Once Vivekanand asked his Guru Parahamsa Ramkrishna ; Have you SEEN MAA KALI ? He replied YES. Then he asked Have you SPOKEN to her? He replied YES. Not satisfied, he Further asked Can I See and Speak to Maa Kali , will she satisfy my wishes ? He replied YES. Try as much Vivekanand sat before the Idol of Maa Kali, neither he could see her, nor talk to her, or ask her for anything. One fine day, he returned home to find someone had left a lot of food and other material for his mother. He realized his folly, he went on to EXPERIENCE Maa Kali. The spirit of Maa Kali enveloped him, he went on to become one of the GREATEST GURUS of Hindutva. Once the Maharaj of Alwar, debating with Swamiji on Idol Worship , debunked and made fun of him like our so called rationalists, Swamiji asked the Raja to SPIT on the painting of his FATHER. The Raja says How can I? Its my FATHER. Swamiji said; This is the answer; the painting is NOT your FATHER but it REPRESENTS your FATHER, so you have SAME RESPECT FOR YOUR FATHERS PAINTING AS YOU HAVE FOR YOUR FATHER. When our parents are DEAD, they are physically not present with us but their photographs are worshipped, looking at the pictures we will happy. Similarly, EVERY HINDU knows that the IDOL is not GOD but it represents DIFFERENT ASPECTS of GOD. So for a Business man god is Laxmi, for a warrior god is Durga, for a Student God is Saraswati . It is said Hinduism has 33 crore Gods and Goddesses, the reason is Hinduism spread by INCORPORATING the PERSONAL deities of others unlike Islam or Christianity, which says if you CONVERT , you have to give up your name, your food habits, your dress sense. Further, Vivekanand has mentioned in his teachings that the Human Mind is bound by NAAM and RUP. Human languages as well as modern Computer languages uses SYMBOLS. You computer screen is full of Symbols. Even Communists and Islam, do use symbols, be it the Hammer and Sickle or the Crescent Moon and Star. An Icon or Idol does not necessarily have to use a Human Form to get an idea across. We Hindus, use hundreds of Icons, hundreds of Idols to get the ideas of Hindu Philosophy across and we have FAITH in these ICONS. Not everyone has the time, energy or the intellectual capacity to understand the Complexities of the Human Existence. That is precisely why the Bhagwad Geeta recommends the BHAKTI MARG for such persons. For , people like us there is the GYAN MARG and Hindus respect their SEERS and PEERS This is a partial answer to some of the questions posed by non Hindus on Idol worship. You have the Full Right to ask QUESTIONS, that is FREEDOM OF SPEECH , guaranteed by the Constitution but YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ABUSE HINDUS. Time will tell, Who is a MORON
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 04:33:31 +0000
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