of goddesses; and Naturscape of Chitrakut, where mother earth blesses.

In Vedic Sciences, the Sanskrit word Puja means honoring a force more powerful than you for inner gains. The goddess Saraswaty is the goddess of knowledge and arts. In this book a simulated version of the Universe is constructed and a simulated trip is made to request the Goddess Saraswaty to grant remunerative knowledge. Such knowledge brings understanding, awareness and enlightenment. Therefore, fear, hatred and other negative influences are removed from your life.

A vast array of experiences of the author from his journey from his childhood and his knowledge and experiences in life and through Spiritual Intelligence that transformed him to the India's first BIS Certified Jeweller. This book also throws a light on various aspects of life that one can transcend their consciousness. It inspires young entrepreneurs on how to face the hardships in business and to combat various uncertainties that one comes across in life through Spiritual Intelligence (SQ).

Discusses the cultural background and meaning of ten goddesses, including Aphrodite, Isis, Athena, Durga, Laksmi, and Sita