All About Bharatiya Sanatana Dharmam otherwise known as Hinduism : Ch.7- 6.1.B. - Swami Sivananda
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17/01/2020..
CHAPTER 7 : (HINDU) WORSHIP IN SANATANA DHARMAM - 6.1.B.
6.The Philosophy And Significance Of Idol-Worship -1.
1. The Idol—A Prop For The Spiritual Neophyte-B.
B. #A Medium For Establishing Communion With God.
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1.
Idols are not the idle fancies of sculptors, but shining channels through which the heart of the devotee is attracted to and flows towards God. Though the image is worshipped, the devotee feels the presence of the Lord in it and pours out his devotion unto it. It is the appalling ignorance of the modern sensual man that clouds his vision and prevents him from seeing Divinity in lovely and enchanting idols of His form.
The very scientific advances of this century ought to convince you of the glory of idol-worship. How are the songsters and orators confined to a small box-like thing to be called a radio? It is a mere piece of a mechanical lifeless structure which breaks into a thousand pieces if you throw it away violently; and yet, if you know how to handle it, you can hear through it, the music that is being played several thousands of miles away and the discourse that is being delivered in the remotest part of the globe.
Even as you can catch the sound-waves of people all over the world through the radio receiving set, it is possible to commune with the all-pervading Lord through the medium of an idol. The divinity of the all-pervading God is vibrant in every atom of creation. There is not a speck of space where He is not. Why do you then say that He is not in the idols?
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2.
There are others who would glibly say : “Oh, God is all-pervading formless Being.
How can He be confined to this idol?”
Are these people ever conscious of His omnipresence?
Do they always see Him and Him alone in everything?
. It is their ego that prevents them from bowing to the idols of God and, with that motive, put this lame excuse forward!
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3.
#Empty vessels only make much sound.
##A practical man who does meditation and worship, who is full of knowledge and real devotion, keeps always silence. He influences and teaches others through silence.
###He only knows whether a Murti is necessary in the beginning for concentration or not.
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4.
However intellectual one may be, he cannot concentrate without the help of some symbol in the beginning. An intellectual and learned person, on account of his pride and vanity only says: “I do not like a Murti. I do not wish to concentrate on a form.”
He cannot concentrate on the formless one. He thinks that people will laugh at him when they come to know that he is meditating on a form. He never does any meditation on the formless one. He simply talks and argues and poses. He wastes his life in unnecessary discussions only.
An ounce of practice is better than tons of theories. Intellect is a hindrance in the vast majority of intellectual persons. They say that the existence of Brahman is a guess-work, Samadhi is a bluff of the mind and Self-realisation is an imagination of the Vedantins. Deluded souls!
They are steeped in ignorance. They are carried away by their secular knowledge which is mere husk when compared to the Knowledge of the Self. There is no hope of salvation for such people. First, their wrong Samskaras should be flushed by good Samskaras through Satsanga.
Then only they will realise their mistakes. May the Lord bestow on them clear understanding and thirsting for real knowledge!
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NEXT - C. #A Symbol Of God
To be continued ...
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17/01/2020..
CHAPTER 7 : (HINDU) WORSHIP IN SANATANA DHARMAM - 6.1.B.
6.The Philosophy And Significance Of Idol-Worship -1.
1. The Idol—A Prop For The Spiritual Neophyte-B.
B. #A Medium For Establishing Communion With God.
========================================================================
1.
Idols are not the idle fancies of sculptors, but shining channels through which the heart of the devotee is attracted to and flows towards God. Though the image is worshipped, the devotee feels the presence of the Lord in it and pours out his devotion unto it. It is the appalling ignorance of the modern sensual man that clouds his vision and prevents him from seeing Divinity in lovely and enchanting idols of His form.
The very scientific advances of this century ought to convince you of the glory of idol-worship. How are the songsters and orators confined to a small box-like thing to be called a radio? It is a mere piece of a mechanical lifeless structure which breaks into a thousand pieces if you throw it away violently; and yet, if you know how to handle it, you can hear through it, the music that is being played several thousands of miles away and the discourse that is being delivered in the remotest part of the globe.
Even as you can catch the sound-waves of people all over the world through the radio receiving set, it is possible to commune with the all-pervading Lord through the medium of an idol. The divinity of the all-pervading God is vibrant in every atom of creation. There is not a speck of space where He is not. Why do you then say that He is not in the idols?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.
There are others who would glibly say : “Oh, God is all-pervading formless Being.
How can He be confined to this idol?”
Are these people ever conscious of His omnipresence?
Do they always see Him and Him alone in everything?
. It is their ego that prevents them from bowing to the idols of God and, with that motive, put this lame excuse forward!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.
#Empty vessels only make much sound.
##A practical man who does meditation and worship, who is full of knowledge and real devotion, keeps always silence. He influences and teaches others through silence.
###He only knows whether a Murti is necessary in the beginning for concentration or not.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.
However intellectual one may be, he cannot concentrate without the help of some symbol in the beginning. An intellectual and learned person, on account of his pride and vanity only says: “I do not like a Murti. I do not wish to concentrate on a form.”
He cannot concentrate on the formless one. He thinks that people will laugh at him when they come to know that he is meditating on a form. He never does any meditation on the formless one. He simply talks and argues and poses. He wastes his life in unnecessary discussions only.
An ounce of practice is better than tons of theories. Intellect is a hindrance in the vast majority of intellectual persons. They say that the existence of Brahman is a guess-work, Samadhi is a bluff of the mind and Self-realisation is an imagination of the Vedantins. Deluded souls!
They are steeped in ignorance. They are carried away by their secular knowledge which is mere husk when compared to the Knowledge of the Self. There is no hope of salvation for such people. First, their wrong Samskaras should be flushed by good Samskaras through Satsanga.
Then only they will realise their mistakes. May the Lord bestow on them clear understanding and thirsting for real knowledge!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEXT - C. #A Symbol Of God
To be continued ...
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