JOIN USHonouring is a sign of divine love. That Honouring is called puja. Puja awakens bhakti The ceremony of puja imitates what nature is already doing for you. The Divine worships you in so many forms. In puja, you offer everything back to the Divine.Flowers are offered in puja. The flower is a symbol of love. The Divine has come to you in love through so many forms: mother, father, wife, husband, children and friends. The same love comes to you in the form of the Master to elevate you to the level of divine love, which is also your own nature. Recognising this flowering of love from all sides of life, we offer flowers.Fruits are offered, because the Divine offers you fruits in due season. You offer grain, because nature provides you food. Candle light and camphor light are offered; in the same way nature continually revolves the sun and moon around you. Incense is offered for fragrance. All the five senses are used in puja, and it is performed with deep feeling. Puja is honour and gratefulness.
Have you seen children? They have small little pots and dishes. They sometimes pretend that they make toast or tea. They come to the mom and say, "Now, please have some tea." They serve you. There will be nothing in the cup; it is all in their imagination. They play with you. Whatever you do to them, they also do. They put the doll to sleep. They feed it and bathe it. In the same way, puja is an expression of what the Divine is doing for you. Puja is a mixture of imitation, honour, playfulness and love.
Usually when you love something, you want to possess it. And in the process of possessing, you make the beautiful thing ugly. Puja is contrary to that. Puja means honour and worship, offering one's self. You appreciate, you adore and you recognise beauty. Worship is just the opposite of wanting to possess. When you are in worship, you naturally want to offer something.
Usually your relationships do not flower to this extent. It is because you start demanding. In any relation usually people say "I have done so much for you. Now you must do this thing for me." Demanding is contrary to Honouring. The way to preserve a relationship is to honour.
Honour the creation. Look at a tree with honour. Feel grateful for its being here. It purifies the poison that we breathe out. It makes the air fresh. Have you ever thought, "These trees are yours? The sun, the moon, the air, the water--everything belongs to you. All these stars are yours. The people are yours."? When you honour the creation, you will feel this.
Honour your own body. Remember that when you eat, you are offering food to the Divine that resides inside your body. When people are agitated, they eat more. Take your food, not in a hurry, not with violence, but with a sense of honour, with a sense of offering. This also is puja.