Sunday, 4 November 2012

" Idol Worship" : Worshipping an Ideal


Let's shift our perspective from the inconceivable reality to the more user-friendly version of God, Saguna Brahman.

" What I am is utterly beyond the capacity of your mind to conceive", the Goddess tells us in the Tripura Rahasya. "Therefore, worship Me in whatever form appeals to you. I promise, in that very from I will come to you". As you can see, compared to the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God, the Hindu Goddess has a very liberal  policy!

To the Hindu, Kali and Krishna are forms in which the divine appears. Yahweh and Jesus Christ are, too. There's no need to convert anyone because the Supreme One is working through " whatever form appeals to you" to help you grow spiritually.

Perhaps the Hindu form of God most poorly understood in the West is the image in the temple, pejoratively called an "idol" by members of monotheistic faiths. From early childhood, my Lutheran  Sunday school teachers assured me that the Hindus are primitive and superstitious-and it's our job to " save" them- because they "worship" idols".

Lets' get this straight right here, right now. Hindus do not worship idols. Hindus worship God.

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