Murthi [image] worship a great aid to god-realisation
[Pictured: the murthi of Sri Ramakrishna at Belur Math Monastery, India]
[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]
[now a Centre of the international Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission]
DAILY READINGS
Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.
Day 856
Coming to murthi [image, picture, painting, photograph, sculpture or 'statue'] worship – there are other paths but I like bhakti [devotion] – so let us see how murthi worship assists us. We put a murthi there and we go and worship it [for example] 'AUM Sri Ram, jay Ram, jay jay Ram'. Many people criticise that. One person told me that his guru [spiritual preceptor] said, 'you must ask Swamiji, "if Shiva's Ganga [the river Ganges is depicted as flowing from Lord Shiva's head in pictures and sculptures] is flowing and you're thirsty, and you ask Shiva for water, will Shiva give it to you?"' So I turned around and saw his guru's photo there. I said, 'if you ask your guru's photo for some water, if he gives it, then I think my Shiva will give it.'
You understand? It's very easy to preach against somebody [or a particular spiritual path] but it's so difficult to substantiate. If you say Shiva's photo cannot give, even your guru's photo cannot give you. But our great Rishis [sage, seer-saints] have seen the truth behind murthi worship. You see, what we really want to awaken in us is intense love – intense love to realise God. How do we do that? We can do it by different methods. But eighty percent of the people use murthis, symbols. How does it work? It works like this: you look at a murthi, you think about the life [of the saint represented in it], what Ramakrishna did, what Hanumanji did, what Amba Ma did – what will happen? That is an image [a representational form], and what will that image do inside you? It will inspire you. When you get the image and you start thinking about all the good qualities, what will it do? Give inspiration. And out of inspiration it will take you so high that you will intuit [gain intuition, spiritual insight]. You will intuit what? – the truth. So there are three steps. Image, you start with 'I' – Inspiration starts with 'I' and Intuition also starts with an 'I'. The 'I' [ego, ahamkara] in man has to die, then only all will this come [manifest]. [Swamiji repeats] The 'I' in man has to die. And how does he kill the 'I'? By becoming selfless for the time being in the beginning, by thinking of God in the form of that murthi. Then how does he get god-realisation like this?
You're walking in the dark, there's no light and suddenly you see a long shape lying on the ground. The first thing that comes to mind is what? That you're seeing a snake. [You shout] 'Snake, snake!' You look down, 'somebody get a stick!' What's happening in your heart in the meantime? Your heart is beating [hard], perspiration is flowing, you're thinking the snake has two big fangs, the [snake's] tongue comes out, he's about to strike at you. You run away and bring a torch, 'where is it?' You switch on the torch and then think, 'Ah, you fool – it's a rope.' The snake was 'lies' [imagined] but were all the feelings lies [imagined]? May I know – all the feelings that you got – the heart beating fast, you saw the [snake's] big eyes – all that was lies [purely imagination]? The feeling of fear was lies? Was it lies inside [as an emotional, mental experience]? It was true! A man can have a heart-attack not only out of fear but also out of happiness. Not out of blissfulness [of the spiritual sort] but out of happiness [the human emotion].
So just like that, when you look at the Lord there [in the murthi, picture, photograph, artwork, sculpture or statue] and you start getting love in you just like you got fear from looking at the rope [thinking it was a snake] – when you start getting love, what happens to that photo [murthi, picture, artwork, sculpture or statue]? Nothing happens to the rope – but what happens inside you? You start becoming full of love and that love itself, because of that image, will create inspiration. You'll be inspired to know more and more and then as you are inspired to know, when you enquire and study the scriptures, join the holy people in satsang [spiritual prayer and song service] what will happen? Your intellect will become pure and you will intuit the truth. Though that [the murthi, image, picture, photograph, sculpture, statue] will remain as it is, inside [you] transformation takes place. So that is how murthi [image] worship helps you.
And the other thing – God is omnipresent [everywhere], omniscient [all-powerful] and omnipotent [all-powerful], so it must be a foolish man to say God is not there [in the image]. God is there. God is in that form. Only you and I don't know.
1) Care should be taken by the reader to understand and take Swamiji's words in these postings, in context. Every teaching or instruction that he gave was specific to the people who were with Swamiji at the time.
2) Mouse-over the words highlighted in red in the posting for further explanation or links.
There are currently available, over 100 different CDs or DVDs with mp3 files, of Swamiji speaking. Please email timhoare@webmail.co.za to order.
Click HERE for the second website on Swamiji's life and teachings.
For more about the Holy Trinity, and also the founding Swamis of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, please mouse over their names below:
Sri Ramakrishna Sri Sarada Devi Swami Vivekananda
Swami Nischalananda Swami Shivapadananda
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - read online
Reference websites – please mouse over the name and click to connect:
Ramakrishna Math and Mission Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa Ramakrishna Dham