Bhakti yoga seems to be a majority of the aspect here at the ashram. Worshipping of deity or an image , something that is external to you just doesnt resonate with me that well. I find it a little better when I constantly am aware of the qualities the deity signifies but it still difficult to do the ritual or 'method' associated with it. I feel in most of indian homes, the emphasis is on the method or ritual than than the real significance of the pooja and internalizing the qualities associated with the deity.
A lot of books on bhakti yoga say that it is the easiest path for salvation as it opens up the heart. It is for very emotional people as well as they can feel the emotion very well. But I also feel since they are so emotional, it is also very easy to sway them in any direction as there is no mind involved. So if a 'religious' leader coveys to them that banging your head every day in the morning will lead you to salvation. They will do it!. As mentioned in my previous posts about blindly following a 'guru'.
My idea of a pooja would be having a clean and pure mind and heart with the intention of being one with the super consciousness and with every other living and non living being on earth. It does not matter whether milk is offered or water is or a curry leaf is offered or a banana leaf and nor does the 'order' of things matter. Most of the time when we do poojas at home the whole focus is on what the priest is going to say next and where to find that thing and having zero sanskrit doesnt help either. if the verse reads 'something water namah' the mind only thinks of offering water to god or sprinkle some water on him/her. But what is the essence of it? Is it supposed to signify cleansing yourself when you sprinkle on him? What significance does any of the rituals have internally? If God is within us, then all those should be internalized with some quality right? But always the God is externalized and unreachable and separate from us.
I have this another theory that all that we see outside is on a microscopic level inside us too. So in effect what we see in the cells, with a nucleus, atom, protons and electrons are infact how our whole universe actually looks!. What if we are just some micro micro organisms inside an electron (earth) revolving around the nucleus (sun)? We can know so much about ourselves by just observing the nature. But in this generation 'observing' is an alien term!. I feel we are a part of a big big being, and the higher self has given us all the clues and tools but we still struggle to get the point. Everything is turned outward and the Self is inward. What if the whole universe was shown in the Self, when the mind is turned inward, like how Krishna shows his mom the whole universe in his mouth?
A lot of books on bhakti yoga say that it is the easiest path for salvation as it opens up the heart. It is for very emotional people as well as they can feel the emotion very well. But I also feel since they are so emotional, it is also very easy to sway them in any direction as there is no mind involved. So if a 'religious' leader coveys to them that banging your head every day in the morning will lead you to salvation. They will do it!. As mentioned in my previous posts about blindly following a 'guru'.
My idea of a pooja would be having a clean and pure mind and heart with the intention of being one with the super consciousness and with every other living and non living being on earth. It does not matter whether milk is offered or water is or a curry leaf is offered or a banana leaf and nor does the 'order' of things matter. Most of the time when we do poojas at home the whole focus is on what the priest is going to say next and where to find that thing and having zero sanskrit doesnt help either. if the verse reads 'something water namah' the mind only thinks of offering water to god or sprinkle some water on him/her. But what is the essence of it? Is it supposed to signify cleansing yourself when you sprinkle on him? What significance does any of the rituals have internally? If God is within us, then all those should be internalized with some quality right? But always the God is externalized and unreachable and separate from us.
I have this another theory that all that we see outside is on a microscopic level inside us too. So in effect what we see in the cells, with a nucleus, atom, protons and electrons are infact how our whole universe actually looks!. What if we are just some micro micro organisms inside an electron (earth) revolving around the nucleus (sun)? We can know so much about ourselves by just observing the nature. But in this generation 'observing' is an alien term!. I feel we are a part of a big big being, and the higher self has given us all the clues and tools but we still struggle to get the point. Everything is turned outward and the Self is inward. What if the whole universe was shown in the Self, when the mind is turned inward, like how Krishna shows his mom the whole universe in his mouth?
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