Worship of God

[Guest guest]

What then is worship of God? What is the conception of God? In Europe

a devotee said to me `Swami, never utter the word " God " . It calls up

our childhood image, viz., there is one beyond the clouds, in the

Heaven, ever eager to punish those who break His laws. I cannot think

of that.' I said, `All right, use the word Ishwara. I use the word

Brahman.'

 

If we wish to worship God we must feel our nearness to Him. In a way

He is the Creator, the Protector and the Destroyer. He takes things

back to Himself, which we call destroying; but He is much more than

that, He is the Soul of our souls, nearer than the nearest, dearer

than the dearest. He comes to us as Father and Mother. He comes to us

as the Guru and He comes to us also as Ista Devata - the deity chosen

for worship. According to the dualistic Vedanta, and most of us

should start as dualists, the soul and the over-soul - the Atman and

Paramatman - are ever connected. They are ever in union; yet owing to

the impurity of our mind, we become attached to the Lord's creation

but not to Him. A great Western psychologist, seeing the ways of

ordinary religious people, once remarked, `People do not want God.

They want to use God!' They want to pray to God so that He may grant

all their prayers and if He does not grant these prayers, some become

sceptical and say " Oh, God does not exist, and even if He exists, He

is deaf, He is blind, He does not respond " . That kind of childish

conception is no good. Again you want only the good God, as if He has

no other task but to grant you boons.

 

You know, Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna worshipped the Supreme Spirit,

first in the form of Kali, a representation of the Cosmic Process.

Mother with one hand is creating; with another hand She is

protecting; with the third hand She is destroying; and with the

fourth hand She is holding the decapitated head. This is the formal

representation of what one of the Upanisadic seers said. The disciple

asked the father `adhi hi bhagavo brahmeti', `Master, tell me about

Brahman.' And the father replied: `Brahman is that out of which all

things come into being, by which all things live and unto which all

things go back.' In our Bhakti Sastras we call it Ishwara, `God', and

in Vedanta we call it Sat-Chit-Ananda. He is Infinite Existence, He

is Infinite Consciousness, He is Infinite Bliss. He dwells in our

soul and is the Soul of our souls. Again we all dwell in Him. We must

feel it, at least His nearness. But even if we cannot feel it, we

should try to develop the consciousness that He is nearer than the

nearest, dearer than the dearest. What is it that obstructs this

consciousness? Our desires stand in the way of this spiritual

awareness. So let us try to purify this mind.

 

Here you come across a big problem. It is the impure mind that runs

after the things of the world. The pure mind naturally reflects the

glory of God, moves towards Him, meditates on Him, tries to feel His

Divine Presence, Love and Bliss. How to purify the mind? First of all

you must avoid evil thoughts, evil feelings, evil actions, as much as

you can. Entertain good thoughts, good feelings and perform good

actions. That is the first step. We should always bear in mind that

we are all souls, Atman. This Atman has put on a human personality,

with a view to play a part in the Cosmic drama of life. Whatever be

the part that is assigned to us, that part has to be played well;

that means, we have to perform the duties of life and work in a

spirit of detachment, as a form of service to God. But mere moral

practice and the fulfilment of duties are not enough to purify the

mind; we have to meditate on Him, pray to Him who is the Infinite

Source of purity, of Knowledge, devotion, compassion, Love and Bliss.

 

Here we come to the question: How to worship God, how to pray to Him?

But the conception of God is too vast. I give an illustration: We are

like small bubbles. The ocean is too big for our conception. So what

should we do? We find some mighty waves; let us move towards them,

attach ourselves to them and in course of time we have an idea of the

ocean itself. Similarly, we start our spiritual journey with one such

mountain-like wave, our Ista Devata, we just worship Him, pray to

Him, then we come to have a broader conception of life and a broader

conception of Reality. The Ista Devata tells us `Look here. I may be

a mighty wave, you may be a small bubble. But all of us have got the

infinite ocean behind us'. When the proper time comes, He reveals to

us the highest Truth.

 

- Swami Yatiswarananda