In this Talk, Avatar Adi Da Samraj discusses the purpose of the daily Guru Paduka Puja, describing it as the great means by which the Primal Space of Communion with Him is created each day.
One of the foundation disciplines for devotees in the Reality-Way of Adidam is daily sacramental worship, or puja. During puja, trained priests wash and adorn the body of the Guru—in the form of a Murti (or representational image) of Adi Da Samraj, and also in the form of His empowered sacred sandals (or Padukas). The Padukas represent the Feet of the Guru, traditionally venerated as the epitome of the precious body of the Guru, through which the Current of Divine Transmission passes as Blessing to all beings, and to the Earth itself.
“What is the unique significance of the Guru Paduka Puja?" This was the question Adi Da Samraj posed to a gathering of devotees on January 18, 1988, on His principal Hermitage-Island in Fiji, Adi Da Samrajashram. This gathering marked the re-initiation of the Guru Puja (now called the Ruchira Avatara Puja) as a daily practice for devotees in the Reality-Way of Adidam. Avatar Adi Da had suspended the practice of daily Guru Puja for several months in order to “consider” with devotees the purpose and right use of Guru Puja as a means to worship Him as their Divine Heart-Master. Avatar Adi Da then playfully encouraged a kind of guessing game in which devotees spoke of their own observations and understanding. Finally, Avatar Adi Da Samraj offered to discuss the secret of the ceremonial worship of Him in the form of the daily Guru Paduka Puja, describing it as the great means by which the Primal Space of Communion with Him is created each day. As the first sacred activity of a devotee’s day, the Guru Puja establishes the devotee in that Primal Space, as if always sitting in the Company of the Guru. This is the secret of devotion in the Reality-Way of Adidam and the great secret of all religious traditions.
The daily Guru Paduka Puja is an act of installation, an act whereby you install the Guru before yourself, before your own body-mind. It is an esoteric act. Having installed the Master before you, you live in that circumstance. In every moment, you recollect that Primal Space....
The recollection of that Primal Space is the principal act of the devotee, and every other aspect of practice is to be generated in that space.
—Avatar Adi Da Samraj
January 19, 1988
