Polytheism, Pantheism, Idol Worship in Hinduism(Part XIII)

[rajeshy84]

religion is nothing but in oder to help each other to get closer to god the holy divine soul .

[Vaishakh94]

The same thing i say to all who oppose it but then it makes no difference as how i present it is never as good as how it is presented here.. I hope to send this video to all of my critics and i think it is the best way to bring back faith (you can try this too).. This man is truly great and makes me proud to be a hindu.. :)

[annaknowsu]

Faith and Religion are two different things. He touches upon that here. People against organized religion are not necessarily against faith. Religion can be twisted to suit ones own selfish needs while Faith cannot.

[gujjucheap]

and its not monotheism, in polytheism disguise, its transtheism

[diliprai]

type "Sakela~The Greatest Festival of Kirat People" and you find more about these people history, religion and culture who are believed to have started the religion of worshiping phallus stones.

also type "Kirat Temple"

This video you will see three phallus stones which is the main deities of these people. But you won't see any image of Shiva unlike other Hindu Shiva temple.

Kiratas are the Indo-Mongoloid people in ancient India.

[rajendran1940]

proud to be a hindu.

[kannabhais]

Hinduism is Nothing but Trying to Know GOD. JESUS CHRIST. HImself came to earth to solve their Problems in vedas it is written God should shed blood for the remission of sins of the mankind. No one in hindu gods are qualified for this Only Jesus Christ is Qualified Be-coz He Shed Blood for the sins of the world on Cross and buried and rose again from the death Mruthyunjaynamaha.. By Meditaing and chanting his name we will be liberated Or Salvation(moksa). Vedas clealry Describe Jesus Christ.

[YaLifeslikethat]

it is telling that idol worship helps one with the spirtual conduit. if its the only reason one( who dont have any idol) should nt be as connected to god as a hindu does. can you accept that ?

wt i suppose is that some places with their temples( including the idol ) helps us with a better connection, in addition to the fact above said-idols help concentrate etc...beyond this i believe idol worship has a very important social role.

[zakewake]

thank u for clearing my doubts

[620prince]

Without a Speck...a wonderful explanation. Absolutely fundamental !!!

Cannot ask for anything more transperant.

[Caeseur]

nice

[cartowb]

my bad

[intelligentfalling]

I know nothing of hinduism, but this be some fine poetry...

[shastrayana]

This is a spontaneous speach given by swami vivekananda about hinduisam at the wold religious conference held at chicago in 19th century, his allocated time was only 10 minutes which was invariably extended to hours because he was an unshceduled speaker. You are right it has a flow of a good poetry.

[SREEJIS12]

I wonder why Vivekanada is not given the respect he should be given in India. Probaby because nobody Understands him.

[elfidanto]

true Hinduism by a Great Hindu....

I am proud, I am an Arya, a Hindu...

[bhazarik]

Respect

[farrc]

Thankyou this makes so much sense to me.

[amitsahu21]

u r the greatest person ever lived on this earth...hats off to u..proud to be a hindu:)

[chloesprite]

words, letters, sounds, our world, our universe was created with them. imagine that.

[whatmakesulaugh]

this guy is great ..wish to be like him

[LearnRespectSanskrit]

Om!

Namaskar!

Learn, respect Sanskrit

Sanskrit is the most scientific and most ancient language on Earth

Be proud of your Sanskriti/Vedic heritage

Don't let anyone destroy your great Sanskriti

Be proud that you are a Hindu because Sanatana Dharma is Eternal Truth

Namaskar!

Vande Mataram!

[nangan84]

Great explanation!

[SenGupta2]

He did mention in the initial stage THE UNDEVELOPED MIND idolatory is needed to focus or REPRESENT the worshipped.Its Ascent to HIGHER level that a person should rise which is the goal .The higher level only comes when we DONT need image to reminding image represnting 'worshipped' for our undevelped mind

[haridham]

watch?v=ry9LVdwKel8

[DiscipleAmos]

"You shall have no Gods before me" - YHVH

[WyattKaldenberg]

He is a very interesting man.

[ZodiacSystem]

Hari Om!!!

Thanks for clearing the doubts of many.

[lazyana]

Post comments without to watch/analyse the video

Weird

[1cebergslim]

Cheers for the Video Dharam

[Suki40330]

Hinduism is NOT polytheistic. Their so-called "idols" are manifestations of the many facets of the One true God. We must begin to respect other people's religions and stop listening to those who would have us believe that they are inferior to our own. There are many ways to worship God. How can we be so arrogant as to limit God within out own limited human perceptions?

Shalom.

[Indii09]

i loved your comment! thankyou! :)

[muhammadalattas]

We're living in the 21st century but there are still people worhsipping idols made of clay, stones, woods etc.

Weird.

[sanjay4india]

muhammadalattas

It's a pity that you haven't grasped/understood Swami Vivekananda's message!

OM

[hymaloyhimu]

its not the time for you yet to realize this weird thing :)

[imagine92020]

Jesus said,

"I am the way, the truth, and the light. No one comes to the father except through me."

Allah said,

'Make war on them until no more temptation remains'

and Krsna said,

"ALL PATHS LEAD TO ME"

This is philosophy of hinduism.

[tanny4]

hindus say they have the idol there to concentrate on then y so much idols shudnt there be 1?

and why do the idols hav a look as animals and made up people etc?

id say this religion was made from day 1 when the people went astry from the right passed and has progressed from there where now it adapted in to daily life which people find easy and i think is why was produced!!!

[ramnirmal]

Basically Hindu's have done too much of research in the inner science and they have come up with different methods & means to reach the God. And that's why you see too many Moorthys (idols) each corresponding to a method or a route to reach God. All of them lead to the only omni present God. Like in Western countries research on automobile technology, has lead to a thousands of verities of Cars with varied features while the ultimate purpose of it being transportation.

[mywords4u]

One who has devotion in God can see God in idols, stones, Humans , animals, in earth, in moon etc. For him everywhere is he and everything into him. God is ready to live in idol for the hapiness of his devotee. My imagination always runs to draw a picture of God whenever I think about him. Does that mean I should deliberately stop it. God has given this freedom to disciple to Imagine him, give him a name and even see him in a stone.

[indntiger]

i feel that, science is too late now...i wish we were able to hear to every speech made in india...even the speech by krishna, ram, and all our gods and people like swami, gandhi...dang...

[nirmal3028]

hai,do you know the last book of vivekananda,at last he Found Jesus Christ as True God and Saviour in his Dream and wrote the one of the most astonishing book in history,this is hidden by RamaKrishna Mission,Jesus Christ Loves India more then any country because,in india,to become Christian is really hard,must be humiliated by parents,Brothers,sisters and public,even beaten,kicked then even burned,Christian Life is not Easy like other Religion,you need Sacrifice and Love to your Enemies.

[sanjay4india]

Please stop your nonsense nirmal3028

[xwt00]

Yes! just ignore this person with ID called nirmal3028....he just wants to push his meaningless Christian agenda!

[maalmaalrudyphillips]

Very childish attempt by Nirmal to divert the viewers thoughts from real issue.

Remember Nirmal, those who like to listen to swamiji are not the ones who can be easily misled by false stories of jealous missionaries who are more like athletes who wish to win by hook or by crook rather than understand the spirit of sportsmanship.

[hgowda]

See, that is where we differ. Ever seen a Hindu trying to push down his philosophy or idea of the One down anyone's throat? Hardly, because we would like to believe that every faith leads to Him and that the virtues & morals in yours teachings are already a reflection of the Hindu way.

[ts4linga]

Recently one Hindu thief was arrested and he disclosed that he had stolen more than

134 statues in different places and sold them for a good price. This smart their

questioned the police, “if these are real Gods they would have stopped or punished

me. So I should be booked for stealing statues and not Gods”.

See, how funny it is! If these Gods cannot save themselves, how can they save you?

[ramnirmal]

The thief is correct with respect to his comment. He just stole statues and not God. They are just the means through which we see God. They are not god themselves. It is not insane, if you speak with a photo of a person whom you like the most, if you could not see him in person. But it is insane to think that you killed your enemy by stabbing his photo. Hope you understand.

[thapilent]

The thief is not far from truth. I ask the same question. Why christains consider Jesus as saviour when he could not save himself from crucifixation? Let us not ask silly questions like this one about other religions when one has little knowledge of that religion. I have respect for Jesus though I am not a christian

[DiscipleAmos]

You have no respect for Yeshua when you make comments like that about messiah. If you only knew why he died.

[uddathunni]

You know that thief was hired by Quttorocchchi,the uncle of Sonia who is ruling India by proxy now, and all the earlier stolen and smuggled statues are being sold in the antique shop owned by Sonia`s family shop in Italy. This was openly disclosed by Subramanian Swamy , of Janatha Party in an interview. Any one can check in Italy.

[Indii09]

Allah/God/Ram/Waheguru allows us to make our own decisions and act on them and we must pay the consequences.

[jojo70jojo]

We need more scholars like him! His explanations are awesome and a genuinely curious person would never question idol worship after seeing his explanation on here!

[unconsciousfocus]

great!

[HindPeace1000]

Satya Meva Jayate

Yajur Veda 40:9-They are in darkness and are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti-the material cause of the world-in place of the All-pervading God, BUT THOSE WHO WORSHIP VISIBLE THINGS BORN OF THE PRAKRTI, such as the earth, trees, humans bodies in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time.

[NFah43Bk]

Namaskar, Little knowledge is a dangerous thing, did you read what is next to these verses.

"Those who worship the uncreated(Brahman) are in the darkness"--because you cannot worship the uncreated you may only meditate on it.(Answer to Islam),Second you may not worship the prakriti without having the understanding of the uncreated(Brahman),so only those are truly blessed who worship the attributes along with having the understanding of the uncreated.

OM NAmah Shivay.

[blackwrath666]

I am the ruling Queen, the amasser of treasures, full of wisdom, first of those worthy of worship. In various places, divine powers have set me. I enter many homes and take numerous forms. ~Rig Veda

[jenahello]

Oh my god...Everything in just one speech..He is definately a self realised (has attained moksha)

even I follow him And experience god..

Amen

[NdaLvr]

I have studied and lived around those of the other major religions. And I must honestly say that from what I have witnessed Hindus are the most peaceful and the meekest people on earth.

[DiscipleAmos]

People with nothing to fight for have nothing to worry about, therefore it makes them peaceful. Then again can man understand true peace?

[hindugrl21]

This video will put all those who call us idol worshippers in an attempt to degrade us, TO SHAME.

Hinduism speaks the Truth.

Peace

[TheAnswer71086]

yeah, its a real shame there are still so many ignorant people out there. But lets not lose the meaning of Hinduism...Hinduism speaks the Truth....but so do all the other religions...thats what Vivekananda said

[HindPeace1000]

Satya Meva Jayate

Yajur Veda 40:9-They are in darkness and are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti-the material cause of the world-in place of the All-pervading God, BUT THOSE WHO WORSHIP VISIBLE THINGS BORN OF THE PRAKRTI, such as the earth, trees, humans bodies in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time.

[NFah43Bk]

Namaskar, Little knowledge is a dangerous thing, did you read what is next to these verses.

"Those who worship the uncreated(Brahman) are in the darkness"--because you cannot worship the uncreated you may only meditate on it.(Answer to Islam),Second you may not worship the prakriti without having the understanding of the uncreated(Brahman),so only those are truly blessed who worship the attributes along with having the understanding of the uncreated.

[Indii09]

i used to think in this arrogant manner too until i understood why people worship the way they do.

sorry, and tthanks

[5yn74x]

It's a wonderful explanation. Sounds to me like an exact paraphrasing of Baruch Spinoza's Ethics (a 17th century European pantheist).

[evansdrummer]

I agree with pjdtoshi. To realize God you would have to be God. "You will have no other gods before me." Jesus said,"I am the way, the truth, and the light. No one comes to the father except through me." Jesus is the ONLY way. Mary will not let you in the back door. Salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone

[ramnirmal]

Not sure if Jesus himself claimed himself as the only way for salvation. It might be a later addition also. If we have to believe this then we are also forced to believe that those who do not know or follow Jesus, and those who lived before Jesus Christ never had salvation. What Jesus wanted was to establish a love kingdom. Later people made politics out of it.

[humbleRaj]

well, its upto you Evansdrummer.

But why didnt Jesus Christ, the Only Saviour travel all over the World? Hinduism says : God comes down to Earth time and again to lead people in the right direction in different parts of the world and god is not partial to just one part of the world and one race.

[amitrawat09]

aha this kind of god seems to be a little arrogant.

[pjdtoshi]

to realize God you would have to be perfect. to teach people its just a matter of time before we can attain perfection is a deception and leads people away from the truth that we are sinners and need a saviour, we cannot,nor will we ever save ourselevs. Jesus gave his life for this purpose.

[ramnirmal]

Yes. To realize God or teach we need to be perfect. Jesus did guide us to reach that level, so like the Avatar's (like Krishna in Hinduism). But how come the sacrifice of Jesus alone would nullify the sins committed by us? Should'nt we also involve in corrective actions to purify ourselves apart from submitting ourselves to God.

[pjdtoshi]

Our good deeds will never take away sin, and to teach such a thing is a great deception. it is only through repentance and faith in Christs blood that takes away sin. we dont do good deeds to get saved, we do good deeds because we are saved, through repentace and faith in Christ.

[ramnirmal]

It is hard to believe that our good deeds will never take away the sin. Then what is the motivating factor to do good? I agree one should also repent for his sin and should have faith. But if I have just faith and I continue doing my sin, will I get close to God? Never...

[evansdrummer]

thats why Jesus said to the prostitute,"Repent, go and sin no more."

[pjdtoshi]

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:

Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

if we could attain perfection by our own good works and strength, then we could boast. It is very clear, no one can boast before God. what stops us from coming to Christ is usually our pride.

[ramnirmal]

That's why I have already specified that according to Hinduism, declaring out your sins(confessing publicly) and good deeds (Boasting) will bring down the impact of them. You can also get closer to God by your good deeds. In my view, an atheist doing good deeds, not committing sins gets closer to God than a person with complete faith but committing sins. Faith should trigger people to do good. Should not create an illusion that, faith in God will take away my sin and so I can continue doing it.

[evansdrummer]

In the book of James it say that faith without deeds is dead just as deeds without faith are dead also. Not just any faith. Faith in Jesus Christ alone

[ak1212312345]

The bible has many versions. Some one had to translate them. Do you want to hold the whole universe hostage for your own error?

[Guruparda]

The bible or particulary the New Testament has not been translated yet. It does not have many versions but the Greek. In fact as I said it has not been properly translated from the Greek into English , which is why all scholars go back to the Greek

[DiscipleAmos]

The more correct version of the New covanent writings are written in Hebrew and Aramaic. Greek is second, then English.

[ramnirmal]

I see people confessing privately for the sins they've committed. Boldly admitting their sin to the concerned people alone can lessen the impact of sin. According to Hinduism the impact of both sins as well as good deeds will decrease to the extent you publish it.

[satyadash74]

whenever i see a wonderful post i say 'thanks a million' but this time I have got to say 'THANKS A BILLION'! Ramnirmal you are doing something fantastic...please keep up the good work.

[myashu]

this is marvellous piece of enlightenment..but are they authentic???where did the 'poster' get this voice record??

[ramnirmal]

In the first posting of this sequence, i.e. in the Welcome Address video, I have specified that it is not Swamiji's voice.

[dhukka123]

India was always concerned about the consciousness of God. The Idols are just a reminder. The mind forgets, it is fickle and wanders. Idols are used to refocus your attention. To reach superconscious states is the highest goal, weather it be through yoga, meditation, service or process of kundalini.

[hereispuneet]

love vivekananda too.

[narudnes]

then how come in vedas there were no image worship? and how come after vedanta , it came image or idol worshippers? how come aryans( the hindus at time of vedas) ate beef( cow) ? how come it wasnt prohibtd at that time?

[ramnirmal]

Please listen to the speech carefully. He has stated that "He knows as weel as you do that the image is not God, is not omnipresent"

"It is the attempt of undeveloped minds to graps the high spiritual truth"

The Answer is right there.

I understand that you have done some study for the purpose of debating. I am happy about that. Please do it further with an open mind you will get answers for all your doubts.

Best Of luck.

[akiso09]

You must know the truth of Aryans before you say why they ate beef. Aryans are not the founder of Hinduism nor did they wrote the Vedas. Vedas are of divine origin.

[akiso09]

The theory of Aryan invasion was made British and Eurpean people after they found some structural affinities it had with Greek, Latin, Celtic and German when they studied Sanskrit.But now it had been thoroughly proved with scientific research and geographical studies that Aryans had not brought the Vedas. Aryans invaded India 1500Bc and may converted to Hinduism whereas as it has found that vedas have the origin more then 3000BC.

[HanumanBhaktha]

Correction...there was no evidence of invasion at that time either. Considering similarities of Sanskrit and European languages, plus the fact of Vedas having been around for at least 4000 years, it would also debunk the theory that the there was migration to India. It's more likely there was a migration out of India which spread Sanskrit and evolved or merged into the current European languages.

Plus one must realize the true meaning of "Arya": Spiritually enlightened one (not race-oriented)

[ishadee2]

love vivekananda!

[brandonisgod]

Thank you. Christianity and Hinduism have much in common. Unfortunately, many Christians do not study other religions and view-points. Peace to you and your family... and Merry Christmas.

[shivamz]

he was a magecian... i have never herd such a goood explaination on idol worship, polyethism, truth & error., truth to higher truth... i wish he was around... he could hav changed the whole world... to understand vedas we need som1 like him... this shankaracharya is corrupt....