Idol worshipping

[Kaos]

What is wrong in questioning?

Nothing wrong with questioning, but the theme of this thread "Idol worshipping", your tone and attitude throughout this thread, which by the way, is now 11 pages long, is not merely a respectful inquiry or search for more clarification to shed light on an issue in a positive manner.

Without the spirit of respect, your "questioning", over and over again, about the beliefs, traditions and even customs of others, different from your own, becomes a veiled condemnation, with an air of superiority.

Your idea of "God is Love" is true but is only part of the picture.

However, your insistence that "God is Love, nothing else" is foolish.
It can be applied to a suicide bombers' last thoughts before he blows himself up, along with a couple hundred other people who do not share his views, all this in the name of "God is Love, nothing else".

Sri Ramakrishna advised his disciples to see God in all beings and to serve them in a spirit of worship.

The Master often said that to see the world alone, without God is ignorance, ajnana;

To see God alone, without the world, is a kind of philosophical knowledge, jnana;

but to see all beings permeated by the spirit of God is supreme wisdom, vijnana.

Therefore, you may want to drop this endless questioning regarding "idol worshipping" that you see in others as being different from your own belief, and instead show love and respect for them regardless.

Since God in within us all, then go out and show love, respect and compassion to everyone, whether they choose to worship Him in whatever form they like. It is their belief, respect that as well.

To become respected, you have to show respect as well.
To become loved, you have to show love towards all as well.

[atanu]

I am not into Sikhism, but this is what I found:
“IDOL WORSHIP

PART 1. INTRODUCTION

Sikhism believes in One immortal formless God. The God of all people regardless of religion or race. God is self-illumined, without fear, sans enmity. Truth is Gods name.

-------
PART 5. CONCLUSION

The worship of idols in any form does not free the mind to doing services of just cause. The rewards are none to them, the reward achieved in their lives are of consequence and not the result of idol worship. People always need some sort of hope when their minds are not yet enlightened. The philosophy of The Guru Granth Sahib takes one to a higher plane of thinking to rid the mind rituals


This did not come from Islam or Christianity. You be the judge

Dear VC,

I have not had the time to read the later posts. From this post I will show you a few things:

1.Sikhs wear turban and keep beard. Do you follow that also?

2. In the very beginning, the post says that God is Truth. While you have maintained that God is Love. So, please change your belief.


The point is that truly there are thousands of perceptions of the Ultimate God. Using a Murti is the most loving one, like you might be keeping a picture of someone in your purse or your pocket or on your table. Why? Is is not love?

Some say that God is truth, some say Love, some say energy, some say order etc. etc.

Saying that My view alone is correct is akin to saying "I love my wife since she is so beautiful. You all must love her the way I love her".

Ha Ha Ha.


Om Namah Shivaya

[vcindiana]

I realize this is a hot topic, one of you got really offended and I can feel his intolerance towards me. You do have a great administrator who has a great sensitivity. I did enjoy all the responses I received. It is indeed nice to learn different perspectives and I keep growing. Thank you very much for your time and energy in sharing your views. My sincere apologies if you think I offended you.

God bless all of you.. Love always prevails..

[Kaos]

I realize this is a hot topic, one of you got really offended and I can feel his intolerance towards me. You do have a great administrator who has a great sensitivity. I did enjoy all the responses I received. It is indeed nice to learn different perspectives and I keep growing. Thank you very much for your time and energy in sharing your views. My sincere apologies if you think I offended you.

God bless all of you.. Love always prevails..

Namaste vcindiana,

No hard feelings on my part. I myself, learn a lot from these forums.

It is said, that we (souls, jivas) are all on a journey, back where we belong, some call it by different names, as in the Bhagavad Gita, I also, like to call it, back to Godhead.

May you have a pleasant and happy journey,
Kaos

[satay]

Namaste vcindiana,

I realize this is a hot topic,

‘this’ is a hot topic because western and now even misguided Indian scholars refuse to understand the humility in bowing down in front of the divine represented in murthis. This refusal is beyond my comprehension. I fail to understand the motive behind it. May be it has something to do with tough love? I couldn’t say for sure…

My sincere apologies if you think I offended you.

No, I can say for myself that I am not offended but I must admit that I am puzzled about the fact that how this simple act of humility can confuse such scholarly people.

God bless all of you..

Thank you and you too.

Love always prevails..

I agree with this in principle but I would have to disagree with this statement on practical matters. Practical experience is contrary to what you say.

Perhaps a more accurate statement is ‘Truth alone triumphs’ or ‘Satyameva Jayate’