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Spiritual Practices
Gharmandir
The place where people from the society or community gather to pray to God is called a mandir. The place where all members of the family gather to pray to God is called a gharmandir.
Maharaj’s Murti is Maharaj’s form. It is Maharaj Himself. Therefore, we should not hang the Murti on a wall like other photos. Instead, the Murti should be placed on a proper, beautiful throne or in a right custom-made small temple.
It is essential to place the gharmandir in a beautiful, clean, and airy space. If one lives in a bigger home, then an entire room can be allocated as a gharmandir. In a small house, we should place the gharmandir at a particular location in the main living room.
Maharaj and muktos are omnipresent. During summer, we should have an arrangement for a fan or an air conditioner so that they do not feel hot. We like to ensure that our home regularly gets sunlight and air. Similarly, we should choose an area with proper ventilation and sunlight for the gharmandir.
We should do seva of Maharaj according to the seasons. We should have curtains when Maharaj is asleep and has a small mattress and mosquito net if necessary. According to the saying, 'Treat God just as we treat our bodies, we should take care of God in the same manner that we take care of our own.
We should do seva of the gharmandir with full enthusiasm. After getting up in the morning and finishing our bathing, we should do two dandvat (prostrations) before Maharaj. Then, we should touch Maharaj’s feet with complete reverence and gratitude. This should be followed by a kind appeal in a very courteous voice to awaken Maharaj by saying, "O Lord, please wake up! O Lord, please wake up! O Gracious One! It's morning now! My precious one! Please wake up." We should sing prabhatiya, open the curtains and wake up Maharaj with the melodious sounds of bells. After this, we should wipe the Murtis with a clean cloth, ensuring that Maharaj’s eyes do not hurt. We should bathe Maharaj with such care and awareness. We should also make sure that the area surrounding the Murtis is also clean every 2-3 days.
After, according to the weather, we should offer breakfast (balbhog) to Maharaj. In the afternoon, we should prepare lunch and feed Maharaj by singing thal. After this, we should offer water to Maharaj and put Him to sleep at around 12 pm.
At around 4 pm, we should offer Maharaj fruits or dry fruits and wake Him up. We should sing the prayer, 'mahabalvant maya tamari’ and ‘orda na pado,' to please Maharaj.
During the evening, after offering Maharaj dinner, if possible, all the members of the family should gather to do the sandhya arti, Dhun, ashtak, prayers, etc.
At night, we should offer water to Maharaj and pray to Maharaj to fall asleep.
As such, we should never acknowledge Maharaj to be only a photo. But instead, we should do all of Maharaj’s seva with complete omnipresence and divinity.
