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We Sikh like to amuse ourselves by proclaiming our belief in One God and not indulging in idol-worship which we say is for the Hindu's. 'Superstitious' we add. But what is superstition ?? Is not a belief in God in itself superstition ?? There is no scientific proof of God's existence after all.
We perform Parikrama around the Golden Temple building. If we find the Jutti of any Guru we start bowing from a 100 yards to pay our respect . If some body found some stone at some place and said that these are the stones which one of the Guru's used in Modi Khana, we build Big Gurdwawa's and Mela's are held and the stones are worshipped . If some body said that Guru Gobind Singh drank milk in a holed Jug we spend loads of money to pay homage. But Hindu's are idol worshipper's we all say. But even though Sikhism discourages idol worship, like many other sects of Hinduism do, the Guru's never said idol worshippers are evil and will go to hell. For when the Hindu worship's an idol he too is actually worshipping the same one Param-Atma.
There isn't really any person [except may be Jews], who does not believe in an idol, image, or symbol.All religions have some concept of God with name and form, but Hindus alone have the courage to admit that fact. The Cross in the Christian church, the picture of Jesus Christ, the statue of Mary, statues of patron saints, even the black stone in Kabba are all idols. If anyone bow in front of any of them, they are breaking laws of Old Testament [LED . . . 26:1, and EX 20:2-5.].
Idol worship is every where and I never ever met a man who does not worship something or someone. In fact, the first sculpture of Christ was in the form of a small boy holding on to a sheep. Now, everywhere in the world, people have pictures of Christ according to their culture. A loving young white man in USA, a tough man looking like a judge in Russia, a nice black man in Africa and a man looking like a typical man from China with a sheepish beard in China. I respect all those pictures. Believe it or not, all of them are idol worships. Once again, God is spirit...No word or image can describe or depict God or can encompass the greatness of God. God is neither the father nor the mother. Since man cannot conceive anything without name and form, man has the right to worship God with a form. At the same time, every worship leads to a God without any name and form in course of the development of the seeker in spirituality.
"...the image in the temple brings to the mind of the devotees their chosen aspect of God. They do not worship the wood, stone or earth of which the deity is made from. The idol remains an idol but the worship goes to the Lord. A symbol is absolutely indispensable for fixing the mind.The mind wants a prop to lean upon. It cannot have a conception of the Absolute in the initial stages. Without the help of some external aid, in the initial stages, the mind cannot be centralized. The people of the whole world, save a few Yogis and Vedantins, are all worshipers of idols. They keep some image or other in the mind"
- - - - - Swami Vivekananda - - - - -
We don't need some scholarly tome to convince us that the law of gravity is a true law or that heat from a stove would not burn your hand ?? These are pragmatic laws we all know. We don't need some scripture to tell us that idol worship is not really a worship of God. We all know it's the worship of the image of God. The image that suits 'us'. It helps.
The tooth of the Buddha in Sri Lankan, The juti of Guru Nanak, in Nanded, the holed jug the Gurudrank from etc. are loved and respected image. All religions have their symbols of holiness.
Thanks
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We Sikh like to amuse ourselves by proclaiming our belief in One God and not indulging in idol-worship which we say is for the Hindu's. 'Superstitious' we add. But what is superstition ?? Is not a belief in God in itself superstition ?? There is no scientific proof of God's existence after all.
We perform Parikrama around the Golden Temple building. If we find the Jutti of any Guru we start bowing from a 100 yards to pay our respect . If some body found some stone at some place and said that these are the stones which one of the Guru's used in Modi Khana, we build Big Gurdwawa's and Mela's are held and the stones are worshipped . If some body said that Guru Gobind Singh drank milk in a holed Jug we spend loads of money to pay homage. But Hindu's are idol worshipper's we all say. But even though Sikhism discourages idol worship, like many other sects of Hinduism do, the Guru's never said idol worshippers are evil and will go to hell. For when the Hindu worship's an idol he too is actually worshipping the same one Param-Atma.
There isn't really any person [except may be Jews], who does not believe in an idol, image, or symbol.All religions have some concept of God with name and form, but Hindus alone have the courage to admit that fact. The Cross in the Christian church, the picture of Jesus Christ, the statue of Mary, statues of patron saints, even the black stone in Kabba are all idols. If anyone bow in front of any of them, they are breaking laws of Old Testament [LED . . . 26:1, and EX 20:2-5.].
Idol worship is every where and I never ever met a man who does not worship something or someone. In fact, the first sculpture of Christ was in the form of a small boy holding on to a sheep. Now, everywhere in the world, people have pictures of Christ according to their culture. A loving young white man in USA, a tough man looking like a judge in Russia, a nice black man in Africa and a man looking like a typical man from China with a sheepish beard in China. I respect all those pictures. Believe it or not, all of them are idol worships. Once again, God is spirit...No word or image can describe or depict God or can encompass the greatness of God. God is neither the father nor the mother. Since man cannot conceive anything without name and form, man has the right to worship God with a form. At the same time, every worship leads to a God without any name and form in course of the development of the seeker in spirituality.
"...the image in the temple brings to the mind of the devotees their chosen aspect of God. They do not worship the wood, stone or earth of which the deity is made from. The idol remains an idol but the worship goes to the Lord. A symbol is absolutely indispensable for fixing the mind.The mind wants a prop to lean upon. It cannot have a conception of the Absolute in the initial stages. Without the help of some external aid, in the initial stages, the mind cannot be centralized. The people of the whole world, save a few Yogis and Vedantins, are all worshipers of idols. They keep some image or other in the mind"
- - - - - Swami Vivekananda - - - - -
We don't need some scholarly tome to convince us that the law of gravity is a true law or that heat from a stove would not burn your hand ?? These are pragmatic laws we all know. We don't need some scripture to tell us that idol worship is not really a worship of God. We all know it's the worship of the image of God. The image that suits 'us'. It helps.
The tooth of the Buddha in Sri Lankan, The juti of Guru Nanak, in Nanded, the holed jug the Gurudrank from etc. are loved and respected image. All religions have their symbols of holiness.
Thanks
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i told them that in many threads but still they are generalising just to prove what they think.
