| Idol worship is one of the most repugnant acts in | | | | "I love you Mother," said little Fan; |
| religions. Some religions like Judaism and Islam | | | | "Today I'll help you all I can; |
| prohibits the Idol worship and a person who worship | | | | How glad I am that school doesn't keep!" |
| Idol faces the greatest displeasure of God and he is | | | | So she rocked the babe till it fell asleep. |
| liable to be punished to death. The Third of the Ten | | | | Then, stepping softly, she fetched the broom, |
| Commandments of Old Testament clearly state, | | | | And swept the floor and tidied the room; |
| "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form | | | | Busy and happy all day was she, |
| of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath | | | | Helpful and happy as child could be. |
| or the water below. You shall not bow down to | | | | "I love you Mother," again they said, |
| them or worship them." (Exodus 20 4-5). | | | | Three little children going to bed; |
| According to the Quran, idolatry is the gravest sin. It | | | | How do you think that mother guessed? |
| is seen as the only categorically unforgivable sin. Like | | | | Which one of them really loved her best? |
| Islam, the Orthodox Christians abhor idol worship. | | | | Here, when the poet ask the readers to think, which |
| There was a great resistance from the Christianity in | | | | one of the three children loved their mother best, he |
| creating the statue of Jesus for many centuries. Yet | | | | is asking you to use your intuition Thus when you |
| no Churches have become the house of the idols of | | | | make a guess that it was the little Fan who loved |
| Jesus, where people go and worship the image of | | | | her mother best, it is not based on any logic as |
| Jesus. | | | | logically, you can prove any of the three as most |
| The most interesting form of idolatry can be found in | | | | loving. It is by intuition or guess that you realize the |
| Buddhism. Buddha never considered himself as God | | | | Truth that the poet wanted to convey through this |
| and started the philosophy that was based on logic | | | | poem. The message seems to be "Actions speaks |
| and reason. He was against the rituals and idol | | | | louder than words". This is the soul or essence of the |
| worship prevailing in Hinduism. Yet after few centuries | | | | poem which is never said but understood only by |
| after death, Buddhism got divided into Mahayana and | | | | intuition by us. |
| Hinayana. While Hinayana continued to follow the | | | | However, most of the people fail to appreciate the |
| principles of Buddha, the Mahayana made statues of | | | | soul of the scripture but merely focuses on its words. |
| Buddha as God and made Him popular all over the | | | | They take the words as the "gospel truth" rather |
| world. Today, Buddha statues can be found in the | | | | then the understanding the spirit of the scripture. |
| largest numbers all over the world in far more in | | | | People often do not understand the context, time |
| numbers than any other God. | | | | and situations in which these scriptures were written. |
| Idol worship is the most prominent form of worship | | | | They also fail to appreciate that even the meaning of |
| in Hinduism though it has no religious or philosophical | | | | a written words keeps on changing with time. |
| basis. Hindus practically worship the idols of practically | | | | For example, the meaning of commonly used words |
| every type of representation in the universe | | | | like love or God is different in every culture, religion, |
| including, men, animals, plants, rivers, stones, earth, | | | | society and time. Therefore, in order to understand |
| sun , moon and stars. All Hindu temples have the | | | | the real meaning of the words, one has to refer to |
| statues of the main deity and other deities. | | | | the context and use his intuition to get the real |
| It is a fact that despite of no sanction from the | | | | meaning of it and the soul of the scripture like the |
| religions, idol worship is extremely popular in many | | | | soul of the person is never visible to the senses or |
| religions. Idol worship is not the means of God | | | | the mind. |
| realization for many but the very essence of religion. | | | | Thus the words like image are just the |
| Why idols are so important in religions? | | | | representation of the reality and not the reality itself. |
| What is an Idol? | | | | The real knowledge of the scripture can only be |
| An idol is a man-made object that is worshipped in | | | | known by using our spirit (intuition) to decipher the |
| some way. defines "Idol as an image used as an | | | | spirit of the scriptures. The spirit can never be |
| object of worship or a false god". Idol is also defined | | | | expressed in words as that has to be realized by |
| as "an entity that is adored, often blindly or | | | | "self". |
| excessively or as something visible but without | | | | Why Idol worship is Popular? |
| substance". | | | | It is also a fact that idol worship is extremely popular |
| In some way, idol is like a picture or a photograph of | | | | in all religions. All the theists' either worship the idol of |
| a person that is used as a substitute of the person. | | | | the God in the form of an image or worship (the |
| Idol represents the body of the entity that is visible | | | | words of) the scripture. Why is it so? |
| to the senses particularly the eyes. However, a living | | | | God represents the highest limit of human imagination. |
| entity like man is far more than his picture. Picture is | | | | He is conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, |
| the representation of the person only at given point | | | | omniscient originator, creator and ruler of the |
| of time in a given situation. The real person is always | | | | universe. In other words, we can say that God is |
| different from his image but for the moment when | | | | known only to a person who has reached to the |
| the picture was taken. Picture is not the person as | | | | highest level of spiritual evolution. It is like a research |
| the person is made of flesh and blood and the value | | | | paper which are published by the PhD scholars, the |
| of the person comes not from his body but from his | | | | people of highest degree in the particular field. If you |
| soul which is the source of the body as well as the | | | | have seen a typical research paper in an international |
| mind. Every person is unique in the history of | | | | journal, you would realize that it is impossible to |
| universe. No person like you was ever born in the | | | | understand it unless you have specialized in that field. |
| universe nor will ever bear in the future. A person is | | | | It is impossible to understand the research paper of |
| more than body. By worshiping the body, we are in | | | | the top scientists unless you too have matching |
| the danger of missing the essence of the person | | | | knowledge of the subject. |
| which is the soul. | | | | While there is no such difficulty in the field of arts |
| An idol can be made of wood, wax, stone or in the | | | | and literature. Once can easily understand and enjoy |
| form of picture. They are what they are made of | | | | the fiction, movie or a painting of even the best of |
| having no thoughts and power. In Old Testament the | | | | the world. The reason is that all arts deals with the |
| Lord explains the reason for not worshiping an idol in | | | | senses while all branches of knowledge are dealt by |
| following words | | | | the mind. |
| "There you will worship man-made gods of wood and | | | | Therefore, the spiritual leaders and prophets have |
| stone, which can't see or hear or eat or smell. But if | | | | the challenge to reduce the complexity of the spiritual |
| from there you seek the LORD, your God, you will | | | | knowledge to an extent that it moves from the |
| find him if you look for him with all your heart and all | | | | domain of mind to the domain of senses which can |
| your soul. (Deuteronomy 5:28-29) | | | | be seen and felt by every person. |
| While, a wise person use idol merely for focusing his | | | | This is where the role of idol becomes extremely |
| attention to the God, most people confuses the Idol | | | | important. Once can never see a omnipotent, |
| with the real God and preys to Him as if they are | | | | omnipresent God as his potency and knowledge is |
| preying to the God. The popularity of temples around | | | | limited. An idol can be seen and felt by all people and |
| the world is a proof that most people take idols as | | | | help them to pray before an idol rather than an |
| God, or confuse a picture as the real person. | | | | abstract concept (creation of mind) like Brahma or |
| Worshiping the Scriptures | | | | Absolute. |
| It is an irony that most men worship only the idols. If | | | | Idols: The Gates to the Kingdoms of God |
| specific directions from Lord ensured that Muslims of | | | | Therefore, if a person prays before the idol of God, |
| Jews do not worship the image of God as man yet | | | | it is no different than trying to integrate the soul of |
| they could not avoid the worship of the words that | | | | the individual with the Universal Soul. What is more |
| are spoken by the prophets. | | | | important to make believe in a force that is beyond |
| Christianity, Judaism and Islam are often called the | | | | the conception of senses which rules the world? In |
| "religions of the book" the words of God are believed | | | | both ways the spiritual eyes of the person is opened |
| to be revealed to the prophets. Yet the words too | | | | and man is able to see the world not as divided but |
| are not very different than the idols since each word | | | | united by a common entity called Universal Soul, |
| is evolving with time like a person or the world. | | | | Absolute or God. |
| When, we focus on the words, we miss the soul of | | | | Same is true for Scriptures as well. The do's and |
| the scriptures. | | | | don'ts of the scriptures like Ten Commandments are |
| It is for this reason, that each religion seems to be | | | | the summery of the knowledge that evolved over |
| different from each other and their followers refuse | | | | many thousands years of experience. One has to |
| to see the spirit of the scriptures. The worship of | | | | write perhaps thousands of books to explain the |
| the words of the scriptures is a form of idol worship | | | | reasons for each action which hardly one in a million |
| which is practiced by all religions who consider | | | | person can read and understand. By simplification of |
| scriptures as the words of God and hence the | | | | the knowledge, the religions help the man provide the |
| Gospel Truth. | | | | benefit of spirituality without much effort. The |
| The Body and the Soul | | | | difficulty arises, when a person instead of believing |
| All living entities in the universe can be divided into | | | | the idol or the words as symbol of the reality, |
| two basic components i.e. body and soul. Body is | | | | confuse it with the reality itself. This is a great |
| something that is visible to the senses and the mind | | | | danger as most people find it extremely difficult to |
| while soul of the body is to be understood from our | | | | distinguish the body with the reality. Thus the wisdom |
| own soul using intuition and intelligence. | | | | lies in discovering the true knowledge by using the |
| Arts, literature or scriptures too have their body that | | | | symbols of the religion by the help of his own soul. |
| is in the forms of words or image which can be seen | | | | This is the true knowledge that come from within. A |
| and felt. However, the spirit of the literature or art is | | | | famous Sufi poet in India summarized this mystery in |
| hidden in the words that have to be interpreted by | | | | this couplet |
| the individual using his intuition. | | | | The people died reading the scriptures, |
| Let us understand this dichotomy by the help of this | | | | None could become "known"; |
| beautiful poem by Joy Allison. | | | | One who understood the word called "Love" |
| Which Loved Best? | | | | Is the only one who is really "known". |
| "I love you. Mother," said little John; | | | | Love, like God is so simple to now that everyone can |
| Then, forgetting his work, his cap went on, | | | | realize it with "Self", yet none can know "love" even |
| And he was off to the garden swing, | | | | if he has read all books in the world on love. |
| And left her the water and wood to bring. | | | | Pythagoras too said "Man know thyself; then thou |
| "I love you Mother," said Rosy Nell- | | | | shall know the Universe and God". Idols like Scriptures |
| "I love you better than tongues can tell"; | | | | are not God but just the Gateway to the Kingdom |
| Then she teased and pouted full half the day, | | | | of God, and the journey to this Kingdom has to be |
| Till her mother rejoiced when she went to play. | | | | performed by the "self" only. |