Idols in the Hindu Way of Life

http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/hindu-idols-gods-worship/

Idols in the Hindu Way of Life – Why Are They Worshipped?DEMYSTIFYING YOGA   

Sadhguru looks at the worship of idols in the Hindu way of life, and explains that they are not merely depictions of gods, but are scientifically created as powerful energy centers. 

Sadhguru: India is one place where they went into elaborate systems of idol-making. This has been misunderstood by other cultures as worshiping some doll as a god. No. Here, people are very much aware that it is we who create the shapes and forms. If you look at it from the standpoint of modern science, we know today that everything is the same energy, but everything is not the same in the world. This energy can be like an animal or this energy can function like the Divine. When I say “the Divine,” I am not talking about you as a being. I am talking about the body itself. The physical body itself can be transformed into a Divine entity if we just reorganize our systems in a particular way.

Hindu is a cultural identity, not a religious identity. In the Hindu way of life, the only important thing in human life is his liberation.

For example, between the full moon day and the new moon day, each of the fourteen nights are so different. Today, we live with so much electric light, so you don’t know the difference. Suppose you lived on a farm or in a forest where there was no electricity, then every night would be very different because the moon comes up at different times and it has different shapes and forms. But it is the same moon. It is not a different entity. The same moon has different impacts at different times. Just a little rearrangement, see what a difference it has made.

Similarly, if you re-arrange the energy system in the body, this body which is just a mass of flesh right now, can become a divine entity. The whole system of yoga is oriented towards this. Gradually, if you give it sufficient attention and practice, you will see that this body is no longer just craving for self-preservation and procreation, it has become something else altogether. It is no longer just a physical entity. Though it is physical, though it is biology, it need not be limited to the physical. It can function and operate in a completely different dimension. Its very presence can become different. It is from this context that many yogis who made their bodies in a certain way, allowed people to worship their bodies. They themselves would not be there in the body, but they let people worship their body because it has become like a divine entity. It is a reorganized energy – completely engineered.

The Hindu Way of Life

One fundamental thing that I would like to clear up about the Hindu way of life is, with the Hindu, there is no “ism” because it is a geographical and cultural identity. Anyone born in the land of Indus is a Hindu. There is no particular belief system, god or ideology which you can call as the Hindu way of life. Whatever you do in this culture is Hindu. You can worship a man-god and be a Hindu. You can worship a woman-god and be a Hindu. You can worship a cow and be a Hindu. You can worship a tree and be a Hindu. Or you don’t worship anything and you can be a Hindu. Hindu is a cultural identity, not a religious identity. In the Hindu way of life, the only important thing in human life is his liberation. Mukti is the only goal.

The Science of Idol-Making

There is a whole science of idol-making where a certain form is created with a particular material and energized in a certain way. Different idols are made in different ways where they relocate or rearrange the chakras in certain places to make them into completely different possibilities. Idol-making is that science through which you manifest the energy in a particular way so that your quality of life can be enhanced.

The temple was not created as a place of God or a place of prayer. It was created as a place of energy where everyone could go and make use of it.

Temples in India, were built as a very deep science. They were not created for worship. When I say temple, I am referring to the ancient temples. Most modern temples are built just the way you build shopping complexes. Temple building is a very deep science. If the basic aspects of the temple – the size and shape of the idol, the mudra that the idol holds, theparikrama, the garbha griha, and the mantras used to consecrate the idol are properly matched, a powerful energy system is created.

In Indian tradition, no one told you that if you go to a temple, you must worship and give money and ask for something. This is something that people have started now. Traditionally, they told you, if you go to the temple, you must sit for a while and come. But today you just touch your bottom to the floor and run away. This is not the way. You are required to sit there because there is a field of energy that has been created. In the morning, before you go out into the world, the first thing you do is you go sit in the temple for a while. This is a way of recharging yourself with very positive vibrations of life so that you go into the world with a different perspective. The temple was not created as a place of God or a place of prayer. No one was ever allowed to lead a prayer. It was created as a place of energy where everyone could go and make use of it.

Dorin • a year ago

I was wondering... why the Indian yogis, sages and all those wise people with such a deep understanding of the laws that governs us all, could still not be able to preserve the culture as it was once. There's a leak on the vessel. I see so many indians falling for the western education, most of them don't even know today the real value and richness of their culture. But now I know why... actually the yogis were wiser than I thought ( :-) logically). They intentionally did let the leak on the vessel, so that the seed will spread all over the world. A compassionate curse of a broken vessel, as a gift for the entire world. I'm very happy to see many Indians coming on the streets of Romania today. I can see they are western educated, but I know they have only one foot on the west, the other is still in Bharat. And now, someone like Sadhguru, my wholeheartedly Pranam to him, is coming at the right time to establish the balance between their feet :-). So that undercover yogis will blossom all over the world, and the whole world will blossom as one :-). Now, western people, please don't feel offended in whatever way about what I said, the west has it's own beauty and meanings (I'm from the west also in this lifetime :-) ). And indian people please don't get too proud :-). We are just upon Earth, but it looks like our Mother sometimes likes to make huge dancing waves from right to left, from east to west and so on, until the waves settle down again as one big ocean. It's just a beautiful dance :-). I love you all!

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  Ceekaykay  Dorin • a year ago

  This land Bharat has faced cultural invasion of every sort for centuries where every effort was made to stamp out the original and do a copy paste job of the intruders. However, the lamps are still burning despite the tornadoes, typhoons and will do so in future as this is a soil of "acceptance". Every belief system is represented and respected here. Here life is seen as just a another stop-over in the journey of several life times to attain mukthi or dissolution or merging into the divine source of creation. We are immensely fortunate to live in the times of Sadhguru..

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    Dorin  Ceekaykay • a year ago

    Yes, it's true I know... unfortunately from a certain angle, the situation doesn't look very bright; but from the right angle as I started to understand, all these things have a huge role to play in the way existence is made on this Planet. It was like a little shake you know... so that a few drops from the vessel will spread in other places also. The lamp was too full and content by itself, while the other lamps were starving... (unconciously, or indirectly, hence the invasion). 
    So... since India was not interested in conquering other nations, because it was too mature to fight like children for little toys, actually for toys that cannot even offer her any kind of entertainment :-)), how to motivate her to loosen a little bit? What to do? she was drunk in bliss like Adi yogi and she won't move an inch. So what to do? Let's see... let India be invaded a little bit, bring some tornadoes, a few typhoons, some copy-paste here and there... :-). And look at them, look how they are running to the west, they are spreaded aaallllll over the world. What a fantastic strategy, and actually they are seeds... seeds of very beautiful flowers. And now Sadhguru is pouring water all over the field :-). We will see the garden of Eden blossom soon upon this entire Planet. 
    I bow down to Sadhguru for what he is, and also I bow down to India for what it is, or rather she is as a mother of this Planet. I really wanted to come and move there if possible, but unfortunately I'm still stuck in society's structure and limitations. I hope I'll have the opportunity to come at least for a visit before I leave my body.
    So... yes Ceekaykay, we are immensely fortunate to live in the times of someone with such proportions like Sadhguru, but you there, especially Isha people and Tamil Nadu are the most fortunate and blessed of all, keep that in mind and don't let this huge opportunity slip through your fingers :-). Love to all, Pranam.

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      Ceekaykay  Dorin • a year ago

      I do not consider myself or people of Tamilnadu more fortunate being closer to Isha centre as latitudes and longitudes do not matter when it comes to spirituality. What matters most is receptivity and that also means an unprejudiced mind set. Sadhguru (Whom I consider no less than Shiva Himself) is too infinite in His grace and wisdom too be contained geographically. He is now here, there have been many like Him and even in future many more of the like Him will walk this sacred soil. He can handle the intellectuals and the ones on the path of devotion (devoid of questions) with ease. From being a I-know-everything to I-do-not-know has been a beautiful journey for me with His grace and blessings.
      Love and pranams

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      kskumaran  Dorin • a year ago

      Well said Mr.Dorin, true that certain bunch of Indians will rather listen to west than sadhguru (They are proud if they get a visa, earn in foreign currency, I can understand being happy for earning being proud..????, bewildering), but as you have mentioned the larger population won't even move and inch from here, if we move we move with certain purpose and not for invading...thanks for your words...

Chidambaram Temple – How And Why It Was Created

Chidambaram Temple – How And Why It Was Created

The Arudra Darshan falls on January 5, 2015, and is an especially significant event at the Chidambaram temple. Sadhguru looks at how and why the Chidambaram temple was created and explores its association with Patanjali, the father of modern yoga.

Sadhguru: In South India, five temples were built for each of the five elements – Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. These are the Pancha Bhuta Sthalas. Geographically, they are all within the Deccan Plateau – four in Tamil Nadu and one in Andhra Pradesh. The temple for water is in Thiruvanaikaval, fire is Thiruvannamalai, Kalahasti is air and Kanchipuram is earth. The temple for space is in Chidambaram.


The Chidambaram temple is an incredible space. The newer part of the temple is around a thousand years old but no one knows how old the older part of the temple is. People say it is 3,500 years or more. This is how Indian culture has been. Even in ancient times, just look at the kind of temples they built. Whether you see the Rameshwaram Temple, the Chidambaram Temple, or the Madurai Temple, these are all colossal establishments and they were created a thousand years ago. At that time, almost every human being except the king lived in shacks. There was no machinery, trucks or cranes, but they worked for a couple of generations on these temples with a single-minded purpose. These people dedicated their whole life, they lived and died to create these temples because it meant so much to them.
Nataraja – The Lord of Dance

At the Chidambaram temple, there is the Nataraja, Shiva as the Lord of Dance. Natesha or Nataraja is one of the most significant forms of Shiva. When I visited CERN in Switzerland, which is the physics laboratory on the planet, where all the atom-smashing takes place, I saw that there is a Nataraja statue in front of the entrance, because they identified that there is nothing in human culture which is closer to what they are doing right now.

The Nataraja form essentially comes from Southern India, particularly from Tamil Nadu. It represents the exuberance of creation, the dance of creation which self-created itself from the eternal stillness. Nataraja standing in Chidambaram is very symbolic because what you call as Chidambaram is just absolute stillness. That is what is enshrined in the form of this temple. The classical arts are to bring this absolute stillness into a human being. Without stillness, true art cannot come.
Space

One thing about Chidambaram is the Nataraja, but the main deity is an empty space. This temple was consecrated by Patanjali himself. Patanjali is known as the “Father of Modern Yoga.” He did not invent yoga. Yoga was already there in various forms which he assimilated into a system. The Yoga Sutras were written by him. If you look at Patanjali, as an enlightened being he can’t be more enlightened than someone else. There is no such thing. Realization is realization. But Patanjali as a man and above all as an intellect, the breadth of his understanding of life is so big that you cannot believe that this is possible in one human being. He is absolutely incredible and almost “not human.”






Painting depicting Nataraja at Chidambaram. Lt of Nataraja – Parvati, Rt – Vyagrahapada, Patanjali

Patanjali consecrated this temple with a certain science behind the whole thing because he is not a devotee, he is a scientist and he set up proper ways of how to conduct the temple. He prepared a group of people who have to maintain a certain level of sadhana and discipline and a method of daily ritual in the temple. Those families multiplied and they continued to keep the temple. Even today, they are generally maintaining the codes and the ritual part that he set forth as to how the temple should be maintained.

Arudra Darshan

One well-known aspect at Chidambaram is the Arudra Darshan in the Tamil month of Margazhi. Rudra means a roarer, or someone who is very effervescent – more than effervescent, a roar. Arudra means stable; not the roaring kind but absolutely stable. Rudra also suggests movement and creation. Arudra suggests a certain inertia.
Reviving Chidambaram

Just the buildings of the Chidambaram temple cover around thirty-five acres. They are built completely of stone and are magnificent. Apart from this, hundreds of acres of lands were attached to it, alongwith jewelry to maintain the vast temple. But during the British era, they took over many temples because of the enormous amount of wealth attached to them and all the jewelry has completely disappeared today. They say that a huge amount of the British funding for World War II came from Indian temples. Lands were also taken over and distributed, so the temple has become poor and unmanageable now.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcNXUhRijp0


Today there are around 360 families who are conducting the rituals and are also the beneficiaries of the temple. But they are unable to maintain it so many things are going away. All the vegetable dye paintings on the ceiling, which are a thousand years old are almost sixty percent gone. The plaster has fallen off and there is nobody for upkeep. And unknowingly, they have put up concrete structures here and there in this hundred percent stone temple because of which the aesthetics and the dynamics of the temple are badly disturbed.


When Patanjali built the temple, he didn’t build things for fancy. He only did what is absolutely needed, and it is an incredible space. That space needs to be protected and nurtured and made available to the whole of humanity. We want to do that. It will cost plenty to restore the temple and also clear up the surroundings because all kinds of bazaars have mushroomed which are bad for the space. We want to just see if we can do something about that and put up proper shopping and hotels, but this is still an idea. We are looking for some corporate support in India. If that happens I want to restore that because whether your house is 10,000 square feet or just 1000 square feet is not going to make an ultimate difference in your life, but being around a consecrated space is going to make a phenomenal difference in your life. With this understanding, in Indian culture, they built human habitations like this: if there are 25 houses, there must be one temple. Whether you go there or not, whether you pray or not, whether you know the mantra or not is not the point. You must be in a consecrated space every moment of your life.


An enormous amount of knowledge about this dimension of life was perpetuated particularly in this culture, and this was held as the most important thing. Because it doesn’t matter what you are eating, how you are or how long you live, at some point, a need will come that you want to get in touch with the source of Creation. If that possibility is not created across the planet and is not available to every human being who seeks, then society has failed to provide true well being for a human being.