quote HH Hridayananda Maharaja

[Guest guest]

ear Madhava and Dhira-Nitai Prabhus and all the Prabhus at

Achintya. Dandavat Pranams. All glories to Prabhupada!

 

Bhakti Vikasa Swami have asked me to post the folloving texts

 

Bhakti Pushpa davi dasi

 

 

 

To complete my previous remarks on philosophy and Deity worship, I will add

a few more points.

 

1. Srila Prabhupada begins his Introduction to the Bhagavatam with these

words:

"The conception of God and the conception of Absolute Truth are not on

the same level. The Srimad-Bhagavatam hits on the target of the Absolute

Truth. The conception of God indicates the controller, whereas the

conception of the Absolute Truth indicates the summum bonum or the ultimate

source of all energies."

Srila Prabhupada's claim is relevant to our discussion of Deity worship.

Consider our philosophy as taught by Lord Caitanya: acintya-bhedabheda-

tattva: "God and His creation are inconceivably one and different." The

reason Krishna is one with His creation is because the creation emanates

from Him, as Prabhupada indicates: Krishna is "the ultimate source of all

energies." Indeed the first words of Vedanta, and the Bhagavatam, are that

the entire creation is born from Krishna.

To say that the creation emanates from Krishna is to say that it

originally exists with Him, that it is part of Him, being His energy.

Krishna confirms this in the Gita, saying that even eight-fold matter is His

separated energy, bhinna-prakrti. Thus the entire creation rests within

Krishna, emanates from Krishna at the time of creation, and goes back within

Him at the time of cosmic destruction.

Contrast this with the Christian view of "creation ex nihilo." The Latin

words "ex nihilo" mean "from nothing." Thus in the Christian view, the

creation does not originally exist within God and does not emanate from Him,

for the simple reason that the creation does not "originally" exist at all.

Originally matter simply does not exist at all, and then God makes it "from

nothing."

However Krishna explains in the Gita 13.20, that not only souls, but

also material nature has always existed. Both have no beginning.

However in the Christian view, matter is not "anadi", beginningless. It

has a definite beginning, and God creates it, as He creates souls, "from

nothing," ex nihilo. Thus in the Christian view, matter is far more

drastically separate from God than in Krishna consciousness. In the

Christian view, there is bheda, "difference" between God and His creation,

but there is no abheda, "non-difference." There is no sense in which God's

creation is one with Him.

Thus these people, have great difficulty understanding how God can

appear in His (apparently) material creation. But as the Bhagavatam, and

Prabhupada, explain, there is a real sense in which Krishna is one with His

energies, even as He is different from them. And thus there is a real sense

in which matter, being not only different but also one with Krishna, is also

spiritual.

Thus in his purport to the Bhagavatam verse 1.3.34, Prabhupada writes:

"Because the Lord is the absolute Transcendence, all of His forms, names,

pastimes, attributes, associates and enegies are identical with Him. His

transcendental energy acts according to His omnipotency. The same energy

acts as His external, internal and marginal energies, and by His omnipotency

He can perform anything and everything through the agency of any of the

above energies."

Thus for the Vaishnavas who understand Krishna to be the source of all

energies, it is easy to understand Krishna's full presence in a Deity form

apparently made of marble, brass, wood etc.

On the other hand, for those who lack this conception of Absolute Truth

as the source of all, and see God simply as the controller who creates the

world "from nothing", the creation is totally separate from God, it never

existed within Him, it does not return to Him, and it is in no sense "one"

with Him. Thus the Christians who hold this view cannot understand the full

presence of God in an apparently material object.

 

2. Although Middle Eastern religions, especially Christianity, did develop

philosophical traditions in which they analyzed the nature of matter and the

material world, their original unphilosophical hostility toward Deity

worship came first, and was part of their original religious understanding.

Their philosophy, which generally arose in Europe, not in the Middle East,

came centuries later. The Christian philosophers inherited an ancient

unphilosophical hostility toward Deity worship, and their understanding of

God as totally separate from His creation made it impossible for them to

overcome this prejudice against visible Deities.

Also Christian philosophers were reacting to a pagan world in which

deity worship was almost always polytheistic. Thus Biblical traditions in

general always associate deity worship with polytheism.

For all these historical and philosophical reasons, it is difficult for

some people to understand Krishna's glorious presence in the Deity form,

however the Vaishnavas will gradually enlighten innocent people about the

true nature, and mercy, of God. After all, Krishna comes as the Deity to

offer us something for which we are not qualified, yet something which we

very much need: His personal association and intimate service.

With my best wishes always,

Hridayananda das Goswami

 

Dear Divyananda,

Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Please post

the following text to the HDG istaghosthi. I hope the devotees will find it

interesting.

Thanks.

Hdg

 

 

Hari bol! This week here in slo we are hosting a very nice, intelligent

young woman, Ana, who is an international concert pianist and who has a

serious interest in Krishna consciousness.

During a philosophical discussion today, an important point came out

regarding Deity worship and I thought I would share it with you.

Coming from a Western, Christian background, Ana explained that many

people she knows consider Deity worship to be primitive, or idol worship. I

explained that actually such hostility toward icon, or Deity worship comes

principally from the Middle Eastern religions, Judaism, Christianity and of

course Islam. This fact, that Middle Eastern religions tend to oppose Deity

worship is related to another fact: the Middle East, unlike India and

Europe, never developed a serious, indigenous philosophical tradition. Here

is the connection between lack of philosophy and opposition to Deity

worship.

Let us say, for example, that I look at a chair. Superficially, on the

surface, a chair is a chair. If I am satisfied with that superficial view,

then I am not yet philosophical. But imagine I begin asking questions.

This is apparently a chair, but what is it, really?

Isn't the chair really just a form of energy?

What is the ultimate reality or form of energy?

Is there anything else in the universe that makes the chair exist?

Is there a God, and if so, what is the chair's relation to God?

 

At this point, I am entering the realm of philosophy.

Now consider a typical set of Deities. An ordinary person enters a

temple and sees some figures carved of marble, or made of brass. On the

surface, the figures are simply material objects. So the person reasons:

1. These are material objects.

2. God is not a material object.

3. Therefore these objects are not God.

Thus to immediately conclude that the Deities are not, and cannot be,

God is to act from a non-philosophical, superficial worldview.

Now imagine that a person enters the temple, sees the same Deities, but

approaches the issue philosophically:

These are apparently material objects, yet people worship them as God.

Let me consider the following:

What is the ultimate nature of matter?

What is the ultimate nature of God?

What is the ultimate relationship of matter to God?

Is God present in matter, and if so can He be present in the Deities in

a special way?

What might be God's intention in manifesting Himself as an apparently

material Deity?

Can God fully manifest in a material object, if that object is His

energy? Etc etc.

Thus a philosophical person cannot immediately reject Deity worship,

since one must first try to understand the deep nature of reality.

 

In conclusion, we may note the following: very simple and pious people

generally have no difficulty believing that God is present in a material

object. And very philosophical people also can understand it. Those who are

neither very simple and pious, nor very philosophical, sometimes object to

Deity worship.

Thus there is an interesting connection between two facts:

1. Middle Eastern religions never developed serious philosophical traditions

of their own.

2. Middle Eastern religions tend to oppose Deity worship.

Thus in certain religious cultures that did not think philosophically

about matter, or about God in matter, there is a tendency to reject Deity

worship.

Of course a full explanation of God's presence in matter is found in the

Gita and Bhagavatam and you can probably figure that out yourself! I hope

the above is useful to you.

With my best wishes always,

Hridayananda das Goswami

 

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