VIII / (iii)

Idol-Worship and God-Worship

Man is a compound of body and soul. To the extent that a person has a material body, he is governed by the laws of matter (e.g., gravity, cohesion, impermeability, conductivity, etc.); and to the extent that he is an animal being he is governed by organic laws (e.g., nutrition, growth, development, self-propagation, etc.). Again, he is a conscious entity or a sentient being and, as such, the laws of consciousness (e.g., producing a sense of hunger, thirst, discomfort and self development) are also applicable to him, and he works for a happy, carefree and comfortable living. So long as a person is attached to material things and material comforts, he is subject to suffering and pain; but when he submits himself to the organic laws of the soul, he becomes blessed and happy. 

Kabir Sahib, there, says:

The embodied soul is never restful and blessed. For man, wheresoever he may be, there is ever discomfort and distress.

Lord Buddha also declared that the physical life is all misery. Nanak saw the entire world writhing in invisible flames.

Idolatry consists in paying all attention to the nourishment and ornamentation of the physical body; but beautifying the soul and linking it with God is God-worship indeed. Woe be to us who are utterly ignorant of the living spirit in the body and how it can be decked, dressed and embellished. The physical body is the veritable home, and spirit is the indweller therein. In the fitness of things, one must first unearth the spirit and purify it, before cleansing the body. What does it profit a person to sweep the house, keep it neat and clean and embellish it with all sorts of decorations, only to keep the indweller, or the soul, famine-stricken?

Having forgotten our innate nature of God-hood, we have completely identified our self with the body, and always think, speak and act in terms of the body and bodily conditions and relations. When the very existence of the body depends on the spirit (or the life spark) in it, we must take care of the latter, think of It, and give It timely food to keep It healthy and strong, for on Its health and strength depend the Glory and dignity of the body. The ever-changing body, which is subject to decay and death, may be looked after, just to keep it fit and going, as with any other vehicle of self-expression. But it should not be pampered and doted upon, so as to lose all thought of the self-enlivening life-flame in the body, the motor force that quickens the inert matter with life. Without that power it has no value at all and is considered fit to be consigned either to the flames or to the graveyard.

We must not forget that we are in reality sparks of Godhood, quite distinct from the material house in which we sojourn for the time being. It behoves us all to learn all about this Life Impulse surging through the entire creation, the Fountainhead or the Source of this life stream, and how we can reach the same and attain Eternal Peace and Happiness, which is our heritage and our birthright. The great lesson of life can only be learnt from a Master-Soul. Its alpha and beta begin with the voluntary withdrawal of the sensory current in the body, until a state of detachment is achieved by concentration at the seat of the soul, behind the centre of the two eyebrows, called eye-focus or Til. All this can be done only through the Grace of some Perfect Living Master – an Adept, not only in the theory but also in the practice of the Science of Soul, who is capable of bringing the soul above the body consciousness and making others share His own experiences.

Some Godly person may link us with God.

Guru Arjan, Jaitsari M5

When once the spirit is linked with divinity and engrafted in God, it gradually takes roots in its Native Soil, acquires and develops its natural attributes from the Divine Ground on which it grows and thrives from day to day. This is called by all the Sages in the East and the West, taking a second birth, or being born anew, as Christ puts it. The incorruptible seeds of this spiritual birth are sown by some Godman when we live up to Him and scrupulously follow His instructions, which in technical parlance is called Satsang, or company with Sat, the great Unchangeable Permanence in the midst of ever changing panorama of life and the kaleidoscopic universe in which we live.

Handsome is the body in which the soul is attuned with God. All beauty, including the physical beauty, depends on the beauty of the spirit, which in turn rests on Union with the Divine Beauty.

Blessed is the body in which the spirit dwells in union with her Divine Current; the True Beloved grants her Eternal Life, and one always lives in communion with the Master's Word.

Guru Amar Das, Suhi M3

Again:

A Master's devotee delves deep into the body and regards all else as a mere delusion; He alone finds the crest jewel who has been so ordained, for cleverness is of no avail, blessed is the body that engages in the service of the Master, the True One having made it. Without communion with Word, there is no freedom from the wiles of Kal, oh Nanak! He glorifies the Word, on whom God showers His Mercy and Grace.

Guru Arjan, Suhi M5

Once a spirit becomes aware of its native God-hood, and is dyed in the Divine colour, it becomes freed from the bondage of the world and forever escapes from the cycle of births and deaths. But all this comes not from learning, knowledge or cunning devices, but only from the Grace of some Master-Soul or Godman, Who is competent to give an ingress into the Beyond by practical self-analysis.