When the devotee worships the deity, in the temple; does that God enter into the deity? Does God take the form of the deity; and it is God before the worshipper? Does God's energy enter the worshipper? Does this energy come from the deity itself? Thank you for your help.
2007-02-12 02:56:42 · 15 answers · asked by Nagaraja 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Well its simply to prove god is omnipresent...so god can be in a stone or a temple at the same time...remember there is god in u as well...
2007-02-12 03:00:09 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
When a devotee worships a deity, his/her own perception of God appears in the deity. God is everywhere and so in the deity.The deity personifies and becomes a symbol of concentration and evocation. The energy within the worshipper is vibrated as the she/he bows and worships.The worshipper simply finds a reflection of his/her intensity of feelings in the deity.
2007-02-12 12:19:10 · answer #2 · answered by Ishan26 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The deity is a representation of the God only, who is invisible but omnipresent. But in pujas, the purohits follow a custom of infusing life in the idol, when God is believed to have entered the clay manifestation. God's energy enters an worshipper even if he isn't worshipping an idol. It depends on the sincerity of his prayer.
2007-02-12 12:45:21 · answer #3 · answered by Modest 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God is everywhere & in every form. Its the believe of the devotee in God that works. If a devotee prays in front of a tree with true faith & belief than God will reveal in front of him in the form of a tree. Now people worship deity as its easy to pray in front of a deity as u can imagine his form before praying. God's energy is always with us. Every moment what we are doing is just bcoz of his energy. he is always inside us.
2007-02-13 00:32:16 · answer #4 · answered by subhendu c 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Deity in the temple is simply the medium. Your intensity to reach at God is reflected through it. This energy comes from inside you and deity gets charged and reflect back it to you. You can name it any thing.
2007-02-16 05:15:17 · answer #5 · answered by PRABHAT 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Everything in filled up with God. There is nothing else but God. Its is not possible for everyone to experience it. So human make a form of God which he can see and experience. Sometimes he considers a Body as God. He Gives a name to God.
All prevading God is compassionate and grants prayers through that form or name.
2007-02-12 11:09:55 · answer #6 · answered by dd 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. The deity in the temple is the same as the God Himself.
The supreme Personality of Godhead is completely spiritual and therefore it is not possible for us to see when we are covered with material vision seeing only material objects.
But, the Lord is so merciful that He presents Himself or His form in material objects so that we can be benefited by seeing the deity. Therefore, God out of His causeless mercy towards us, presents Himself in a form(matter like stone, wood etc...) we can see Him. Everything is coming from God, therefore for God, it is not difficult for him to make the material objects spiritualised.
Because God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent it is possible for Him to be present in a form that we can see. But then again the form of the God is not that which any one can concoct in their fertile brain and think it to be God.
God has given the authorized revealed scriptures in which there are details as to how one do pratishta(install) a form of the God in the temple. It is great science and the form of the God so installed is called Arca Vighraha(Deity to be worshiped) and it is not a doll. Example can be given to a post box authorized by the post office delivers the letter whereas any red box kept where one puts postal letters are not delivered to the recipient. The authorized post box is similar to the Deity installed according the procedure given in the scriptures and any unauthorized red box is similar to any doll made out of stone or wood.
In India, there are so many hundreds and thousands of temples where the deities are installed properly. For instance, jagannatha Puri, the Deities of Jagannatha, Baladeva, Shubhadra in Orissa attract around 600,000 pilgrims everyday and during the annual Ratha Yatra(Car Festival) the number of pilgrims coming there is like a ocean.
See the following enlightening knowledge from Srila Bhakti Vindoda Thakura, the great-grand spiritual master of A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada(founder of ISKCON)
In Bhagavad-gita (9.25) it is said:"They who worship matter remain in the material world."
Therefore the conclusion of the scriptures is that worship of matter is not allowed. That you can see. However, a certain point should be explained. Human beings are situated on different levels of knowledge and purity. A person situated in pure spiritual knowledge is able to worship the pure spiritual form of the Lord. Persons situated on lower levels of spiritual awareness understand the Lord to a lesser degree, and they who are on the lowest level cannot understand the Lord's spiritual nature at all. When he meditates on God, a person on the lowest level inevitably imagines that God has a material form with material qualities. To think that the DEITY form of the Lord is a statue made of clay is the same as to meditate in the mind on a Supreme that one imagines to have a form made of matter. Actually for persons on that level of advancement, worship of the DEITY form of the Lord is very beneficial. In fact, if there were no DEITY worship, the people in general would be in an inauspicious condition. If an ordinary person eager to see God were not able to see the DEITY form of the Lord, then he would lose hope that he would ever see the Lord. The followers of religions that forbid DEITY worship are on a low level of spiritual advancement. They are materialistic and not interested in worshiping the Lord. Therefore DEITY worship is the foundation of religion. Pure and wise saints gaze on the form of the Supreme Lord. Their hearts purified by devotion, they know that the DEITY form of the Lord is pure spirit. As the heart becomes more and more purified by devotion, the worshipper gradually comes to understand that the DEITY form of the Lord is a spiritual form reflected within the realm of the material world. Thus the DEITY form is the spiritual form of the Lord, a form that the great saints have arranged to be reflected within the material world. An advanced devotees can directly perceive that the DEITY form is perfectly spiritual. An intermediate devotee thinks the DEITY form is a mental image. At first a neophyte devotee thinks the DEITY is a statue made of material elements, but as he gradually become pure in heart, he also gradually comes to understand that the DEITY is actually made of spirit. Therefore the DEITY form of the Lord should be worshiped by all classes of devotees. To worship an imaginary form is forbidden. However, to worship the real eternal form of the Lord is very auspicious.
2007-02-15 01:04:10 · answer #7 · answered by Gaura 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
we worship in the temple as god himself. by which we attain
peace, strengths and solution to all our problems we face.
gods energy is only felt when you complete the prayer. may be
some feel in the form of diety the energy comes.
2007-02-16 06:11:26 · answer #8 · answered by s.bala s 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All humans are equal, but we have more affection towards those we love.,
Likewise god is everywhere, But praying him in a temple, helps us to meditate concentrating on him atleast for a few secs, this gives purity and peace to our mind., This helps all the people who cant meditate because of their overloaded work.
2007-02-12 11:35:32 · answer #9 · answered by Sarathy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your question is similar to the question asked by Prahlad's father -"Is your Vishnu in this pillar?" Prahlad's answer was yes.
When Hiranyakashipu(Prahlad's father) smashes the pillar with his majestic mace, Lord Vishnu emerges as his Narasimha Avataar.
I believe God is omnipresent.
2007-02-16 03:51:14 · answer #10 · answered by GANESH BHAT 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋