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YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: F.A.Q. 6
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IMAGE-WORSHIP QUESTION: Does Yoga approve of image-worship and, if
so, is this not a breach of God's Commandment as given in Holy Scripture
(Torah, Bible, Quran, etc.)? ANSWER: Firstly, Yoga approves of any Spiritual
practice or activity that elevates the human Soul and brings him closer to
God. This includes the use of symbolic images or objects, in particular for
the purpose of contemplation and meditation. Secondly, why does the enquirer ask about Western Scriptures
while leaving out the Scriptures of the East? Surely, an enquiry into truth
should be comprehensive and inclusive and not selective and exclusive.
Otherwise, he will end up with a distorted result. He should therefore first
study the Scriptures of the East, and then ask questions. Regarding some people's objection to image-worship, our reply
is as follows. It may be true that God appears to speak against such
practices in the Scriptures of the Jews, Christians and Muslims. But it is
equally true that in the Hindu Scriptures He prescribes the same as an
important means of attaining Unity with Him. In fact, the Scriptures of India
describe such forms of worship in great detail. There is no rational basis
for accepting one Scripture and discarding another. If Scripture is the Word
of God then all Scriptures must be equally worthy of being followed. Assuredly, God being Truth, cannot
err or contradict Himself. Nor can we reasonably believe that God's
Revelation to the Prophets of India is in any way inferior to the Revelation
given to the Prophets of The Creator of the Universe did not create human beings for
them to squabble among themselves but to live in Unity and Peace. Lovers of
Unity and Peace must, therefore, look for points of agreement between the
various faiths of the World and not artificially inflate their apparent
differences. It is a universally recognised fact
that the worship of, or reverence shown to, certain images or symbols of the
Divine renders the believer more sensitive and receptive to the qualities or
attributes of the Divine as represented by or projected on to the object of
worship. However, when incorrectly executed, such worship may on occasion
result in the worshipper according excessive importance to the image itself
and becoming oblivious to the Divine qualities or attributes of which the
image was merely supposed to serve as a reminder. While the former mode of worship must be admitted to be
legitimate and commendable in all circumstances, the latter is clearly
unacceptable. Since God cannot disapprove of any action that brings man
closer to Him, it becomes evident that His prohibition refers exclusively to
those forms of worship that alienate rather than bring man closer to God. It
is only this last-named form of worship that qualifies as
"idol-worship" or "idolatry" in the negative sense of the
word. This must be regarded as the only acceptable interpretation of
Scriptural injunctions against image-worship. Divine vs. man-made Scriptures An important problem that arises from the fact that
Image-worship is prohibited by some faiths but permitted by others, is whether this difference is due to Divine
Revelation or human agency. We have indicated above that God being Ever True,
He cannot contradict Himself. Although one of the Biblical Commandments says
that man should not make any images of anything that lives in Heaven or in
the Water or in the Earth, in another Biblical passage, God commands Moses to
make images of Angels! Most scholars agree that the Bible was edited many times
before it reached its present state. There is no way of knowing, therefore,
what the original Bible said. What we do know, however, is that Ancient
Judaism was distinct in many respects from Modern Judaism. We also know that
Ancient Judaism allowed the worship of images and the same applies to all
other Ancient Faiths of Europe, The Original Revelation, therefore, seems to have permitted
the practice of Image-worship. Indeed, had God wished to prohibit such
practices, He wouldn't have allowed them to go on unchecked for millennia. As
the prohibition against Image-worship suddenly appeared in just one place on
Earth, that is, in To establish the truth of the matter, it will be convenient to
first analyse the subject from a scriptural point
of view. Thus we find that the Bible (Exodus 20, 5) says: "You
shall not bow down to them (other Gods), for I the Lord your God
am a jealous God". The problem that arises here
is threefold: Who is "You"; who is "they"; who is "I
the Lord"? We shall begin with the third, and most important, element of
the problem, namely, which God is saying these words? As the Supreme Lord of
the Universe, being above ordinary emotional experience, cannot harbour such base sentiments as jealousy, this is clearly
not the Supreme God speaking but the God worshipped by the ethnic and
religious group known as This is why, at the very beginning of the Biblical
Commandments, God expressly addresses the People of Israel, declaring,
"I am your God who brought you out of Indeed, the Old Testament's Ten Commandments are expressly
regarded as part of God's exclusive covenant with the People of Israel. Now,
the term " Had God wished to deny the existence of other Gods or prohibit
their worship by all of Mankind He would have stated so in the Scriptures of
all nations. But He didn't. On the contrary, the worship of various Gods is
permitted, even commended, in the Scriptures of the Hindus, Ancient
Egyptians, Greeks and other great civilisations
past and present. The same applies to Image-worship. It was prohibited not by
God but by the Israelite clergy who sought to impose its own creed on the
people. What are "False Gods"? Another point of controversy that has often been raised in this
context is the prohibition against the worship of "false Gods". A
“false God” is an object or being erroneously regarded as Divine. For
example, if an ordinary stone is believed to possess Divine properties and is
worshipped by people on that erroneous presumption, then it may be accurately
described as a “false God”. It should be obvious to all thinking people that such worship
would be a rather pointless exercise, unless it were shown to produce results
that would justify it. But what if the Gods worshipped were not
"false" but quite real? On being asked whether the Gods really existed, the great
Saint of South India, Bhagwan Shri
Ramana Maharshi, replied:
"If you exist, why should they not exist?".
Now this is a question which all thinking people should ask themselves before
they look any deeper into the matter. As to the non-thinking ones, well, they
will have to wait until God is gracious enough to remove the veil of
ignorance from their eyes. Meanwhile, the fact is that all religions including Christianity
and Islam admit the existence of Higher Beings who are manifestations or
powers of the Divine. In the West, these are called Angels (Divine
Messengers) or Gods. Says the Bible: "God stands in the Congregation of
the Mighty; He judges among the Gods" (Psalms 82:1). In It follows from this that it is not unreasonable to say that
these Divine Beings who are endowed with Divine powers may appear to man in any
form or shape in which case it is legitimate for man to make and honour images that remind him of such manifestations of
the Divine and ultimately bring him closer not only to the Gods or Angels but
to the Divine Itself. It must be obvious that a person worshipping such an
image, far from "worshipping false Gods" does in fact honour and appeal to the Divine power or powers
represented by or projected on to the image. The Quran, for example, states that
Arab Pagans “call Angels by female names”. In other words, they worship
Angels as Goddesses. While this is intended as a criticism of Pagan practices
(Islam insists that Angels are male), it implicitly admits the identity of
Angels and Gods. It follows that, what Pagans really worship are not “false
Gods” but Higher Beings created by God Himself who, in Abrahamic
traditions go by the name of “Angels”. The objection that may be raised here is why should it be
necessary to worship any beings, whether Divine or not, apart from God
or the Supreme Being Himself? Or, to put it in different words, why can
humans not worship God directly? Well, the fact is that man being imperfect he has no direct
knowledge or perception of Truth. He needs to get closer to Truth by means of
secondary sources. He must read about Truth in Scripture or have Scripture
read and expounded to him by a qualified Spiritual guide, human or Divine.
The Prophet Mohammad, for example, had the Quran
revealed to him not by God directly but through an Angel. Similarly, the
teachings of Christianity were not revealed directly by God but through Jesus
Christ and the Apostles. Likewise, the Jewish people received their Laws
through Moses and other Prophets, and so on. While there is no suggestion that Angels, Devas
or Gods should be worshipped instead of or in preference to the Supreme Being
Himself, the fact remains that contact is often more easily established
between man and intermediary forms of the Divine than between man and God
Himself. If it is legitimate for a Muslim to request guidance from a human
mullah (or imam) or for a Christian to solicit guidance from a priest (or
vicar), then it must be even more legitimate for a person (Yogi, Hindu, Pagan
or otherwise) to seek guidance from an Angel or God. This, after all, is the very function of Divine Beings: to
offer guidance and protection. The expression "Guardian Angel", for
example, did not appear out of the blue. It is the equivalent of the earlier
"Tutelary Deity" (or Guardian God). The Angels or Gods are our
Friends. And honouring them is the appropriate way
of soliciting their help. By contrast, being disrespectful towards them and
calling them "false Gods" amounts to blasphemy and can only achieve
negative results. Moreover, while it is true that official Hinduism, for
example, attributes Divine activities such as Creation, Preservation and
Dissolution to various Gods, in practice these are regarded as functions of
One Supreme Deity Who is worshipped as such by the believers. Indeed, most
Hindu temples are dedicated to one Principal God, although secondary deities
may be honoured as well in the same way as Angels
and Saints are honoured in the Christian tradition.
Thus even apparently polytheistic faiths are, in practice, monotheistic (see The Unity Of All Faiths). For example, in the Hindu Holy Scripture, Shiva Purana (the Ancient Gospel of Shiva) the Gods address
Lord Shiva, the Supreme God, with the following words: "O Great Lord!
Lord of the Gods! You Alone create, sustain and annihilate the Universe. You
are the Supreme Being. We bow to You, the Great Lord, Who are greater than
the greatest, the greatest of the great, the All-pervading, Omniformed Lord" (Rudra Samhita II 41, 1-39). Moreover, it is written that,
"the worship of Deities other than Lord Shiva is futile [for the purpose
of Eternal Salvation]. One should therefore be exclusively devoted to Shiva.
For Salvation is easily attained by him who has exclusive and unflinching
devotion for Shiva and none other" (Rudra Samhita I 4, 57-58). What becomes evident from this is that the notion that Eastern
Faiths "worship many Gods" is inaccurate and misleading, perhaps
even deliberately so. Indeed, Westerners often don't even know their own
Scriptures. We can hardly expect them to know the Scriptures of other faiths!
Whether these Western misconceptions are propagated knowingly or due to
ignorance, the fact remains that they are as false as they can be. Another thing that
becomes clear is that while the Supreme Being is worshipped for the purpose
of attaining Salvation, Nirvana or Enlightenment which is man's Highest Goal,
other Deities may be approached for material gain, for example. Thus the Kurma Purana
( Even when Deities other than the Supreme Being (Parama Shiva) are worshipped, as these Deities are
ultimately nothing but His Own Powers or Manifestations, there cannot be any
objection to this, in monotheistic terms. Indeed, even in Western Faiths, a believer may pray to God in
His capacity as "Lord of Mercy", "Lord of Justice", etc.,
depending on which particular Power or Function of the Deity is being invoked
for the attainment of a desired favour. In
Christianity, the faithful may pray to Saint Christopher, the patron saint of
travellers, Saint George, the patron saint of
farmers or to any number of Angels for any number of material favours. The same applies to Islam where saints similarly
have prayers addressed to them for specific purposes. Spiritual Salvation, on the other hand, remains the domain of
the Supreme Being or God both in Western and Eastern Faiths. On reflection,
therefore, the charge of "polytheism" in the negative sense of the
word does not really hold water. In fact, if we think about it, some forms of Christianity
qualify as polytheism more than Hinduism does. For while Hindus worship One
Supreme God, Christians worship three: God the Father, God the Son and the
Holy Ghost who are all eternal and equal.
Moreover, many Christians worship Jesus as the Supreme God when in
fact it is God Himself, Jesus’ father, who ought to be worshipped as such. In
short, Westerners are patently far too confused in their beliefs to be in a
position to criticise others. Eastern Gods vs. Western Angels Concerning the visual appearance of Gods, it is admitted, even
in Western Faiths, that Angels can assume various forms and shapes, just like
the Eastern Gods. As man is not in a position to decide what appearance a
Divine Being should have, no religion can reasonably claim that the Gods of
other faiths are false, merely on the basis of literary or artistic
representations: if we accept that a Western Angel can have two pairs of
wings, for example, then we must also accept that an Eastern God can have
four arms. As for the myths about the Gods that are sometimes found in
Eastern Scriptures, some may be literally true while others are true to the
extent that the moral, practical or Spiritual message they seek to convey is
true. If Eastern Faiths cannot always prove that their mythological
narratives actually took place in a literal sense, neither can Western Faiths
prove the authenticity of their own Scriptures. There is no scientific evidence, for example, that Moses (the
reformist prophet of Israel) ever received the Ten Commandments from God;
there is no proof that Jesus, the founder of Christianity, ever existed;
there is no proof that Mohammad, the prophet of Islam, was inspired by God. What we can prove, on the basis of historical and
archaeological evidence, is that Eastern Faiths have
on the whole been more peaceful, more tolerant and wiser, than their Western
counterparts. We believe that this in itself suffices to give them the
benefit of the doubt. Why Image-worship is not idolatry The fact is that soliciting help from a Higher Being may be
done either directly or through the medium of a sacred image. For this
reason, the Holy Scriptures of India prescribe three
means or aids in the worship either of the Supreme Being or secondary
Deities: Tantra (Ritual), Yantra
(Devotional Images) and Mantra (Sacred Formulas or Mystic Prayers). As far as Sacred Images are concerned, since the Divine is
capable of assuming any form and shape and can manifest Itself
everywhere, It can also enter and take possession of a pre-existing object,
whether man-made or naturally occurring. If the Spirit of God can enter and
make itself known in a man-made church, mosque or temple then it can also
enter and make itself known in a man-made image in answer to the believer's
prayer. This is precisely what the Scriptures of India (Agamas, Puranas, Tantras)
all are saying. That it is both possible and desirable for images or symbols
of the Divine to be made by man and to then appeal to the Divine Power or
Spirit to enter and take possession of a material image or symbol in order to
enable man to establish a closer contact to the Divine. Since such devices do
appear to serve their intended function, Yoga naturally approves of the
creation and use of images for the above-stated purposes. Even if we were to assume, for the sake of argument, that in
some cases the Divine failed to manifest Itself in or through a man-made
object, the worship of holy images can still not be rejected as a pointless
activity in the same way as the construction of churches or mosques cannot be
deemed pointless merely because some of the worshippers who attend such
places fail to experience the Divine. What is the purpose of building
churches and mosques if not to concentrate the worshipper's mind on the
presence of God? The same function may be equally performed by an image or
symbolic object. The fact is that so long as a believer has no direct
perception of God he can only worship a concept or mental image of
God. It is irrelevant whether this image is mental or physical. If our
opponents object that they worship God as described in Scripture, we reply
that firstly, even a description of something is not the actual thing but
merely an image thereof and, secondly, Yogis and Hindus also worship God as
described in their Scripture, namely in His Visible Manifestation or
Form. We have thus established, on the basis of Scriptural and
factual evidence as well as through logical argumentation, (1) that the
Divine Spirit has the capacity of descending into the physical World and
entering a consacrated object or space and (2) that
contact with the Divine may, and upon failure of other means must, be
established through the medium of a special object such as a sacred image. We
shall now address the issue of image-worship from the perspective of the
worshipper himself. When correctly understood, "Image-worship" is
suddenly seen as a beautiful expression of love of the Divine. To clarify
this point we may use an illustration from daily life. Let us suppose that a
young man were in love with a girl and wished to express his love for her by
offering her a bunch of flowers. However, because he is too shy or because
the girl's parents would object, the young man is compelled to leave the
flowers on the girl's doorstep. Now, although the flowers are left outside
the door, they are clearly not meant for the door but for the girl who lives
in the house behind the door. Similarly, the Yogi, Hindu or Buddhist devotee
who appears to offer flowers, incense, candles and other such things to an
Idol or Image (Murti) of God, in reality directs
his worship to the Deity represented by the Image and upon Whom the Image
helps to concentrate the worshipper's mind. In the same way as a bunch of flowers given to the person one
loves is an expression of love or Unity between two Souls, an object offered
to an Image of the Divine is an expression of union, communion or Unity of
the worshipper with the Deity worshipped through the medium of the Image. On
a higher level, the offering itself stands for a part of oneself which is
offered to the Deity represented by the Image. It is an expression of the
recognition of the fact that everything, including oneself belongs, and is
offered in worship, to the Deity Who is one's Higher Self. This Spiritual awareness is beautifully expressed in the
traditional saying: "Shiva (God) is the Worshipped One as well as the
worshipper and the (object offered in) worship; indeed, Shiva is everything
that is. I myself (the Divine Spirit within me) am no other but that very
Shiva Himself". The colour and perfume of flowers,
the sound of cymbals, conches and sacred chants, the beauty of the Divine
Image, everything in Eastern Ritual has the purpose of opening the devotee's
heart so he can come closer to God and become One with Him. Says Mahamaheshvara Abhinava Gupta:
"To attain the essence of true worship, let the devotee do obeisance
with perfumed flowers that spontaneously penetrate his heart, etc." (Paratrimshika Laghuvritti 32). What becomes evident is that far from constituting an act of
ignorance, "Image-worship" is a beautiful, deeply human and highly
Spiritual gesture: a very simple and powerful means of establishing Unity
with God with Whom the human Soul is essentially One. In other words, a
gesture that only an ignorant person can condemn or deny. Indeed, while
fundamentalist Judaism and Islam reject the worship of Images as
"Idolatry", Christianity (both Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox)
has long adopted the Hindu (or Pagan) practice of employing symbolic imagery
in the worship of the Divine. The reason for this is easy to see: in a World
where most people were illiterate, an Image was much more expressive than a
book. Even today, it remains a fact that no amount of literary description
can match what we see with our own eyes. Written words have neither the immediacy nor the suggestive
power of sensory perception. While words have to be processed by the mind,
Images speak directly to our heart. A statue holding a trident or sword, or
one smiling down on us, for example, can perfectly well convey God's power of
Justice, Truth or Compassion to the believer. Likewise, an Image that
embodies all characteristics of physical beauty can immediately open the
worshipper's heart to the Beauty of God. Since God Himself has given man the
power of artistic expression it cannot be wrong for man to utilise it in whatever manner he sees fit for the purpose
of coming closer to God. To prevent him, on spurious ideological grounds,
from doing so is a crime against Humanity and against God. The suppression of
religious experience and expression can have no place in the civilised World. Indeed, what is the purpose of Religion (any Religion) if not
to bring us closer to God? And how can we get closer to the Perfect One if
not by shedding our imperfections and put on the Perfection of God? And how
can we put on the Perfection of God if not by cultivating Divine Qualities
within us? And how can we cultivate what is good, what is beautiful, what is
real in us, if not by holding before us objects that evoke in us feelings and
thoughts that are conducive to the increase of Perfection in us? In Yoga,
therefore, we do not worship Images but Divine Qualities reflected in an
Image, just as at other times we worship the Divine Qualities we perceive in
Nature, in people, or read about in the Scriptures. Image-worship in Western Faiths We know from the older portion of the Bible (Old Testament)
that the Ancient Temple at Jerusalem contained statues of Angelic Beings
(Cherubim). Since such statues can hardly be supposed to have been placed
there for decorative purposes, we may reasonably deduce from this that the
worship of sacred images was permitted in Ancient Judaism, even after the
iconoclastic reforms which are thought by some to have been introduced by
Moses (about 1200 BC). Indeed, archaeological and historical evidence has
conclusively shown that Pagan (pre-biblical) beliefs and practices in the
Middle East were very similar to the sacred tradition of Ancient India and
Egypt, and that they continued to exist in the area for a long time. Betlehem, the supposed birthplace of Jesus, for example,
was such a centre of the Old Faith - which venerated Lord Adon
(or Baal) and his consort, Asherah. A similar focus
of the Ancient Religion survived in Syria (at Aphaca
or Afqa) until its destruction by the Christian
Emperor Constantine. In Israel proper, the evidence similarly proves the
worship of Yahweh and Asherah up to just a few
centuries BC. What becomes evident is that we are dealing with two forms of
Judaism. An ancient, more inclusive one, in which the worship of sacred
images was permitted and a more recent, more exclusive and rigid one, that
prohibits such worship. In our view, the more ancient version of Judaism was
closer to the Eastern Faiths and, therefore, to the World Faith which was the
Original Revelation (Adi Dharma) imparted to
Humanity by God at the beginning of time. In the Original Revelation, which was the Universal World
Faith, the Supreme Lord established one of the principal pillars of the True
Faith, which is Freedom of Worship. Thus, in the Scriptures of the
East, the Lord declares: "In whatever manner My devotee worships Me
with devotion, that worship is dear to Me" (Bhagavat
Gita). Two forms of worship are permitted in the East: worship of God
as a Transcendental, Formless, Unmanifest Being;
and worship of God as a Personal Being with Form. The worship itself may be
done in two ways: by means of an image such as a geometrical design, statue,
etc.; or without the help of such image. The reason why sacred images are used is not difficult to see:
if the human mind is allowed to form its own, mental image of God, it will
invariably invent one that may be a far cry away from the Divine Original and
mislead the worshipper in his beliefs and actions. This is why in Western
Religions, where the use of sacred images is suppressed,
there is a higher incidence of mental imbalance, religious intolerance,
"holy wars", etc., than in their Eastern counterparts. A traditional image therefore, which is made in accordance
with time-honoured Spiritual principles, serves as
a support which stimulates the mind's thoughts and feelings in the right
direction and prepares it for a direct experience of God either in this life
or in the hereafter. For this reason, Dharmic
Faiths such as Yoga, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc., recommend the worship of
visible images of the Divine which, in the more advanced stages of Spiritual
practice, is replaced by worship of the Unseen Aspects of God. These incontrovertible Spiritual facts formed the basis for
the Divine Commandments which were revealed by the Supreme Lord in the Holy
Land of India and broadcast to the four corners of the Earth by His
Messengers, the Yogis and God-Seers (Rishis) of
old. For this reason, the Kings of Judah, who were following the Commandments
of the Original Revelation, appointed priests to perform religious worship in
accordance with Divine Command. Says the Bible: "And they made images of two calves,
and made an idol, and worshipped all the Host of Heaven, and
served Baal" (2 Kings 17:16). In India, one of the few nations on Earth
that has remained faithful to God's Original Revelation, we may find the same
elements of worship even today. Parallels between Middle Eastern God Baal
and Lord Shiva Concerning the calf or bull as a symbol of Divine Power, we
may observe that, in the Middle East, God Baal was depicted as standing on the back of a bull just as, in
India, Lord Shiva is shown as sitting or riding on a bull. Before temples of
Shiva, there stands an image of Nandi, the Heavenly
Bull symbolic of Divine Power and Sacred Law. Says the Shiva Mahapurana: "The Bull of Dharma is the embodiment of
Truthfulness, Steadfastness, Forbearance, Faith, Restraint"
etc. (Vidyeshvara Sam. 17, 85-86). This is why the Sacred Bull of Heaven is said to be the
Vehicle (Vahana) of God. Because it is the medium
that leads us to God Himself. The World was created as a manifestation of God
so that man may know His Majesty and Glory. Therefore through the
contemplation of sacred images situated outside the House of God, we become
familiar with God's own Attributes that we may recognise
them when we see Him face to face. While within the temple itself, there is
an Image or Symbol (Lingam, Murti) of the Supreme
Lord surrounded by images of various Deities representing the Host of Heaven,
that is, the Assembly or Congregation of Divine Beings over which presides
the Supreme Lord Himself. One of Shiva's Divine Titles is Gana-Pati
(Lord of the Congregation of Spiritual Beings, Lord of the Heavenly Host). He
is also known as Balin
(Lord, Supreme Chief, Mighty One), Maha Bala (Supreme Power), etc., from Sanskrit Bala (Power).
The Hebrew word for God, El (Bel) and Arabic Allah
(Balla) are also derived from the same Sanskrit
word, Bala.
The Arabic word wali which denotes a saint or
Spiritual leader also has its origin in the same Sanskrit root. In the Original Tradition of India, God (Shiva) is surrounded
in particular by female Deities and Spiritual Beings (Yoginis)
with supernatural powers. This Multitude of Divine Powers (Devi-Gana or Yogini-Gana) is
collectively known as Aishvarya
(Lordliness, Majesty) and is personified as Goddess Ishvari who is none other than
God's Own Power. Thus God, the Supreme Principle of Goodness (Shiva-Tattva) is the Supreme Power Holder (Balin)
or Lord (Ishvara) and His Power is His Lordship or
Majesty (Aishvarya). In Ancient Middle East this
was translated into the worship of God Baal
and his Consort Asherah.
Each of these Divine Aspects was symbolically represented by
certain religious images in All Holy Scriptures of India, Vedas, Puranas, Mahabharata, mention the World-supporting Pillar
of Heaven, the Axis or Centre of the Universe (Dhruva,
Skambha, Stambha) round
which everything revolves. The eminent historian of religion, Professor Mircea Eliade, writes: "To
know the Stambha, the Dhruva,
is to possess the key to the Cosmic Mystery and to find the 'Centre of the
World' in the innermost depths of one's being" (Yoga - Immortality and
Freedom). The special appeal of such timeless images consists in their
power to open the doors of our hearts (the gateways to our subconscious, in
psychological terms) bringing us closer to a direct experience of God. Indeed, in India, God has been symbolically represented by a
pillar (Lingam) of stone, clay, metal, etc., from prehistoric times down to
this day. His Power or "Female" Counterpart,
has similarly been associated with trees and vegetation. Of particular
importance is the Bilva tree (Bael
tree, Aegle Marmelos),
the leaves of which, in the Shaiva ritual are
placed upon the Shiva-pillar (Shiva-lingam) just as in Ancient Europe wreaths
of laurel (or bay-leaves) were placed on similar images of the Deity and
maypoles in European villages are decked with flowers and green wreaths even
today. Apart from its well-known medicinal properties, the sacredness
of the Bilva tree is acknowledged in the Holy
Scriptures of India. Thus the Shiva Purana praises
the merits of reading the Scriptures in a temple built in a grove of Bilva trees. Moreover, it is written: "The Bilva
tree is a symbol of Lord Shiva. It is worshipped even by the Gods. Its
greatness is difficult to fathom... He who worships the Supreme God in the
form of a Sacred Pillar (Shiva-lingam) at the root of a Bilva
tree becomes a purified Soul: he shall assuredly attain God" (Vidyeshvara Samhita 22, 22-24). Similarly, the sacred symbol of Judaism, the seven-armed
candle stick (Menorah) was originally fashioned in the shape of an almond
tree which was sacred to Lord Baal.
Says the Bible: "And he (Bezaleel of the tribe
of Not only the Sacred Tree but its connection with light is
itself of Eastern origin. Thus the Holy Scriptures of India (Rig Veda, etc.)
which are generally accepted as predating the Western Bible, speak of Seven
Suns or Aspects of Divine Light, each inhabiting its own heaven; the Divine
Fire (Agni) is said to have Seven Flames, etc.
Hence the seven-armed Jewish candlestick. In Christianity there is the Christmass
tree - or, for that matter, the wooden cross - again, a symbol of the Ancient
Faith. In Islam, there is the Tree of Paradise (Tree of Life) and even the
sacred Black Stone revered by worshippers at Furthermore, both Baal and
Shiva are associated with hunting, in particular, the buffalo (or wild ox)
hunt. One of Lord Shiva’s titles given in the Shiva Purana
is “Mahishasuramardin”, that is, “Slayer of the
Buffalo Demon” the water buffalo being symbolic of the dark, negative forces
that threaten the divinely established Universal Order (Dharma). Above all, the water buffalo
represents death for which reason Indian sacred art depicts the God of Death
as riding on the animal. In consequence, the victory of Lord Shiva over the
Buffalo Demon (Mahishasura) clearly symbolizes the
victory of Life over Death. Thus, far from being a mere myth, the battle against
the Demon Mahisha must have carried deep religious
significance for the inhabitants of Ancient India as much as for the natives
of the Middle East and even for those of the Greek islands where the
legendary victory of the Hero Theseus over the minotaur
(a bull-headed demon) constituted a source of inspiration to generations of
believers prior to the advent of Christianity. Another symbol that Baal has
in common with Lord Shiva is the thunderbolt he holds in his hand just as
Shiva holds the Effulgent Trident of Divine Powers (Trishula). Finally, Baal is said to reside on a
Mountain situated in the North (Mt Zephon) just as
Lord Shiva resides on Mount Kailasa beyond the
Himalayan ranges. Thus the two Deities share sufficient common attributes
for us to safely regard them as identical. The Spiritual and religious
practices connected with God Baal may not have been identical in all respects
with those of Lord Shiva, but the core teachings must have been essentially
the same. The Ancient Hebrews, the ancestors of the Jewish people, are
said to have originated in Mesopotamia (Ancient Babylon), a country whose
religion and culture were very much similar to those of Canaan. Says the
Bible: "The Babylons had an idol, called Bel (Baal)". Now the Hebrews appear
to have been more a pastoralist culture as opposed to the agriculturalist
inhabitants of Canaan. This must have resulted in some differences and
conflicts which are reflected in Biblical accounts. As far as their religions are concerned, however, the evidence
is that they were identical to all other faiths throughout West Asia. The
main difference was the use of distinct titles to describe the Deity: for
example, Hebrew Yahweh as opposed to Canaanite Baal. But, as we have shown above, Hebrew El is related to
Canaanite/Babylonian Bel,
Baal, etc. And the religion of
West Asia was in turn identical to that of South Asia (India). What becomes evident, is that the Ancient Kings of Judah, far from
worshipping "foreign Gods" were in fact faithful followers of the
Supreme Eternal Law of Heaven which was the Universal World Order revealed to
Humanity by God at the beginning of time. In consequence, the Eternal Tradition of Shiva (Shiva
Dharma) must be admitted to be the original and true religion of Israel and
Palestine. If both Israelis and Palestinians accepted this fact, they would
immediately embrace their ancestral heritage and recognise
each other as brothers in the true faith. This would represent an invaluable
step towards World Peace and Unity! Which proves that the
Original Faith alone can save Mankind from war and destruction. Indeed, Shiva’s Eternal Teaching of Unity unifies our
life and makes it whole, healthy and complete. Without the Wisdom of Yoga man’s
life is divided, fragmented and conflict-ridden. The Light of Yoga unites us
and shows us a common path so that we don’t go separate and conflicting ways. Origins of religious disunity Modern Judaism, which we may more accurately term Mosaism, Yahwism or Israelism, represents a deviation from the Original World
Faith. As such, it must have originally been limited to certain priestly
circles only, while the majority of the people remained faithful to the Ancient
Faith. It clearly gained prominence and authority at a later point, perhaps
when large sections of the population were displaced due to conflicts with
foreign powers and other factors resulting in a weakening of the original
religious leadership. This deviation from the Original Faith was subsequently
adopted by even later Western Faiths, Christianity and Islam, and
reinterpreted in their own favour. Thus the Israelists, having rejected
the Ancient Faith, found their own religion rejected by Christianity, and
Christians found their own faith rejected by Islam! Islam in turn is being
torn apart by mutually-rejecting factions within itself, when it is not
suppressed by other rejectionist cults like Atheism
or Communism. What becomes obvious is that this self-perpetuating,
divisive chain of cultural and religious Rejectionism
can only be broken, and the World allowed to return to its Original Peace and
Unity, by embracing the all-inclusive, all-tolerant and unitive
Vision of Yoga which is the Parent Faith of all faiths and the True Faith of
Man. Nor is there any evidence to support the belief that the
transition from Ancient to Modern Judaism has in any way improved the
situation of the Jewish people. It is written in the Bible itself that so long
as the inhabitants of Israel adhered to their original religion, "they
had plenty of food and were well and saw no evil" but since they
abandoned the faith of their forefathers they "have wanted all things
and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine" (Jeremiah 44:17,
18). Indeed, upon the ruins of the Holy Temple at Jerusalem there now stands
a monument to another, even more recent and more rigid faith. As things
stand, there is no hope of the Temple being rebuilt in the foreseeable future,
as the nation of Israel is struggling to survive. In consequence, contrary to
official opinion, the abandoning of the original forms of worship may not
have been the wisest decision in the history of the Jewish people. Christian tradition itself seems to have inherited the divisionist dichotomy of its mother faith, Judaism. While
the vast majority of Christians (comparable to the Adonist
or Baalist common people in the Ancient Land of
Judah) has no problem with the use of images, a small yet influential section
(comparable to the Jahwist or Israelist
elite) rejects the use of the same as "idolatry". Interestingly, the ancestry of Jesus is traced back to the
kings of Judah who, as we have shown, approved of the use of images in
religious ritual. So, at least in this respect, Christianity is not so wrong,
after all. Indeed, if we read the Bible, we will be amazed at how many Yogic
teachings we find there! Jesus himself declares: "Think not that I have
come to destroy the Law (that is, the Dharma), or the Prophets (Rishis). I have come not to destroy but to fulfil them" (Matthew 5, 17). It is noteworthy that an Early-Christian legend - which was
later suppressed by the official Church - informs us that following his
recovery from crucifixion, Jesus travelled to India
where he died at an advanced age. In consequence, he didn't "ascend to
Heaven" as the official story goes - unless we equate India with Heaven.
Indeed, the North Indian Valley of Kashmir, where Jesus is said to have been
buried, is often referred to as "Heaven on Earth" and it must have
seemed like Heaven when compared to Roman-occupied Israel. We must observe at once that there is no historical evidence
for the above Jesus legend. However, the very existence of such a legend
clearly demonstrates the connections between Early Christianity and the
timeless Spirituality of India. The point is not whether Jesus actually travelled to India or even whether he existed at all, but
that early Christians connected their God with India. Indeed, historical
evidence shows that Indian sages were present in the Middle East both before
and after Jesus (from about 300 BC to 800 CE). Yogic teachings,
therefore must have been familiar to the Spiritual leaders of the Historical evidence shows that such teachings were certainly
known to the Christian saint Hippolytus of Rome
who, writing in the years 200 CE says: “There are some among the Indians who
live a self-sufficient life, who abstain from eating
living creatures and cooked food, and subsist on fruits. They say that God is
Light, not like the light one sees, nor like the Sun or fire, but like the
Light of Knowledge whereby the secret mysteries of Nature are perceived by
the Wise” (Philosophumena XXI – The Brahmans). Moreover, if Spiritual leaders like the 9th century Persian
mystic and poet Mansur-al-Halaj (who is considered
the greatest martyr of Sufism) travelled to India
in search of Spiritual knowledge, why not Jesus (the greatest martyr of
Christianity) nine centuries earlier? Millions of people from all over the
World are still making this life-transforming journey to the Holy Land of
India, even today. It would have been a natural reaction, for a man who
failed in his attempt to bring his people back to the Original Faith (Adi Dharma), to retire from public life and devote
himself to Spiritual studies in India, the Homeland of Spirituality on Earth. In the light of what has been said above, the questions that
we must raise here, and that genuine scholars have a duty to investigate, are
the following: Could it be that the true intention of Jesus was to
re-establish the Ancient Faith (Adi Dharma) of the
Kings of Judah and Israel from whom he was allegedly descended? Was this the
reason why he was so fiercely opposed by the ruling (Yahwist)
priests? After all, if Jesus was the Son of God (or even a Prophet of God),
he could hardly have rejected the Original Faith that God Himself
had previously revealed to Mankind in the Scriptures of the East. How else
can we explain the fact that image-worship was adopted by the Christian
Church from the very start? Freedom of Worship Writing in defence of Image-worship,
the 4th century Christian saint, Basil of Caesarea, says:
"The honour given unto an Image passes over to
that which the Image represents" (De Spiritu Sancto). Saint John of Damascus (8th century)
also says: "Therefore, when we bow down and worship (an Image of God),
we do not worship the material, but that which is represented by the
material" (Exposition of the Right Faith). Moreover, in On Holy Images, he declares, "I will not
cease from honouring that material Image which
works my Salvation". Similarly, the Kashmiri Shaiva
saint Bhattanarayana says in his Stavachintamani (21): "O Omnipotent One! by what path can You not be reached, and by what name can
You not be called? By what meditation are You not meditated upon? And again,
what is there that You are not?" In the Shiva Stotravali,
another great Kashmiri saint and poet, Utpaladeva
exclaims: "Obeisance to You, O Radiant One! Who can be worshiped in any
manner, in any place, in whatever form at all" (2:20). Moreover, do not the followers of Judaism pray before the
Temple Wall at Jerusalem? Do not the followers of Islam walk round, kneel
down, pray before, as well as touch or kiss the Black Stone at Mecca? Nobody
accuses them of worshipping a wall or a stone. Therefore, nor should Yogis
and Hindus be accused of worshipping an image when they perform similar or
identical actions before an Image of God. After all, what is right for a Muslim or Jew must also be right for a
Yogi or Hindu! Superficially speaking, there appears to be no connection
whatsoever between a physical object such as image or symbol and God, except
in the believer's mind. However, the same may be said of a holy book: it is
only when we have learned the language and alphabet in which it is written
that we begin to understand that it is about God or even a record of God's
Own Word. Likewise, on reflection, we begin to understand that certain
properties of an image reflect the Beauty, Goodness, Order and Power of God. If the opponent objects that a holy book like the Torah or the
Quran is the Word of God, we reply that a
Hindu Holy Book is likewise the Word of God. And in such a book, for example,
the Shiva Mahapurana, God clearly declares that
image-worship is permitted as a service to God and as a means of bringing the
worshipper closer to Him. Moreover, since all religions admit that everything
comes from God, an image must also derive from the same Divine Source. The
image therefore must be admitted to be capable of leading us to God in the
same way as a lamp that glimmers in the distance on a dark night is capable
of leading us to a human habitation where we may find help, shelter and
protection. Indeed, every worshipper is entitled to worship God according
to whatever method he finds most suitable to himself. As different
worshippers are on different stages of Spiritual development, there must also
be different stages of practice. The first stages of Yoga Practice (Sadhana) - including what may be termed
"image-worship" or meditation on Spiritual symbols - may be
compared to when we cannot directly perceive anything but feel that there is
something in the air and consciously gather our thoughts in an endeavour to make out what it is; the second, to when we
can hear the distant sound of thunder after which the Sky becomes covered in
dark clouds; and the third, to when there is a sudden downpour of rain that
drenches us to the bone. When the thunderstorm has passed, we find ourselves
bathed in the glorious radiance of the blazing Sun and as we eagerly soak in
his light and his warmth, we become one with that source of light and our
individuality dissolves in an extraordinary experience of oneness. As a result of this Spiritual Union of man and God, the human
heart which is, by definition, limited, opaque, scattered, twisted,
disorientated and extremely fragile, feeble and confused, is one day ambushed
and taken by surprise and, being utterly deprived of any possibility whatever
to resist or escape, it is seized, penetrated, invaded and inundated from
within and without and at the same time transfigured, illumined, clarified,
unified, empowered, magnified and cosmified, that
is, expanded to cosmic dimensions, and therefore totally, absolutely, immediately,
permanently and irrevocably Deified, that is, Made One With God. Thus it is written: "They who are drenched by the
downpour of the nectar-like worship of Shiva's Name are not distressed in the
midst of the conflagration of worldly existence... We bow to You, O Great
Lord! Whose Greatness cannot be surpassed, Whose Power the fools confounded
by their selfish mind can never realise"
(Shiva Purana, Rudra Samhita I 4, 54 ;II 15, 66). The great Saint and poet, Bhattanarayana
of Kashmir likewise sings: "Glory to the shower of Divine Nectar caused
by the power of Union with the Supreme (Shaiva-Yoga),
which permanently washes away the impurities of ignorance, delusion and wordly activities!"..."O Wonder! Even when
perceived in a painting or conceived in a dream, You bestow, O Lord, the
perfect fruit of Absolute Reality" (Stavachintamani
76, 96). It is beyond dispute that chanting the Name of God, reading
about God from Scripture or honouring Images of
God, connects us, in thought and feeling, with God. To the extent that they
bring us closer to God, none of these actions can be wrong. On the contrary,
they are perfectly legitimate and highly commendable as we can see on the
evidence of Eastern Scriptures and the living testimony of the Saints and
Prophets of India. This in short is the ultimate function of Yoga and of
all true religious effort, including Image-worship: to unify our entire being
and to restore the state of Unity between ourselves and the Supreme Being, which
Unity has been interrupted and disturbed by a divisive and rejectionist perspective of Life. We have thus clearly
refuted the opponent's position and exposed his objections as being entirely
the product of his own ignorance and Spiritual inadequacy. See also Meditation. |