When Richard (now Radhanath Swami) had first seen people worshipping an image of the Lord in India, he was repelled and felt it was superstitious. Now after seeing the exalted devotion, and the high moral and spiritual character of devotees like Krishnadas Babaji who worshipped deities, he began to get convinced that this is not merely idol worship.
Meanwhile Richard compared this with his western upbringing where all this was condemned as idolatry. However he began to also realize that Christians offer prayers to statues or paintings of Jesus as well as to the Holy Crucifix. Radhanath Swami writes when he was in Italy, he had visited the Convent of Saint Damiano in Assisi where Jesus spoke to Saint Francis from the wooden crucifix on the altar and ordered him to restore His church. And Jews too offer articles of veneration to the Torah, while Muslims, too, who condemn idol worship, bow repeatedly to the Ka’aba in Holy Mecca. Richard also felt that deity worship was different from idol worship and he asked Asim Krishna to enlighten him on this subject.
Radhanath Swami learnt from Asim Krishna that even Vedas condemn idol worship. But legitimate deity worship, according to the Vedas, is a science in which the Lord is called with devotional rites to appear in designated forms. In these forms He accepts our devotional offerings for the purpose of purifying the worshippers’ body, mind, and words by fixing in us the remembrance of the Lord. The aim is to please the Lord through surrender and love. Radhanath Swami gives nice logic to explain the rationale behind deity worship. Since all material elements are emanating from the lord, He may kindly choose to appear in His own energy as a deity to help us focus our minds and senses in loving servitude.
I once heard Radhanath Swami explain that if we claim God cannot manifest Himself through matter as in a deity form, then we are limiting God. “Does God not have the omnipotence to do whatever He likes – including to manifest through matter?” asks Radhanath Swami. I thought it made lot of sense when Radhanath Swami took the reasoning one step higher. “Actually, the notion that God cannot manifest as matter not only limits God, but also limits our access to God” I wondered how. Radhanath Swami, speaking on the basis of scriptures says, “Although we are all originally spiritual beings, souls, but presently we are materially conditioned and so cannot perceive spirit. We can only perceive matter and material things. So, if God does not manifest Himself through matter, then how can we perceive Him, serve Him and develop our love for Him?” I saw one gentleman argue, “Can’t we just think of God in the mind? Do we need to have a gross material form to perceive Him?” Radhanath Swami’s brilliant answer satisfied me. He said, “But the thought in the mind is also material! The point is that as long as we are in the material level of consciousness, we cannot avoid or escape matter. Not only can our senses not perceive anything other than material things, but even our minds cannot conceive of anything other than material thoughts. The thoughts of our mind are nothing but the mental conceptions of the material objects we have seen and experienced.” Therefore, Radhanath Swami appeals that God manifests Himself through matter to give us an opportunity to connect our consciousness with Him.
Hearing Radhanath Swami’s eloquent presentation on significance of Deity worship reminded me of a prose I read some time ago, composed by one South Indian devotee, Pillai Lokacharya. He expresses this sentiment beautifully, “This is the greatest grace of the Lord, that being free He becomes bound, being independent He becomes dependent for all His service on the devotee… In other forms, man belonged to God. But behold the supreme sacrifice of God in the form of the deity,for here the almighty becomes the property of the devotee…. He carries the Lord about, fans Him, feeds Him, plays with Him-yea, the Infinite has become finite, so that the child soul may grasp, understand, and love Him.”
Source: http://www.radhanath-swami.net/from-idol-worship-to-deity-worship/idol-worship-deity-worship
