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ConnieD
02 May 2009, 10:02 AM
Please discuss choosing an Iṣṭa-devatā, form and formless.

amra
02 May 2009, 12:23 PM
i'd say formless, as they are in the business of making computer games of devata's these days.

atanu
02 May 2009, 11:48 PM
i'd say formless, as they are in the business of making computer games of devata's these days.

Namaste amra,

Formless is immortal and formed is mortal. Yet, Brahman is akala, beyond time and beyond forms and formless -- and it is not possible to worship Brahman-God as such.

Whoever insists that Hindus do wrong in worshipping deities (formed ones such as Sun or formless ones such as Air -- the pratayksha Brahman) are deluding themselves since they worship only a mental idea of God. True God is beyond imagination, so to whom they pray?

On the other hand, with the knowledge that God is un-named, beyond mind and words, indescribable, ungraspable yet has hands, legs, and heads everywhere --- one can love, one can pray to, and one can resort to any universal symbol of the creator and be connected to the one who says "I am" from within everyone.

Upanishads stress that through worship of the manifest (formed or unformed) and knowledge of the unmanifest, one attains the highest goal. Else, to stick to the one aspect is 'darkness'. So true, as we experience, with religions of beduins and nomads.

Though, the Beduins and Nomads have been told to not hate the brother/neighbor and not to shed sacred blood, they do just that and claim to be devout christians or muslims.

---------------------------------

It is a must for all Hindus of any darshana to worship the manifest (which is the Universe) and meditate on the unmanifest antaryama/antaryami wherefrom "I am" emerges, to keep the balance. And this is the highest also, since there is no division between God/Universe/Me in this way.

Om Namah Shivaya

yajvan
03 May 2009, 03:46 PM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté

it is reminding us that the form we bow to (Iṣṭa-devatā) is the ambassor of the formless. atanu-ji says it this way


Upanishads stress that through worship of the manifest (formed or unformed) and knowledge of the unmanifest, one attains the highest goal.


Another point of view, looking to a beacon of Truth, the Śaṅkarācārya of Jyotirmath (1941-1953) , Svāmī Brahmānanda Sarasvatī. He informs us of the following:

"Shiva, Ganesha, Surya, Shakti (Durga, Lakshmi) etc are the limbs of Bhagavan. Any devotee of Shiva can say 'Our Shankar (Shiva) is really Bhagavan' ; any follower of Surya can say that 'Surya is really Bhagavan', then this is really like not knowing the whole shape of the elephant.

Some blind men took hold of an elephant's trunk and said 'This elephant it is like a pestle.' Seizing the foot one said it was like a pillar. Taking the ear one said it was like a winnowing basket. The thing is really this that the blind men having seen the elephant got stirred up in dispute. He who knows the whole form of the elephant will never say that the elephant is similar to a winnowing basket or to a pestle.

In the same way, he who has taken a good understanding of Bhagavan, he can never say that Shiva is the true form of Bhagavan or Ganesha is the true form of Bhagavan or that the four-armed form of VishhNu is really the form of Bhagavan. He who is familiar with the essence of Bhagavat (God) that all these several forms are really the separate parts or limbs of Paramatma (God). In truth worshipping any of the gods is really worship of Bhagavan. This is really the established truth of the shaastra".

"He alone is the best devotee who sees his Adored One everywhere. For the devotee of Vishnu the Lord is omnipresent. He should see Lord Vishnu even in the images of Shankar, Devi, Ganesh and Surya etc. Likewise a devotee of Shankar, Devi etc. should visualize his Adored One omnipresent."


praṇām

Jogesh
07 August 2010, 08:38 PM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté

it is reminding us that the form we bow to (Iṣṭa-devatā) is the ambassor of the formless. atanu-ji says it this way


Another point of view, looking to a beacon of Truth, the Śaṅkarācārya of Jyotirmath (1941-1953) , Svāmī Brahmānanda Sarasvatī. He informs us of the following:

"Shiva, Ganesha, Surya, Shakti (Durga, Lakshmi) etc are the limbs of Bhagavan. Any devotee of Shiva can say 'Our Shankar (Shiva) is really Bhagavan' ; any follower of Surya can say that 'Surya is really Bhagavan', then this is really like not knowing the whole shape of the elephant.

Some blind men took hold of an elephant's trunk and said 'This elephant it is like a pestle.' Seizing the foot one said it was like a pillar. Taking the ear one said it was like a winnowing basket. The thing is really this that the blind men having seen the elephant got stirred up in dispute. He who knows the whole form of the elephant will never say that the elephant is similar to a winnowing basket or to a pestle.

In the same way, he who has taken a good understanding of Bhagavan, he can never say that Shiva is the true form of Bhagavan or Ganesha is the true form of Bhagavan or that the four-armed form of VishhNu is really the form of Bhagavan. He who is familiar with the essence of Bhagavat (God) that all these several forms are really the separate parts or limbs of Paramatma (God). In truth worshipping any of the gods is really worship of Bhagavan. This is really the established truth of the shaastra".

"He alone is the best devotee who sees his Adored One everywhere. For the devotee of Vishnu the Lord is omnipresent. He should see Lord Vishnu even in the images of Shankar, Devi, Ganesh and Surya etc. Likewise a devotee of Shankar, Devi etc. should visualize his Adored One omnipresent."


praṇām

Beautiful, Svami Brahmananda very sweet to hear..

namaskar