vijay Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Can anyone tell me if prabhupada is non different from his murtis or are they just mark of respect? Is their an installation ceromany for prabhupada murtis? The jiva can only split 8 times does that mean 8 murtis or is this something else? With gaura nitai I've heard that you can worship them without installation, so whats the difference between an installed gaur nitai and a non installed gaur nitai? Thanks Vijay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Can anyone tell me if prabhupada is non different from his murtis or are they just mark of respect? ••••••••prabhupada's murti (or guru's murti or picture) is non different from Him. Vaishnavas do not worship anything that is not FULLY real Is their an installation ceromany for prabhupada murtis? ••••••••the same as the other murtis... they can be officially installed or not.. With gaura nitai I've heard that you can worship them without installation, so whats the difference between an installed gaur nitai and a non installed gaur nitai? •••every murti can be worshipped without installation. Installation does not means that before the murti was a simple statue. The Murti is already God or Guru even when he's imagined by the artist. Installation means that the worshipper accepts rules and regulations from the archana tradition instead of worshipping spontaneously Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 4, 2005 Report Share Posted June 4, 2005 Good answers. Just dropped in for a minute and I like your style, whoever you are. From one guest to another, Gaura Hari bol and thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vijay Posted June 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2005 Is their an installation ceromany for prabhupada murtis? ••••••••the same as the other murtis... they can be officially installed or not.. ------ Are you sure murtis of guru can be installed, i have never heard of this can you provide any evidence for this? ------------ "Installation means that the worshipper accepts rules and regulations from the archana tradition instead of worshipping spontaneously " ------- I thought the installation ceromony means inviting god 'pran pratishta' not that it just means now worship formally instaed of spontaneously. -------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 I thought the installation ceromony means inviting god 'pran pratishta' ••you are absolutely right... but you have to concile your right concept with the fact that the Lord's image is already the Lord himself even if he's not officially invited hare krishna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krsna Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 "Srila Prabhupada liked the photo of himself on the back of the first Hare Krsna "Happening" album. In that photo his hair seems to be standing on end, and his visage is grave, penetrating, mystical. He said of that photo, "A swami should look philosophical." A disciple... told Prabhupada that he wanted a picture of him with his mrdanga for a second record album, "Vande 'ham." Prabhupada said, "I am not a professional musician that I should pose with a mrdanga." He suggested instead more formal pictures, like those of his own Guru Maharaja. The guru is in his picture. "There is no difference between me and my picture," he wrote in a letter. "Therefore we should honour and keep pictures in that spirit. If we throw pictures this way and that way, that is an offense. The name and the picture are as good as the picture in the spiritual world. In the material world, either picture or person, everything is illusion." .." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krsna Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 There are some who startle at the theory of worshiping Srimurti "Oh", they say, "it is idolatry to worship Srimurti! Srimurti is an idol framed by an artist and introduced by no other than Beelzebub himself. Worshiping such an object would rouse the jealousy of God and limit His omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence!" We would tell them, "Brethren, candidly understand the question and do not allow yourself to be misled by sectarian dogmas. God is not jealous, as he is without a second. Beelzebub or Satan is no other than an object of imagination or the subject of an allegory. An allegorical or imaginary being should not be allowed to act as an obstacle to bhakti. Those who believe God to be impersonal, simply identify Him with some power or attribute in Nature, though in fact He is above Nature, her laws and rules. His holy wish is law and it will be sacrilege to confine His unlimited excellence by identifying Him with such attributes as omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience - attributes which may exist in created objects such as time and space, etc. His excellence consists in having in Him mutually contradicting powers and attributes ruled by His supernatural Self. He is identical with His all-beautiful person having such powers as omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence, the like of which cannot be found elsewhere. His holy and perfect person exists eternally in the spiritual world and is at the same time existing in every created object and place in all its fullness. This idea excels all other ideas of the Deity. Mahaprabhu rejects idolatry as well, but considers Srimurti worship to be the only unexceptional means of spiritual culture. It has been shown that God is personal and all-beautiful. Sages like Vyasa and others have seen that beauty in their soul's eye. They have left us descriptions. Of course word carries grossness of matter. But Truth still is perceivable in those descriptions. According to those descriptions one delineates a Srimurti and sees the great God of our heart there with intense pleasure! Brethren, is that wrong or sinful ? Those who say that God has no form either material or spiritual and again imagine a false form of worship are certainly idolatrous. But those who, seeing the spiritual form of the Deity in their soul's eyes, carry that impression as far as possible to the mind and then frame an emblem for the satisfaction of the material eye all meant for continual study of the higher feeling, are by no means idolatrous. While seeing a Srimurti do not even see the image itself but see the spiritual model of the image and you are a pure theist. Idolatry and Srimurti worship are two different things, but my brethren, you simply confound one with the other out of hastiness. To tell you the truth, Srimurti worship is the only true form of worship of the Deity, without which you cannot sufficiently cultivate your religious feelings. The world attracts you through your senses and as long as you do not see God in the objects of your senses, you live in an awkward position which scarcely helps you in securing your spiritual elevation. Place a Srimurti in your house. Think that God almighty is the guardian of the house, the food that you take is His prasad, and the flowers and scents are also His prasad. The eye, the ear, the nose, the touch and the tongue all have a spiritual culture. You do it with a holy heart and God will know it and judge you by your sincerity. Satan and Beelzebub will have nothing to do with you in that matter! All sorts of worship are based on the principle of Srimurti. Look into the history of religion and you will come to this noble truth. The Semitic idea of a patriarchal God both in the pre-Christian period of Judaism and the post-Christian period of Mohamedanism is nothing but a limited idea of Srimurti. The monarchic idea of a Jove amongst the Greeks and of an lndra amongst the Aryan karma-kandis is also a distinct view of the same principle. The idea of a force and Jyotirmaya brahma of the meditators and a formless energy of the shaktas is also a very faint view of the Srimurti. In fact the principle of Srimurti is the Truth itself differently exhibited in different people according to their different phases of thought. Even Jaimini and Comte who are not prepared to accept a creating God, have prescribed certain phases of the Srimurti, simply because they have been impelled by some inward action from the soul! Then again we meet with people who have adopted the cross, the shaligram shila, the lingam and such like emblems as indicators of the inward ideas of Srimurti. Furthermore, if the Divine compassion, love and justice could be portrayed by the pencil and expressed by the chisel, why should not the personal beauty of the Deity embracing all other attributes be portrayed in poetry or in picture expressed by the chisel for the benefit of man? If words could impress thoughts, the watch could indicate time and sign could tell us a history, why should not the picture or figure bring associations of higher thoughts and feelings with regard to the transcendental beauty of the divine Personage? (This excerpt from Srila Bhakti Vinoda Thakura's booklet 'Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Life and Precepts' text is taken from the Guardian of Devotion edition of 1986.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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