Every place, whether at home or an office or a religious place, where people gather, follows certain conventions that everyone is required to abide by. Each person should check their conduct to help maintain the required ambiance. These conventions or codes, mostly self-evident, dictate our conduct at the place. Everyone can understand what one can or cannot do, have to maintain their discipline accordingly.

At home, each and every family follows certain behaviors for a loving peaceful environment. Parents and children follow set of different activities and observe respective conducts and communication between themselves, and also when guests or friends are present. Adherences to these simple etiquette produce a harmonious and loving condition.
A temple is a place with shrines of our faiths put for worship, prayers, singing choirs (Bhajans), deliver spiritual and social speeches to benefit individual and society. Restraining ourselves to be careful of our conduct is more critical at the temple just not simply to be disciplined ourselves but check ourselves not to disturb others. Our behaviors here are equally important to our children as we know they have eyes to observe what we do and use their mind to reason and follow their own rationality. Simply put, the more of it is to keep the place consecrated and preserve its sublime serenity.
It does not matter to be wild and do whatever one pleases in the jungle. Because no one will be watching or disturbed there from your behavior. But if you think hard, your own self and the state of your being will be disturbed if you do not remain calm even in the jungle. Your calmness, quietude and quiescence are crucial factors for realizing yourself, the more of it the better. Our unrestrained behavior only takes us down the ladder to the territory of darkness and our restrained behavior helps climb higher to See the Light and Know the Truth. Going down only feels easy momentarily, the intensity of darkness creeps within us slowly.
Likewise, we need to be very mindful of the rights of others at least outwardly first. If you ae quite physically but cannot put your mind to rest, no one gets disturbed by your turbulent mind. Just being mindful to such an attitude is the first step to helps yourself profoundly in the long run. Because our conduct is what we express outwardly for others to see but this slowly penetrates inside you to begin cleaning your own disturbed and clouded mind to bring it into a state of equilibrium and clarity.
Therefore, all these things combined help us to peek beyond appearance. Adherence to expected behaviors builds our character to shine and fulfils the purpose of both person and the place. Therefore, it must be an important matter for all of us to strictly observe the simple codes while we attend the community puja also. Here are a few basics guidelines intended for our typical puja gatherings at the temple. Some of these may also be applicable at the homes of friends who invite us.

1. Shoes off: Put your shoes off at the designated place at the temple entrance. If you don’t see that, keep it away from the area considered holy where people assemble for worship. Our sole purpose is to show respect to everyone and help keep the place clean, amicable, serene and sacred. Consecration is where virtues, humility, decency, compassion, goodness, lie and outflow.
2. Clockwise turns to deity: First take a clockwise turn around the deity. One will see others doing this beat, inside the premises with extreme weather but typically outside the temple perimeter in a warm and tolerable climate. One can turn around three times, one time is a necessary minimum.
3. Offerings, obeisance and praying: Obeisance or prostration or simply bowing or just using two hands clapped over each other in Namaskar mode to the deity or deities in turn. If you have brought flowers or fruits, you may offer it at the feet of the deities. Check how others do such things. Mindful for clutter. A bodily demeanor of submission to the almighty adds to it when we present things that we possess but belong to Him truly. The mental feeling within reveals through our bodily posture outwardly. The goal of offering flowers or fruits or sweets in a prescribed manner is to keep the place neat and clean. Neatness and cleanliness are the most preferred to influence our mind to settle for calmness.
4. Participation with the group in worship, bhajan and listening discourse: It is extremely important to stay quiet, attentive and minimize noise and all the side-talks during the 1-1:30 hour session. The session demands for paying full attention to the presentation. Following this helps effective session to benefit all. Strict discipline is important to self and others. Also, we should be mindful of who is watching us with our behavior at this time. Our own children and the One who wants us to attain and attentive. What we must know is there is only one small pebble needed to strike a still pound producing rippling waves. Our chatters will pull away the awakened quiet minds of many paying full attention to the presentation. Actually, there is much more to it, which is to degrade ourselves in the eye of others, interfere in others’ rights for a quiet atmosphere and also deprive us to incubate wisdom within.
5. Participation to Aarati and blessings from Priest: When a guest leaves our home, we walk with them out to the doorstep for a warm send off. This is a respectful manner everyone follows at home in all the cultures and creeds. Likewise, when we invoke our deities to preside over allowing us to worship, it is believed that the holy stand where we worship and pray is the seat of the deities during the puja. It is customary to end the ritual by singing Aarati bhajan (words of praise to the deity), which is also to say word of farewell for His presence. Aarati means singing with adoration for his loving presence to express gratitude to the deity for being the guest for the ceremony before “visarjan”, that is sending deity off back to their abode at the end of the puja rituals.
6. Donation: Although essence or the Truth is reached by peeking in the light. This can be attained by various means. A simple method for a householder in customary practice is the use of the means he or she possesses. One has to use means to know the meaning. The value of sharing our earning by donation is supreme. In Bhagawatam, it is mentioned as:
   • यशसेऽर्थाय कामाय स्वजनाय च ।
     पञ्चधा विभजन्वित्तमिहामुत्र च मोदते ॥ 8.19.37

One who is in full knowledge should divide accumulated wealth in five parts — for the maintenance of his family members, for sense gratification (entertainment), for reputation (growth of personal capacity), for opulence (savings), and for religion (charity). Such a person is happy in this world and in the next.
So, what does this verse teach us is that there is an essential purpose of using our earnings for charity for our own contentment. Otherwise, we are like dispirited souls’ slave to satisfy our own senses and always chasing to find happiness in transitory things. Just give yourself in it and you can realize what positive wave all around and ahead that comes to us it creates albeit keeping everything for own gratification and self-pride like a miser ignorant does. Donation expands your Self broader and builds.

7. Volunteer support for serving Prasad and cleaning: Typically, a number of sponsored families bring Prasad (lunch) for everyone. Sometime some of them also bring necessary disposables. Sponsors arrange to distribute Prasad. At the end of the event, it is critical to vacuum the puja area and outside space of the temple, clean the utensils used in the kitchen, collect garbage to dispose, wipe the tables and surface of the kitchen and dining area from any dropped food, etc. This task is most important because it is our collective duty to leave the temple premises clean and tidy. It is our common responsibility. So, sharing a bit of our time to help manage this is always beneficial for the event and our own satisfaction. Service is the potent food for our soul.

We, the authors of this article, ask all our readers of this document for their comments and opinions. The goal is to improve its content based on Hindu religious practice more precisely and also to make it clearer. Please know that their primary interest lies in improving our conduct so that we can honor others’ rights by keeping ourselves disciplined and conducting decent behaviors.