Jain Journal 2000 01

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 29

NAHATA : WORSHIPPING A SYMBOL-MY VIEW POINT
141 Just by seeing a picture, in a fleeting second, one's ideas/ conceptions undergo a see-saw change. For example, when one looks at the picture of a venerable personality immense respect wells in one's mind; when one looks at the picture of one's ancestors a feeling of pride is born; when one sees the picture of a warrior, one's innate martial instincts awaken; and when one espies a frame containing a child's picture, love and affection rules one's heart at that moment. Similarly when one confronts the picture of a miscreant or an enemy a feeling of hatred and retribution arises in the mind. When one is subjected to such varying moods by seeing just pictures, who can deny that when one has the 'sight of one's beloved deity even in the form of an idol his or her mind gets filled with a deep spiritual awareness and a sense of abject obeisance to the Almighty Lord !
When one stands before the Lord's idol, one is filled with reverence, one becomes humble and is overwhelmed by a sense of abject surrender to Him. That intellectual philosopher Shri Rajneesh (Osho) has aptly said, "When you bow at the feet of the Lord in a temple it is not the point whether the feet are of the Lord but, whether the head that bows is bowing before the God or not ! The feet are only symbolic. They only serve the purpose of making you bow your head before the Lord.
According to revered Swami Shivananda Saraswati, even the science of Psychology admits that through idol worship, the power of concentration of the mind is easily obtained : For beginners in spiritual quest, idol worship is very much a needed medium to stabilise the mind on one point which is indeed difficult. For devotion one needs some aid, that is external worship. The seeker concentrates on the form of God as seen in the idol and slowly the devotee turns inwards and starts realising the Eternal Bliss that Lord is, and at the same time starts realising his/her own self ! He/she starts slowly realising that his/her own soul is but an aspect of the all-pervading Supreme Spirit. In this way, idol worship is of great merit !
For a soldier the flag is everything. He cannot tolerate an insult to his flag. For its sake, he is prepared to sacrifice his all, including his own life. A devotee's attachment to the idol also something on these lines !
Some people aver that the Supreme Spirit is all pervading, formless and indescribable. If so, how can you confine him in an idol? Ok, But do these people, knowing the Lord as all pervading respect Him that way? How one can aver/worship the formless, when one does not pay obeisance to the visible object/idol. Actually these people, filled with