Divinity is unmanifest, but man has an innate desire to perceive the divine in the manifest creation around him. He creates idols, breathes faith into it and requests divinity to be present in that idol for a while, so that he can worship, express his love and play with it. At the end of his worship he requests divinity to go back into his heart from where divinity manifested. This is in all puja practices.
They are not actually worshipping the idols but worshipping the unmanifest divinity which has all the divine qualities. So, the idol worshippers of the East are not the same as the ones in the Middle East as described in the Bible, because they are not just worshipping different gods and different idols, they are worshipping the ONE divinity in many different forms.
Paganism, Satan and animal worship, without the knowledge of the one divinity is very different from seeing the divine in every form of the manifest universe. In the eastern tradition, gods and goddesses are part of the one divinity like the different colors of white sunlight, whereas in the Greek tradition, gods and goddesses are in themselves different entities.
Worshipping Satan and different entities is totally different from worshipping divinity in its various forms. Every form belongs to the divine. When you adore the form, you are adoring the divine behind the form.
With this knowledge, the very act of worship, which is more an inner phenomenon, assumes a more colorful and vibrant expression, indicating that both the form and the formless are all divine.
NEWS FLASH
Sri Sri dashed to Delhi for a 48 hour brief visit where he rapped with the students of the law faculty telling them that LAW stood for Love, Awareness and Wisdom. When asked by the students whether he really was "a garbage collector", he threw them off guard by replying, "At least I don't stink!"
Human Resources stands both for Heart and Rational thinking, he emphasized while inaugurating an HR portal, and later converted a large group of eminent scientists at the National Physical Laboratory to having both a scientific and spiritual temper by saying, "All discoveries are a product of consciousness."
Provoking the leaders of business at the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, he said, "If God can play man, why should man not play God."
Ten schools have been opened in the northeast region and eleven school buildings are in progress in Gujarat.
Jai Guru Dev
5H WALK REPORT: 25,000 people in 30 cities on 5 continents participated in the first Walk for 5H on Sunday, March 11, 2001, which evolved into the 5H Walk for Gujarat after the recent earthquake in India.
The initial seed was planted by Bawa as he toured the US teaching DSN courses last fall, where course participants took responsibility for organizing a 5H walk in their local area as a follow-up seva project. One thing led to another, and soon, cities all around the world had signed up to participate in this unique global 5H event, where all the participating cities walked to raise awareness and funds for 5H projects already taking place in the earthquake-affected areas of Gujarat.
Walk coordinators quickly realized that organizing a walk was no small feat - it required a committed team of volunteers to carefully plan and execute the many details involved. Some had to overcome many obstacles in pulling a team together. But after the event everyone had experienced such overwhelming personal growth. Amit from Boston said, "I had always thought that a lot of my buttons were dead. I worked through the last one month with so many of my buttons getting pushed, with tons and tons of grumbling and complaining. Even with so much awareness I could not change the state of my mind. But just as the walk ended on Sunday, something flipped and I felt centered again. This was sooo amazing!"
The overwhelming grace of the Guru was the invisible hand that guided all those involved. Madhu from Washington DC said, "Just 3 days before the event we had no media coming but we decided to call the major press and news channels anyway. Early on Sunday morning, NBC, CBS and FOX were all eagerly awaiting to televise the event even before the volunteers had turned up, and The Washington Post (the major local newspaper) came to cover the event. I just can't understand how this happened - this is simply unheard of!" Senator Hillary Clinton also sent a personal letter strongly supporting the walk. She said, "I am grateful for your dedication to this important cause. It is my hope that your efforts will inspire others to take part in actions large and small, public and private, to uplift individuals, families, communities and nations throughout our global society."
The skillful combination of buzzing daily satsangs balanced with die-hard seva warriors scouring the streets late into the night ensured that everyone in Dallas knew about 5H and the walk. "20,000 people know about the walk here. There is not one street corner we've left unturned. The energy here is unbelievable," said James Paul.
The walk was a perfect symbol of harmony in diversity, pulling together diverse groups of people from several communities. Jeffrey from Jakarta said, "300 Jakarta citizens, some coming by chartered buses as far as 1.5 hours away, came to walk for 5H. Participants came from diverse nationalities and religious beliefs. A catholic organization, St. Karnaius, even provided an ambulance to cover the walk."
The Maha 5H walk took place in Mumbai. Here the walk started from 5 different points of a circle, each group converging at the center of the circle, the landmark Shivaji Park. The first group to arrive at the park was met within minutes by all the other groups who also converged at the park like clockwork. The post-event celebrations started with a street play symbolizing the 5H's and culminated into a rocking satsang of 5,000. Dinesh noted, "There was definitely a Harmony in Diversity. Not only Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, the Maharashtrians, the Gujaratis and the South Indians but also the young and the old, the rich and the poor walked shoulder to shoulder and sang heart to heart."
And finally, once it was all over, Ashish from Dallas exclaimed, "Hey guys, it's not over! This was just the first step."
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