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  1. #1
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    Loving God - Two ways

    Namaste,

    There are two ways people love God.

    The first one is loving Him as one would love his/her children. You shower them with affection, don't expect anything in return, and no matter what they do, you support them and are always there for them. It is all one sided with no expectations. The parent nurtures the relationship and provides love at all times and under all circumstances. Any disappointments in the relationship do not diminish the parental love.

    On the other end of the spectrum, some people love God as a parent. Their affection is proportional to how well they are taken care and how many of their demands are met. The relationship is like a business proposition. You give me this, this and this, and in return I will recognize your existence and care for/worship You. Any time the expectation is not met, prize not awarded, demands unfulfilled, the love and affection goes down a notch.

    Another way of describing this is people's beggar/worshiper relationship with God. Some people go to the temple to thank the Lord for everything bestowed on them - health, family, material wealth. Others may go to the temple always as beggars, with a give me, give me attitude. Their prayers are purely petitionary in nature. Instead of worshiping and thanking the Lord, they go there only to submit a list of things that they think they are entitled to, and the Lord should make them available to keep the relationship intact. The Hindi word jholi comes to mind in this context. Jholi is a receptacle made either by holding a piece of cloth out for alms or by simply grabbing the lower tips on the front of one's shirt and raising them a little to make a jholi, a receptacle. Here is a pictorial representation of jholi:

    http://www.srisaimandir.org/Programs/SaiJholi.aspx
    (Sorry, not a very good pictorial example, as it neither shows a beggar, nor a real jholi made from the lower part of the front of the shirt.)

    So, some people go to the temple with a jholi, like beggars and the only thing they do there is beg and ask for the jholi to be filled with things. There is no love or affection or service to the Lord involved. The visit is only for asking that the jholi be filled with more things. A true devotee, on the other hand goes to the temple to thank the Lord for the things that He has filled his/her jholi with. It is quite a contrast between the two types of temple visitors - one with an empty jholi, always asking for more, and the other with a jholi that he thinks has been filled with the Lord's bounty and he thanks Him for that. The attitude that we take to the temple, one of a beggar or that of a thankful devotee, makes a lot of difference in what we come out with as we leave the temple, and ultimately to our spiritual progress.

    Pranam.
    Last edited by Believer; 12 February 2012 at 08:27 PM.

  2. #2
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    Re: Loving God - Two ways

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    namasté

    Could there be a 3rd way ? to adore Him as my very own Self? Then I carry the ~temple~ with me every moment
    of every day no matter where I put my feet.

    praṇām
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: Loving God - Two ways

    Hari Om!

    And perhaps seeing that everything already belongs to Shiva. He offers all generously and freely.

    "Lord, I am but your humble servant. I understand that this (__________) truly belongs to you and by your grace, you have given it to me as prasadam. Many thanks for your generosity and blessings. Om Namah Sivaya!"


    Om Namah Sivaya
    Jai Hanuman!

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    Re: Loving God - Two ways

    Quote Originally Posted by yajvan View Post
    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    namast

    Could there be a 3rd way ? to adore Him as my very own Self? Then I carry the ~temple~ with me every moment
    of every day no matter where I put my feet.

    praṇām
    I wonder the same thing. I think there is a 3rd way personally.

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    Re: Loving God - Two ways

    Vannakkam: I have always thought there were a lot of ways to live God.

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Loving God - Two ways

    Hari OM

    Namaste,

    With what Believer shares, "the other with a jholi that he thinks has been filled with the Lord's bounty and he thanks Him for that." and through realizing more and more what Yajvan shares, "adore Him as my very own Self? Then I carry the ~temple~ with me every moment of every day no matter where I put my feet." the way of Loving God with this, at most visceral and true level, becomes more often.

    Perhaps with the grace of the Absolute, gifted to us Sadhana, the offerings on HDF being found by others, the writings shared within HDF library, more of the portions described by Believer, in first observation, will find a degree of realization described by Yajvan, and see that they have always been filled with the Lord's bounty and be thankful for this, on more and more frequent basis. I do hope for this to become true. Very, very much.

    Om Shanti

    FFTW




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    Re: Loving God - Two ways


    namaste everyone.

    Two common words used in Sanskrit in connection with prayer are stotram, shlokam.

    • The word stotram means a song of praise, hymn on the deity. It has its origins in the Rig Veda:
    stotram indrAya gAyata--Sing the praise to Indra, RV 8.21a

    • The word shlokam which means 'verse' on the other hand, originated in shokam--sorrow! The world's first shlokam was composed extempore by sage VAlmIki, author of the RAmAyaNam.

    VAlmIki maharShi goes to River Tamasa for a bath and sees a couple of birds, of which a hunter kills one. VAlmIki unintentionally utters a shlokam--poem, which is rich in grammar and new in metre, of which he is very much confused as to why such a poem has come from his tongue. BrahmA, the presiding deity of letters appears and ordains VAlmIki to author RAmAyaNam, excellent epic of RAma, for which purpose alone he gave such divine meter and grammar to him.
    http://valmikiramayan.net/bala/sarga2/bala_2_frame.htm


    Thus, the way I love God depends on whether I chant a shlokam or sing a stotram! Even Adi ShankarAchArya did both:

    • His bhavAnI aShTakam laments how an illiterate and indulgent vagabond realizes the futility of his life and surrenders to Goddess BhavAnI for refuge and liberation from his sorrow:
    http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...1&postcount=10

    • His gaNesha pancharatnam, on the other hand, is a short stotram, sings the praise of God GaNesha, thus:
    http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...08&postcount=7

    • There is nothing wrong or lacking on our part to ask favours of a deity. After all, who else can we resort to for such favours? Such prayer is of the kind kAmyArtha prArthana--prayer for fulfilment of personal wishes. Here is how we can pray to Goddess LakShmI for favours using the famous shlokam called mahAlakShmI stuti:

    Adi lakShmI namastestu para-brahma svarUpiNI |
    yasho dehi danam dehi sarva kAmascha dehi may ||


    "Salutations to Adi LakShmI, who is of the form of Parabrahman;
    give me fame, give me wealth, and fulfil all my desires."

    Notice how the devotee in this verse praises the deity and seeks favours: best of both worlds!

    ...and the list goes on!
    http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g43.htm

    • Prayers that seek the welfare of the world in general are of the kind loka-kShema-prarthanA. The famouse lokAsamasta sukhino bhavantu | AUM shAnti shAnti shAntiH--"May all the world be happy and may there be peace"--is a prayer of this kind.

    • The gAyatrI mantra, on the other hand is a prayer for increased awareness of the Self, and is of the kind AtmArtha prArthanA.

    • How we seek to relate to a deity and love him/her is known by the name bhakti-bhAvam--devotional relationship. Hinduism permits several bhakti bhAvas, so I can relate to a deity in the

    dAsya bhAvam--where I am the servant and he/she is the master;
    nAyakI/nAyakI bhAvam--where I am the wife and he is the husband or vice versa with a female deity;
    sakhin/sakhI bhAvam--where the deity is my boy/girl friend;
    mitra bhAvam--where the deity is my close friend,
    vAtsalya bhAvam--where I love the deity as a child or parent.

    Other types of relationship are also possible.

    Finally, for those who belong to the tradition of Advaita, the devotee should cultivate the bhAvam of the deity being none other than the Self and all the prayers and pujas offered to her/him are only to the Self.
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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    Re: Loving God - Two ways

    Quote Originally Posted by rainbowlotus View Post
    I wonder the same thing. I think there is a 3rd way personally.
    Yes there is. Adi Shankaracharya has put it in one of his prayers.

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    Re: Loving God - Two ways

    Quote Originally Posted by yajvan View Post
    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    namast

    Could there be a 3rd way ? to adore Him as my very own Self? Then I carry the ~temple~ with me every moment
    of every day no matter where I put my feet.

    praṇām
    It is in shiva manasa pooja by shankara

  10. #10

    Re: Loving God - Two ways

    Quote Originally Posted by Believer View Post
    On the other end of the spectrum, some people love God as a parent. Their affection is proportional to how well they are taken care and how many of their demands are met. The relationship is like a business proposition. You give me this, this and this, and in return I will recognize your existence and care for/worship You. Any time the expectation is not met, prize not awarded, demands unfulfilled, the love and affection goes down a notch.
    Thank you for your most illuminating thoughts. I realise now that this is how I approach God and I humbly believe this is a most unsatisfactory way in which to approach the almighty.

    I will endeavour to be more humble in my approach to the Lord and try to accept what happens to me with gratitude.

    Hari Om.

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