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All in Good Faith
Another feature of Hindu worship is its multiplicity. In many ways Hinduism has always been its own multi-faith society. The Hindu tradition recognises that God appears in many forms at many different times and teaches many paths. Even the Bhagavad Gita, the central scripture for the majority of Hindus today, teaches at least three paths. Variety has always been a necessary part of Hindu tradition, which recognises that each of us is an individual with particular spiritual needs. Perhaps this is in part due to the belief in re-incarnation, because it assumes that the journey to God is longer and more demanding than can be encompassed by most of us in a single lifetime. Further, the cosmic context of Hinduism is far-flung. Hindu scriptures teach that there are many levels of reality and on all of them worship of God is going on. On higher planes there are 'devas' or demigods, who have been given greater powers than us and can themselves grant boons to their worshippers. On these higher planes are types of worship and faith that do not exist here, or at least only partially. And beyond these higher planes is the Svargaloka, the heavenly abodes of different gods such as Brahma and Indra, all of whom have their devotees. Within Hinduism there is also the basic division between worshippers of Shiva (Shaivites) and worshippers of Vishnu (Vaishnavas), as well as others who worship the Goddess Durga in one or other of her many manifestations. All this means that Hindus are naturally at home in the multifaith or interfaith world. Yet ultimately, the theistic Vaishnavas and Shaivites believe in an eternal Kingdom of God which lies beyond all other planes of existence. A simple devotion to the supreme God of Grace, whatever name he may be known by, is therefore esteemed as the highest expression of spirituality, as described in Bhagavad Gita: 'Giving up all other paths just surrender yourself to me. I will release you from all your sins. Do not fear.' (18.64)
Finally, a word must be said about Hindu deity worship, sometimes wrongly called idol worship, which it decidedly is not. An idol is something set up in place of God (there are plenty of idols all round us today) whereas the image of the deity in a Hindu temple is made strictly according to ancient scriptural tradition to represent God in a form which the worshipper will recognise. The temple becomes the home of the deity, a place of sanctity where devotion and service to God are focused, where the great invisible Spirit becomes visible to allow the ordinary devotee to offer prayers and service and to see the otherwise unseeable form of God. It is a place where the visible and the invisible, the tangible and the intangible, meet. To think that the deity is simply a statue or idol is to make a travesty of this ancient tradition. For the most part Hindus welcome outside visitors to their temples, as one would welcome a visitor to one's own home. All they would ask is that the visitor respect the devotions and prayers which are offered to the deity for what they are: simple acts of devotion to God on the part of ordinary people of faith.
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