Talk:Dogmatism or Mechanical Performance of and Attachment to Rituals
By Vishal Agarwal
Bhakti Yoga involves a lot of spiritual disciplines that are ‘action’ in nature – chanting, singing devotional songs, performing worship, and so on. The purpose of all these techniques is to help our mind focus on the Divine gradually so that we do everything, think everything, and say everything for the sake of the Divine. A stage comes in one’s spiritual journey when these practices are no longer necessary but are performed only to inspire others who are not as spiritually advanced as the bhakta is. Sometimes, however, bhakta-s can get attached to the mechanical performance of rituals, and lose sight of why they are being performed in the first place, viz., reach the Divine.
The following story illustrates how mechanical worship is meaningless if it is treated as the end, and not simply as a means to reach the actual goal—
Story 1: Ramakrishna Paramahaṃsa scolds Mathur Bābu “Once a thief broke into the temple of Viṣṇu and robbed the image of its jewels. Mathur Bābu and I went to the temple to see what was the matter. Addressing the image, Mathur said bitterly: “What a shame, Bhagavān! You are so worthless! The thief took all the ornaments from your body, and You couldn’t do a thing about it?” Thereupon I said to Mathur: “Shame on you! How improper your words are! To Bhagavān, the jewels you talk so much about are only lumps of clay. Lakṣmī, the Devī of Auspiciousness, wealth, prosperity, and good health, is His consort. Do you mean to say that He should spend sleepless nights because a thief has taken your few rupees? You must not say such things.””[1]
The second story below illustrates how the mechanical performance of worship can become a fetish.
Story 2: Worshipping mūrti-s but ignoring the living Divine “One bright morning, the Guru [= Śrī Nārāyaṇa Guru] was standing under a mango tree at Śivagiri. A young brahmacārī disciple had got up in the morning as usual. He gathered flowers. He went from temple to temple and was busy prostrating before the idols and offering flowers. In one of the temples, there was a beautiful portrait of the Guru. The brahmacārī placed flowers before the portrait, lighted camphor, and with folded hands, recited the Saṃskṛta stanza which sings the glory of the Guru: “Guruḥ brahmā, guruḥ viṣṇuḥ, guruḥ maheśvaraḥ.” At that time several devotees were standing around the Guru. He said to them: “Look at this strange thing! I am standing here in flesh and blood. I have not had my breakfast yet. My portrait is more fortunate than I am! It has camphor light, floral offering, and song recital before it.” In this humorous way, the Guru taught that such is the way of thoughtless custom.[2]