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WEWERWEWERHEIT JAINA CONVENTION 2011
"Live and Help Live"
arose because renegade monks were misusing the temples and temple properties. The right way was to put the evil to the end, not to reject idol worship. Arya Samaj set up by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in 19th century is also against idol worship.
Since idol worship is not against the Jain tenets, it is acceptable to worship the omniscient Lords through their idols. The Lords are called Arihants when they are alive and Siddhas thereafter. Arihant denotes the state of full enlightenment, while Siddha denotes that of liberation. The concept of omniscience is common in both these states. Since it is not possible to present the image of bodiless Siddha in tangible form, the idols are made in accordance with the concept of Arihant. In token of their purity the idols are generally made out of marble, which can stay spotless for a long time. They are carved in meditating posture so as to present the image of Lords immersed within. That posture comes close to the concept of Lords as the embodiment of detachment and is therefore considered worshipful.
to the state of purity. Jainism does not deny the role of Nimitta in such respects. Our objective should thus be to manifest the infinite capabilities of soul lying latent. For that purpose we need to keep in mind those, who have manifested the same. Contemplating over the state of Lords becomes helpful in attaining the state that they have attained. We are, however, conditioned to behave with the sense of craving and aversion. If we perceive a situation as favorable, we crave to retain it; otherwise we try to avert it. Such defiling instincts need to overcome. It may seem hard; but by repeatedly comparing our state with that of the Lords, the craving and aversion can go down and we can attain an increasing level of purity.
Most people have mundane objective in resorting to worship and expect to get some worldly benefits. Those, who are not interested in worldly favor, expect the Lords to grant the bliss of liberation. They want the Lords to rescue them from the worldly life, as if the Lords are the custodians of liberation and would distribute the same among the devotees. The detached Lords are, however, not supposed to do anything of that sort. The misconception arises from treating the Lords as gods, who can be pleased by adoration.
There is presently a wide gap between our state and that of the Lords. It needs to be bridged for enabling us to undertake the journey towards the ultimate state. For that purpose we have to resort to something which is tangible at one end and intangible at the other. If it is only tangible, we cannot make progress and if it is merely intangible, we may fail to grasp it and cannot even make a beginning. So far we have the experience of only tangibility. Even the intangible aspects like love and compassion are directed towards the tangible ones. Lord's idol presents a unique combination of tangibility and intangibility. Its physical shape constitutes the tangible end, while absorption and detachment visible in its posture constitute the intangible one. While worshipping the idol we therefore need to contemplate over the Lord's sense of detachment. Getting absorbed in that sense leads to purification, and that is equivalent to reaching the intangible.
Lords are imbibed with inestimable attributes. Those attributes get reflected in the sense of detachment that is seen in meditating posture of the idols. Lords also had once been worldly beings; they manifested the perfect purity by exercising their vigor. Since such purity is inherent in every soul, we need to become aware of our potentialities and exercise the vigor to manifest the same. Lord's idol can give the inspiration for that purpose. The idol thus becomes instrumental (Nimitta) in enabling us to proceed from our present state
The spiritual journey starts from our present state and would terminate at the state of perfect purity. As the worship starts, the tangible aspect of idol is left behind and we proceed towards the intangible. The idol is only a beginning; it disappears, when true worship takes place; it is the process of reaching the intangible by dissolving the tangible. The term idol worship then becomes a misnomer, because idol becomes invisible to
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