Does God Punish?

[Webimpulse]

Namaste all,

I had a curious experience yesterday that makes me wonder if God punishes people. I know that's a rather Abrahamic concept to bring up, but...I guess I'm asking because I'm seeking peace of mind, considering what happened yesterday.

As for what happened, last night I attempted to do a (very) simple puja to Ganesha. I'm nowhere near experienced enough to attempt to do anything elaborate. Basically, what I did was offer flowers and a couple pieces of fruit to the shrine of Ganesha I had set up, sat in front of it, and chanted a couple of mantras, 108 times each. The shrine looked like this (please pardon the giant picture, I know not how to shrink it):


And the mantras I chanted were "Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha" and "Om Shri Ganeshaya Namaha," in that order.

However, during my chanting of the second mantra, something...weird happened - I got a very sharp shock on the top left side of my head! It felt electrical in nature, like someone jabbed a taser or some other electrical prod into my skull...like that area got temporarily electrocuted. This needless to say made me stop the mantra chanting dead in its tracks, because it was so jarring, and afterwards, my heart was racing, as if I was afraid of something.

For some reason, the idea of Lord Ganesha punishing me was the first explanation that popped into my head. Did I do the puja wrong? Did I not do something properly beforehand? I honestly don't know.

If Lord Ganesha indeed sent that message as a punishment, then it's not a very clear message...and it's kind of a scary idea that one can be punished for worshipping improperly. My mind knows this most likely isn't the case, but on an emotional level, I'm still scared that it might be...

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: God does not punish. As for what happened, I can think of several possibilities.

1) Just electrical coincidence.
2) Mantras are powerful, and you may have been intoning them wrong. With these two, that is highly unlikely, yet possible.
3) Odd things happen at pujas.
4) You forgot to rap the side of your head first to open yourself up to His energy.
5) He wants you to know He's actually there and not symbolic.
6) The energies on the planet last night were weird. i had some similar experiences at the temple during Skanda Shasti, the Murugan festival which is traditionally linked to penance and the like. Murugan also controls electricity.

So I wouldn't be too concerned. Not some weird warning to stay away, and if it is, it's more a simple goad saying, "Hey Buddy, you're not quite ready yet."

Aum Namasivaya

[devotee]

Namaste,

EM has given very apt and elaborate answer !

I won't add anything here but will only emphasize this, "God does not punish". And for that I would quote Bhagwad Gita :

"Na Kartritvam na karmANi lokasya srijati prabhuh, na karmaphala sanyoga, svabhavastu pravartate"

==> God doesn't create the impulse for an action (in the actor), doesn't create any action in this world ... He doesn't even create the fruits of the actions ... It is Nature alone that works.

OM

[AmIHindu]

Namaste Webimpulse,

You do not have to offer whole of flower vase to Ganesh.

Just pick up flowers from bouquet and offer those flowers at Holy Feet of GOD. You can also offer flowers at Head or Crown or Forehead.

It would be great if you spread red/yellow/white colored cloth on the table. Actually there should be kind of cushion but cloth is okay.

Please offer Naivedhya - Banana in steel plate.

Namaste,
... It is Nature alone...

OM

Namaste Devotee ji,

Would you please help me understand this Nature ? What is the Nature and how Nature itself is created ? Who creates this Nature ?

Webimpulse, sorry to ask wrong unrelated question in your thread.


Gratitude,

[firmamental]

Hmm, that kind of sensation has happened to me before though never while praying...seems like one of those things that bodies do from time to time, I wouldn't worry about it. And really, to punish anyone who isn't doing anything wrong, much less a chanting devotee, would be the 100% opposite of Ganesha's character.

[devotee]

Namaste AmIHindu,

Would you please help me understand this Nature ? What is the Nature and how Nature itself is created ? Who creates this Nature ?

[/QUOTE]

That is a very good question. What does Nature mean in the above context ? Whence does it come ?

Nature is nothing but MAyA which is beginningless but ends for an individual on enlightenment. It is actually the nature of Brahman when not in the fourth state. This MAyA which has its root in Brahman is very very difficult thing to understand by mind. This MAyA creates two states of existence (this world and the world before birth and after death) and one state as Lord of these two states (i.e. God, which is non-dual with the first two states) i.e. total three states come into being due to MAyA. MAyA has two very important qualities : AavaraNa and Vikshepa. With the power of AavaraNa, MAyA veils the Reality i.e. the Brahman which alone exists. With its second power of Vikshepa, it projects this world of multitude using Brahman as the substratum. It is important to note that while doing so, it doesn't change the Brahman. MAyA ruthlessly enforces the Laws applicable within the two states of existence. Therefore, there is no case of violation of Laws of Nature until one attains Self-realisation. This quality is sub-set of the second quality of MAyA, i.e. Vikshepa. We daily witness the effects of this quality (enforcement of rules) of MAyA. Let's see some laws of Nature which always hold true :

a) Everyone that is born must die.
b) In absence of Oxygen we cannot survive.
c) The light travels at the speed of 186,000 miles per second.
d) We cannot hear sound which is beyond the spectrum of 20 Hz and 20 kHz.
e) The two bodies having some masses always attract each other following the Newton's laws of universal Gravitation

etc. etc. etc.

Similarly, the laws of Karma too are enforced by the Nature until Realisation takes place.

OM

[AmIHindu]

Namaste Devotee ji,

Good explanation.

Gratitude.

[AmIHindu]

This MAyA which has its root in Brahman is very very difficult thing to understand by mind.

MAyA ruthlessly enforces the Laws.... Laws of Nature OM

Namaste,

So far I know Mind is very much difficult to control, if we control our mind then we can make good progress towards our spirituality.

But again, whatever I perceive in this world is due to my Mind or Maya ? Mind cheating with me ? or Maya Cheating with me ? Who is making me do mistakes ? Am I getting attracted to money - fame - woman because of Mind or Maya ?

So Do I have to over come both these enemies ? Is it correct so say, Mind and Maya, are my enemies ?

When Maya creates laws of nature then Laws of Karma are also created by Maya ?

[Nirguna]

Namaste AmIHindu and Devotee,

Namaste,

So far I know Mind is very much difficult to control, if we control our mind then we can make good progress towards our spirituality.

But again, whatever I perceive in this world is due to my Mind or Maya ? Mind cheating with me ? or Maya Cheating with me ? Who is making me do mistakes ? Am I getting attracted to money - fame - woman because of Mind or Maya ?

So Do I have to over come both these enemies ? Is it correct so say, Mind and Maya, are my enemies ?

When Maya creates laws of nature then Laws of Karma are also created by Maya ?

Brahman as Ishvara, the Lord, is both, the intelligent, and the material cause of the universe. Therefore, Ishvara pervades the whole universe. At the macrocosmic level, everything is the creation of the Lord. While at the individual/microcosmic level i.e what you see, is the jiva's.your creation.
There are two types of errors: The notion that "what I perceive as objects is real", i.e not Brahman. And the error where I mistake an object for another. Both objects are unreal compared to the Absolute Reality.
Brahman being the essential "substance" that constitutes/pervades all (since he is the material cause), he cannot be perceived by our limited senses.
Here we have to point out on how we perceive things.
We perceive things based on their attributes/qualities. Errors in perception of objects occur due to erroneous perception of the attributes of these objects. The reason why we perceive these attributes wrongly is due to our limited senses. For example I mistake the snake for the rope because there is no light. I perceive the airplane for the bird because it is far away, etc. And the reason why I perceive this world as real is because our senses cannot perceive the substratum i.e brahman. Because I rely only on the qualities/attributes of the object to know whether it's real or not, I have this wrong notion of "this" and "that" is real.
Maya and Mind are not your enemies, on the contrary, they are your allies, you use them, to transcend them to reach to the Absolute truth.

@Devotee, if I said something wrong, feel free to correct me.