Anybody who worships idols...answer this.?

Question

umm..how do i put this? yeah, so what do u get out of worshipping idols? y do u do it?

Answer 1

Glad you asked! It is better to ask than make assumptions. I practice Hinduism, and we worship dieties that we have the strongest affinity and attraction to.

Let me explain the purpose of doing this. Do you have a picture of someone that you love very much like maybe a boyfriend, husband, child, mother, father, best friend, etc? When you look at the picture of the person that you love, you feel the love in your heart do you not? Ok..is it the picture itself the one giving you the love? No, it is not. The picture is just a symbolic representation of the person that you love. Since you cannot actually see and be with the the person you love at that moment, so you use a picture to help you feel close, stay connected and remember why you love that person. It helps you feel those feelings in your heart. It is just something for our minds to look and focus on.

Now, God is formless without attributes, but as humans with a mind and living in a 3D, physical, dense world, most of us have a hard time feeling love, attraction for something that we cannot see or comprehend with the minds that we have. The mind needs something to focus on in order to feel those feelings, just like how we need that picture. So God comes to us in physical forms to help us focus on God much better. These dieties/idols/physical forms are just symbolic of God. God is unlimited in its attributes and expression and can take up as many different types of forms to help aid us back towards the original Source that we came from. These forms are just a bridge. They are not the means and end. They help carry us across the Ocean of Transmigration towards the formless aspect of God.

It is no different than Christians focusing on their love for Jesus. Jesus is a form of God. When people think of Jesus, they feel the love in their heart do they not? This is the same thing as when we think of Krishna. We fall in love with His beauty and feel His love too.

There's a great example that Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi) that helped explain the purpose of those forms that we worship. There was this squirrel by the river that wanted to reach the other side of the river but could not swim. An ice cube fell into the river, and the squirrel got onto it and was carried to the other side. Then the ice cube melted and became one with the water. Now you see the symbolism of this story. We are the squirrel wanting to reach the other side towards God, but we don't know how to get there. So a form of the water (ice cube) helps carry us to the other side. God is the water. God takes up a form/shape to help us, to give us something to hold on to, so we don't drown. Once we reached the other side, then we no longer need the form. That is exactly what dieties do for us.

This method of reaching God may not appeal to everybody. That is why we have as many choices towards God that best fits with our mental affinity and emotional needs. This is what works best for me with who I am.

I worship Mata Amritanandamayi whom is a True Master, Krishna, and Mother Kali. Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi) shows me who I am and is my Guru. Kali destroys my ego and Krishna is so full of Love and shows me that I have a Beloved within me waiting for me.

Answer 2

hmm you must define more properly the question you wish to ask for the answer to the question given i would first look at the terminology and go from there... Why do i worship an idol... let me see hmmm what do I idolize? Well i idolize allot of things but would actually consider worshiping a small number of them even though we as a whole maintain the delicate balance of existence... I would have to say that i worship them so that i can understand them further... sure like any religion with the trait to praise a deity would do. There would of course be my own deviation and choosing of how when and where i would praise, worship them, but all in all i would give me the same satisfaction as that of any other belief structure. The only difference would be that instead of getting closer to an invisible structure there would be a physical symbol of its divinity before me. I don't understand how there could be a misunderstanding unless you do not believe in any religion at all. When you tell me that then i am left wondering what you actually believe even if you don't care to form an opinion on the matter...

Answer 3

Yes, as a Vedic Hindu, I do worship idols of our Gods & Goddesses. They answer my prayers & support me whenever I need. I am proud to worship Icons & convey my faith to Almighty.

The idol is a token of the original God / deity whom it depicts/ represents. Concentrating on such a Tangible token is easier than praying an abstract Force.

Answer 4

This is rather an ignorant question. It is your religion that defines them as idols, we worship gods. We worship the gods and goddesses of our universe. What we believe to be real and true. For us, there is no salvation as there is nothing to be saved from. We worship to connect to our universe to our history and to each other. We get joy and fulfillment.

Answer 5

Umm how do I put this. Another stupid Christian who *** no idea what they speak of. I have repersentations of my gods and goddesses. I do it becasue they answer me. When I was ill and in the hosptil not expected to live I ask the Goddess brigit to help me well. I am now not only well but I can walk. Why are sooo many Christians stupid Christians such a $$holes like you. Whay is it OK for Christians to have a reperstation of thier god, while the rest of us its idols.

Answer 6

I don't worship idols as a Christian,but I used to visit a friend who had joined the Hare Krishnas and he worshiped a stone idol called Jadanoth Puri. He really believed this big round stone was the actual god. Why this was so important a point for him,I couldn't say. You'd think a mere symbol would do as well. In any event,the actual function was to provide a focus for prayer - just as with a mere symbol. Make of it what you will.

Answer 7

Happiness is the possession of a good thing, so to answer your question, people worship idols because they think it will make them happy.

Does money make people happy? Do careers make people happy? Does marriage make people happy?

More often than not, it doesn't make people happy. I think people are confused as to what is good and so they busy themselves in what makes them unhappy rather than pursuing happiness.

Because whenever you remove yourself from the state of truth and perfection, you come to nothing. Therefore, stick to the middle way, take the good with the bad, cultivate virtue and avoid vice, be kind and sympathetic to those around you, love and nurture that love, and be happy your are alive.

Answer 8

define "idol"

is that like, um, "american idol"?

or do you mean someone who worships an actual object?

if it's the object your inferring.....then we have something to dicker about.

wiccans, buddhists, taoists, hindus, and muslims.....do not worship an "idol".. neither do satanists or nihhlists. do you have a pic of jesus? do you worship the pic, or what it represents? hmmm.

to my knowledge...which is vast in religion studies...i have never encountered a group who worshipped and image or pic or sculpture or rock. only those who worshiped what said image, pic or sculpture or rock stood for......(i.e. the actual deity they were worshiping.)

ignorance is no excuse. it's just proof in the pudding. :)

Answer 9

Why do you worship whatever you worship? What do you get out of it? Why do you do it?

I don't see how your deity is any different from their deity. The same questions could be asked to you, but with better grammar of course. I actually paid attention in school.

Answer 10

Do you think that anybody thinks that they worship an idol? Your "idol" is their god.

Unless you're talking about American Idol and I frigging hate that show.