Hi all, I haven't been around here in awhile. I hope everyone is doing well. I thought I'd cause some trouble and make a thread. lol. So, the story goes that every Saturday morning we sing bhajans in the basement of a church. All of our murthis are kept in a closet with a key. Unfortunately the person in the key was very late this morning and everyone was waiting for puja to start. I made the suggestion that we could just start prayers without the murthis, and I was met with much resistance. A few minutes later, we were able to get into the closet and set everything up and have prayers as usual. But I thought this might be an interesting topic to have a discussion about. What do you feel about the use of murthis? The use of images is one of the most misunderstood of all Hindu practices (particularly by Abrahamic religions). Do you think its necessary? Is the use of images just a stepping stone or is darshan a quintessential part of Hinduism that must be practiced? I'll give my own view in a bit, but I'd love to hear some of yours! Peace~ <3 Hari Om.
Hare Krishna ! Dear Nicole, Where have you been for so long ? Hope, everything is fine with you and you are keeping well. Thanks for this thread bearing the very important topic. Dear, can you feel the lord's present inside your own being, can you see all others as your beloved Lord, does the whole mother nature appear in front of you as your dear Lord's 'sakar' presence ? If you feel yes, everything including yourself is God, then no murthi, image, idol is necessary. Otherwise, they are required for some to bring the 'Bhava'. They are to be used as stepping stones. But, as long as ignorance is there, the separation (Veda) is there, when true knowledge comes then the separation vanishes (Aveda), even the stepping stones, cats, rats, bats and all your friends become one in the form of your dear Lord.(Divine Consciousness). Lots of love, Kumar.
Hi Nicole - Nice to see you around. I think that probably murtis, images, icons etc can be useful to some. It depends I think on the psychology of the person, and their stage of spiritual experience. For some it may be useful to have a visible and concrete image on which they can focus. But I think our Kumar is right - you can see the divine in nature in different ways. Also there's the image and presence of the divine within us. There's also though the whole thing of collective puja, divine services etc. Perhaps images are useful in creating a focus for a group of people. If you have a guru or spiritual mentor, it can be good to have a picture of them - it can help create an inner connection. There's also the yogic practice of Trataka - gazing at an image of a form of the divine, or even an abstract shape. It develops concentration and single-pointedness, and can lead to a kind of absortion in the image being contemplated.
Excellent answers, Kumar and Bill, you took the words out of my fingers! Murthi puja is a wonderful starting point to channel the thoughts and emotions toward the higher, but the seeker must always keep in mind the idols are only symbols of the divine and nothing more (or less). The form has to be used as a launching pad to take the mind into contemplation of the formless, all-pervading divine. This is why the puranas give us detailed descriptiosn of the forms to be meditated on, then tell us to contemplate on the whole world within that form (virata roop or cosmic form) - the sun and moon as the eyes, space as the clothing, trees as the hair, heaven as the head, hell as the feet, etc. And from there they guide us even further to drop these external forms also and see the Lord as the pure self in the cave of the heart. Thus the mind is purified and made subtler and subtler in order to prepare it for the highest meditation. But if this is forgotten and we become attached to the idol only and refuse to see god anywhere else, then it is counter-productive. A beautiful verse from Sri Kabirdas: Pahan puje hari mile to main poojun pahad usse to chakki bhali, pis khaaye sansaar If worshipping a stone can help me find the divine, I will worship a mountain! Worshipping a grinding stone is better (than such blind idol worship) as it gives food and livelihood to people.
