Meaning and Purpose of Worship == Author Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya

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Author : Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya

 

 

Dear ALL,

 

 

*Meaning and Purpose of

Worship<http://www.akhandjyoti.org/?Akhand-Jyoti/2003/Mar-Apr/AwakeningDivinity/\

?Akhand-Jyoti/2003/May-June/SelfRefinement/>

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Why do we worship the divine? To condition and remind our minds of our

divine origin. True worship of God means only one thing –the cultivation of

nobility in thoughts, motives, speech and action. If you think that by

worshiping a particular God you will gain material success or fulfill a

specific desire–– then it is a wrong delusion. Worshiping God with sincerity

results in enhancement of virtues like generosity, compassion and warmth in

your psyche. It brings about a positive change in the attitude of the

devotee towards life. If you have not performed worship in its true sense,

then you are likely to be lost in a maze of lifeless mechanical rituals.

 

You should worship in such a way that you also get the gifts of grace

bestowed on true devotees present and past. Your virtues, character,

actions, behaviour, thoughts and sentiments must improve as a result of

worship. This is what shows the activation of divinity in life. If you

attain this state, great opportunities will knock at your door. Glance

through the cultural history of India –– all the great names in it are of

those who served the noble cause for the good of all and not of those who

earned scholastic laurels. Have you heard of Mahamana Malviyaji? He was an

ordinary person who became a great personage through sincere

worship of divinity as he conceived it.

 

Friends! When God is pleased, He does not give you the petty worldly things

you hanker after. Rather, He bestows on you godlike qualities which elevate

your soul. The lives of world's really great personage demonstrate this

fact. None among them was such who did not receive God's grace, guidance and

cooperation of the masses they served. Give me one name of a great

personality who was not endowed with any godly qualities of compassion,

love, faith and service and who did not elicit spontaneous and loving

cooperation from those who followed him. The noble values and principles of

morality, ethics and spontaneity when adopted in conduct, help in

enhancements of talents and resources. Saints adhere to great ideals of god

like lives. They are never poor; required resources arrive at their

doorstep. But they do not accumulate them; they generously share them with

the needy.

 

When our minds are cleansed of all impurities and perversions, our material

and inner resources are augmented. How many examples should I mention? The

life of everyone who followed the ideal path of love-in-action and selfless

service exemplifies this fact. They are true devotees in my view. I consider

the worship and devotion of only those as true and worthwhile who could

attract divine energies of their deity by the nobility of their character,

by the magnetism of their virtues and by their single-minded determination

at self-refinement and self-effacement When deities are happy with your

worship, they bless you with the attributes of a divine being: enlightened

wisdom, compassion and selfless service. My concept of worhsip and divine

blessings is somewhat different. I can say that a true devotee can attract

divine energies by the force of his nobility; he can compel deities to help

in pursuit of his noble aims. A true devotee in this sense is much stronger

a deity; he can get God's help whenever he asks as his right. God cannot

ignore his call.

 

Those who worship god begging for a few worldly possessions or for

fulfillment of ego-centric desires can't be true devotees even if they spend

all their time in prayers and rituals. Glad consent to God's will is the

real spirit of devotion; it is the prime condition to be fulfilled for being

a devotee in its true sense. God has inalterably assured His devotee, in the

Gita- " yogakshemam vahámyaham " I will provide for all your needs. True, God

does take care of his devotee but He has not promised to satisfy his

cravings. " Yoga " and " kshema " mean taking care of your physical, mental,

intellectual and spiritual well-being.

 

There should not be any confusion that it (God's arrivance) includes the

fulfillment of your gross sensual hunger. Don't chase the mirage of passions

and desires; it devalues the dignity of devotion and the pre-eminence of

God's grace. The relation between the deity and the devotee is graceful and

dignified only when the devotee doesn't beg for anything but rather offers

to entirely give himself to the divine. God has already given you so much!

He has created you. He is always taking care of your yoga-kshema, without

your praying for it.

 

God is not a particularly embodied being. It is we who have conceived Him in

various forms. If it is a must to give a definition, God could only be

vaguely described as " an infinite ensemble of supreme moral principles,

saintly ideals and nobility " . Faith in divine values and ideals and a

self-disciplined endeavour to live for high principles is true devotion and

enlightened worship.

 

*All you really need will be provided*

 

Transparency of character is a great asset of a person through which he gets

abundant support, affection and co-operation from all quarters.

 

This is real prosperity. Can any monetary or material resources ever provide

it? People donated unasked all their wealth and resources at the feet of

Buddha, moved by his compassion and absolute selflessness. Gandhiji's

benevolence, his missionary zeal, his aspirations were all aimed at the

welfare of the lowliest and the lost. This, together with the impeccability

of his character, made him a universally acclaimed mahatma.

 

People from all strata of the society stood by him, cooperated with him and

followed him. Millions of people voluntarily went to jails and sacrificed

their lives for the noble cause of national freedom upon his call. Is such

ethical and spiritual eminence attainable by us all? Yes, indeed, subject to

only one condition – you too like mahatma, should be ready to be led by

truth dwelling light of the spirit. Light, your shadow will follow you. But

you seem to be chasing your own shadow, the shadow of máyá – illusive

worldly attractions and attachments – that seem to have overwhelmed you. You

should learn to walk towards the light, towards God, noble aims and ideals.

Such ideals are the attributes of deities like Hanuman and other emanations

of God.

 

Friends, turn away from the mirage of cravings, passions, greed and

discontentment, and let your prayers and worship reach the stage where your

personality would be illumined by God's light, by the glow of divinity. This

is true devotion. If you have cultivated virtuous tendencies and conduct, I

assure you that you will get support and cooperation from people around you.

Boons of enlightened progress will be showered upon you from all directions.

This is what has been, and will continue to be, the source of God's

blessings, the blessings of divine mother Gayatri. This has been the great

tradition of devotion and of devotees and will be so in the future too. If

you understand this secret and learn the true meaning of worship and

devotion, your Gayatri Anushthan here will be accomplished in the truest

sense.

 

The self disciplining practices of this Anushthan sádhaná are meant to

refine your personality so that virtuous tendencies flourish in you. If this

tapashcaryá of yours is sincere and one-pointed then at the end of this

Anushthan you will feel inwardly endowed with godly attributes of an

authentically virtuous and noble person. When a person imbibes an attitude

of loving service, he sees his own good in the welfare of others and

experiences happiness in it. If you find them elevated in this state of

nobility, I would say you have attained true devotion and grace of the god.

 

You would be blessed by God, just as the great devotees of the past have

been. I have tried and followed this path and have been blessed with sublime

gifts in my life. I want all of you, who have come for this sádhaná course

of a condensed Anushthan, to get inspired and be blessed by divine grace. If

this inspires you and you begin to practice it, I assure you that the result

will be so fulfilling, so majestic that you, your country, your life, your

God, this sádhaná course and I myself will be glorified. May God bless you

with his grace.

 

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