Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 6

Significance of idol worship

 

Swami writes,

"A tree’s value is estimated with reference to its fruits. Take idol worship, for example. Moralists, metaphysicians, philosophers, adherents of the path of devotion, and the foremost among the virtuous in all parts of the world have all agreed that idol worship is highly beneficial. 

As long as attachment to the material body and possessions persists, worship of a material symbol is necessary. It is but a means, but many decry it as a superstition. This is not correct. It is not the right approach. Such an attitude is just an outburst of foolishness.

Is it not a fact that the belief in one’s being the body is a superstition? Can the body last forever? Is it not a skin doll with nine apertures, in which life is so perilously existent that a sneeze may cause collapse? 

Again, should we not characterize the life people lead, believing in the reality of this world, as another superstition? Isn’t all the self-importance assumed by people who have positions of power and a great quantity of riches another foolish pose?

But acts done on the basis of faith in the Atma, the Reality within, can’t be dubbed as superstitious or foolish. For every opinion one expresses, if proper reasons are given, all will rejoice. But to declare as superstitious all that one doesn’t like is a sign of frenzy, foolishness, or egotism.

We will find it impossible to love God or adore Him unless we meditate on some form; this is as essential as breathing is for sheer living. This is a necessary stage in the process of living. One has to accept it as such. 

Childhood is the father of old age. Can old age condemn childhood or teenage as evil? To experience the divine Principle, idol worship is and has been a great help to many. 

How then can the aspirant and the practitioner of spiritual disciplines condemn idol worship after passing through that stage and deriving benefits from it? That would indeed be very wrong and inappropriate.

The Indian (Bharathiya) march toward the Supreme Reality is not from untruth to truth. It is from truth to truth, from incomplete truth to complete truth, from a partial truth to full truth. 

For what are spiritual exercises? Every effort made by people, from remote forest dwellers and unsophisticated tribals who adore the gross forms of Divinity to highly evolved seekers who adore the Full and the Absolute, is a spiritual exercise. Each such effort will take one a step forward in progress.

Each individual soul (jivi) is comparable to a bird; by longer and higher flights, it can rise up into the sky. And a stage may finally be gained when it can fly right up to the full splendored orb of the sun."

 

Introspection

 

Instantly, whatever the author had read on the subject, written by Swami Sivananda, comes to his mind.

Swami ji writes,

“Idol or Murthy (Vigraha), Sun, Fire, Water, Ganga, Saligram, Linga are all symbols or Prateekas of God which help the aspirants to attain one-pointedness of mind and purity of heart. A symbol is absolutely indispensable for fixing the mind. The Christians also have got the symbol 'cross'. 

A gross mind needs a concrete symbol as a prop or Alambana; a subtle mind requires an abstract symbol. Even a Vedantin has the symbol of OM for fixing the wandering mind. In the beginning concentration or meditation is not possible without a symbol.

The devotee superimposes on the concrete idol the Lord and His attributes. He does Shodasopachara for the idol, the sixteen kinds of paying respects or service to the Lord such as Padyam (water for washing feet), Arghyam, Asana (seat), Snana (bathing), offering clothes, Achamana (water for sipping), applying sandal paste, offering flowers (Archana), burning incense, waving of lights and camphor; Maha Naivedyam, etc. 

The wandering mind is fixed now in this form of worship. The aspirant gradually feels the nearness of the Lord. He attains purity of heart and slowly annihilates his egoism.

For a Bhakta or a sage, there is no such thing as Jada or insentient matter. Everything is Vasudeva or Chaitanya-vasudevah sarvam iti. The devotee beholds actually the Lord in the idol. 

How sublime is Hindu philosophy and Hindu mode of worship! It does not stop or end with worship of idol alone. The Sadhaka is taken step by step to higher stages of devotion and Samadhi or communion through the worship of the idol. Though he worships the idol, he has to keep before his mental eye the all-pervading Lord. 

A piece of ordinary white paper or coloured paper has no value. You throw it away. But if there is stamp or picture of the King or Emperor on the paper (currency notes), you keep it safe in your money purse or trunk. Even so, an ordinary piece of stone has no value for you. You throw it away. 

But if you behold the stone Murti of Lord Krishna at Pandarpur or any other Murti in shrines, you bow your head with folded hands, because there is the stamp of the Lord on the stone. The devotee superimposes on the stone Murti his own Beloved and all the attributes of the Lord. Image worship is very necessary for beginners.

Even by worshipping a Pratima (idol) Ishvara is very much pleased. The Pratima is made up of five elements. Five elements constitute the body of the Lord. The idol remains as an idol. But the worship goes to the Lord. There is nothing wrong in worshipping an idol in the beginning. You must superimpose God and His attributes on the idol. You must think of the Antar-Atma that is hidden in the idol.

Hear the divine whisper in silence. Realise the power of faith. Feel God's sustaining Grace. Know the way of escape. Build the shrine of love or the temple of devotion in your heart. Enter the silence. Enjoy the life transcendent."

Swami’s writing and Sivananda ji’s writing on “Significance of Idol worship” is so complete in itself that there is nothing to elaborate on the same.

As long as one is having one’s own body identification, He can imagine, visualize and worship God only with form. Hence, Idol worship is important for him.

As he evolves in his devotion, as his devotion evolves into supreme love for God, he loses his body identification in the ocean of love that he exists as. 

Only when he loses his body identification, the form of God is also transcended and the bhakta reaches the state of Samadhi and abides in SELF.

 

Love.

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 5

Merging of the individual in the Total

 

One feels happy when one has the knowledge that this one little body is one’s own, right? Then, when one knows that two bodies belong to one, shouldn’t one be twice as happy? 

 

In the same way, with the knowledge that one has an increasing number of bodies, the experience of happiness goes on increasing. 

 

When the whole world is known to be one body and world consciousness becomes part of the awareness, then the bliss will be full. To get this multi-consciousness, the limited egocentric prison walls must be destroyed.

 

When the ego-self (or jivi) identifies itself with the divine Atma, death will cease. When the ego-self identifies itself and merges with the bliss of the One, sorrow will cease. 

 

When it merges with spiritual wisdom (jnana), error will cease. “Material individual ness is born out of delusion; this body, which creates that impression, is only an ever-evolving atom of a boundless ocean; the second entity in me is the other form, namely, the embodied Self; when the ego of mine merges with the divine Self in me, then the delusion disappears through the upsurge of its opposite, supreme knowledge.” When one’s thought matures in the process of time, undoubtedly all schools of thought have to reach this conclusion.

 

Introspection

 

Swami is giving us the highest vedantic truth today in the above part in 2nd chapter of this vahini.

 

Let us try to understand the merger of individual in total, the subject of today’s post from SS Vahini, in this way:

 

The terms Brahman and Atman are used interchangeably in the Upanishads and in the Gita and other scriptures. So, from one aspect they are synonyms.

The definition of Brahman is given in the Taittiriya Upanishad as:–

 

'That from whence all beings are born, that by which, when born, they exist, that into which they enter at their demise, seek to know that. That is Brahman.'

 

It further goes on to say that Brahman is qualified by SAT (Being), CHIT (Consciousness) and ANANTA (limitless) - some texts substitute ĀNANDA or Bliss for ananta - but both refer to the limitless divine love and bliss.

 

So, Brahman is the fabric or network of the Universe described a BEING - there is no before or after, up or down, in or out - THAT simply IS - time-space. Brahman is the Unified Field.

 

Consciousness pervades the Universe and is integral to the fabric of the Universe itself. Bliss, love – infinite and spacious is the very nature of Brahman.

 

Now the Atman is a mode, or moiety of Brahman known is Sanskrit as amsa. Each and every amsa of Brahman is qualified by the same three essential attributes but in a state conditioned by KARMA.

These are known as:–

 

asti — existence - limited by time, space and causation.

bhati – consciousness - defined by 

(1) perception, (2) cognition and (3) experience.

Priti or priya – love. Every living sentient being has love - firstly self-love - then love of partner, children, friends etc. in every expanding circle of inclusion. 

 

In less developed creatures it never goes beyond self-love and in the advanced stages of spiritual evolution love is inclusive of all sentient and insentient beings.

The external universe in which we exist is comprised of nama-rupa — name and form.

 

When the individual ego/Jiva, transcends the limitations of Asti, Bhati, Priya, as described above, then the limitation of the Jiva atman as an amsa is transcended and the amsa , jiva atman, merges with the whole, Parama atman or Brahman.

 

What are the limitations which a jiva has to transcend in order to merge with God/Universal consciousness??

 

1)   Limitation of time, space, objective (Asti)

2) Perception and experience based on objects (Bhati)

3) Love, based on individual, limited relationships (Priya)

Upon transcending the above three, one easily goes beyond the limitation of his name and form as well as names and forms of all others in the creation and the jiva merges with God, Atman merges in Brahman.

 

Love.

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 4

Chapter II

 From Truth to Truth

Questions may be asked, and doubts expressed by many about the state of a person after attaining fulfillment, the fullness of awareness. The person’s life will be saturated with unexcelled divine bliss (Ananda). The person will experience oneness of thought, emotion, and knowledge with all. 

The person will be in ecstasy, immersed in the One and Only, the eternal divine Principle, for that alone can confer joy during the process of living. Genuine joy is this and no other. God is the embodiment of eternal ever-full joy. 

Those loyal to Indian (Bharathiya) culture, whatever sect, or faith they claim as their special mold, accept this axiom: God is the highest source of joy. This conclusion (Matha) they accept as dearest and most pleasurable (Abhimatha).

 

Self is fullness and bliss is wholeness

Fullness means wholeness. Wholeness implies One and not two or three. There cannot then be any place for the individual. When an individualized Atma or soul (Jivi), the particularized differentiated self, has become whole and full, there is no possibility of its return to the consciousness of the objective world — such doubts may arise in the minds of many, but these doubts are not correct. 

When the individualized soul becomes fixed in the totality (Samashti), it loses all ideas of distinction and is ever in the consciousness of the totality, the One that subsumes the many. 

The person will then be aware that the Reality of each is the Reality of all and that that Reality is the One Indivisible Atma. The person will not exhibit any consciousness of distinction between individuals.

The Divine that it knows as the core of each “thing and being” is now recognized by it as the Divine that it itself is, so it will be deeper than ever in the fullness of bliss (Ananda). How can it then experience separateness? No, it cannot. 

The rays of that bliss illumine all religions. The sages and great wise people (rishis) became aware of the bliss. They communicated that experience to the world in easily understandable language. The unreachable moon is made known by pointing a finger in the direction where it can be seen! 

So too, they brought within the purview of people the truth that lies beyond the reach of mind and speech, according to the state of consciousness that each of them had attained. Their teachings were not only simple but varied to educate and elevate all levels of understanding.

Introspection

Ananda upon attainment of completeness / attaining self-realization, has been covered in many posts in the blog / in many satsangh talks in the youtube channel earlier.

Let us take up this “Ananda” as explained in Taittiriya Upanishad today, from the exposition given by Swami Krishnananda

1)              “To come in contact with any object for getting happiness, we have to forget what we really are and focus on the object. 

2)              This is atma-nasha, or destruction of selfhood, as it were, in a very significant manner so that, in every clinging to an object, there is a transference of ourselves to the particular object in which we are interested.

3)              Every kind of love, every type of attachment is a transference of oneself to another. 

4)              If a mother loves the child, the mother has gone; only the child is there. The consciousness of the mother has identified itself with the child's body in such an intense manner that she does not exist anymore. 

5)              This is the case with every kind of transference of consciousness to objects. 

6)              All our sorrows in life can be attributed to this peculiar trait in our consciousness to go outwardly—either positively as love, or negatively as hatred—in respect of certain things.

Now comes the question of love and happiness. 

How are we happy?

And how is it that when there is love for a particular object, happiness seems to manifest itself from within? 

This is mentioned in Taittiriya Upanishad when it discusses the nature of the innermost sheath in us, called the Anandamaya kosha.

7)              What makes us happy? When we come to the proximity of a loved object, we seem to be happy in our mind:  The nearer we come to it, the greater is the happiness we feel inside. The happiness that one feels at the proximity of the loved object is called the priya. 

8)             It is not the apex of happiness, because we have not possessed the object. But happiness increases when it is under our possession. 

But now comes the psychological feature. 

How is it that happiness arises at all? 

What do we mean by happiness? 

Can we define it? 

Is it a substance? 

Is it a thing? 

Is it an object? 

Is it material or non-material? 

Is it outside us or inside us? 

Or is it midway between the two? Where is it situated? 

9)             An analysis would make it clear that happiness is not in the object. If a particular object which attracts our attention is the source of happiness, then happiness should be really inside it, as a part of its nature. 

10)        Then, as the sun is shining for all equally and not merely for one person, the object concerned also should be a source of happiness to everyone in the world, if happiness is the real character of that object. But we will see on observation that this is not true.

11)        So, it is not true that the object is the source of happiness. 

In our study of the Aitareya Upanishad, we noted   that the Atman alone was; nothing else existed in the beginning. 

There is the selfhood in us, which is another name for the deepest non-externalisable consciousness. 

12)        Why does the mind move towards the object outside? Because it is not ours.  Our love for a thing is intense when it is not possessed by us. 

13)        The love that we feel is nothing but a movement of the mind towards the object for the purpose of grabbing it. 

But when we have already got it, where is the point in the mind moving towards it once again? So, the mind withdraws itself.

14)        The externalisation of the mind outside was for the purpose of grabbing the object of sense. But, when the purpose is served—when the object has come near us and we have got it—the mind need not think of it. 

15)        When the externalising force of the mind ceases on account of the satisfaction felt by the possession of the object, there is, for a fraction of a moment, a flash of the universality of our consciousness. 

16)        The mind ceases to think of the object because of having had the satisfaction of possessing it, and the cessation of the mind is the cessation of externality of consciousness. 

17)        The moment this cessation takes place, the non-externalised Self within us bursts out; and happiness is nothing but the experience of non-externalised consciousness. 

Thus, the happiness has come from us; it has not come from outside.”

If the exposition of this great sage seems difficult to understand and absorb, let us understand the same in simplest manner.

When a desired object is owned or attained, then for a fraction of seconds/minutes, mind withdraws from the external world and rests without any thought. At that moment, unknowingly, we are one with our true nature, the SELF. This oneness with our true SELF, for want of better expression at worldly level, is defined or explained as “Ananda”.

Now, from the inner most expression from source of an unnamed realized seer, a Jivanmukhta

“All these expressions, bliss or Ananda, are valid only for the human beings outside of me. To me, all these are not relevant. There is nothing outside me for me to experience it as “Joy” or “Ananda”. I just exist. I AM I”.

When Swami writes about the one who has realized SELF, "The person’s life will be saturated with unexcelled divine bliss (Ananda)." He is writing for the seekers to know about the state of a realized seer, not from the realized seer's side.

Continued….

Love.