Guru Paduka Puja by Swami Haridhos Giri

If you have faith in the Guru's Holy feet, If you have deep feeling for the Guru's Holy feet, If you imbibe the state of the Guru, Then you don't have to look for God, God will come looking for you

- Bhakta Tukaram

"The Guru's Holy feet are worshipped or revered because all the Guru's Shakti dwells in the Holy feet. If you did research into this, you would find that the vibrations of the inner self constantly flow out through the Holy feet. The nerves that come from the Sahasrara reach right down to the Holy feet. The Holy feet serve as the support for the whole body. This is the reason the Holy feet are given so much importance. More Shakthi flows form the Holy feet than any other part of the body, the glory of the Guru's Holy feet for the Guru's sandals is great. Kularnava Tantra says: "Remember the Guru's sandals, they provide protection against great diseases, great disturbances, great evils, great fears, great calamities, and great sins,"

The foot of Guru is no ordinary foot. Gurupaddangre Paadodakam Ganga. All holy waters, including Mother Ganga, live in the Guru's Holy feet. This is what you should think in your heart when worshipping the Guru. All holy waters, all Devathei, or angels, and all sacred hills abide in the Guru's Holy feet. One should have firm Sankalpa (intention, deter­mination) to behold all Gods in guru's Holy feet. The Trimurthis - Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva - live in Guru's Holy feet. These three Divine Forms symbolize the removal of the three qualities of nature that keeps the soul in bondage. The three qualities are tamas (sense of ego), rajas (passion, desire) and sattva (goodness and purity) when these three qualities are removed, then the soul becomes free or sanyaasi. In this state, one renounces desire and becomes like a stone - not senseless, but chinmaya (full of light). So, after Guru Patha Puja, it is to surrender the three qualities to the Divine Trinity. This is the significance of self-surrender to the Holy feet.

Guru's Holy feet.

For the sake of His disciples, the formless Guru takes the form in Padukas. Guru lives in Padukas. A devotee should pray "Oh my Guru, wherever my mind goes, may your form be there. Wherever my head bows in salutation, may your Holy feet be there." The Guru continuously tests the devotees. It is very dangerous for the devotees to look on the Guru as an ordinary man. The devotee must think that the Guru is higher than Shiva, Vishnu or Brahma. If one thinks that the Guru is the physical form and activities, then it becomes very easy for doubts to infiltrate the citadel of devotion, and after a while, to completely overcome it. Nothing the Guru says or does is ordinary; there is always a higher reason.

Manduka Upanishad says: "The Guru's Holy feet are like the foundation on which a building stands. The Guru's Holy feet are the two elements in the mantra So'Ham which means 'I am that.' The statement 'I am that' (So'Ham) is packed with richness and significant meaning. The two syllables, Ham and Sa, have a number of esoteric meanings. ‘Ham’ is Shiva, the all-pervading supreme reality, the absolute Being. He is the Lord or God, the support and the foundation of all things, sentient and insentient. In the form of pure consciousness, He permeates all creatures and dwells in them as their own innermost self. The Scriptures call this experience as Purusha, the eternal witness. ‘Sa’ is Shakti, the energy of Shiva. She is the divine Cosmic power that creates and maintains the countless galaxies and worlds. She is the consort of Shiva, the active aspect of the formless, the attribute-less Absolute. She is the joyous divine energy that unfolds the universe, assuming the billions of shapes and forms that we see around. Shiva is the experiencer and Shakti is the experienced - objective universe. She is referred also as Prakriti or the force of nature. She is the energy that powers our mind and that enables us to walk, talk, eat meals, and perform our work.

The Guru Geeta also says that the Guru's Holy feet have two different lustre - one is white and other is red - representing Shiva and Shakti. Shiva is associated with the white colour, and Shakti, the divine energy with the red colour. In these Holy feet of Guru, Shiva and Shakti live as one and through them the disciple realizes the unity. He sees Shiva and Shakti as red and white lights shining through the Guru's Holy feet. The Guru's Holy feet should be worshiped every day, for by their means one easily realizes the immanent and transcendent aspect of Shiva (form and formlessness aspects). Their lustre radiates in the upper spaces of Sahasrara Chakra.

Within this FULL MOON in the sahasrara, we find 'pots of nectar' also referred to as 'nectar of the Moon.' This pot of the nectar has the shape of a delicate crescent moon and is downward turned. From here the nectar flows down through the Sushumna Nadi. This nectar is more intoxicating than honey could ever be. The sound (inner Nada heard in meditation) will make you taste a divine elixir. It is sweeter than the sweetest. Every drop is worth millions. By taking it you get rid of all sickness. There will be no more suffering, no more want, no more feeling of 'I and mine.'

The Lalita Sahasrahama says: "Salutations to Her (Shakti) who sends stream of nectar from the transcendent moon in the Sahasrara." The Shiva Samhita says: 'The Sahasrara is the thousand petal lotus in the Brahmananda. In its centre is the region of the moon and a triangle which continuously showers nectar. This moon nectar, which grants immortality, flows in continuous stream..."

The Paduka Panchaka also mentions that the Guru's Holy feet are cool like the nectar of the moon. In other words, just as the moonbeams cool us of after the heat of the day, in the same way devotion to the Holy feet of the Guru extinguishes the fire of sorrow and suffering and gives us peace.

The Paduka Panchaka says: "I adore the two lotus Holy feet of the Guru in my head. The jewelled foot stool on which they rest removes all sin. The Guru's Holy feet are pinkish-red like young leaves. The toe nails resemble the full moon shining in all its glory. The Guru's Holy feet are radiant with the beautiful lustre of lotuses in a lake of nectar." When the Guru Gita speaks of the water of the Guru's Holy feet, it is referring to this lake of nectar. There are number of verses that explore this image.

The Guru Gita says: "the water of the Guru's Holy feet has the power to dry up the mire of one's sins, to ignite the light of knowledge, and to take one smoothly across the ocean of this world."

"To obtain knowledge and detachment, sip the water of Guru's Holy feet, which destroys ignorance and ends karmas, the cause of rebirth. Muktananda says it is not the water of Guru's physical Holy feet that will make you immortal; it is only the nectar flowing in the Guru's abode situated in the Sahasrara that will make you immortal, and that nectar can be received by the grace of the Guru.

In the course of meditation, when the mind becomes stabilized in the Sahasrara, this nectar begins to flow. Only after drinking this nectar can you be said to have drunk the water of the Guru's Holy feet. It is not the water of the Guru's physical Holy feet that matters. The true Holy feet of the Guru lie in the sahasrara; it is the nectar flowing from them that gives immortality.

Source: Extracted from the Swami Haridhos Giri Seva Samajam Opening Day Souvenir Booklet (http://gurujinamaji.com/articles-discourses-05.htm)