Sevenfold Puja

This Puja is performed to purify ignorance, to confess misdeeds, take refuge and re-awaken the bodhichitta along with similar Puja's such as Lama Choepa Puja, Tungshak Puja and Mandala Puja. As the name suggests, it contains seven steps. Each step has its own text, which is usually repeated after the puja director. The steps are worship, salutation, refuge, confession of faults, rejoicing in merits, prayer and request, and transfer of merits. Finally, the Heart Sutra (an important Mahayana Buddhist text) is read, and mantras are recited. During the puja, it is common for participants to visit the altar and to light a candle during the mantra after the worship section. However, when attending a puja, you can participate in a way that feels right for you at the moment, by reciting, chanting, lighting candles, bowing and doing prostrations, or simply by watching and take it as one experience among others, or anything in between.