American Idol...Worship

I've got a lot of things on my mind and I don't know how to put them all into a cohesive post. As I'm constantly in a state of self-reflection, I often look at my beliefs from an outside perspective. I wonder how my beliefs and values appear to other people.

One of the things I sometimes ponder is the process of archana or worship of the archa-vigraha (Deity) form of God. The word "deity" has such a negative connotation that I wonder why so many Gaudiya-Vaishnava practitioners still use it. Using the word "deity" invokes mental images of cultish people dancing around and worshipping golden cow statues. Especially considered from a Christian perspective the idea of "deity worship" seems like a blatantly sinful activity, as deemed so in the Bible. Of course we know the purport of that commandment means that one should not worship ANYTHING before God; that means even putting money or sex or power before God. It doesn't just mean not worshipping statues.

So what if that statue itself IS God? Well, that's where Gaudiya-Vaishnava theology and the Vedic scriptures come into play. If the world around us is nothing more than God's energy and God is unlimited and omniscient, then it doesn't seem so far fetched that God could appear in the so-called material energy in the form of wood or stone. That is the principle and idea behind the archa-vigraha. It's God manifesting His spiritual, transcendental presence into that seemingly material form. Such a form is not material at all, but to the mundane vision of non-devotees it appears to be a doll or a statue made of material elements. Hence they believe "Hindus" to be worshipping idols.

If there is no understanding about God then it becomes very difficult to understand many aspects of Gaudiya-Vaishnava or Krishna Conscious (bhakti-yoga) practices. There needs to be an initial understanding of God as the Supreme Being and us as subordinate, tiny spirit souls. Once one becomes humble and submissive then the transmission of transcendental knowledge can take place.

If one approaches Krishna Consciousness with a materialistic conception then nothing will make sense. The stories in the Vedas will seem like mythology, the Deity will seem like a stone statue or idol, the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra will seem like some form of "brainwashing", the Guru will appear to be an ordinary man who desires worship and fame, etc. All of these things are impossible to understand from a polluted materialistic consciousness.

Many people can't even stop eating meat, running after sex and intoxication and seeking out power and fame. They look at the practices of devotees as being absurd and cultish, but due to ignorance they don't even realize they're in the biggest cult of them all: the cult of illusion and materialism. And they sheepishly follow after what mainstream culture, media and advertising tells them to do, enjoy and pursue.

Materialistic people think that devotees and religious, spiritual people in general are crazy, because they're pursuing things based on faith rather than the tangible world outside of us. But the devotees think the materialistic people are crazy, because they're running after temporary, worldly desires and spending so much time and energy trying to make a permanent home in a temporary world.

We all live in a world of faith. The materialistic person has faith in their senses and their material intelligence. They believe that what they can perceive with their senses is all there is and this is what they believe. They put faith in the materialistic scientists to tell them what the world is, but they ignore the question of WHY we're here. The spiritualist or devotee puts their faith in the scriptures and self-realized souls. Either way faith is there.

So I look at my own life and realize that I haven't just put blind faith into a spiritual process. I put faith into it because there are realizations and experiences that come along with the practice. I believe what I believe not because others have told me to believe it, but because I have had experiences which validate what others have said to be true. Of course that doesn't mean I have experienced those higher states of consciousness where I am fully aware of my eternal, spiritual identity, but I have had experiences which have shown me that this process is real. The more of those types of experiences that we have, the closer we come to the true, eternal reality and the further away we grow from illusion and ignorance.

It's in that higher state of consciousness that so many of the practices of bhakti-yoga become coherent and clear. We're not worshipping idols, we're in the presence of God's merciful manifestation so that we may perceive and serve Him with our currently mundane senses. We're not chanting some mundane sound to put us in a hypnotized state, we're chanting God's names as a form of communion, prayer and connection to transcendence. We're not blindly worshipping Guru as a mundane person or celebrity, we're connecting with the essence of Sri Guru or Paramatama, which is Krishna in our heart becoming manifest externally before us.

Even as aspiring devotees we can sometimes "ride the surface" of our devotional activities, never quite going beyond the ritual. In a higher sense it's not the rituals that are important. It's not the organization or the institution that is important. What is important is for us to become purified in our hearts and our consciousness so that we may elevate ourselves to a higher state of being and perception. It's in that higher state that true Krishna Consciousness and devotional service takes place. It's there where we can meet God face to face.