In Hinduism we pray to idols...Is this wrong? why is it wrong?
If it was so wrong how come our prayers is still being anwered?
2007-04-20 00:22:59 · 31 answers · asked by Nes 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
thank you for all your responses... but why do we claim to accept all other human beings as is but yet we pick on their beliefs and religion? Why cant we change our attitudes to all out there? Come on you guys if we change our attitudes now… the new generation will follow! Think about it.
PS : I personally don’t have a problem with any other religion, but I just get upset when somebody picks on mine. I have friends from all walks of life!
2007-04-20 08:05:24 · update #1
Statue of Liberty is not freedom but she symbolizes it!
A light bulb is not light.. but it symbolizes an idea.
Skull and crossed bones are not dangerous but they symbolize it.
Idol is just a concrete object to symbolize the most abstract of all abstracts - God!
There is no harm in idol worshipping. Here people reject other faiths who worship idols.But who does not worship idols ? The christ on the cross or mother marry with little jesus...Muslims take Kabaa as a point to worship Allaha....are they not idols ? why do they stone Satan ? is it Satan..no it is his uncut idol
We keep photos of our parents and grandparents...talk to them, salute them or just pay respect to them. Is it not idol worshipping?
Idol is an external stimulii to fix our concentration to start meditation. We need something external where we can fix our attention.
idol worshipping in fact is the first step of meditation....the next step being mentally seeing the god, but every common man cant do it directly.
Instead of just making fun of idol worshipping, we should see the great psychological explanation behind ..
As per hinduism, God manifests as different forces...to show attributes of that force to common people, hindus use Iconograhpy.
For example Mother Kali shown as black idol with 4 arms actually means,... God is like darkness too when there is nothing.. there too god exists...four arms represent four directions..to show God is in all directions.
The higher philosophies of hinduism, leave idols and temples and rituals...and confirms God is one without any shape form or attributes.
2007-04-20 00:44:53 · answer #1 · answered by ۞Aum۞ 7 · 7⤊ 1⤋
Regretably I*m not a Bible scholar, but I do believe in God and the power of prayer. The fleshly side of man has an inate need to *see* God, whereas he is a spirit, thus unseeable. I feel that idols are wrong..and misleading. Look at Moses when he went up on the mtn. and returned with the tablet of ten commandments to find the people worshiping a golden calf.....an idol,,,, I respect anyone who has a belief in God and is trying to live such as they understand it..I do not stand in judgement (lest I be judged) of any religion..my God looks at the heart....and we each must search for what we believe and are comfortable with....God Bless You
2007-04-27 22:08:06 · answer #2 · answered by lonely needing friends 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An idol is a symbol of a god. It has been installed with proper prayers and incantations so that ties it to the energy of that god. Having a statue helps the devotee to have better concentration in his prayers. That's why its a great spiritual tool and that's why the prayers work. What could be wrong with that?
2007-04-20 01:06:55 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Surely you must have missed basic Hinduism's, class. We do not pray to idols, we pray to the God's they represent. As any yogi will tell you, the idols actually become the physical body and presence of the God we are praying to.
It is well promote religious tolerance, but to do so effectively we must also understand our own religious teaching.
2007-04-27 13:02:19 · answer #4 · answered by Boston Bluefish 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I see a lot of thumbs down here for some well explained answers... No doubt in my mind, they were Christian, or serial idiot fingers who did this... Now what is an idol, if not purely a representation of who or what you believe in !! It helps you visualise, focus, what is wrong with that ?? Hey Christians, what is that statue of Jesus, or the Virgin Mary doing in most Churches and Cathedrals that I have seen in Doco's etc, if not an idol.. What is this cross with a dead guy nailed to it, hanging around your neck or swinging off your rear view mirror ?? Is that not an idol ? Too many double, if not triple standards with you people..I have a representation of the Goddess on my Altar... I do not worship this effigy, but what it stands for in life...Usually Goddess figurines,have no particular face, as the Venus of Willendorf is to my knowledge the oldest of the Earth Mother, fertility figurines ever found...She is faceless, she is big breasted, she is pregnant(or she has a beer gut)..She is also 30,000 years old...I know that the Christians with their brand new religion will have an answer as they always do.. They will use their Devil as their defence... You go right ahead and pray to your Idols, Your religion is far older than theirs, and they should respect that... But they don't....Love and Light .. Blessed Be .. )O(
2007-04-20 02:40:44 · answer #5 · answered by Bunge 7 · 4⤊ 2⤋
None can forcibly impose their own thoughts upon others. If unwilling one should refrain himself but cannot criticise all others.
Hinduism is a very old culture, tradition, custom and way of lives of Hindus in Hindustan (India) for centuries. The Idols and their worshipping cannot be separated from Hinduism. There are over 330 or 360 millions of Gods and Goddesses in India and millions of temples and shrines with their idols therein. Hundreds of millions of Hindus pray and worship these idols in those temples and shrines.
All, each and every Hindu fights for the IDOL of Lord Rama to be placed in the temple in Ayodhya, to be worshipped and prayed by Hindus. Some modern educated, westernised and over innocent Hindus claim that the idol worship is not Hinduism. They are unnecessarily ashamed to face others. They should be proud of their tradition, custom, belief & faith.
2007-04-21 06:45:24 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
Exodus 20:4,5: "“You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them nor be induced to serve them, because I Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion, bringing punishment for the error of fathers upon sons, upon the third generation and upon the fourth generation, in the case of those who hate me;"
2007-04-27 15:14:40 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
hi, i think hinduism is a very calming religion , i would love to know more about it and maybe try and use their teachings in my life, i think praying to idols is a good thing, i think everyone needs to have a place they can go when they need comfort and to talk to someone.id prefer people to talk to someone/something than go screaming and trashing places etc.
2007-04-26 08:58:40 · answer #8 · answered by shopperholicrachel 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In Hinduism, we pray to the ideals represented by the 'idols'. It is a symbolic representation of God, not an actual representation of God.
For example, you may have a Yahoo Avatar that looks nothing like you, but regardless of this, it still represents who you are.
2007-04-20 03:10:32 · answer #9 · answered by Fragile Rock 5 · 4⤊ 1⤋
In the 2nd of the 10 commandments, it states:
2. "Lo Yiheheh Lecha …" - "You shall not recognize the gods of others in My presence, etc." - the prohibition against idolatry. One of the three Cardinal Sins, for which one must give up one's life rather than violate it.
There is only one G-d...false idols are an imaginary item that people have come to misunderstand as a "idol" of Him.
If you are praying, you pray to G-d. Not an object. Don't you?
No matter what religion, the 10 commendments still holds. And, if you pray and you say your prayers are being answered...then that is just that. Your FAITH in G-d aids you in having your prayers "answered".
Does this make sense? I hope it helps some.
Good luck in your search
2007-04-20 00:43:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 5⤋