Wednesday, March 26, 2008
GITA 108 DAYS - Day 73
73 Those who Love do not Perish
When eating a sweet fruit, tell it: “I am taking your sweetness, but dear fruit, you will not perish. I assure you that you will live on as sweet words I give to others”. This is submission, meditation and love. In love, there is no death. There is no buying and selling; no one is eloping and there is no marriage. We mistake lust for love. Lust can lead to destruction where as love is devotion. We develop care from love. Care is the attitude a mother has toward her child who is playing in the yard even while she is busy working in the kitchen. From this comes inquiry. We all must become god-inquirers, not believers. An inquirer will keep his pursuits on until he attains the goal.
One can worship anything in nature as the Lord. Be it a piece of stone, wood, fire, tree, water, sun, or soil – anything is fit for worship. The object we selected is of no significance – sun itself or a bit of soil, doesn’t matter- but with what care do we worship, is the significant question. An Idol (vigraha) is something that gives us a clear grasp on the essence it conveys. Temples are the keys to the lock that is Iswara. Concepts of temples have come forth from the depths of human consciousness and no one is capable of negating their validity. A temple should, through reflection, resonate the mantra sound in the atmosphere thereby eliminate stray thoughts from the devotees mind to lead him to one pointed concentration. In the old days people went to temples to attain God consciousness- not merely for getting a job, for getting married or for getting cured of a disease. Such trivial visit to the temple is being careless in our pursuits.
Worshipping the Lord in some form is Saguna worship. There is no one in the world, who can say that he is not a saguna-worshipper. In the national flag, the nation is represented. In party flags we see the party and instead of chanting mantras, we chant party slogans. Instead of temples, we build memorials for the fallen comrades. Those who ask what is wrong in destroying temples do not want their party flag destroyed even though it is only a piece of cloth. Even to say good morning (suprabhatam) and bidding goodbye (subhayatra) in sanscrit is considered religious by some ‘modern’ folks! Everything is about projecting our own beliefs on to some object to worship that entity. If one is considered a ‘blind belief’, everything is so. There is no rational mind needed when we can see and believe something. Rationalization is required in order to ‘see’ something beyond the obvious and visible. One can achieve God through worship in ether way – by meditating on the Lord with a form or without a form. There is no need of temples and rituals to realize God. Having them is not a hindrance either. There is no conflict between the two approaches. Both are noble indeed.
When eating a sweet fruit, tell it: “I am taking your sweetness, but dear fruit, you will not perish. I assure you that you will live on as sweet words I give to others”. This is submission, meditation and love. In love, there is no death. There is no buying and selling; no one is eloping and there is no marriage. We mistake lust for love. Lust can lead to destruction where as love is devotion. We develop care from love. Care is the attitude a mother has toward her child who is playing in the yard even while she is busy working in the kitchen. From this comes inquiry. We all must become god-inquirers, not believers. An inquirer will keep his pursuits on until he attains the goal.
One can worship anything in nature as the Lord. Be it a piece of stone, wood, fire, tree, water, sun, or soil – anything is fit for worship. The object we selected is of no significance – sun itself or a bit of soil, doesn’t matter- but with what care do we worship, is the significant question. An Idol (vigraha) is something that gives us a clear grasp on the essence it conveys. Temples are the keys to the lock that is Iswara. Concepts of temples have come forth from the depths of human consciousness and no one is capable of negating their validity. A temple should, through reflection, resonate the mantra sound in the atmosphere thereby eliminate stray thoughts from the devotees mind to lead him to one pointed concentration. In the old days people went to temples to attain God consciousness- not merely for getting a job, for getting married or for getting cured of a disease. Such trivial visit to the temple is being careless in our pursuits.
Worshipping the Lord in some form is Saguna worship. There is no one in the world, who can say that he is not a saguna-worshipper. In the national flag, the nation is represented. In party flags we see the party and instead of chanting mantras, we chant party slogans. Instead of temples, we build memorials for the fallen comrades. Those who ask what is wrong in destroying temples do not want their party flag destroyed even though it is only a piece of cloth. Even to say good morning (suprabhatam) and bidding goodbye (subhayatra) in sanscrit is considered religious by some ‘modern’ folks! Everything is about projecting our own beliefs on to some object to worship that entity. If one is considered a ‘blind belief’, everything is so. There is no rational mind needed when we can see and believe something. Rationalization is required in order to ‘see’ something beyond the obvious and visible. One can achieve God through worship in ether way – by meditating on the Lord with a form or without a form. There is no need of temples and rituals to realize God. Having them is not a hindrance either. There is no conflict between the two approaches. Both are noble indeed.
# posted by Sukumar Canada @ 8:08 PM 
