Swami teaches... Sacred pictures, idols are lamps shine a way to see the Lord within

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

Light and Love

 

Swami teaches.... (3 - 4 May 2005)

Sacred Pictures, Idols are Lamps Shine a Way to See the Lord Within

There is one Omnipresent God. But to concentrate on the Omnipresent, some

fixed point or preliminary form is needed. And to conceive of the Divine as

present everywhere at all times, the human's mind is to be clarified and

purified by means of certain psychological processes called saadhanas

(spiritual efforts).

This is the reason why not only among the followers of different religions

regular rituals are prescribed for the worship of idols of God. Cynics question

the validity of this type of adoration and say that will only confirm faith in a

superstition. "Can God be a stone or a piece of paper?" they ask.

This attitude is not correct. Through worship pictures, icons, idols of God

many aspirants have attained the vision of the Omnipresent and stayed in that

Incommunicable Bliss.

With just a little paint and a piece of white paper, the painter can draw a

frightening picture of a demon, or a charming picture of a smiling baby or an

inspiring picture of a yogi meditating on the Absolute. All those different

reactions are the result of the combinations of colours; the basic reality is

just colour. So too in the picture house, the screen is the stable substance,

the shadows come and go. When the picture is being flashed on the screen, the

screen is not noticed; it is the base, the foundation, the whole of it has

become the picture.

The Dharma as prescribed in the Vedas is tested and capable of being tested.

It is impartial and just. Faith in it grows with practice. The worship of the

Gods has to follow the rules prescribed in the Vedas; by this means, people

will get strengthened in Dharmic practice. This Dharma is the command of the

Lord; it is the authentic voice of God and so, it can well be followed by all.

 

The sixteen modes of worship laid down in the Shaasthras (sciences of

spirituality) to make theaspirant aware that he/she is in the very presence and

that every gesture and movement has tobe motivated by devotion and dedication,

ensure the purification of the mind from ego.This is chiththa suddhi - the

cleansing of all levels of one's consciousness. The basic chiththa (inner

conciousness) has to be freed from down-pulling impulses. Even a short sincere

session of puuja spent in Divine Awareness yields much fruit. Thiruththondar, a

Thamil saint, confessed that he had engaged himself in worship of the Lord's

idol in order to cleanse his mind.

In fact, puuja (formal worship, at regular hours, with the recitation of

hymns and songs) is thevery first step in the spiritual pilgrimage. Many

seekers have undoubtedly achieved an awarenessof God by years of asceticism

among jungle caves. But, starting early with puuja and continuing the rites of

archana, bhajana and aaradhana (offering of flowers with repetition of God's

Name, singing His glory and adoring Him as a living presence) are more fruitful

and satisfying.

 

The Omnipresent is not absent in the icon or the picture. We do not reduce

God and shut Him upin a stone image; we affirm and realise that He is in the

icon also. We raise the image to thedimensions of the absolute and through it

is possible to achieve to Swami's Cosmic Omnipresent Form. We expand the

picture far beyond its frame and through the processes of saadhana we become

aware that the picture, too, can be made a tool for the mind to escape from its

limitations.

If we do not recognise the divinity in living beings, how can we recognise it

in lifeless photographs and speechless stones? Therefore, we must first

understand what is meant by seeing divinity in everyone. It will then become

quite clear to us that in every being the Atma is one and the same.

 

The material and the Form are inseparable, but the seeker must dwell on the

Form which hedesires to be manifested in all Its Glory, rather than on the

material. He must dwell long and deepover the thought that God is found through

every particle in the Universe, free from any limitationsof space and time. The

devotees have different stages of development due to the previous and present

karma and less or more deep faith to the Divine. There is an 'Ego' too play

some role... The ladder must be as tall as the height to which you want to

climb, is it not?

 

The common people in India believe that when the thunder is threatening

overhead, the simultaneous recitation of Arjuna's nine names keep a bolt from

falling on them. This is proof of the power that not only the Names of God but

also those of His devoted adherents - ever pure and ever in contact with the

Absolute - have over the elements. That is the reason why aaraadhana (worship

of the Presence) is offered even to great devotees like Thyaagaraaja and

Kabeer. They have no identity of their own, having become one with the

limitless through the worship of the limited.

Meditation induces God to come down to you and inspires you to raise

yourselves to Him. It tends to make you come together, not place one in a lower

level and the other on a higher. Dhyana is the royal road to liberation from

bondage, though by prayer too, you earn the same fruit. Meditation needs

concentration, after controlling the claims of the senses. You have to picture

before your inner eye the Form on which you have elected to contemplate.

When you see in a house, on the walls of the shrine room a picture of Swami,

do you not feel awave of reverence and kinship, surging within you? You may not

like him for any other reason,but Swami's picture will bring him closer to you

though the owner of the house may be your rival inthe professional field. So,

too, know that every other person has in his heart of hearts a picture ofthe

God you revere. Recognise it and reconcile your misunderstandings; close up all

gaps and bebrothers in pilgrimage, encouraging and inspiring each other along

the arduous road. On this road Swami's pictures are for the many, many devotees

and followers as the pinpointers from Swami's Form (as carrier not only imagage

but also illumination the divine energy) to the formless Swami's Omnipresent

Cosmic Form. Whether not therefore Swami is one of the most photographed

persons in the world?

 

If you have Swami as the object of meditation, sit in a comfortable pose, let

your mind dwell for some time on some good sthothras (hymns) or incidents from

the sacred stories, so that the senses escaping into the tangles of worldly

worries may be quietened and subdued. Then, with the Name on the tongue, try to

draw with the brush of your emotion and the hand of your intellect, a picture of

Swami, slowly, from the cluster of hair to the face and neck downwards, spending

time in contemplating each as it is getting drawn and when the picture is full,

start from the feet up to the head again, so that your attention is never fora

moment diverted from the Form you love to meditate upon. By this means, it

can never go astray. That picture must, by this process of deep concentration,

be imprinted on the heart, so that like picture printed on paper, it cannot be

peeled off or erased. Merge yourself with the whole of creation; allow the

whole of creation to enter the portals of your mind in one happy joyful family

re-union. All people are lamps lit from the same flame which is God.

The external is only the reflection of the internal. The bimba (object) is

inside and the external world is but its prathi-bimba (images). See the Lord

within; see the world as the reflections He casts. Do not change the pose in

which you have started picturing; do not draw today a Swami sitting and

tomorrow a Swami standing or walking or talking.

No description can picture the portrait in full. When direct realisation is

won, the tongue is rendereddumb; the portrait is unlimnable. It is beyond the

reach of human intelligence or imagination.

The mind is like a camera; when the lens is turned against any object and

clicked, the picture of that thing gets printed on the slide. So, be ever

vigilant; turn it always towards the holiest of objects, God, and click.

The world is like the negative pole of generaor of electricity. Divinity is

like the positive pole. It is only by bringing them together that we can get

peace and happiness. Great saints like Kabir, Jayadeva, Gauranga, Tukaram,

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Rishis like Vyasa and Valmiki have their names

engraved on our hearts eternally, because they had realised the need for

bringing the world and God together by converting work into worship. During the

history of humanity sacred books, icons, pictures, idols have played the role of

mediators towards the Divine Union.

 

The architectural temple has three parts; the Praakaaram (the outer temple),

the inner temple and the shrine or Garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum). These three

represent the sthuula, the suukshma and the kaarana sareera (the gross, the

Subtle and the causal body) of human; when you go to a temple, you should

remember this symbolism.

Pictorially by this symbolism direct Swami's darshan, where He is speaking,

singing, blessing, etc. is as Sanctum Sanctorum. The inner temple constitutes

His photos/pictures, specially prepared and blessed directly by Him. The outer

temple constitutes all the others Swami's images, photos in Web, media, books,

etc., as His indirect darshan available for all humanity. There would be clear

to all that the shrine and the inner temple are more illuminated with the

Divine places to receive Omnipresent Swami's Guidance and Blessing than the

outer temple. (Reet's compilation from,

Sathya Sai Baba. Dharma Vahini, Chapter XIII;

Sathya Sai Baba. The Divine Discourse, "Detachment gives Peace even amidst

Troubles," Summer Showers in Brindavan. May 1973, Brindavan;

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 4. "Jeeva and Dheva," Chapter 19;

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 7. "Lamps lit from the same flame," Chapter 3);

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 14. "Colour on canvas," Chapter 19).

 

Namaste - Reet