Idol worship is perhaps the greatest falsehood of this great religion of Hinduism

"Namaste! We would be grateful if you could provide us with specific quotes from Hindu scriptures related to the worship of murtis. This is a controversial issue among non-Hindus, and so far we have been unable to find Vedic scripture that support it. Perhaps you and your associates will be able to provide us with precise texts to back this practise.”- jagbir

—- In adishakti_sahaja_yoga@yahoogroups.com," Vipul"
wrote:
>
> Symbolism behind Shiva Linga in Hinduism and its relationship to
> modern science
>
> I thought that members of this group may like to watch the
> following 16 minute video (in Hindi with English subtitles) on
> symbolism behind Shiva Linga in Hinduism.
> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7750003834905326157
> This is a great video explaining the vision of ancient rishi's
> behind the symbolism of Shiv Linga and its relation to the modern
> discoveries.
>

i just watched this video which embellishes facts and attempts to justify worshipping the Shiva Linga, which is just another idol actually ..... albeit an abstract one. There is not a single sentence in all the Hindu scriptures that condone worshipping of idols in any form. This is perhaps the greatest falsehood of Hinduism that keeps hundreds of millions blissfully brainwashed and ignorant. For years now i am still waiting for such evidence. Hindus may ask their most learned Vedic scholar to produce that single sentence. Despite my challenging and condemning my Hindu friends for this absolutely false practice none have been able till date to bring forth such evidence.

This is what happened when i asked for evidence a few years ago from a Hindu organization that prided itself on Vedic knowledge:

So far we have been unable to find Vedic scripture that support idol worship

"From: Jagbir Singh
To: A. Palaniswami
Subject: Worship of Murtis
Date: Thursday, February 11, 1999 9:32 AM

Dear Palaniswami,

Namaste!

We would be grateful if you could provide us with specific quotes from Hindu scriptures related to the worship of murtis. This is a controversial issue among non-Hindus, and so far we have been unable to find Vedic scripture that support it. Perhaps you and your associates will be able to provide us with precise texts to back this practise. Thank you and have a blissful Shivaratri Puja.

OM! Shanti!

jagbir"

There are a great many quotes in the various scriptures about idol worship

"From: Acharya Ceyonswami
To: jagbir

Subject: worship of murthis
Date: Saturday, February 20, 1999 6:54 PM

Reply to: worship of murthis

"Namaste Jagbir,

Prostrations to Vighna Vinayaga,

There are a great many quotes in the various scriptures of the different sects of Hinduism referring to the worship of murthis — the Saiva Agamas, Vaishnava Agamas, and the Shakti agamas, as well as the ancient Tirumantiram of Tirumular and much more. The Karanagama, Silparatna and Kasyapa silpa deal in great length the details of the various murthis. The Pratima Kosha, or Encyclopaedia of Indian Iconography gives various research on the art form of icons and how the murthis are to be designed.

However, we don't think it would be worthwhile spending the time to type up quotes to convince Christians of anything—it won't matter to them what our scriptures say, as they don't consider them scripture! We need to stand strong for our Hindu faith and practices without having to feel defensive to anyone for what we do. Sanatana Dharma is the fountainhead of all religions and each practices a certain part of the One Eternal Dharma. One God, One World.

Om Sivaya,

Ceyonswami"

Acharya Ceyonswami

We revere idols as the temporary body of gods

"From: GURUDEVA
gurudeva-dws@ultraviolet.org
Cc: repost-dancing-siva@spiritweb.org

Subject: Dancing with Siva Shloka 108
Date: Wednesday, February 24, 1999 1:12 AM

What is the Nature of Image Worship?

SHLOKA 108

We worship God Siva and the Gods who by their infinite powers spiritually hover over and indwell the image, or murti, which we revere as their temporary body. We commune with them through the ritual act of puja. Aum.

BHASHYA

The stone or metal Deity images are not mere symbols of the Gods; they are the form through which their love, power and blessings flood forth into this world. We may liken this mystery to our ability to communicate with others through the telephone. We do not talk to the telephone; rather we use a telephone as a means of communication with another person who is perhaps thousands of miles away. Without the telephone, we could not converse across such distances; and without the sanctified murti in the temple or shrine we cannot easily commune with the Deity. His vibration and presence can be felt in the image, and He can use the image as a temporary physical-plane body or channel. As we progress in our worship, we begin to adore the image as the Deity's physical body, for we know that He is actually present and conscious in it during puja, aware of our thoughts and feelings and even sensing the pujari's gentle touch on the metal or stone.

The Vedas exclaim," Come down to us, Rudra, who art in the high mountains. Come and let the light of thy face, free from fear and evil, shine upon us. Come to us with thy love.”Aum Namah Sivaya.”

GURUDEVA

(end)

But where are the great many quotes in the various scriptures about idol worship?

There is not even a single line in the Vedas or Puranas that support idol-worship.

Thus if great learned men use the best Vedic quote," Come down to us, Rudra, who art in the high mountains. Come and let the light of thy face, free from fear and evil, shine upon us. Come to us with thy love," and translate it into worship of stone idols we can only reel in repulsion and disgust. If this is one of the"great many quotes in the various scriptures of the different sects of Hinduism referring to the worship of murthis", then we can only shudder in silence and utter aversion.

Hindus should remember that they are led to believe that only their brahmins are empowered to act as middlemen between themselves and the gods through elaborate rituals and lengthy sacred sequences of mantras. For millennia ignorant masses have been conditioned that these temple priests are able to communicate with the mighty deities represented by stone statues infused with their shaktis (power) in elaborate rituals only feasible by brahmins.

So what are brahmins without their visible idols? And what are worshipers without common sense to distinguish between manmade rituals and scriptural Truth? And how did the followers of the eternal Sanatana Dharma succumb to such darkness?

The pristine and flawless Vedic scriptures did not contradict at all. It was the priestly caste that perverted them for their own power, and maintained it with a plethora of granite gods. And a billion Hindus remain blind to one of the greatest falsehood perpetuated in the name of God Almighty. May they learn through Self-Realization to worship the Eternal Essence of Brahman (God Almighty) within their own beings than the lifeless idols without, a stain on the Sanatana Dharma which even the Great Adi Shakti denounces!

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

That is why you must get Realization.

"At the Nirvikalpa state, the Collective Consciousness becomes subtler and subtler. At that stage you can understand the very deep significance of things when the Reality starts becoming clearer....

You give him a statue of a deity and ask him all about this statue—whether it is all right or not. He might say that it is not alright. You can feel the subtle vibrations, whether it is in Dharma or otherwise.

Now can we say say that Ashtavinayaka's are living gods? How do you know Jyotirlingas are living? How will you know unless you know the integrations of all the great souls together? And how are you going to judge them? That is why you must get Realization.”

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
New Delhi, India — February 15, 1977

The religion of the Veda knows no idols

“The religion of the Veda knows no idols," says Max Muller;"The worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal gods.”

The stone idols have drowned the world

Kabeer, some buy idols and worship them; In their stubborn- mindedness, they make pilgrimages to sacred shrines.
They look at one another, and wear religious robes, but they are deluded and lost.
Kabeer, someone sets up a stone idol and all the world worships it as the Lord.
Those who hold to this belief will be drowned in the river of darkness.
Kabeer, the paper is the prison, and the ink of rituals are the bars on the windows.
The stone idols have drowned the world, and the pandits, the religious scholars, have plundered it on the way.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib (Shaloks Of Kabeer Jee:, p. 1371.)

All objects of worship besides Allah are mere delusions

"All objects of worship besides Allah are mere delusions. To anyone who sees this clearly, through Allah's Self-revelations, the only possible course is to give up everything else, which his own inner experience as well as outer Revelation tell him is false or of a temporary nature, and to bring his own will and actions into complete unison with Allah's Will: for that is the meaning of Islam, bowing to the Will of Allah. When we bow to the Real and Everlasting, we are automatically saved from falling victims to the False and Evanescent.”

Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'n

The ignorant fools pick up stones and worship them

In this Dark Age of Kali Yuga, O Nanak, the Jinn, the demons, have taken birth.
The son is a demon, the daughter is a demon, and the wife is the chief of the demons.
The Hindus have forgotten the Primal Lord; they are going the wrong way.
As Naarad instructed them, they worship idols. They are blind and mute, the blindest of the blind.
The ignorant fools pick up stones and worship them.
But when those stones themselves sink, how will they carry you across?

Sri Guru Granth Sahib (Shalok, p. 556.)

Monotheism proves then, the pointlessness of idols and of images that come between man and God.

"If we consider the most ancient evidence left by homo sapiens, we can see that man has always been aware of the existence of a Supreme Being, who is Lord of all things and of all living creatures.

Using every conceivable means, human beings of every era have always tried to show their feelings of deep respect (and reverence) towards God and to perform what is due to their Creator.

This is why Islam has always stressed the possibility of direct communication with God. Even those who have fallen into idolatry have never denied the existence of the Creator, but have simply put their idols and images in His place. And this is still happening today. This being the case, how can we recognise a true prophet and what is his or her mission?

The mission of the prophets is to reveal the will of God, that is, to provide a logical and tangible explanation of religion as it is experienced in our daily lives.

Genuine monotheism—the belief in a Supreme Being—means (or implies) the unshakeable oneness of the whole creation between man and God. Monotheism proves then, the pointlessness of idols and of images that come between man and God. The mission of the prophets is thus to set human beings on the right track, and in order to do this, the prophets have used two parallel and complementary paths:

- the way of learning, based on theology and philosophy
- and the way of Self-Knowledge or Self-Realisation

This is why we find in our Holy Book, the Koran, both scholastic discourse and phrases which hint at the"Way in"to knowledge of the Highest Self. The concrete means of putting this message into practise is what is offered to us in this age by Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi.

To back up this Truth, if you will allow me. I will quote these words of the Prophet Mahomet, who tells us: "God is closer to man than his own veins.”And the Prophet says: "With the knowledge of the Spirit, man will begin to know himself, so as to finally achieve knowledge of God.” "With the purification of his inner being, man becomes conscious that he is the Spirit.”

It is thus the experience of spontaneous Self Realisation—which is revealed by Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi and Sahaja Yoga—which is the practise which she teaches - both spontaneous Self Realisation and Sahaja Yoga are in perfect harmony with the teachings of Islam. It is because of this revelation by Shri Mataji that I have wanted to speak to you tonight.”

Ayatollah Dr. Mehdi Rouhani
(Address delivered by Ayatollah Dr. Mehdi Rouhani at the Royal Albert Hall on Thursday 3rd July 1997)

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

The ultimate act against the Spirit is to worship that which has no Spirit

"This union of Atma and Shakti as the protector of one's existence is important to understand ... At a practical level what this means is that if one goes against the Spirit, identifying with anything apart from it, the heart 'catches'...

When we come to Sahaja Yoga the Tantra is damaged and impure and the heart 'catches.' There is nothing to be upset in that. One should settle down silently and work to undo the 'catches,' gradually and slowly. The whole Library of Divine Knowledge is at one's hand and if the heart's desire to evolve the being and achieve the Absolute is pure, the solution to every problem will occur automatically, effortlessly and spontaneously Sahaj.

The ultimate act against the Spirit is to worship that which has no Spirit—gross matter (idols, images etc.) or raksasas (demonic beings in the guise of gurus). Shri Muhammad inveighed against both... The Atma and its expression is the sole Reality in the Universe. Identification with anything else causes the heart to 'catch.'"

The Messiah-Paraclete-Ruh-Devi

"Religions are also the expressions and experiments of realized souls-the seers. They also talk about the inner being, second birth, and about Self-realization. In the beginning, in India, they tried to take the attention inside by introducing symbols (idols, icons, images) that they saw of this unconscious, universal being within. This gave rise to pantheism and the aspirant's attention got stuck to symbols (Sakar) and to rituals which killed the main objective.

So the other type of experiments of talking only about the abstract (Nirakar) gave rise to many other religions which ended up as dogmas or"Isms.”The reason is obvious. Talking about the flower or the honey cannot take you to the honey but can only create dogmatic "ism"In the mind. You have to be a bee to reach there, i.e., you have to be reborn. This has to happen within to take you inside. It is too great an achievement and unbelievable, but I feel the search of ages has brought great results.”

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

Distinguishing Features Of Hinduism

A Revealed Religion

Hinduism is the religion of the Hindus, a name given to the Universal Religion which hailed supreme in India. It is the oldest of all living religions. This is not founded by any prophet. Buddhism, Christianity and Mohammedanism owe their origin to the prophets. Their dates are fixed. But no such date can be fixed for Hinduism. Hinduism is not born of the teachings of particular prophets. It is not based on a set of dogmas preached by a particular set of teachers. It is free from religious fanaticism.

Hinduism is also known by the names Sanatana-Dharma and Vaidika-Dharma.

Sanatana-Dharma means eternal religion. Hinduism is as old as the world itself. Hinduism is The Mother of all religions. Hindu scriptures are the oldest in the world, Sanatana-Dharma is so called, not only because it is eternal, but also because it is protected by God and because it can make us eternal.

Vaidika-Dharma means the religion of the Vedas. The Vedas are the foundational scriptures of Hinduism. The ancient Rishis and sages of India have expressed their intuitive spiritual experiences (Aparoksha-Anubhuti) in the Upanishads. These experiences are direct and infallible. Hinduism regards the spiritual experiences of the Rishis of yore as its authority. The priceless truths that have been discovered by the Hindu Rishis and sages through millennia constitute the glory of Hinduism. Therefore, Hinduism is a revealed religion.

A Religion Of Freedom

Hinduism, unlike other religions, does not dogmatically assert that the final emancipation is possible only through its means and not through any other. It is only a means to an end and all means which will ultimately lead to the end are equally approved.

Hinduism allows absolute freedom to the rational mind of man. Hinduism never demands any undue restraint upon the freedom of human reason, the freedom of thought, feeling and will of man. It allows the widest freedom in matters of faith and worship. Hinduism is a religion of freedom. It allows absolute freedom to the human reason and heart with regard to questions such as nature of God, soul, creation, form of worship and the goal of life. Hinduism does not lie in the acceptance of any particular doctrine, nor in the observance of some particular rituals or form of worship. It does not force anybody to accept particular dogmas or forms of worship. It allows everybody to reflect, investigate, enquire and cogitate. Hence, all sorts of religious faiths, various forms of worship or Sadhana, and diverse kinds of rituals and customs, have found their honourable places side by side within Hinduism and are cultured and developed in harmonious relationship with one another.

Hinduism does not condemn those who deny God as the creator and ruler of the world, who do not accept the existence of an eternal soul and the state of Moksha or state of liberation. Hinduism does not render the upholders of such views unfit to be recognised as pious and honourable members of the Hindu religious society.

The religious hospitality of Hinduism is proverbial. Hinduism is extremely catholic and liberal. This is the fundamental feature of Hinduism. Hinduism pays respects to all religions. It does not revile any other religion. It accepts and honours truth—wherever it may come from and whatever garb it may put on.

There are considerable numbers of the followers of other religions in India. And yet, the Hindus live in perfect harmony, peace and friendship with all of them. Their tolerance and fellow-feeling towards the followers of other religions is remarkable.

Despite all the differences of metaphysical doctrines, modes of religious discipline and forms of ritualistic practices and social habits prevalent in the Hindu society, there is an essential uniformity in the conception of religion and in the outlook on life and the world, among all sections of Hindus.

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