Enlightened Masters imbued them with their own energy

Idol worship is not an idle ritual! PARAMAHAMSA SRI NITHYANANDA The Economic Times> Editorial THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2007

Clay images have been used in many tribal cultures to infuse health and illness, even death and life, into animate and inanimate beings. This is not a voodoo myth, but documented by eminent scholars, who studied these phenomena without bias. On the other hand pseudo scholars from the west, followed by imitators from the east condemn what they call as idol worship.

In our Vedic culture we do not worship idols, we worship the universal energy through idols. If clay images of men and material can have so much power as demonstrated by the tribal societies, how much energy would there be in images of the Divine? Vedic seers created temples as repositories of truth and energy. They are batteries of cosmic energy that radiate this energy for thousands of years. This requires intelligence to understand, not intellectual knowledge.

Western scholars have denigrated our culture through misinterpretation. Some scholars have gone on record to say that they translated our scriptures to prove that there was nothing of value in them. Many Indians celebrate such people as great scholars who provided invaluable service by translating our scriptures. These same Indians, many of them with scholarly credentials, have no depth of understanding of their own culture, and condemn temples and rituals.

There are two problems. One is that all our sacred scriptures need understanding at different levels of energy, actually seven. Very few are able to understand beyond the gross physical energy level. It is not a matter of learning Sanskrit words. Anyone can look up a dictionary and translate; it is a matter of rising in energy to the required level of understanding.

The second is the loss of connection between our sacred scriptures and the rituals that followed from them; between the sruti and smruti. Without this connection, rituals seem meaningless and are performed without meaning. It is the duty of spiritual masters to reestablish this connection.

Temples have been created not for idle worship. Most of our great temples are built upon or created by enlightened Masters who imbued them with their own energy. When you pray in an energy field like that, your prayers do come true. It is like a projector that magnifies a slide onto a screen. The same way your prayers are projected into reality through the energy of the temples and the energised idols. The energy enables your body, mind and spirit to be focused on what you sincerely wish for resulting in fulfilment. Most Read Articles Columnists Editorial 2:02 PM