Nuru Omes Nam welcome to amam this is a series of talks devotional songs spiritual discussions and symposiums offered by our own Swami G’s swaminis brahmacharis brahmacharinis householder devotees staff and students of am institutions in in tiri upanishad it is said that the guru imparts knowledge to his disciples and to test if they have
Understood it rightly he asks one or two to repeat that information this is the same method that is being followed in several of our modern educational institutions as well our own Amma follows this method many times with that in mind let’s listen to today’s episode om am oh Oh om s gur Om My infinite prostrations of the seat of my sguru SRI maandi Universal teacher Universal mother my humble pronounce all us belov children watching this program the topic is as we have already mentioned a Salient features of Hinduism there are about 9 to 10 very important topics which is unique to our
Hinduism unique to sanatana Dharma and those topics we have briefly mentioned in the last two episodes it is beginning with we have in only in our tradition we have a guru parara a guru then who disciple the disciple becomes the guru like that we have a lineage of gurus Guru parara we
Have then we have second is Avatar whenever Dharma declines and adarma arises then bhagavan will take a suitable form and he will descend to the Earth that’s called Avatar like there there are many topics now we have chosen the topic of idol worship just because we we have the in
Aoda we have a a very good pra of Shri bhagan Sama shama is one of the one the most important avatars and praa the idol has been installed in aoda so that is a very very important topic so that we are covering this topic today today here but
Before that briefly we usually we begin with Guru and we the and Ganesha also so be being idol worship it becomes Puja and in Puja usually say om so we will briefly bre the talk about Guru first he should be the he should be the first most important topic briefly
We’ll talk about Guru and connected with idol worship and we’ll talk about Ganesha also and connected with idol worship that we will see so the very good example we can see is we have told us a few times in the past the example of the Bodi Dharma Bodhi Dharma was a
Prince he he was he was a prince Pala Pala Dynasty in tamad and he was sent to China by his Guru so bodh Dharma went there he was sent sent there to cure a very the Dreadful disease like leprosy so he the Boda he had a very good knowledge of
Ayurvedic medicine so with this herbal medicine he he called other physicians in China and within two two or three years he was able to control that that disease and that was the first reason he went there so then secondly then what happened was the then there there was
Another problem so first he controlled the Disease by his knowledge of herbal medicine AIC herbal medicine he controlled the disease then the second problem arose there was a lot of Bandits who always troubled The Villages though therefore he taught them kalu kalu we know it is the martial arts of South India
Especially tamad Kerala so he taught them kalu that really that became the Kung Fu in the shaan monastery they record they have recorded his arrival there and he how he taught them Etc we have shown there so what happened was the the king of the one of the kingdoms
The China also they had small small kingdoms and one kingdom was the in the king of one of the kingdoms I remember his name was w so he was a very good he was a very good Buddhist lot of he was practicing Buddhism and he he heard that a great
Spiritual master from in from India is coming to China so he went to to the border of China India China to receive bdh Dharma so when he went there with this reue with this ministers and Etc see he was surprised to find that this this this bodh Dharma the spiritual
Master he came and the bodh Dharma was carrying who the his Footwear on his head this is one of the versions please remember that there are different versions regarding bodh Dharma I have taken the most relevant the the version here this is relevant budh Dharma was
Carrying his foot bear on his head and the King was very much surprised he said why are you carrying your the Footwear on your head so replied see when if anybody does you favor it is we have to return that favor also so the Footwear was scaring me for
A long time therefore I I thought I should return the favor therefore I am carrying my foot bear on my head so this is we say that when you come to Guru never ask for logic logic has no place in the in spirituality Guru will make us understand the he will make us
Understand that no the logic is of no value in spirituality it is Faith and surrender that which is more important therefore what bodh Dharma was teaching is the carrying the Footwear on the head is Footwear is a very base object it is on the feet a very base object so he was
Indicating that we see God even the more in the lowest object that is the teaching we see God not only in an image in a temple or a mosque or or a the church we see God everywhere in the lowest object like the Footwear we see
In the lowest object even in the stone that is the topic we see we have been trained to see God even in the stone so that is this is the important topic please listen that topic is Nik means the low object this is for us of human beings
Forma there is no nothing inferior or Superior Forma she see she has equal Vision but for us from our intellectual mental level we see stone is a is very inferior object therefore it is a very low object n in the lowest object the seeing the highest in the lowest
Object that is the teaching that is what the our the idol worship also idol worship idols Idols Idol is only a stone shaped taken different shapes and we are worshiping the stone we are seeing the infinite being in the idol also that is what we have see so he became very he
Became one one of the greatest gurus there he taught them Zen Buddhism Etc this what they say so he is one of the great gurus so we have talked about how Guru Guru can train us so we had talked about the guru now now we’ll talk about little about Ganesha also briefly he
Say we say let us begin the Puja we first go down to Guru and Ganesha Guru ganesan so we are go down to the guru and we will go down to Ganesha also then Ganesha we see we know the story very well how the when Nar narja Rishi
Brought the mango and bhagan Shiva said one who can go around the ud first and come back he will get the mango so therefore G vaka and kika kika immediately the Kika or the shanmuka or what what we submania he he bought his peacock and he went around
The world and we know that Ganesha he went around his parents and he got the mango we know very well so the what we say is in in my parent in that form the whole universe in inama that is the understanding so when we worship our
Idol we have to say my idol represents the Supreme Being that way we have to understand it my idol is not just a stone he represents that is what we have to understand and I can give you a very very good example that is on now it is
It is February here on July 26th Republic Day and on August 15 the independent day what do we see we see the chief of the army chief of the a Indian Air Force chief of the Indian Navy chief of the police honorable president of India honorable prime minister of India all Chief ministers
All ministers all heads of Institutions everyone they salute our national flag have seen this so for us Indians National National our national flag is not it is not just a piece of cloth it is a very very sa piece of cloth which represents with a lot of divine values Divine
Qualities that is what is only a piece of cloth but for us Indians our Indian our Indian national flag is not just a piece of cloth it is something which is very very very sacred and and divine and valuable so you can see the orange color the orange color it
Represents it’s you can see this orange it represents knowledge sacrifice you seen the the Patriots during the independent struggle how many patriots they have sacrificed their families happiness for the sake of Independence that life of sacrifices that is the orange or the saffron color and white color it represents Purity honesty you
Can see white is a color which can accept all colors you see when we when we paint we use a white background is it not if if it’s a blue background he paint red on on a blue it won’t look nice therefore white color is the color
Which accepts all colors so in the same way we have a pure pure mind where honesty and Purity we have we accept everyone because they’re all all being all human not only all the human all not only all human beings but all beings of the universe they are manifestations the
Different forms of the Supreme Being and therefore we ask accept everybody that is the difference of white color honesty Purity and acceptance then fraternity Brotherhood is green color and therefore these are the great ques therefore year after year we salute the national flag but if you don’t remember these great
Qualities and if if you don’t develop these qualities in us then our salute Ser the national flag has no meaning that also becomes suti if the saluting the national flag and the if you don’t the if you don’t change if you don’t accept those qualities and we change then only we are
Truly respecting our national flag in the same now we understand how a piece of cloth is woried by all Great Men by every every Indian on Republic Day and Independence Day in the same way a stone is stones are also we are we worship Stones which Stone St also so stone
Ganapati or Sama or SRI Krishna Davi they all represent Divine values Divine qualities therefore idol worship is not supersti it is very very scientific and it can show slowly transform us into the Divine person that is what we have to understand or you can say we have smas
In Kerala from trandum up to the cord you can see smas he called them memorials so this person’s Memorial so we can see subash Chandra BOS Memorial or this person’s Memorial that person’s Memorial so Memorial we he we are we are remembering that person it is not just on his
Birthday or on his day of sacrifice We Gather there and we light the lamp and we talk lot of things about him and we go away that’s all we do but what is what actually what’s a memorial memorial is the when we remember that great person what that great person has done
He is a source of inspiration for us he through his through his selfless life of service and sacrifice he has inspired us so we remember his Noble life of sacrifice and service and then let us try to become like him that the the purpose of a memorial they say Temple also is a
Memorial we remember bhagan Rama we remember bhan Krishna and we always think of them and we all also develop those Divine qualities and that is what we call as res that is what we call as the memorial and now in our title you may have seen the idol worship Dash
Research so we you may wondering what is why is this research now we hear I think within one or two days the our college brahmacharis and other the devotees with their college they told told me that Amma has instructed the the institutions all institutions to to conduct research
For one or two one or two days that is a very good idea a very Noble idea which AMA has given them res in our research we see that great great scientists like for example one one example I can see the the for hypertension high blood pressure now the doctors the selflessly
They have the done lot of research now they sayami G the this hypertension this Blood the blood pressure tablet the it has it is minimizing the side effects we have we know that so the in our medicines they have side effects which can the medicine medicine can cure cure
Us at the same time it has side effects also but but the the with their selfless efforts and they they were able to discover more and more the the medicines which which have very minimum side effects so they are great sasis they also they sasis a sasi is one who has
Withdrawn from from the outer world and is focusing centered mind on something very constructive he has completely withdrawn from the outer World he’s completely dedicated his mind in in research he’s thing he want to discover something discover something which we can benefit human beings that is what not only human
Beings from animals also the for the entire environment also we have done that and we can see amma’s stream the Amma Muslim is one of the best in the world they had they have discovered how to predict landslides so when there they have machines which can receive vibration
That this place is dangerous and therefore they we have seen the for example Manisha Madam she has coming to and she she told she tells the we have rejected in the can be inform just they inform them they they inform them this this place is going to have Landslide therefore all the the
Houses were vacated the people in the in that Village they all vacated and the when the landslide happened then there was no there was no loss of human life so they see how such a wonderful thing MMA and her team they are doing the research research that especially some
Instruments which are the medical instrument are very costly for the Common Man Amma told our medical team Al you do research and find out the this instrument can be the can be bought by the human man by the Common Man very costly instrument the common man cannot afford to buy the since you
Do research and try to find try to make it the within the this instrument should be with within the reach of the common man that is the very very great thing Amma is doing the so the research so we also are doing research so the in the Science and
Technology they do research in the outer World they look around them and they say what is what is this world and they try to improve the outer World they think that we can get more happiness by improving the outer world that is their they their aim whereas where where are the spiritual
Masters the gurus they try to see the inner world of the human being they they focus the inner world of human beings and they try to see what exactly used to the man and they try to improve the man then only they can be happiness for
Example there is the on the table there are lot of delicious food but this person is suffering from d area loose motion he cannot eat and therefore improving the world alone cannot make a person happy he has to improve himself also only then he can have a proper
Relation with the world outside this is what Amma is doing in her research and therefore our our research is the we go within ourselves so they say the the I remember one of our aaras he he have a the a BD which sometimes our SW Sings they in that the second one verse says I will search everywhere for you and I will finally find you so they say I will search everywhere and finally I will find you but one of our aaras they give a more beautiful beautiful meaning better meaning the said it So I will have been searching everywhere but I could not find you but my Guru said that you are within therefore I will search I will search for you within I will search for you within me and I will discover you within me that is called research I was searching for you outside
I could not find you therefore my Guru said search for him ins and therefore that is our research search search again that is what we have to understand therefore they say in 15th chapter we chant every day we have to the search for God Also so they say that that Supreme state has to be inquired it has to be searched that state we have to we have to enquire into that that that God reaching where there is no return there we completely we become completely free from the cycle of birth and death so we have
To we have to search for that Supreme state so when we are searching for that Supreme State we have to remember that we have our sense organs are very very limited our eyes our ears nose taste Etc they have they have very limited capacity they cannot this this
Instruments we cannot have a an exact idea what is the word I see in around me my instruments can never reveal to me the what is the exact nature of the outside world therefore I pray to God the oh God oh God make my the the make my sense organs strong and
Capable of knowing the world as it is so that is that’s the meaning so the our attitude when when I searching for the the truth out outside when I’m searching what should be my attitude my instruments alone cannot take me to that the Supreme Being therefore they say that attitude is I completely
Surrender to that Supreme Being and that I Surrender myself to that Supreme Being that attitude I should have I should I should the conduct the inquiry I should I should conduct the research the inquiry into the Supreme Being see now with the we will see in bhita chapter 12 we’ll take today
So that is the B Yoga in B Yoga with the SRI Krishna the Arjuna he we we also have this the doubt Arjuna asks the bhagan bhagan which is better with the worship of God with form or worship of God without form so that is the the essence of the the bhita Bak
Yoga chapter 12 the how bhagan reveals that his true his true nature but that is his true nature it is difficult the to directly enquire into into his real nature therefore very scientifically he he prescribes one by one he prescribes different different levels of sadh that is the most important thing he
Prescribes with the different levels of sad from from where slowly we can we can step by step we can the ENT and we can we will know the the actual ban actual ban is the the the infinite being Supreme Being is infinite all pervading Supreme Being With the nature of pure
Consciousness s that is his nature so our the Dr Dr Shanti and our the am bakra they will the chant the bhita and they will will expl this meaning so less let let us listen to them explaining what is BH idol worship as as taught by bhagan
Krishna to Arjuna let us watch our children the chanting the bhita and explain the meaning what is real idol worship as taught by bhagan Krishna to Arjuna om om am as Swami mentioned today we will be discussing the topic idol worship as preached by Lord Krishna to Arjuna in
The 12th chapter of bhagat Gita the 12th chapter of bhagat Gita named The bti Yoga begins with a question asked by Arjuna to Krishna Arjuna asked the Lord what the superior form of worship is the worship of the form of the Lord or that of the formless the first five shlokas describe
The Lord’s repl reply to this question he says that those who worship steadfastly fixing their minds on me with shha in my opinion are the best devotees the Lord goes on to say that even those devotees who worship the formless also ultimately reach me but the formless worship is difficult for
Ordinary people because of their attachment to their bodies the worship of the formless god with a constantly fixed mind on him forgetting one’s own body is a superior form of worship it is challenging for ordinary people that is why for such devotees worshipping my form is the best
Way now let’s see a dramatic depiction of Lord krishna’s clarifying arjuna’s Doubts may For For Arjuna said those devotees who are exclusively and constantly devoted to you and those who worship the unmanifested Brahman which of them are the best knowers of yoga bhagavan said I consider them to be best yogis who fixing their mind on on me worship me ever steadfast and are endowed with supreme
Shha but those also who worship the imperishable the indefinable the unmanifested the omnipresent the unthinkable the unchangeable the immovable the Eternal having controlled all their senses even minded all and engaged in the welfare of all beings verily they reach only me of course the striving is greater for
Those whose minds are set on the unmanifested for the goal of the unmanifested is very hard for the embodied to reach but those who depending exclusively on me and surrendering all actions to me regarding me as the supreme goal meditating on me with single-minded devotion and whose mind is
Set on me verily I become before long oh Arjuna the deliverer from the ocean of the Mortal samsara bhagan says that he’s all pervading the whole universe is nothing but the Lord himself but it is tough for an ordinary person to see him in his entirety so out of compassion the Lord
Takes a step down and advises his devotees an easier method of worship that is the worship of his Cosmic form bhagan exists in his Cosmic form in the universe Amma also conveys this in one of her Bajin Me The same thing is mentioned in the pur also from his nabii was produced anarika the D Loa or the heaven came into existence from his head the bomi evolved out of his feet and Dick from his years but due to the vastness of the universe and the limitations of the human mind it
Is difficult for an ordinary person to perceive this Cosmic form of the Lord so the next schloka bhagan gives another easier method that is the worship of a single form of the Lord in this way the devotees will have the privilege to pray to their isad devatas form as amma’s children it is
Easier for us to keep our focus on amma’s form but there might still be some people for whom this is difficult for such people the Lord advises Karma Yoga that is to perform actions thinking of him Amma often narrates the story of the gopies of vavan who practiced Karma Yoga
They did all their work constantly thinking of the Lord they named all the spices in their kitchen as mukunda madava murari and every time they use these spices they would chant his Mantra and remember him when they did the laundry they would imagine the clothes to be those of
Krishna’s when they drew water from the well they visualized bathing Little Krishna and this way they constantly remembered Krishna in all their actions but in today’s world given the amount of distractions around it is very difficult to practice this so bhagan asks his devotees to offer all their karmas to
Him as Puja he also o ask them to offer the results of their karma to him in this way all the Karma done by such devotees becomes a sadhana this elaborates the scientific temper of idal worship as explained by Swami G in the introduction with this understanding let
Us contemplate the topic of idol worship for a week and continue the discussion in the next episode Om
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