FROM THE RITUAL TO THE SPIRITUAL
God is the creator, the destroyer, and the
protector.
He
is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. He is eternal and infinite. Yet we
project him in a stone as a statue, on paper as a painting. We raise huge
structures as symbols of His glory. Then we cage and confine Him inside the
four walls of a temple, and keep Him under lock and key. God is everywhere. He
belongs to everyone. He is universal, yet we behave as if we own and possess
Him. We fight over Him as if He is our property and we r the protectors. We
kill in His name, but we do not live for Him. People of different faiths
designate him differently. Everyone worships him according to one’s own
perception. It begins at the dawn of the day, often with the sounding of big
gongs. A chanting of mantras from the Holy Scriptures. On microphones at full
blast, as if volume would send words to him, with no fear of disturbing anyone.
It continues unabated.. Till the end of the day, as if the length is more
important than the depth. And all this led by an illogical belief in the
happening of the improbable.
Once
I asked a friend how do you pray? He answered, I go to the temple in the
morning, wash the place, give the lord a ceremonial bath with milk, honey and
holy water from the Ganges . Then I put sandal
paste on His forehead, I decorate Him with fresh flowers from the garden, light
a lamp, also incense. Then I pray, by chanting mantras, in His praise. I spend
two hours at His feet everyday throughout the year.
Do
we go through all this outward observance to live in right relation with God? or
to awaken our conscience? To stir the soul? To purify the inner self? But where
is the communion with the creator? Is it all not ritual and nothing spiritual/
Today we go to the temples and other places
of worship for the same reason for which we buy Insurance policies. We look for
bounties and largesse. In the morning we kneel on our knees to pray, to seek
lord’s blessings, his mercy, and then we spend the whole day looking for a
prey.
Often we feel repentant on Sunday, for what
we did on Monday. In today’s materialistic world, money is the ‘mantra’. Gold not
God is the goal. Disappointment and discontent are the inevitable result. The
man may look like the sin; rather he should be beautiful within. Character, Conduct,
Qualities-these are the real riches. A man’s deeds are his diamonds .these decides
the destiny. These are the true treasures. He who does wrong to a man cannot
claim to be doing right before God. Service to man is the sole secret of
success. Greed for worldly goods only gives grief. Man who looks for material
possessions mostly meets misery. Let us not worship Him for the fulfillment of
our wants. Let us “build a chapel in our breasts”., a temple in our hearts. God
is good and great. His delays are not denials. Patience with faith in the
Divine power, by itself makes a pious prayer. If we remember Him all the time, He
will never forget us anytime. But the thought must come from the higher
endowments of the mind. It should be a sincere pouring out of the soul. Full of
feeling. It must relate to the intellect. And if we are not dumb, God shall not
be deaf. What shall move Him? A moment of prayer from the Heart? Or hours of
shouting? A pure thought from the innermost recesses of the minds more than any
‘mantra’. A groan, a moan, a soft cry, shedding a silent tear. All get the
God’s ear. Reverence not rites and rituals makes a pious prayer.
