Say, I Believe

There are many people in this world who have staunch faith in God, while there are others who doubt His existence. Doubt about God is basically a feeling of uncertainty about the truth, reality or distrust of the existence of God. In spiritualism doubt is just the opposite of the Faith. Faith in God as the Supreme reality is the essence of any religion. If you have doubt in the existence of God & do not consider Him the all powerful one, who has created this universe & it's creation, then you are not the Faithful one.

Faith makes our perceptions & beliefs. If you have Faith & believe in religious scriptures, words of a saint, then you are able to turn toward the God. It's Faith only which determines how you can mould your life. Here is a small story which explains the virtues of faith:

"Once upon a time there used to live four monks in a hermitage with their master. Three of the monks always used to spend all of their time in debating and talking about the existence of God & all types of intellectual pursuits. Fourth one was a simple man who had great faith in God & always used to sweep the floors of the temple. At the end, this simple man got enlightenment first. At this the intellectual monks asked their master, how come the simple man got enlightenment first? At that their master responded, "When he was sweeping the temple floor, he was also sweeping the corners of his mind of all doubts". His firm faith in God without any doubt is the reason that he is able to attain to enlightenment first."

If you do not have faith in God then you cannot believe in the words of God. Such a doubting person cannot find peace in life & cannot attain to the Divine consciousness. Doubting soul finds happiness neither in this world nor in the next, while the faithful one's attain peace & reach to God easily. Below verse of Bhagwat Gita explains that only.

"ajnas chasraddadhanas cha
samsayatma vinasyati
nayam loko ’sti na paro
na sukham samsayatmanah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four verse 40)

"Sri Krishna said: But ignorant and faithless human beings who doubt the revealed scriptures, do not attain to the God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next."

Below verses of Bhagwat Gita describe the virtues of Faith:

"tad-buddhayas tad-atmanas
tan-nisthas tat-parayanah
gacchanty apunar-avrttim
jnana-nirdhuta-kalmasah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Five verse 17)

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: When one’s Intelligence, Mind, Faith and refuge are all fixed in the God, then one becomes fully cleansed of misgivings through complete knowledge and thus proceeds straight on the path of liberation."

"yoginam api sarvesam
mad-gatenantar-atmana
shraddhavan bhajate yo mam
sa me yuktatamo matah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Six verse 47)

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: And of all yogis, the one with great Faith, who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me—he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion."

So let's have Faith in God & do not doubt about the existence of God. It shall be Good if you have Faith in the words of a saint or in religious books than denying the fact that billions of people on earth, believe in God, pray daily for God & find peace of mind in God. So just proudly say, "Yes, I believe in God".

Jai Shri Krishna

From Deity to Infinity

Swami Vivekananda in his youth age was in search of a true master who would lead him to God. Whenever, he used to meet any saint, he would ask him, "Have you seen God?", but no one would say with conviction that he has seen God. Same question he put to Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa when he saw him for the first time. At his question Sri Ramakrishna replied,"Yes, I have seen God as real as I am seeing you before me."

Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa was the caretaker of Kali Temple at Calcutta. He used to worship the stone image of Goddess Kali in the temple but due to his devotion, Mother Goddess Kali, used to take the live form & used to talk to him. As per Sri Ramakrishna:

"ALL doubts disappear when one sees God. It is one thing to hear of God, but quite a different thing to see Him. A man cannot have one hundred per cent conviction through mere hearing. But if he beholds God face to face, then he is wholly convinced.

Formal worship drops away after the vision of God. It was thus that my worship in the temple came to an end. I used to worship the deity in the Kali Temple. It was suddenly revealed to me that everything is Pure Spirit. The utensils of worship, the altar, the door-frame - all Pure Spirit. Then like a mad man I began to shower flowers in all directions. Whatever I saw I worshipped."

God is all pervasive Pure Spirit. This universe is infinite only due to that Infinite Pure Spirit pervasive all around us. Pure Spirit as infinite being is limitless, omnipresent & the one who fills this limitless space. Such an Infinite Pure Spirit exists everywhere. Below are few verses from Bhagwat Gita which describe about the infinite nature of Pure Spirit :

"sarvatah pani-padam tat
sarvato ’ksi-siro-mukham
sarvatah shrutimal loke
sarvam avrtya tishthati" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Thirteen verse 14)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Everywhere are His (God's) hands and feet, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Super Soul exists, pervading everything in this world."

"mattah parataram nanyat
kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam
sutre mani-gana iva" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Seven verse 7)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, there is nothing else besides Me (Pure Spirit) in this world. Like clusters of yarn-beads formed by knots on a thread, all this world is threaded on me (Pure Spirit).

So though God is there in clay Idol in unmanifest form but that un-manifest God is Pure Spirit who is present everywhere & encompasses whole universe in it. That un-manifest God as Pure Spirit only takes live form before a true devotee. That infinite, un-manifest, Pure Spirit is realized in meditation as God & that Pure Spirit only helps us when we think of God & ask for His help. That all pervasive Pure Spirit is only called Bráhmn. So let's understand that Bráhmn, the all pervasive Pure Spirit & once we are able to understand & realize that then we shall transcend from Deity to Infinity as everything in this universe is Pure Spirit only.

God is Infinite Pure Spirit,
Whole world dwells in Infinite Pure Spirit,
Whole world comes from Infinite Pure Spirit,
Whole world goes back in Infinite Pure Spirit,
Whole world breathes in Infinite Pure Spirit,
Let's worship that Infinite Pure Spirit, the God.

Jai Sri Krishna.

Idol Worship

In many religions of the world people do idol worship while there are other religions where idol worship is forbidden. In Hinduism people do pray the idols of their revered Gods but there are people in other religions who disapprove of such idolism. Now big question is whether God is actually there in Clay Idol or not?

As per the philosophy of Bhagwat Gita & Hinduism, God is omnipresent (present everywhere) in it's un-manifest aspect & is always present all around us. Every inch of the space is occupied by Him. Every nook & corner is filled by Him. In this aspect He is called Brahm (God) who is Truth Absolute, Knowledge Absolute and is Infinite.

It is this un-manifest aspect of God that is present in Clay Idols that Hindus worship as their God. Now to fulfill the desire of a devotee, this un-manifest, all pervasive Brahm (God) who is there in Clay Idol, by the power of His Yogmaya, manifests Himself as an embodied Being and appears before the devotee. So in this way the Un-manifest God in Clay Idol becomes manifest before the devotees.

So this omnipresent, un-manifest God appears before a devotee in whatever form he worships Him, whether it is the form of Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti, Ganesha or any other form. A devotee should always remember that the God whom he worships, always pervades through this whole universe & can manifest Himself in any form, anytime He wants to appear before his devotee. God is never invisible to such souls who have understood His true nature, nor does He ever lose sight of them.

In Bhagwat Gita, Arjuna asked Lord Krishna to show him the "Cosmic Form of God" & Lord Krishna showed Arjuna his physical "Virat Rupa" or "Cosmic Form of God" in which all these universes & all these planets, stars etc. were present. This physical "Virat Rupa" of God or this whole universe is the external body of the omnipresent, un-manifest God. Similarly this small Clay Body of God is the miniature aspect of that "Virat Rupa" or all inclusive physical universes.

Generally we see that, whenever, people go to the temple & come in front of the Clay Idol, people close their eyes. Why it is so that when people come before their revered God, they close their eyes? Simple answer to this is that they feel God much closer to their heart inside themselves when they come in front of the Clay Idol. Yes, God who is there in omnipresent, un-manifest aspect in the Clay Idol is also sitting in their hearts in un-manifest aspect. So that is the reason that while closing their eyes before the Clay Idol, people feel the presence of un-manifest God present everywhere & also in their heart.

So the answer to the question, "Whether God is actually there in the Clay Idol or not?" is in Yes. Yes, God is there in the Clay Idol. Let us respect the feelings & thinking of those people who do Idol Worship.

Jai Shri Krishna