Do you keep photos of deities in your house?

I too believe that the deities reside in me.Ganesha at the Mooladhara,Brahma-Saraswathy at Swadhishtan,Laksmi-Vishnu at Nabhi,Dattatreya at the void adjacent to Nabhi Durga at Anahat,Shiva in the heart Krishna at Vishuddhi, Jesus- Mary at Agneya
and Sahasraraswamini at Sahasrar.I am beginning to realize their presence and support and to enhance this overall support system I am dispensing with external images and idols.

to enhance this overall support system I am dispensing with external images and idols

see I would be the opposite..if I had images etc of any deities around my house it would be to enhance or strengthen those aspects within me..

hi
You are welcome to your beliefs but to say only Jesus qualifies is only showing your bias,I dare say.God has not placed any restrictions,maybe your church has.
Placing photos of the dead is OK but praying to them is not advisable.They are not Gods,I feel,just departed souls.

I feel the body is the temple and all the deities you mentioned are stationed in the various parts of the body.I feel the need to cleanse my mind and body so that these deities shine forth in all glory.

If you are a christian you will feel Him inside you, you will see Him in yourself.The spiritual journey is personal and inter personal .Maybe you will enjoy the guidance and support that can be given by true seekers.Happy Lotting!

That is quite a lot of information.I believe photos do carry vibrations which can affect the peace and harmony of a home.You say Allah hoo Akbar sixteen times a day and you feel the speech and the words becoming very powerful and effective.There is a very powerful shoe beating technique i`ve learnt from Muslims which can get rid of problems almost magically.

Thanks for responding and sharing your nice views about Islam.You will find it the most realistic,practical and comprehensive religion today,having an unaltered divine book for centuries.We are required to believe in all the Prophets of God Almighty including Moses,David,Jacob,Job,Noah,Abraham and Jesus(peace be upon them)and we are also waiting for Jesus.He is still alive/never died and will be coming at Damascus(Syria)before the Last Day........He will lead us in a Holy War against the last Antichrist and will establish the IDEAL WORLD STATE on this earth to fill it with ideal peace,prosperity and Justice....We also believe in chaste Marry(Maryam).This is what we believe about Jesus and his chaste mother......But most of the people do not know about the basic teachings of Islam.....

hi
you sure could get carried away.The broad hint at sarcasm is not missed,but the point is well taken.i have to make my choices as you have to make yours.

There are some people who do get carried away by not bowing down to images to mean all the things I listed. I think the main point is not to make graven images that we bow down too. We can have all these other images like pictures in our home but they weren't graven in order for us to worship them.

I am hastening the process of detachment.By removing photos the images will statt to fade faster.The departed soul has finished its mission on earth and any mental attachment from my side will only halt its further progress.My mind too will be free of the attachment. I can remember with detachment so that i can focus, if necessary and be able to withdraw my chitta at will.Its personal, I agree but I like to reveal my personal side for the world to see from time to time.

When I said personal, i meant those who believe in Sanathana Dharmam, & other believers, not you or me. sorry. Detachment is the way towards Moksha. If you can attain it [detachment] at this age it's great. Still there is a long way to go. Bhakti marga in Bhagavat Gita describes it. I'm still at the infant stage. I can't change the rituals i practiced from childhood. Though I know the idols in the temples & pictures are not God, I just cannot throw them away. In kerala we don't keep the photos of the departed in the prayer room. But we do the shradda without fail. happy lotting.

hi
thanks for the honest answer.I believe now that moksha is our right, in fact should be the main pursuit,all other aspirations are insignificant.I am sorry that i`ve taken this long to realize this simple fact.Luckily i`ve always kept my mind open so the decision was easy.happy lotting!

hi Gadhisunu
i am glad that you have taken the effort to pour out your learnings.Its all very impressive and laudable.I too have done my bit of research and studies but luckily i gave it up a long time ago.Because of what you know have you been able to enjoy the bliss of detachment and liberation?have you been able to feel the magnificence of detachment and meditation?Have you realized that the true you is not your mind or body but an entity which was within you all this time but you were unaware of him.Have you not suffered miserably at the hands of your mind and body.These two are supposed to be the servants of the real you.I`ll give an example.

YOU are the passenger sitting in a car which is driven by a driver.Let us say that the driver is your mind and the car itself is your body. Who do you think is running the show? the driver or the car or the real YOU. If your answer is the car or the driver then where is the passenger, that is YOU,going? Are YOU going to take charge or follow the whims of your mind or the car? I suppose you understand what i am saying.Now is the time to take charge before the unruly mind and the sensual body fail you.I am realizing the precarious situation that i am in and am firmly gaining control of my servants the driver and the car or else I may lose both these servants and be stranded midway between here and hell.I am not interested in changing my driver or the car,I am merely going to treat them as my servants so that iam in charge and then there is hope of my reaching my destination that is well... you know it all. I am not going to indulge my car by practicing rituals or the driver by reading fancy books and chanting mantras. I am going to extract quality service from both or else i have no chance.
Happy lotting!

Hi, You have said what I wanted to express. Me too don't need pictures to worship, but out of habit they are kept & respected without ever thinking of the need to throw them away.Our daily life & conduct to a large extend are guided by the injuctions of the Vedas. That's why we conduct purifactory rites called 'samskaras' during birth, marriage & death. We worship animals,plants, rivers & stones. It is to see the all pervading God in superficial forms. It is to spiritualize the whole attitude & vision of man.

hi sailor, i got impressed by gadhisunu's lines & wrote the above comment.

Sailor, in one of my previous comments to one of your posts on the "Goal of Life" I had already said what I had to, about your inclinations and pursuits. I was very touched by your dedication to the attainment of Moksha.You are pat bang onto The Path and are giving it the right importance.

Also see where you are going too, by putting yourself to test. And don't you worry, He(Apply it to The ever-effulgent Atman or the Supreme Paramatma- as your saamskaric proclivities lead you to believe)will test you in time. You will come to know where you stand and what you need to learn.

I have been a "learner" on the path ever since my 5th Grade. This was possible because I come from a family which has been with God for generations.It is this long association, and living examples of my Grandfather and Father that pulled me into the path I must say.While they were not much impressed by Scriptural study beyond the Gita, since they believed in following a very simple path on lines of what I had described above, and I being blessed by the Lord for a different path perhaps, I have been endowed with an increasingly sharpening knowledge of the Language of our Scriptures, viz., Sanskrit, I have been able to savor the Scriptural knowledge with better insight each passing day. This is the high point of my life today.

And detachment comes. Even though one is instructed by the Scriptures to detach it only happens when one is sufficiently advanced.

I would like you to ponder over:"How do you know you are advancing?" "How do you recognize a realized soul?". Some one like a jIvanmukta, for instance...

hi Gadhisunu
Looks like you started much earlier.My pursuit began on 13 Feb 93,if i`m not wrong.i remember somehow.That is not the point,since I feel experience and reviewing your experiences enrich you more and more in these matters.And this may be more important than theoretical and scriptural knowledge.

Feeling the awakening may be more crucial than learning about it,thats my opinion.Observation of the self is another activity that i am indulging in more and more.

I too was soaking in the knowledge but that knowledge inspired me for sometime and then frustration started to set in and i was drifting away from my search.And now it is happening.Maybe the result of my earlier efforts and the saamsarik proclivities as you so beautifully put,maybe pushing me gently to the PATH.
My father passed away earlier this year and I realize that he was a firm believer in `walking the talk` and being his son I am inclined to do the same.Only thing is i wish to share it with my friends.May be i`ll curb that instinct somewhat.

Realization happens.I agree.And it may be happening right now.
Can you feel it? Happy lotting! Do keep in close touch.

Hi ting tong
Thanks for barging in.come out with more thoughts on this.

gadisunu
you say you have been learning all your life,are you also `doing` what you have learnt so that you are sufficiently advanced for the detachment to `happen` or `come`as you would like to say.

Sailor, you are doing the right thing. Your sharing is not at all bad. In fact our Scriptures say: "Swaadhyaaya pravachanaabhyaam na pramaditavyam". Though in a ritualistic sense this might mean something else, whcich we need not get into now; it only means that we need, not only to practice and getinside ourselves in our searches but share it so that others who are on the path might also benefit.