Dhyana Vahini - Post 24

Chapter IX

Swami writes, 

 

Discuss the good in others, not the bad

The good should never even discuss the evil that others do, for that will contaminate them. The stories of Druva and Prahlada will, if listened to, grant merit and show the path, and the stories of Savithri and Anasuya will destroy the roots of evil and strengthen character. How does this happen? What is the explanation? They are all holy, and their careers are blameless; therefore, to discuss them and their lives is worthwhile and beneficial. That is the explanation. 

Some critics of “good people” justify their own carpings by saying that they are trying to correct the good people still further and make them even better! No, they are really provoking the good people to evil and drawing that evil upon themselves. They are themselves becoming evil people.

Never think about the badness or evil of others. If you can manage it, always keep trying to turn them to good ways and giving them good advice. One should cultivate peace of mind, the charitableness and eagerness to promote the welfare of all that is necessary for the attitude. These can come only through repetition of the divine name and meditation. The wealth derived from repetition of the Lord’s name and meditation is good qualities (sadguna). Good qualities clean the exterior and also purify and ennoble the inner tendencies.

Waves originate in the upper layers of the sea. They are caused by the wind, so the wind can be said to have that power. So too, the mind of the intelligent person is full of thoughts and opinions. When the proper atmosphere is present, these spring up and roll in from all directions.

 

The Lord assumes the yearned-for form

In the same manner, the Lord is manifest in the picture or image that one worships, but is this due to any special excellence of the picture or image? No. The picture, the photo, the image — these are and remain as picture, photo, and image. 

The fact is that on account of the intensity of the devotion of the devotee, the Lord cannot desist from manifesting Himself for them. For that reason, He assumes — in stone, wood, or paper — the form that the devotee contemplates and meditates upon and worships. 

He materialized from a pillar for Prahlada’s sake! For Vamana, He became visible in a stone! For Markandeya, He issued from a linga (egg-shaped stone)! In order to fulfill the yearning of the devotee, Hari, the Immanent Basic Being of the Universe, will come in any form, in anything, at any place.

 

Introspection

There was no need to introspect as the author vividly remembered what he had read in this context and he could access that and share with you.

Regular Worship Unveils The Divinity In The Idol

Regular worship, Puja and other modes of demonstrating our inner feeling of recognition of Divinity in the idol unveils the Divinity latent in it. This is truly a wonder and a miracle. The picture comes to life. The idol speaks. It will answer your questions and solve your problems. The God in you has the power to awaken the latent Divinity in the idol. It is like a powerful lens that focuses the sun’s rays on to a bundle of cotton. The lens is not fire and the cotton is not fire either nor can the sun’s rays, by themselves, burn the cotton. When the three are brought together in a particular manner, fire is generated and the cotton is burnt. Similar is the case with the idol, the Sadhaka and the all-pervading Divinity. Puja makes the idol shine with divine resplendence. God is then enshrined in the idol. 

The Image, A Mass Of Chaitanya

The idol is only a symbol of the Divine. A devotee does not behold therein a block of stone or a mass of metal. It is an emblem of God for him. He visualises the Indwelling Presence in the Murti or image. 

For a devotee, the image is a mass of Chaitanya or consciousness. He draws inspiration from the image. The image guides him. It talks to him. It assumes human form to help him in a variety of ways. The image of Lord Siva in the temple of Madurai in South India helped the fuel-cutter and the old woman. The image in the temple of Tirupati assumed human form and gave witness in the court to help his devotees. There are marvels and mysteries. Only the devotees understand these.

When Idols Became Alive

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. 

The Murti is the same as the Lord, for it is the vehicle of expression for the Mantra - Chaitanya which is the Devata. The same attitude should the devotee have in regard to the Murti in the temple, which he would evince if the Lord would appear before him in person and speak to him in articulate sound.”

(Extract from Swami Sivananda’s article on “Philosophy and significance of Idol worship”)

In essence, as much as Brahman is all pervading, how can Brahman be not there in the idol which is worshipped by the Bhakta??

Thus, when the devotion is single pointed and Bhakta reaches the most intense stage in his devotion, Chaitanya, which is present in the idol ( as much as it is pervading the entire creation) chooses to manifest as the form of  lord whose image in there in the idol, and the idol speaks, the idol blesses, the idol hugs the bhakta!!

 

Love.