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Hinduism Idol Worship?

Luckysingh

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Dec 3, 2011
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Some interesting views. The subject of idol worship and sikhism has raised some questions for me in the past. I knew that such practice was illogical and forbidden but often wondered why the Sri Guru Granth Sahib had its own bed in the gurdwara and the bowing down, not sitting with your back to it etc.
At the time I was young and didn't realise what the Gurbani meant, I suppose I mistakenly and wrongfully understood it as the holy book for Sikhism comparing it as other religions have the Bible, Koran and Torah. I realised how wrong I was once I learned the history of the Granth Sahib and how it teaches us about the One God and to worship the true omnipresent and to spiritually join with him.
I have come to the conclusion that it is pure respect we have for the eternal living guru that we treat it this way.
Idol worship is a blind worship, whereby people feed physical milk and food to stones and statues treating them as the God, believing their prayers will come true if it is given physical offerings, holy baths etc
We worship the one and true God which is without form and omnipresent and the treatment given to the Guru granth sahib is not worshipping but giving it the highest respect possible, that respect being like -how we would treat a fellow being of the highest order but considering the living Guru granth sahib even higher.
This is what I feel as the Guru Granth Sahib is the true word of God (ek onkar) from beginning to infinity.
As for having photos of Gurus and Gurdwaras like most of us have, they are reminders and act as guides that give us impressions like any piece of art would. They are also respected in the sense that we don't throw last years calender with the gurus pictures on into normal garbage. For me, anything in Sikhi from the Granth Sahib to Gurdwaras, Gurujis portraits, Kirtan and shabad books or any object that is a help and reminder in showing the way to the ONE God, I feel obliged and thankful for it's creation so as to highly respect and value such items for guiding me in worshipping the One True God.

Please forgive if anyone is offended.
Bhul chuk maaf

LuckySingh
 

Harry Haller

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Jan 31, 2011
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Idol worship is a blind worship, whereby people feed physical milk and food to stones and statues treating them as the God, believing their prayers will come true if it is given physical offerings, holy baths etc

Interestingly, I see nothing wrong in giving milk to an idol to celebrate life or Creation and for no other purpose than such, the word ritual seeps in only if people truly believe their personal prayers for their own purpose will come true.

I do not see any difference in giving a statue milk, and visualising Krishna whilst doing so, and offering devotion and faith (provided no personal gain is asked for), to the situation where my father thinks of Guru Nanak Ji to focus on Waheguru, it is the same path, provided the spirit in which it is done is pure and assists in your focus of Creator.

I am not suggesting that we begin feeding milk to statues, but understanding is needed as to why people would do this, and understanding is needed to show it can be consistent with what some of us already do.
 
May 24, 2008
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Forgive my bluntness , I wish to put in very clear cut words . Idol worship is bad because no Devi Devta was ever born or existed . The Devi devtas are creations of Brahmins who wrote Puranic mythological tales just to perpetuate human worship ( their own self worship ) , expeeded by the later generations of Brahmins . The modus operandi was like this the Brahmin used to propagate certain Devi Devta for fulfillment of CERTAIN WISH ( MAN MAANGI MURAAD) , the type of offering , the method ( Karam Kaand ) of worship . In the evening the same offering was gobbled by the very Brahmin , the self-made custodian of 330 million Devi devtas . This used to be practice till the Brahmin was alive , after his death his idol or picture took the form of Devi Devta (by his son ) , many times it was the king , queen or even princesses whose idol was placed before the devotee by the Brahmin . So an idol worship is infact nothing but self ( Human ) worship . Guru Nanak Dev ji got humanity out of this rut of human ( body ) worship by exposing this world to the concept of SHABADGURU ( WORD as teacher) following which we can achieve oneness with FORMLESS GOD whose qualities are described in MOOLMANTAR as " There is One Universal God ( for whole humanity ) whose name is truth ( He Does exist ) , Who is the Creator , Sustainer as well as the Destroyer ( Karta Purakh ) ,Sans Fear , Sans Hatred , Beyond the Realm of time ( does not grow old ), Does not Take birth or dies , Is Self Illuminated , Is achieved by the Grace of true Guru ( Shabad Guru/Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji )"
 

Harry Haller

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Dalbirkji,

I think we first need to evaluate what exactly idol worship is, is praying to a photo of Guru Nanakji idol worship? Is thinking of Guru Nanakji whilst praying idol worship? Is bowing down before the SGGS in the hope that your humility is recognised by SGGS idol worship?

Please define idol worship
 

Kamala

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May 26, 2011
389
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Canada.
Uhh devis and devtas are real, they always talk about it in the Ravidas time, when Ganga DEVI came out of the water and gave him a kangan.
 

Gyani Jarnail Singh

Sawa lakh se EK larraoan
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Uhh devis and devtas are real, they always talk about it in the Ravidas time, when Ganga DEVI came out of the water and gave him a kangan.

Lady of the Lake also gave a sword to King Arthur....which was also in the stone...and of course Merlin was also real...they always talked about it in the Harry Potter series of "granths"...lol...its ALL REAL....I have seen the Loch ness monster (devta) myself....its His YEAR..2012 !! Hes REAL too..becasue hes making the rounds of Malaysian Chinese houses with drums rolling...all real..i know...:angryyoungsingh:
 

sanj007

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Dec 13, 2010
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There is no idol worship in Vedas, so where these practices came fromis later by a number of priests.

One supreme being:
http://agniveer.com/2708/vedic-god/

The Supreme One who represents selflessness, controls the entire universe, is present everywhere and is the Devata of all Devatas, alone is source of bliss. Those who do not understand Him remain drenched in sorrow and those who realize Him achieve unconditional happiness. (Rigveda 1.164.39)

and as to 33 million well:

The Vedas refer to not 33 crore Devatas but 33 types (Koti in Sanskrit) of Devatas. They are explained in Shatpath Brahman very clearly. These include -
8 Vasus (Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Sky, Moon, Sun, Stars/ Planets) that form components of universe where we live,

The master of these 33 Devatas is the Mahadeva or Ishwar who alone is to be worshipped as per 14th Kanda of Shatpath Brahman.
The concept of 33 Devatas is a great research based subject in itself and requires in-depth study for proper understanding. However, it has been made very clear in all Vedic texts that they are NOT Ishwar and hence NOT to be worshipped.
 

Luckysingh

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Correct, I agree. It is the incorporation of rituals and beliefs from priests along the years that influence and portray a misleading image to nearly every religion in the world.
This is where problems arise and misunderstandings.
 

Kamala

Banned
May 26, 2011
389
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Canada.
Lady of the Lake also gave a sword to King Arthur....which was also in the stone...and of course Merlin was also real...they always talked about it in the Harry Potter series of "granths"...lol...its ALL REAL....I have seen the Loch ness monster (devta) myself....its His YEAR..2012 !! Hes REAL too..becasue hes making the rounds of Malaysian Chinese houses with drums rolling...all real..i know...:angryyoungsingh:

but what I am saying is what it in our religion, as in the guru quoting it.
 

sukritkaur

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Dec 19, 2011
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Gurfateh everyone!

I'm going to address ritualistic practices and hopefully it can generate some hypotheses as to what consists of idol worship and what does not. I am of the belief that ritualistic behaviour is closely related to idol worship. It is a ritualistic if you do Math Tek to the SGGS ji and do not know why, it is a ritual if you do Nitnem everyday and do not know why. I think idol worship of the conventional sense of praying to a statue and leaving food for it, and as a result expecting some sort of a boon is not directly proportional to Sikhi however the same idea can be applied. I personally think we should be more worried about ritualistic practices because we are doing these subconsciously without knowledge and more often. This is because before you do Matha Tek I imagine some of us do a tiny Ardaas (New car, More money, Scolarship or something like Nimrata Baksho, Naam Dan Baksho, Garibi Hirade vich Basao) and are doing Matha Tek without knowing why just because you think it will help the cause of the Ardaas then it is definitely ritualistic and also idol worship, not because the SGGS Ji is an idol but because this person is only behaving in a manner that would suggest it is an idol.
I think bowing to a picture of a Guru is also a ritual/idol worship because it doesn't really join you to God or bring you closer to Akal Purakh, it's an empty practice. I used to bow to a picture of Guru Gobing Singh because I didn't have any Gutkes in my room after I finished doing Ardaas however it was easily changed when I realized all I have to do is go downstairs and do Ardaas where the Gutkes are kept so at least I'm not following an empty practice and am actually bowing down to Baani. If I bowed down to the Gutkes just because and not because I recognize the Guru as Baani, then this too would've been a ritual/idol worship. So think of it this way if what you are doing is based on either blind faith or is an empty practice performed done in the hope of being recompensated by the Guru then yes it is idol worship. Here's a story from Manvir Singh where he explains rituals, it starts at 8:30 and continues on to part 3.
This one starts at 8:30
Discover Sikhi Show Ep-Two (Rituals) (HD) Part 2/3 - YouTube
Continues on here:
Discover Sikhi Show Ep-Two (Rituals) (HD) Part 3/3 - YouTube

Hope this provides some positive input towards the discussion,
Sukrit Kaur
 
Aug 28, 2010
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I think there should be a distinct difference in RITUAL and SEWA.In Sikhi there is great significance of SEWA.
My understanding about RITUAL is any practice which is performed on behalf of individual
whereas SEWA is any practice performed by Idividual only.

Like getting AHANDPATH done or getting ARDASi Done are Rituals .Whereas Doing SAHAJ PATH or Making ARDASi by individual is a SEWA

Bowing before PHOTO other than AKAL MOORAT(i) is ignorance.

Prakash.S.Bagga
 

ravneet_sb

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Nov 5, 2010
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SAT SRI AKAAL,

If there is only one or a few PhD and other lacs don't know ABC...... how to teach, this was scenario during start of spread of scientific language, one should understand what Idols stand for
Ling relates to Reproductive Organs
Shiv relates to mind and grey matter Sanvla
Ganesh relates to digestive system
and so on.

Of one has to go to school, one chooses primitive pathshala or modern school, one can make choice.

Bowing down is universal law,
there is natural law of high to low,
when we lower our mind in front of "GURU"
with our minds
empty
and
open
there is natural flow of SAT

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
 
Aug 28, 2010
1,514
1,116
72
SAT SRI AKAAL,

If there is only one or a few PhD and other lacs don't know ABC...... how to teach, this was scenario during start of spread of scientific language, one should understand what Idols stand for
Ling relates to Reproductive Organs
Shiv relates to mind and grey matter Sanvla
Ganesh relates to digestive system
and so on.

Of one has to go to school, one chooses primitive pathshala or modern school, one can make choice.

Bowing down is universal law,
there is natural law of high to low,
when we lower our mind in front of "GURU"
with our minds
empty
and
open
there is natural flow of SAT

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

One should always try to live with latest and modern concepts of his times and in this respect the teachings of SGGS are the latest and Modern .
Prakash.S.Bagga
 

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