Lighthouse

Author(s): Udayvallabhvijay
Publisher: Pragna Prabodh Parivar

Page 49

can one view formlessness from such a small window. What is visible through a small window cannot be larger than the window. One who does not look beyond the window will never understand that a small window can also open into a formless sky. The scene outside a window is not bound by the window. Similarly, the formless God is not bound by the form of deity. Deity is just a window to view the formless God. In other words the deity is a bridge. On one end of the bridge is form and on the other end formlessness. If one understands this it would be clear that worshipping a deity is not a mere ritual. It is a psychologically tested and logical process to travel from form to formlessness through the medium of deity. If one can realize this importance of deity and its worship then one would also realize that lighting of incense, lighting of lamp, saying of prayer or decorating the deity is not meaningless ritual or appeasement of God but a process to stabilize our conscience. In modern times, the science of psychology has played an important part in establishing idol worship as a necessity and a truth. Like blood has various components, like a bone has a various components, similarly an active mind also has various components. Shraddha is one such component. One who lacks in this component sees only a stone in the deity. People who are in love enjoy as if they have met their loved one merely by viewing the photographs of the loved one in the photo gallery of their mobile phone. This is Piyumilan. Similarly, if a person sees God in the deity while doing bhakti, it can be called Prabhumilan. Once a person sees a living object and not stone in a deity, then whatever he offers is offered to a living person. - 40
Lighthouse