Temples, deities & the guru.
"Deities are resplendent in their loveliness as they beckon us to love and serve them in full surrender." - Anandamaya das
Murthies (deities), of Sri Sri Rukmini Vitthal, India. Courtesy Gaura Krishna das.
Hanuman mandir (temple) at Mt. Madonna School, Watsonville, CA U.S.A.
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad, guru of website editor
Deities of Sri Sri Radha Madhan Mohan, Iskcon, San Jose, CA USA
Lord Vishnu, one of the author's personal deities
Courtesy Sacred Sites.com. Jagat Mandir, (Krishna's temple) Dwarka, Gujarat, India
Rukmini mandir (temple). Dwarka, Gujarat, India. Photo by P. Jain.
Sri Sri Radha Gandharvika-Giridhari, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Seva Ashram, Soquel, CA USA
Sri Sri Rukmini Dwarkadeesh, Los Angeles, CA Iskcon
Vishnu deity in Bangkok, Thailand. Courtesy Nang Ratner
Shree Dwarkadeesha, as seen in Jagatmandir, Dwarka, Gujarat, India
Hanumanji at Hanuman Mandir, Mt. Madonna School, Watsonville, CA USA
Shree Ishopanishad, mantra 5
"The Supreme Lord walks and does not walk. He is far away, but He is very near as well. He is within everything, and yet He is outside of everything."
From the purport to this verse by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, guru of the author:
"Here is a description of some of the Supreme Lord's transcendental activities, executed by His inconceivable potencies. The contradictions given here prove the inconceivable potencies of the Lord.
"He walks, and He does not walk." Ordinarily, if someone can walk, it is illogical to say he cannot walk. But in reference to God, such a contradiction simply serves to indicate His inconceivable power. With our limited fund of knowledge, we cannot accommodate such contradictions, and therefore we conceive of the Lord in terms of our own limited powers of understanding... The bhagavatas know that without inconceivable potencies there can be no meaning to the words "Supreme Lord."
"The Supreme Lord walks and does not walk. He is far away, but He is very near as well. He is within everything, and yet He is outside of everything."
From the purport to this verse by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, guru of the author:
"Here is a description of some of the Supreme Lord's transcendental activities, executed by His inconceivable potencies. The contradictions given here prove the inconceivable potencies of the Lord.
"He walks, and He does not walk." Ordinarily, if someone can walk, it is illogical to say he cannot walk. But in reference to God, such a contradiction simply serves to indicate His inconceivable power. With our limited fund of knowledge, we cannot accommodate such contradictions, and therefore we conceive of the Lord in terms of our own limited powers of understanding... The bhagavatas know that without inconceivable potencies there can be no meaning to the words "Supreme Lord."
"The deity is not an idol." by Anandamaya das
The above photos are of temples and deities which are authorized in an ancient chain of disciplic succession, called parampara. Unlike an idol, such as the golden calf, for example, which was wholly unauthorized by spiritual authority, these deities are authorized by the spiritual preceptors and sages in the Brahma Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya as worshipable forms called archa-vigraha or murthies (deities). Vaishnavas, as well as certain other spiritualists, worship a deity form to enhance their spiritual development and devotion to the Supreme Lord, Shree Krishna. In our present conditioned state of existence, we cannot see God directly, so He kindly appears in a deity form, a form which we can see and serve, for our purification. It is something akin to the post office putting post boxes all around a postal district. Each postal box represents the full authority and power of the post office. If God couldn't appear in deity form, as some claim, than He would be limited. By definition, God must be unlimited and infinite, and therefore He must be able to quite readily appear in a deity form, should He choose to do so according to His sweet and inconceivable will.
