Puja

What is the purpose of worship or Puja, to give it its Sanskrit name?  

According to Vedanta, it is to be united with the Supreme or Self.  And, the supreme result of this feeling of oneness of the worshipper and the worshipped is the realisation of the true nature of the Self or the attainment of Brahman (the Infinite Lord).  Puja is considered to be one of the most useful steps in the achievement of this ideal.  There are two strands the this practice - external worship, and internal, mental and heartfelt worship. 

To quote from Swami Prameyananda's book on worship: "Men at the first stage of spiritual development have to make use of something external, and when the inner self becomes purified  they turn to more abstract conceptions.  The impurity of the aspirant's mind gets eliminated to the extent that he progresses in worship.

A kind of ethereal peace and bliss gradually envelops his heart ...... Then he gets established in Truth and Power, the mantras he utters become awakened - charged with the power of Consciousness - and the penetrating power of his subtle intelligence to grasp finer truths continues to grow as he earnestly persists with the utterance of the awakened mantras.  He then attains the real fruit of worshipping the Supreme Lord, namely, 'The peace that passeth understanding' and 'Self-fulfilment'.  At this stage no separate spiritual discipline exists - his whole life becomes an unceasing Puja - Whatever I do, Oh Lord, is nothing but your worship.' This is what is known as natural, spontaneous worship."

In my own practice, I am interested in the form of the Self as the Divine Mother, the Infinite goodness, love and beauty behind all of life, and it is She who is central in the worship at Landermere.