Frogdev Worship

which is another way of saying that God is neither masculine or feminine but to have a devotional loving relationship with a devotee, becomes such

 

........

 

LMAO...I think I laughed so loud I scared my mom...that is wonderful. hahaha

 

It is necessary at the stage when a seeker cannot visualize or grasp the concept of the self. Therefore, the self in the form of any object is worshipped. Its suitability or not depends entirely upon the way in which the seeker responds to it.

After a poiint, all objects are left behind, just as a pole valuter must release the pole before crossing the bar.

 

Indeed it does and is imbbued with the sweetness of maple syrup. Madhuradhipater akhilam madhuram.

 

I think some objects would be unsuitable for such focus. It would be a strange kind of mentality that chose to worship God in the form of a virus I think. But maybe that's just my prejudice against viruses....
Also though, it seems that once someone begins this process of image worship (or worshipping God as represented by the image) it can have a tendency to take hold, to become another factor obscuring the truth. The person becomes too attached to the image. They begin to think that this is the only image that represents the divine adequately. They may also claim miraculous powers for the image. They may claim there image is the only image that can give the desired results, and all others are false.

There's the old Zen story of master Hui Neng who, when the monks ran out of firewood, took the Buddha image from the temple and chopped it up to burn. This shocked the un-enlightened monks, but to Hui Neng, it was just another piece of wood to which he owed no allegiance and had no attachment. It may also say something about correct values. A human life id worth more than an image.
Yet in other instances. people have gone to war over such thigs - eg the crusaders and the famous piece of the 'true cross'.

Maybe William Blake was right, and the only adequate image of the divine is what he called 'the human form divine'. Ie the human body is the best image we have of God. As Ramakrishna said, 'if you want to serve God, serve mankind'.

 

I thought it was very funny - but also in a way, saying something......

 

there are restrictions on eating sap from trees in the Bhagavatam

Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 6, Ch.9,text 8




Translation

In return for Indra's benediction that their branches and twigs would grow back when trimmed, the trees accepted one fourth of the reaction for killing a brahmana. These reactions are visible in the flowing of sap from trees. (Therefore one is forbidden to drink this sap.)

 

Of course there is this possibility of a pitfall. A true devotee's mind, however, is protected against sucht hings by the inherent divinity itself.

 

It is better to worship God as God and realize that even viruses come from Him , so next time you get cold or flu , you won't be affected by it mentally.

 

Well, God has this quality in Him because this quality exists in us.

 

Instead of not being effected by it, how about being effected the way God intends you to be?

 

Once again, viruses and other diseases are only an indirect manifestation of God. But even if you think they come direct from Him, that doesn't mean you won't be affected mentally if you get one.
If a person believed that beer came from God, would that prevent them getting drunk if they overindulge?

 

The mind may be affected, the body may wither, but you are neither the body, nor the mind. The Self cannot be touched by disease or suffering. What happens to the body will happen, I am unaffected.

 

Illness can sometimes introduce a layer of obscuration - intense illness can lead to a total loss of self consciousness in delirium. Also, there are degenerative mental conditions like Alzhiemer's disease which rob people of their memories, identities, etc. Under such conditions, it is true that the underlying Jiva is not directly affected, but the subject will probably have lost all consciousness of the Jiva and be identified only with the mind/body and the symptoms of the illness.

 

The human body+mind is the vehicle of self-realization...without at least basic bodily function, fair health and an alert mind, spiritual life isn't possible. Allzheimer's, mental illness, extreme addictive problems, very debilitating diseases...all are very heavy reactions from past lives and sometimes from the present one.

Yes, the Self is eternal and unaffected, but the symptoms of these illnesses obscure it.

 

They are direct manifestations of God.

God gets me drunk with my friends. It's fun. I luv God!!!

 

Isn't the only true 'illness' spiritual incompleteness? I don't know if you consider a sapling to be 'ill' because it has not (yet) been fully grown.

 

I agree with Spook's words here. If a sapling gets certain diseases, it may never get chance to grow to maturity. If a human being gets severe illness, or something similar, their capacity for realization can be diminished, or even destroyed.

 

I see illness as a tool, not a curse.