What is a puja?

Puja is a Sanskrit word meaning offerings. It is a religious ceremony in which prayers, food and monetary offerings are made to the Three Jewels to request their blessings and invoke their help. When the pujas are directed at certain deities, they help the patron or sponsor to create connections with those Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The offerings are made not because the deities will be pleased to receive gifts, but rather because the deities rejoice in the virtue of the giver. When the deities rejoice, the puja sponsor creates merits which will fulfil their wishes and purify their negative karma which is the ultimate cause of their particular problem.

 

The benefits of performing pujas

Pujas are performed to avert and clear the three types of obstacles. These are:

• Worldly obstacles which affect our daily life and relationships, as well as our success in business and finance
• Inner obstacles which affect our health and mental state
• Secret obstacles which obstruct the attainments of innate wisdom and everlasting happiness

Pujas are also performed for the dying to help pacify their mind, as well as for the deceased in order to bless and guide their minds to a higher state of rebirth.

It should be remembered even if there is no immediate effect, the results will eventually come because any offering made in relation to the Three Jewels is never wasted and in doing a puja, powerful imprints are planted and merits are collected for the avoidance of obstacles in the future.

 

Types of pujas

The most commonly requested and performed pujas are:

1. Lama Chopa with tsok (Tibetan: Latsok): conducted to thank our gurus’ kindness and guidance in our Dharma practice. It helps to increase wisdom, memory, compassion and patience. It also helps to dispel negative energy, spells and spirits. Performing the Guru Puja helps to purify negative karma and accumulate merits.
2. Medicine Buddha (Tibetan: Menlha): carrying a bowl containing medicines, he helps anyone who is sick and dying. The puja is often performed to help clear health-related obstacles, for successful surgeries, and to help those who have already passed away.
3. Setrap (Tibetan: Setrap Shapten): effective in pacifying obstacles, demons, spirits and black magic.

There are many more pujas that can be performed by the monks of Gaden Monastery. However, the specific puja will depend on the needs of the sponsor, or the advice that the sponsor has been given by the Lama.

 

How much pujas cost

Pujas can be extensive and elaborate, or conducted on a smaller scale, depending on the purpose of the puja, the sponsor’s needs and wishes, and the gravity of the obstacle. Generally, the Lama will advice the sponsor to do certain pujas based on the sponsor’s means.

There are three scales of pujas, small, medium and large.

• Small pujas are usually performed by at least 4 monks and cost between RM300 and RM500.
• Medium scale pujas are performed by up to 1,500 monks and cost between RM2,000 and RM3,500.
• Large scale pujas can cost between RM5,000 and RM15,000. The large scale puja is performed by 3,000 monks in the main prayer hall of the monastery.

The costs of the pujas are dependent on the type of meal the sponsor wishes to offer to the monks conducting the puja, and whether the meal provided is only for breakfast or for the whole day. The puja’s cost is also dependent upon the amount of monetary offering the sponsor wishes to offer each monk. As such, the costs mentioned above are just guidelines.

 

How to prepare for a puja

At least a week’s notice is required before a large scale puja can be performed. Many preparations have to be done, including a few monks having to drive the monastery truck to the nearby town (about an hour away from the monastery) to buy supplies. All of the food and supplies have to be loaded onto the truck and driven back to monastery to be prepared for the pujas. For example, the food offerings will have to be prepared for the monks conducting the pujas, and tormas have to be carefully handmade.

When pujas are conducted, they are a wonderful experience for the sponsors who choose to be present, as the whole prayer hall is filled with monks chanting in unison and invoking the blessings of the Three Jewels for you. The energy generated by the monks conducting a puja leaves no doubt that pujas are an effective and speedy way for you to fulfil your wishes and purify your karma!

 

How to order a puja

For more details, contact:

• Liaison Ooi Beng Kooi (bengkooi@tsemladrang.com)
• Liaison Ruby Khong (ruby.khong@kechara.com)