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Re: QUESTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nirvan Nuckchedee (bh611@freenet.carleton.ca) wrote:
: Why do we (hindus) worship idols if even the Vedas say that God is formless
: Why not worship the creator directly instead of worshipping the creation??
: Why does God 'come down' physically on earth when He is everything and one
: person cannot possibly encompass the whole of God (as well as being formless)?
Dear Nirvanji:
God is formless, and everything is in Him, and none of the things is
God. This is what God said in the SBG. The Vedas contain the earliest
revelations given to man. In the RigVeda for example, the sages made the
statement that God is One, and they saw the same One God revealed
everywhere they looked, they talked about the Adityamandala (Surya) and
evolved symbolism around it, for example, in the GAyatri mantra,
Sage VishvAmitra used the symbolism of the Surya to say, " We have
limited vision of your light, and we think of your glory as the
fully luminous Surya, lead us there". The sun is a pratik (symbol)
but the worship is not of the sun, but of God. In the SBG, God
described the creation as His vibhuti, and said to Arjuna just what you
said; "to what purpose Arjuna you want to know me in these vibhutis (kiM
gnAtena), know Me as the One, in Whose one fraction, all the
creation is resident" (10.42).
In short, the so-called idol worship is actually worship through symbols,
described as pratikopAsanA. We care much about such icons, since we set
them apart for the use of God (His descent into it) or sanctify the
icon. This is authenticated by God too, as he said, "yo yo yAm yAm..."
(SBG). Sometime ago, someone mentioned the example of Brother Lawrence
in SRH, he was a Christian. When Brother Lawerence was a young man, God
appeared to him through a tree! The next time your friends ask you, ask
them to find out about Brother Lawrence.
With best regards,
Dhruba.
