Even the blessed Lord Krishna did not dither on the issue of mode of worship

Even the blessed Lord Krishna did not dither on the issue of mode of worship..

He said in Gita.. yo yathaa maam prapadyante taan tadaiva bhajamyaham.. यो यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तान् तथैव भजामयाहं. I manifest to other in whatever way they approach me.

Therefore, seeing His presence in anything, and even nothingness are both the same..

If you argue that the Divine  Mother herself is agni.. Taam agnivarnaam..तां अग्निवर्णां .it would make more sense, and when she is Agni herself, she can manifest in any shape..

The dissent of an Advaitin to Saguna worship is understandable, but no one is permitted to call any other path as that of ignorance..

You can go from Palakkad straight to Delhi, Via Mumbai, Via Chennai or through  by many other routes..It is  the destination   that counts..

Of course heckling inter-religious,inter-procedure aproaches   is an entirely different  issue..

If we can understand Hindu faith properly, there can be no disputes..

We admit that the same Shankara who was the votary of Advaita philosophy where the specific Gods and rituals have little relevance, has worshipped in many shrine, has set up many shiva temples and Shakti temples in Kerala, and outside too.

He has penned Soundarya Lahari, and Vishnusahasranama Bhashyam and Thrisathi Bashyam,. He has authored some major tantra texts, andhas composed innumerable Stotras on Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Ganesha, Skanda, Dakshinamurthi.. the list is very long..

He saw reason in all the six mathas.. Sauram,Vaishnavam, Saktham, Saivam, Kaumaram and Ganapthyam and integrated and validated all these.. He realized that Hinduism is like a huge garden, a huge orchard with lot of fruits and foliage.

Every believer can pluck flowers and fruits according to his own preferences,tastes. He can remain in his  level of understanding of the Supreme Being and worship deities or entities   of his own choice..

Hearing of His glory, Singing of His glory, Meditating on Him, Service at the feet of His and His devotees, offering him flowers and praises, doing pranams, acting as his slave, or offering friendship to Him and ultimately offering himself to God.. all are ways to reach Him..स्मरणं कीर्तनं विष्णो स्मरणं पादसेवनम् अर्चनं वन्दनं दास्यं सख्यं आत्मनिवेदनम्; so says Bhagavatam...

There are no P hd.holders  or unlettered people in HInduism.. If anyone thinks he is the lone P hd holder.. it is simply sad...We can worship God in whatever way we like, but we will be incurring sin if we think any other mode, or any other deity than our favourite deity is wrong or bad...

This should be the spirit...

We cannot bring ourselves to think of God without His consent and help

one can make his mind to choose meditation only if that Supreme Being permits him to do so..

We cannot bring ourselves to think of God without His consent and help.. Our first entreaty, prayer and request to the Supreme Being should be that He may be pleased to grant us permission to seek his help..

God wants a place all for Himself, and if our mind is occupied by pride and arrogance, how can God come and stay there?

Prayer and worship to God are personal choices

 

Prayer and worship to God are personal choices.

Prayer is a matter between the one who prays and the One who receives and perhaps answers the prayer.

Of course, many innocent persons are having no clue as to how to pray.

In fact, there are no rules for prayer.

A child seeks for the breast of its mother for feeding and the mother in turn thrusts the nipple into the partly open mouth of the newborn.

There are no rulebooks prescribing this.

In addition, God-we can turn to Him in utter curiosity and supplication- and sure, He will thrust His love on us-perhaps even if we try to reject Him. We can always tell God what bothers us, what pleases us, what we want, and we can trust that He will respond favourably to our reasonable prayers.

God, our relation, and I is such a simple affair.

However, to make long list of rules and procedures for connecting with God, and posing as guides or gurus, seeking presents or Daksinas directly or indirectly for this purpose, using mild, moderate, or major threats to the effect that if the disciple does not follow the methods he prescribed, there will be punishment and that heaven will fall down. Such activities are all simply busines, exploitation, and patently full of lies too.

If we follow them eagerly and are even eager to expose ourselves to exploitation, even God cannot save us from these guides, gurus and quacks.

It is okay if we study with reverence, the way people with experience and empathy connect with god and it is not incorrect to follow the same methods. It is nice if we try to connect with God the way our parents, grandparents and relatives did.

However, connecting with God and God itself is a unique experience.

Not any rulebook, not any chant or litany, written or chanted, is the ultimate choice.

We should not mistake the straw we use as the sweet beverage we consume.

What triggered my thoughts is the proliferation of the so-called web gurus who prop up their publicity with new campaigns giving advice in the old ways of acharam, aaharam and so on.

It is just business. If one has spare money, he can indulge in such mass hysteria too.

𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐣𝐚 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐨 entities 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝

 

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 --𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐥𝐩𝐚𝐦 ( 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐤𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐬 (𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬) 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞-𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚-𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐤𝐫𝐢𝐭.

𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐕𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬 -𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐝-- 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧.

𝐒𝐨, 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 are 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚 lot of 𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢le 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐦, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧..

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐠𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞,𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐲..

𝐎𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲.

𝐈𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐈 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐯𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐒𝐨 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥..𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐬..

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐫, 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫.

𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 could be 𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐲, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞..

𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐣𝐚( 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧) , 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐣𝐚 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐨 entities 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝.

𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞.

When you call it energy or Krishna or Sheneeswara or Kristu, the difference is only in the nomenclature.

When you call it energy or Krishna or Sheneeswara or Kristu, the difference is only in the nomenclature. How do you get greater clarity just by calling the divine as energy instead of Mr Krishna or Mrs Durga..? It all depends, IMHO in what the mind understands when we call the Gods name. If we think that God is in his heaven and all is well with his world, we are rather peaceful. When we feel that presence in the epicentre of our vitals, we are perhaps nearer to the realization or sadhana. When we are able to go further and state that “I am one with God”, it is jeevanmukthi. Instead of this if we are trying to enter into a barter with God. I shall do adipradakshinam if I get 95 percent in Exam, I will break 1008 coconuts and equal number neiyappam and modakam if I get a campus selection, and many activities involving quid pro quo, there we are seeing the Divinity as a Grocer or some other businessman. We should have absolute clarity on this issue. Nothing wrong even if we conceive Parabrahmam as a buffalo.

Shivoham shivoham

Shivoham shivoham

nothing wrong in visiting a temple or worshiping an idol..

the Divine One is present there too,

and those who visit also carry the thought of Him usually when they visit...

Sivaanandalahari - 12* of Shankara

गुहायां गेहे वा बहिरपि वने वाऽद्रिशिखरे जले वा वह्नौ वा वसतु वसते: किं वद फलम् ।

सदा यस्यैवान्त: करण-मपि शंभो तव पदे स्तितं चेध्यॊगोऽसौ स च परम-योगी स च सुखी ॥

"whether one resides in a far off cave or in a residential flat,

in the open ground or inside a forest or on the top of a mountain,

in water or in fire...

is the place of residence really matter?

Oh Lord Shambu, if one's inner spirit is always fixed at your feet,

then He is yoga,

He is the yogi,

and he is enjoying the greatest comforts.. "

So ultimately for the one who can see God everywhere,

the idol and temple are also okay..

For a person not so disposed, no place is okay...

A story is told of Avvaiyaar the Lady Saint of Tamil..

Once she was passing through a village and she was tired walking for long in hot sun..

She saw a temple of Shiva.. and the mandapam was open..

She went there, and rested there sprawling her tired legs pointing to wards the sanctum.. where Shivalingam was consecrated..

Someone came and asked..

"Old lady, why are you showing your feet to the lord? "

She replied..

" Son, just show me a direction where I can place my feet and that will not point towards that eternal Shiva.."

Here Shiva is the universal Lord, and forget any philosophy or religion involved..

Still that is the truth..

Of course, this is not to say we should show our feet to the idol in the temple..

Just only a reminder that we can feel the presence of the Divine everywhere.

Shivoham, Shivoham

musings 161

Every day we offer prayers, pooja, naivedyam namaskarams to God..

After the offering of love and respects to God the only desire that is very deep in mind is the prayer that

another day,

another opportunity may be given

to repeat the prayers..

more prayers, more flowers, more naivedyam, more stotram, more lamps, more garland to the God..

We never get bored of repetition..

I think for most of us God is also something more that a sort of witness, a protector..

He is just a part of us and at the same time we can feel His presence outside us too..

Peripherally it might seem that we are just praying to God to get things done, to turn things in our favour, fairly or unfairly..

But that relationship is only on surface..

Attachment to the Divine just takes deep root in us gradually and even without our knowing we develop a bond with God which is not based on any sort of expectation, quid pro quo..

This root is entrenched very deep in everyone of us..

But sometimes we forget it..

But sooner or later, since the root is strong, new trunk, branches flowers and fruits will grow.. Sure..

Is there any meaning to life if there is no God?

I am sure nothing in life is there if no God is with us to share it..