~~OM~~

Our bookstore carries Beginner Shiva Puja and Advanced Shiva Puja books. You can obtain the CD of Swamiji chanting the Shiva Puja at Our Music page

~~OM~~

What are some ways to get started on getting a purpose if we are totally clueless as to what we want to do?

Swamiji: Travel is an amazing education. Explore different cultures and different ways that other people are making their contributions to society. See if any of those ways appeal to you. Develop a questionnaire to ask people you meet, and then ascertain the sincerity of their answers.

Some things to ask:

• Why do you love to do what you do?
• Would you do it even if you didn't get paid?
• Do you get sufficient compensation from doing what you love so that you can live the standard of living you choose?
• Do you need a special talent, temperament, education or training to make a contribution in the way that you do?
• How long would it take to become proficient at making such a contribution?
• Also, try to put together a list of things that you would like to incorporate in your life style. For me, that list is as follows:
• I like to sing
• I like to dance
• I like to chant Sanskrit
• I like to write
• I like to create
• I like multimedia projects
• I like to meditate

When I put all these ingredients together, I chose to be a sadhu. Make your own list, and in it you will find your purpose.

How do we know when we've progressed enough in our purpose that having a relationship would be productive, not just a way to avoid loneliness?

As we progress in our purpose, we will naturally come into contact with others who share a similar purpose. We will find ways to work with those people to compliment each others' goals and aspirations, and then find that our whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That means, in essence, that sharing together creates a greater joy and efficiency for both
partners than either partner could attain alone.

If the aspiration of our interaction with our 'partner' is merely social and does not generate itself towards any greater contribution to life, then the avoidance of loneliness is the major focus of the relationship. But when partners work together and take joy in inspiring ever greater creative expression in each other and themselves, know that the relationship is a partnership, a friendship, which seeks to make each partner a better person.