Gurunathar’s Divine Message – Moolam Pooja 30-12-2005
“I saw Him as the Merciful One I also realized He was the same as the God in Me”.
Once again today the same answer to the oft repeated questions. “If God is within us why should we worship Him in different forms and in several temples?” Would not the cow’s milk that we pour over the idols of God be better used to be fed to the infants?” These days it is not just the common man who asks this question but also wise men and ascetics. Obviously they have not fully understood the significance of such a practice. Without doubt God is in every being. But to what degree is each person spirited of Godly? (It varies according to the individual). After thinking deeply on this I gave the answer to the question. To follow the path of spirituality we need purity. To tap man’s potential for faith God is represented in different forms. Till a man’s inner eye is opened he has only his physical eyes to perceive God. He can believe in the existence of something only if he sees it with his physical eyes. Therefore God is given a physical form.
Similarly the practicing of performing Homams came into being. Man could see the Sun and began to worship the Sun as God. He made offerings of what he ate to the Sun God but could see no evidence of God taking the offerings. The heat generated by the Sun was also created by the fire so he equated fire with God and offered his Neiveidhiyam to Agni Bhaghavan. It was believed that man can make offerings to God through fire. This is how the practice began.
After this man’s creative mind gave God many forms. The practice of performing special ceremonies and chanting prayers before installing these idols (Prana pratishtha) made them a reservoir of divine energy that would flow out to bless those who worship them. It is advisable that a devotee begins to reduce the number of forms which he worships and tries to concentrate on one or two forms. Finally he must concentrate on the God in him and achieve bliss (through meditation). This will result in self realization and the sublimation of his soul to Godhood which is the only true apotheosis. To gain this realization of Godhood it often takes several births and long periods of time. Till such time it is advisable that a person consistently and continuously worships the idols of God and step by step till he reaches a higher level. It is like creating a bond of affection and love and later getting released from this bond.
Soon after a child is born he understands the bond of affection. He cries out “amma”. Then he prefers to be with his mother rather than anyone else. Then he begins to recognize his father, siblings, grandparents and other relations and enjoys their affection. After some time he learns to feel an aptitude for prayer and worship of God.
To step beyond this affectionate worship or kind of devotion and turn from external prayers to internal prayers is not an easy step. However for a person who reaches this stage everything becomes smooth. Till such a stage is reached external worship is a must. I would say temples are like a blind man’s white stick. There are some spiritually blind people for whom temples are necessary. More important since temples are built according to the rules of the Agamas there are beneficial rays of energy that spread throughout the temple and have a curative value for physical and mental distress if we sit in the temples for a while. We cannot deny this. There is a practice that in every village people would sit for a while in temples every day. I cannot see much of this practice new.
However it is interesting to note that the younger generation has become more spiritually aware and ambitious. What I tell the younger ones is that if the progress step by step from worship of idols they will reap suitable benefits. Questioning such practices will only postpone their spiritual development; time will be wasted and they cannot achieve complete wisdom. As the Shasthras say one must go from worshiping the forms to worshiping the formless. They must progress from Sthoolam (physical) to Sushman (subtle or invisible). “First understand your body. Then comprehend the presence of God in your body. Understand earth and then the energy within the earth”. Such have been the instructions handed down to us by our ancestors. It is to help us understand this philosophy that frequent
reference is made to the creation ground. Dust returns to dust. Nothing is permanent. Everything is transient. This is the lesson we learn. Similarly idols made of stones are off value as long as they are worshiped. Afterwards they lose their value. There are many neglected temples in ruins as a testimony of this fact. However none of our prayers are wasted. These practices help stabilize our minds. To those who worship with complete faith no harm will come and only benefits will reach them.
{Translation of Gurunathar’s Divine message given to and read by Guruji Shri.K.V.Narayanan}