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THE IDEAL.
Most High. And, so far as praise is concerned, it is certainly the free appreciation of one's equals which is. pleasing to the ear, not the flattery or servile homage of inferiors. If a God were to suffer himself to be affected with pleasure, or anger, just as a creature offered him praise, or withheld it from him, he would never have peace of mind for a moment. The very idea is absurd in the extreme. The reason why idolatry is spoken of as degrading is very different from what people imagine it to be. Says the Bhagavad Gita (IX. 25) :
"They who worship the Shining Ones, go to the Shining Ones; to the Ancestors go the ancestor-worshippers; to the Elementals go those who sacrifice to the Elementals; but My worshippers come unto Me."
Thus the worship of a deva, a bhuta, or an ancestor can only enable you to become like them in power and disposition. By worshipping these beings you cannot aspire to rise above desire or want. But if you worship the ever-blissful God, there is no limit to the heights of bliss which you can aspire to. The Almighty God is Perfect; by taking pattern after (worshipping) him you can rise up to Perfection. As Jesus urges :
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
There is no good in seeking a condition which is not quite perfect. But while this is so, it cannot be said that an intelligent worship of the Deity, in spirit, by focussing the mind on some material form, by one who bas these principles in view, is wicked or unnecessary. The Bhagavad Gita again gives us the reason thereof :
"The difficulty of those whose minds are set on the Unmanifested is greater, for the path of the Unmanifested is hard for the embodied to reach."-XII. 5.
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