The month between Guru Purnima* and H.H. Sai Maa’s Birthday is always a very powerful time for me. It’s the perfect point to look at where I am with my goals, my work, my sadhana (spiritual practice), and where my attention is focused.
- Are the goals that I set in the beginning of the year still serving me?
- Are they serving my Highest good, my soul’s evolution?
- Am I consciously tapping into the energies that are available now?
Something that always moves me into a new awareness around these questions is working with the sacred, devotional space of my puja, or altar. If you don’t have a puja, I will give some tips for creating one below. If you already have one, take everything off of it (yes, everything), clean thoroughly, and start to put things back. As you do, ask yourself:
- Why do I keep this item on my puja/altar?
- Am I connecting regularly with the energy of it?
- Is this energy currently supporting me in the work that I’m doing with myself and in the world?
- Is it time for a change, or is something missing?
Here are some photos of my own puja/altar, after a recent cleansing.
Each item has been carefully chosen and you can see the large influence that the study and practice of Hinduism, and the energies that I interact with because of this, has on my own sacred space. There are also lots of tiny tokens that bring me into the memory of specific energies, or are offerings to the deities that remind me to activate these energies each day – coins from all over the world for Lakshmi, clear quartz for Kali Ma, white sage and rose quartz pointing to my heart when I sit to meditate, and all of my malas (sacred beads) from throughout the years. Each one has a different mantra I use with it!
I’ve spent 20 years collecting what you see on my altar, but it can be as simple as putting together a few items that bring you joy, remind you of your true nature as light, or make you feel expanded. This makes it a unique and powerful place, one that lives outside of linear space and time, and allows you to access your own sacred space and time. In the realm of this sacred space and time, all there is to do is go within and allow the collective energy to rejuvenate your field.
