Deity worship... - prior to initiation - and in general

Well, what I was told was more specifically that Gaur Nitai murtis are merciful toward offenses like mistakes in arcana or missing elements, etc., or not being immaculately sattvic and brahminical about the condition of my apartment, etc., while having them there.

I really have a deep attraction to Deity worship and become easily absorbed in it. I have some previous background in liturgical ritual, etc., and have always been inclined that way.

Certainly they are merciful in this regard, but it doesn't mean wholesale disregard of offence. For example, if you become complacent and think, "well never mind if I offend them, they don't care anyway," that would constitute an offence that is considered.

Whatever works in bringing you closer to Krishna, that is great. However, do remember that we always aspire to go forward and refine our services.

If one of the 8 types of deities is in the form of a picture, by saying: “Worshipping pictures brings only benefit and no offences.” How could you back up your statement? In other words, if the deities manifest in 8 different authorized forms how can there be a distinction?

Radhe Radhe; Nice to see you here.

I do not agree with this statement. All the eight forms of the Deity are equally worhsipable. Prana pratistha can and is performed on pictures and other forms.

If it cannot be installed then it cannot be worshiped. That would be idolatry. The fact is that these temporary deities are installed and do have prana pratistha performed on them. The form of prana pratistha is however for a temporary deity. In other words the deity is called/avahana and at the end of the puja is sent away or valedicted/visarjana. The same is done for the deity in the mind during sandya vandanam when Gayatri devi is called/avahana, then chanted and meditated on and finally sent away or valedicted/visarjana.

This along with Ganesha Caturthi are probably not the best examples because they are non Vaisnava pujas. Vaisnavas do as a rule not like to do visarjana or sending away of the deity. However a better example would be that of the sacred pots installed and worshiped in Hari Nam Yajna. The pots represent the panca tattva and other personalities. They are temporary deities that are invoked and worshiped and at the end of the ceremony they are valedicted or sent away. They are certainly installed or called/avahana. Otherwise there would be no divine presence to worship.

Offenses are made only when one is worshiping a deity (whichever of the eight forms it is). If the Deity is permanently installed then the chance for offense is perpetual, if not as with the case of temporary forms no offense can be made after valediction. However offense can be committed to these temporary forms while the deity's presence is temporarily invoked as with any other deity.

This is incorrect. The temporary nature of the deity has no bearing on whether it's is installed or worshiped or not.

As stated above during sandhya vandana, avahana of Gayatri Devi is done and at the end of the procedure the valediction of the Goddess is done. Therefore even the deity within the mind can be invoked/avahana and valedicted/visarjana.

Yes, but simply witnessing without understanding the details leads one to the wrong conclusion sometimes. As one who has studied Pancaratra Agama under the Professor of Pancaratra Agama at the Maharaja's College in Mysore I can assure you that there is more to it than meets the eye.

These quotes from Srimad Bhagavatam should be sufficient to prove my points:

zailI dArumayI lauhI
lepyA lekhyA ca saikatI
manomayI maNimayI
pratimASTa vidhA smRtA

calAcaleti dvividhA
pratiSThA jIva mandiram
udvAsAvAhane na staH
sthirAyAm uddhavArcane

asthirAyAM vikalpaH syAt
sthaNDile tu bhaved dvayam
snapanam tv avilepyAyAm
anyatra parimArjanam

"The Deity form of the Lord is said to appear in eight varieties: stone, wood, metal, paint, sand, the mind or jewels. The Deity form of the Lord, who is the shelter of all living entities, can be established in two ways: temporarily or permanently. But a permanent Deity, having been called, can never be sent away, My Dear Uddhava. The Deity that is temporarily established can optionally be called forth and sent away, but these two rituals should always be performed when the Deity is traced on teh ground. Bathing should be done with water except if the Deity is made of clay, paint or wood, in which cases a thorough cleansing without water is enjoined" S.B. 11.27.12-14

How is this done?

Usually the procedure involves mantras, mudras, and nyasas. However the mentality is IMHO the most important point.

One should meditate on the particular form of the Lord that one is calling. A dhyana or meditation sloka can be chanted to aid the devotees meditation. Then one invites the deity to come usually by chanting the diety's mula mantra or name along with avahayAmi or I call or invoke (you). This is sometimes accompanied with mudras for invoking and establishing, asking to stay, avahana and sthapana. There may also be the chanting of the mula mantra over the heart of the deity a certain number of times as well as mantra nyasas to enliven the senses of the deity. There may also be a specific prayer or sloka as in the case of Gayatri avahana and visarjana. The whole procedure will be more complex for permanent deities than temporary ones.

Most times the deity is concieved as expanding from the form within the heart of the devotee (antaryamin). In Pancaratra there are 5 forms of God. Karnika, Vyuha, Vaibhava, Antaryamin and Archa. They are concieved as expanding from each other in that order. So the Archa or deity is said to manifest from the antaryamin.

Then after puja the devotee does valediction with similar procedures calling the Lord to return to His abode or assimilate with the antaryamin. This is not done in the case of permanent installation.

Please note that only deities of the Lord are concieved as manifesting from the antaryamin by Vaisnavas. Demigods are concieved as coming and manifesting from their respective abodes and then later going back to their abodes.

Technical details can be had from HBV and other puja paddhatis.

Deities of Acharyas are dealt with in an interesting way which I will leave for my next post.