Panchopachar Ceremony
or
Guru Pujan

Guru Puja should be performed every day. However, on Guru Poornima, it takes on a special significance and should be accompanied by reading of the twelfth and the fifteenth chapters of the Geeta. There are five steps to the ceremony. These were described by His Holiness Gurudev Maharaj at the National Geeta Conference held in Springfield in 1993. Each step is accompanied by its appropriate mantra. The mantras are described elsewhere in this issue. The five steps are:
  1. Sudharta: Purity. Wash Guru's Feet – Symbolises Bathing of the Deity.
  2. Sundarta: Beauty. Tie a Sutra around the wrist – Symbolises Changing Clothes of the Deity.
  3. Mahanta: Apply Tilak to the forehead – The application should be from the bottom to the top of the forehead. This implies moving our thinking from lower to the higher level.
  4. Unity: Wear Maala - It has several benefits. Maala beautifies the deity, and Maala signifies unity of all beings. It also provides income to the maker of the Maala.
  5. True Dharma: Do Aarti - Aarti removes Darkness (Ignorance). Rotation of the Thaali symbolises the Light around us. Light means jnana, knowledge of the Self. Absense of Light (Darkness) turns one into a Rakshas. Even a Rakshas can become a Deva through Aarti. And a Deva can become a Rakshas through TV.

Guidelines for 12th Chapter Havan

Materials Required

Procedure

Clear enough space on the floor depending upon the number of people participating in the Havan. Clean the area and spread sheets on the clean floor leaving enough space in the middle to place the Havan Kund. Everyone sits around the Havan Kund.

Place the wood or twigs in the Kund and using cotton wicks start the fire.

Start chanting Chapter 12, and follow each Sloka by pouring a few drops of Ghee over the fire and chanting "Swaha" at the same time. Continue chanting the entire chapter. Include "Vasudeva Sutam Devam ............ Krishnam Vande Jagat Gurum" at the begining and at the end, each time followed by pouring of Ghee and chanting "Swaha".

After finishing the chapter, chant Geeta Mahima on pages x, xi and xii of the Geeta (Souvenir Edition from Minneapolis). Follow the same procedure, i.e., pour Ghee and chant "Swaha" after each Sloka. There are seven (7) Slokas in this part of the Geeta.

That completes the Havan. Follow the Havan with Shree Bhagavad Geeta Aarti and Shree Krishna Aarti. Pouring Ghee and chanting "Swaha" is not required in this part of the procedure.

After the Aarti, place portion of "Prasaad" in the fire as an offering.
Everyone should rise and go around the fire 4 times and chant "Bhaj mun Narayan, Narayan ....".
Finaly, distribute "Prasaad" and "Jal" to everyone and place a "Tikka" from the fire on everyone's forehead.

- List of International Geeta Conferences -


 No.	Location 	Date		Theme 
 1.	New Delhi	Dec 1975	'Geeta - The Integral Wisdom'
 2.	Bangkok		Mar 1976	'Geeta - International Peace & Harmony'
 3.	Monrovia	Mar 1977	'Geeta and The Underprivileged'
 4.	Kuala Lumpur	Aug 1978	'Geeta and The Youth'
 5.	Jodhpur		Apr 1980	'Geeta - Religion and State'
 6.	Bangkok		Dec 1982	'Geeta - Spiritual Revival and Peace'
 7.	Allahbad	Feb 1986	'Geeta - The Dynamics of Harmony, Peace and Secularism'
 8.	Chicago		Jul 1989	'Geeta and Today's Youth'
 9.	New Delhi	Dec 1991	'Geeta and Modern Society'
10.	London		Aug 1994	'Geeta and Universal Brotherhood'
11.	Geeta Dhâm	Mar 1997	'Geeta for the Welfare of Mankind'
12.	San Francisco	Aug 1998	'Reconnecting Technology With Spirituality Through Geeta'
13.	Kuala Lumpur	Dec 2006	'Answers to Life'

- List of National Geeta Conferences -


 No.	Location 	Date		Theme 
 1.	Springfield, IL	Jul 1991	'Geeta - Unity in Diversity'
 2.	St. Louis	Jul 1993	'Geeta - Success'
 3.	Minneapolis	Jul 1995	'Discovering the Path to Success'
 4.	Champaign, IL	Sep 1997	'Tenets of Geeta & Social Development'
 5.	Minneapolis	Jul 1999	' Geeta - The Complete Science'
 6.	Houston, TX	May 2002	'Geeta - The Dispeller of Fear'
 7.     Minneapolis     Aug 2008        'Connectivity of Body, Mind, Soul through Guru, Geeta and Gopal'