Perspectives
Dr. Sharma, Hindu priest, Morrisville, NC Next | Back | Section | Home | Index

( Wav )In Hindu religion, we have two different forms of God. One is called Formless; another is called Formed. Shapeless, and Shaped. Formless is present everywhere, all the time. The most powerful. Can do anything it wants to do, can take any shape it wants to take. And that is called Supreme. That is called Brahma.

It is very hard to imagine. Lord Krishna answered that in Gita. Arjuna asked, "Lord, whom to worship first-- Formless God or the Formed God?" Lord Krishna said, "Both are the same. You can get the same result by worshipping both, but Formless God is very hard to start with, because you do not know what you are doing. Whom to worship, you close your eyes and-- 'Now what to do? Whom to pray?' So it is much better if you have any form, and then you can keep that form in front of you and it starts meditation. And worship. And prayer. It is much easier.

( Wav)In India there are several places where they prepare that [sculpture]. Mostly there is one city called Jaipur, in Rajasthan. They make all these deities. White marble. Some of them are also black marble, black stone. And another place in the south, which I don't know-- I have never visited that place. But I visited Jaipur, and I saw how they are making all this.

So when we started this temple, we wanted the deities to come from the original place for the temple. My wife went there. She visited those places where they were making, and she selected all these deities. And told them, "These are the ones. This is the size. This is the color. This is the stature. We want all this." She gave orders. Then we got those shipped by air, and we installed them here.

( Wav)When they come, they are all made up of stone. But when they come to the temple, we have a prayer, we have a ritual, and we invoke life in each of those stone deities. When they are settled here, and after the invocation, we take these deities as a living entity. Since that day, we treat them as a living being. That's why in the morning we give them a bath, we offer food, we put the lamp, and all these. Just like we do it for a child or an old person, in the same way we treat each deity like that.

And by doing this-- people coming here, offering their prayers, bow their heads-- the energy, the power from the community people gets into the deity and that becomes powerful. And that is why the deity has accumulated a lot of power. Sometime, if people want anything-- ok "Lord, I want this"--and if it is really genuine and from their heart, the lord fulfills that prayer.

So each deity is a living being, and that strength or energy comes from the devotees. It is there. If you don't visit, nobody comes to the temple, nobody visits the deity, then the deity has no power. It is just like a stone. But when you go there, pray, and visit, then it becomes powerful.

( Wav)I was standing one day here and praying to the Lord Krishna, and I got the feeling. Lord is telling, "Come to my place." And I said, "OK Lord, I will come." So I went to Brindaban, and I saw him there.... Since then, the whole life changed, and now I worship Lord Krishna. Because I have realized him. I have seen him.... This time again I am going for awhile and then going to stay in the ashram near Ganges, doing my tapas or what we call meditation all day. I am going alone. I am not taking my wife. I am living by myself, in meditation and silence. No talking for certain parts of the day, continuously silence-- this kind of thing. Lord Krishna has helped many people. That's why he's popular.