22nd March 2023 @ 5pm NZ time
Maitri Divas is the annual Springtime celebration of the great heavenly Gurus who had come to Earth to undertake practice for their spiritual transcendence. Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi was born on Chaitra 8th (being the 22nd of March this year) and all other Gurus were also born during the Spring months, up until the end of Jestha (mid-June). Thus it had been auspicious to hold very joyful pujas (of any length) for all Paramatma Gurus, any time during these three months.
In the interest of enabling worldwide Maitri Sangha members to celebrate Maitri Divas and accumulate precious dharma punya from home, BSDS New Zealand have lovingly offered to again host this year’s online Maitri Divas Puja Programme, with the approval of Guru’s Central Office. This auspicious Maitri Divas Online Event will be held on Wednesday 22nd March.
BSDS NZ will host the event from their Maitri Altar Room, having received the permission and blessing of Guru’s Central Office, and will follow the same format as the last two years’ events. On March 22nd 2023 you are welcome to join the small online celebration (the livestream link is here) and participate in the Maitri Puja from your home, chanting prayers, mantras, etc.
The Maitri Divas online event is scheduled for 5 pm NZ time and is due to finish at around 11pm NZ time, noting that these times have been carefully selected to allow the rest of the world to tune in to this live event at locally convenient times (please find your corresponding local time here). All are lovingly invited to join the Maitri Divas in real time or alternatively, if you are not able to tune in for the live event during these times, you can still access the live stream feed at any time of the day or night, even after the event is finished.
When participating in the coming Maitri Divas Puja, we can think that we are sitting directly in front of the Paramātma Gurus. Therefore, with a deep feeling of respect, we wear appropriate clothing during the puja e.g. no tank tops, singlets or any other underwear-like garments, and we also avoid wearing red coloured clothing (it is best if we can wear Maitri coloured clothing during the puja e.g. pink or green for women / purple or blue for men). When chanting the prayers, we keep our body still, without swaying or moving abruptly, as we connect with a deep feeling of reverence, awe, respect, faith, trust & devotion to the Paramātma Gurus.
In addition to the online Puja event, maitri devotees are lovingly encouraged to celebrate the auspicious 22nd March date with their own individual puja and/or attend pujas in their local areas on or around this time (more info here).
Broadcasting schedule
Puja Session 1
17:00 – 17:15 [15 mins] – Prostrations, followed by offerings (water, flowers, fruit, lights & incense)
17:15 – 18:15 [60 mins] – Chanting prayers: Opening Invocation Prayer, 21 Realms Prayers (Svarga Lok), Blessing Prayer, Offering Prayers, Paramātma Guru Prayers (from Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi to Nomyun Gyawi)
18:15 – 20:00 [105 mins] – Chanting prayers (Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi x 4)
- Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi Prayer (20 mins)
- Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi Prayer (20 mins)
- Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi Prayer (20 mins)
- Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi Prayer with mala mantra recitation:
— Lines 1 – 86 (10 mins)
— Silent mala-jap of Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi Mantra in silence: Sonwa Nehi Nigma Gyawi Gyate Gyawi Yendig Nyende Nigma (25 mins)
— Lines 92 – 212 (10 mins)
** Note that Maitri Divas celebrates the birthday of Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi and it is for this reason that we are dedicating extra prayers to this specific Paramātma Guru.
Break
20:00 – 21:30 [90 mins]
** Note that the live stream will continue and dharma music will be played during the break.
Puja Session 2
21:30 – 21:35 [5 mins] – Prostrations
** Note that the second puja session is a continuation of the first session and this is why no new offerings are made at the start of this session. This is also why the ordering of prayers is slightly different during this session.
21:35 – 23:00 [85 mins] – Chanting prayers (Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi x 3, Paramatma Guru Prayers, Blessing Prayer, Closing Prayer)
- Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi Prayer (20 mins)
- Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi Prayer (20 mins)
- Maha Maitri Marga Gyawi Prayer (20 mins)
- Paramatma Guru Prayers: from Sei Seinyig Marga Gyawi to Nomyun Gyawi (15 mins)
- Blessing Prayer (~1min)
- Closing Prayer (~1 min)
23:00 – 23:30 [30 mins] – After this chanting of prayers has finished, the Maitri Divas Puja is complete. As is customary at the completion of a puja, dharma music will be played for around 30 minutes or so.
