New deities

[StarryNightshade]

The idea of an ishta is far more a primary idea in Smartism than in other sects. It is there in Saivism, Vaishnavism, too, but it's REALLY there in Smartism, so much that some conclude everyone is actually a Smarta with an ishta. This is a false assumption.

Really? Because at my temple, the majority of people are Shaivites and Vaisnavites with Ishta-Devas of their own and everyone (including the priest, who is a Shaivite) says that there is always one deity that attracts practitioners; regardless of their sect.

I get the impression that an Ishta-Deva is not primarily a Smarta idea.

 

[Sumit]

I don't like it when Hindu Monotheists monopolize Hinduism. They have even called me non-Hindu. So be it. I am Florida Silk.

I am monotheist but don't worry, I won't call you non Hindu.

 

[Jainarayan]

Meh, I've been called even worse. :sad:

 

[Poeticus]

Meh, I've been called even worse. :sad:

Tell me about it. I don't know what floats their boats. But, they can have their boats. I have what I would meta-phorize as an aircraft carrier! Muahahaha!

 

[Vinayaka]

Really? Because at my temple, the majority of people are Shaivites and Vaisnavites with Ishta-Devas of their own and everyone (including the priest, who is a Shaivite) says that there is always one deity that attracts practitioners; regardless of their sect.

I get the impression that an Ishta-Deva is not primarily a Smarta idea.

It's core in Smarta theology, not so core in Saiva or Vaishnava. Still there, but not so core. In Saiva, you can choose Ganesha, Murugan, or any of about 4 forms of Siva as your ishta. Going beyond that and you are no longer a Saiva, but a Smarta. The line is very difficult to see at times. In Vaishnavism, you could choose Rama, Krishna, Venkateswara, probably Hanuman, etc.

You see, a person will gladly call themselves a Saivite if there ishta is Siva, and they are Smarta.

One way to tell is to ask, "Who, in your opinion is God?" Smartas may say, "All of them." or "Depends who you ask." etc. A saiva will say , "Siva". A Vaishnava will say, "Krishna", etc."

 

[ShivaFan]

Namaste

There are some who only worship one or two Murtys and even have none as primary. Trailinga Swami of Kashi only had two Murty which He hand carved Himself was He lived His last years pretty much in silence - They were Kali and Shiva.

Some were shocked when they say they once saw him offer his own urine, but you have to understand that what some advanced mystics do have many reasons and results.

Personally I do not see a reason for you not to now expand your altar. I think the very reason you ask is you sense a calling or some awakening and this is not a betrayal of Kali Maa, perhaps She wants others with Her.

Personally, you might consider Ganesha?

Speaking of BAPS Temple, I have been and go to a BAPS Temple in my area to have darshan of Parvati and Shiva. Very, very beautiful murthies there! Several Devatas including Sita Ram and Hanuman.

Om Namah Sivaya

 

[Sb1995]

Namaste

There are some who only worship one or two Murtys and even have none as primary. Trailinga Swami of Kashi only had two Murty which He hand carved Himself was He lived His last years pretty much in silence - They were Kali and Shiva.

Some were shocked when they say they once saw him offer his own urine, but you have to understand that what some advanced mystics do have many reasons and results.

Personally I do not see a reason for you not to now expand your altar. I think the very reason you ask is you sense a calling or some awakening and this is not a betrayal of Kali Maa, perhaps She wants others with Her.

Personally, you might consider Ganesha?

Speaking of BAPS Temple, I have been and go to a BAPS Temple in my area to have darshan of Parvati and Shiva. Very, very beautiful murthies there! Several Devatas including Sita Ram and Hanuman.

Om Namah Sivaya

Told him the same thing I told him to introduce Ganeshji and Hanumanji for now he said he's considering it so that's good to hear

 

[Kalidas]

It's core in Smarta theology, not so core in Saiva or Vaishnava. Still there, but not so core. In Saiva, you can choose Ganesha, Murugan, or any of about 4 forms of Siva as your ishta. Going beyond that and you are no longer a Saiva, but a Smarta. The line is very difficult to see at times. In Vaishnavism, you could choose Rama, Krishna, Venkateswara, probably Hanuman, etc.

You see, a person will gladly call themselves a Saivite if there ishta is Siva, and they are Smarta.

One way to tell is to ask, "Who, in your opinion is God?" Smartas may say, "All of them." or "Depends who you ask." etc. A saiva will say , "Siva". A Vaishnava will say, "Krishna", etc."

So shaivites and Vaishnavas believe that no matter who everyone else worships the prayers go to either Shiva or Vishnu (respectively). Or do they view other Gods as equally divine? Sorry just trying to understand.

 

[Kalidas]

Namaste

There are some who only worship one or two Murtys and even have none as primary. Trailinga Swami of Kashi only had two Murty which He hand carved Himself was He lived His last years pretty much in silence - They were Kali and Shiva.

Some were shocked when they say they once saw him offer his own urine, but you have to understand that what some advanced mystics do have many reasons and results.

Personally I do not see a reason for you not to now expand your altar. I think the very reason you ask is you sense a calling or some awakening and this is not a betrayal of Kali Maa, perhaps She wants others with Her.

Personally, you might consider Ganesha?

Speaking of BAPS Temple, I have been and go to a BAPS Temple in my area to have darshan of Parvati and Shiva. Very, very beautiful murthies there! Several Devatas including Sita Ram and Hanuman.

Om Namah Sivaya

Yeah maybe she lonely up there . I guess she will always be "God to me" but that doesn't mean other can't join and lend their ear and or their assistance. I mean I get days off why can't she? lol

 

[Jainarayan]

So shaivites and Vaishnavas believe that no matter who everyone else worships the prayers go to either Shiva or Vishnu (respectively). Or do they view other Gods as equally divine? Sorry just trying to understand.

Strict Vaishnavas (Gaudiya in particular), as a rule, believe that all prayers and blessings are bestowed by Vishnu only, who is Supreme God in any of his forms: Krishna, Rama, Narasimha, no matter whoever else is prayed to. Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita "Whichever devotee desires to adore whatever such Deity with faith, in all such votaries I make that particular faith unshakable." 7.21

"Endowed with that faith, a votary performs the worship of that particular deity and obtains the fruits thereof, these being granted by Me alone." 7.22

That's the "monotheistic" version. The polytheistic version isn't as strict. If you pray to Maa Saraswati for success in your studies, she helps you. Now, there's kind of a middle ground in which Vishnu delegates powers and abilities to other deities in their particular areas. In that case, the deities are not full representations or manifestations of God, but more like especially powerful angels.

 

[Poeticus]

Now, there's kind of a middle ground in which Vishnu delegates powers and abilities to other deities in their particular areas. In that case, the deities are not full representations or manifestations of God, but more like especially powerful angels.

Explain. Explain. Explain.

I don't believe in that; I am not a Hindu, right??

 

[Vinayaka]

So shaivites and Vaishnavas believe that no matter who everyone else worships the prayers go to either Shiva or Vishnu (respectively). Or do they view other Gods as equally divine? Sorry just trying to understand.

I've never thought about it like that. What or how someone else thinks is their business, not mine. I worship Siva. What happens between God and other people is the subject of other religions or sects. So in many ways I have no opinion, because a different language is being spoken.

It might be a particular aspect of God, the same God, a different God, or not God at all. Because Hinduism is so very personal, I can't really speak for how someone else understands it or views it. So when I go there (to a Vaishnava temple) I guess I'm thinking it's the sustaining part of Siva I'm worshipping. It's so rare, I really don't analyze it at all in this sort of intellectual way. But, yes I do feel the energy at a Vaishnava temple, and I generally like it.

Sorry I'm not of much help.

 

[Jainarayan]

Explain. Explain. Explain.

I don't believe in that; I am not a Hindu, right??

I don't believe in it either, I'm just reiterating something I read from somewhere. The example used was that of a corporate CEO or a regional director who gives who delegates authorities to his subordinates, but the orders ultimately come from the top.

But this brings up some inconsistencies and contradictions I find. In those verses from the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna says everything is granted by him alone. Yet he told Arjuna to pray to Maa Durga. So, is Maa Durga subordinate to or different from Sri Krishna? Or is Arjuna praying to Krishna in a different form? This is where things get dicey as far as the stories go.

But here's a cute little story that either confuses it more or clears it up...

A person worshipped Lord Krishna, Lord HanumAn, Ma Durga, Lord Shiva et. al. However he was always confused over who was the most powerful and whom to call when in distress.

It so happened that he went to take bath in a river and he started drowning. He started calling Lord Krishna but due to his fear of death soon thought that "may be HanumAn can come sooner" and he called "HanumAn" ... but he was not so sure about that too and started calling "Lord Shiva" ... and soon after "Maa Durga" ... and in the process, there was no help coming through and he was swept away by the strong current of the river.

When he reached heaven on death, he was in front of Chitragupta who was taking stock of his Karmas but he was looking for God to complain over this injustice. God appeared there in front of him in the form of Krishna (which was this person's first favourite form). God asked him smiling, "My dear son, you appear quite sore. What happened ?".

This man was pretty angry with God. He said, "Hey, I kept on worshipping you day and night and you didn't come to rescue me from getting drowned when I called you again and again ? You just don't take care of your Bhakta when the entire world considers you as the "lover of the devotees". God smiled and said, "You were changing your mind so fast that I could not make it, though I was trying to come to save you! ... and you are blaming Me ... it is not fair.

See, first you called me in "Krishna's form". As soon as I was getting ready in Krishna's form to come to you, you called Me in HanumAn form. I threw my make-up of Krishna and immediately arranged for a monkey face and tail etc. and was about to leave to rescue you that you called me in the form of Shiva. So, immediately, I threw my monkey's body, tail, mace etc. and wore up the form of Shiva ... but by that time you had called me in form "Durga" ! Now, you know, it takes time to wear a Saree and by the time I was ready wearing Saree and other ornaments and all, it was too late ! So, how can you blame Me ? "

The moral of the story is :
You can worship God in any form. It doesn't matter. All forms of God are are Supreme. You choose whatever suits you. Please note that in the above story, the fellow did no mistake by worshipping various forms of God but he failed because he didn't have complete faith in any of the forms.

Jāki rahi bhāvanā jaisi prabhu mūrat dekhi tin taisi.

 

[Poeticus]

I don't believe in it either, I'm just reiterating something I read from somewhere. The example used was that of a corporate CEO or a regional director who gives who delegates authorities to his subordinates, but the orders ultimately come from the top.

I don't believe the come from "the" top; I believe they come from many "Tops". I am not a Hindu, right?

But this brings up some inconsistencies and contradictions I find. In those verses from the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna says everything is granted by him alone. Yet he told Arjuna to pray to Maa Durga. So, is Maa Durga subordinate to or different from Sri Krishna? Or is Arjuna praying to Krishna in a different form? This is where things get dicey as far as the stories go.

That is where I can never go wrong with my relying of the Shri Vedas (especially Rig and Sama).

You can worship God in any form. It doesn't matter. All forms of God are are Supreme. You choose whatever suits you. Please note that in the above story, the fellow did no mistake by worshipping various forms of God but he failed because he didn't have complete faith in any of the forms.

But, this story is for people that believe in "God". I don't believe in "God". To me, this "God" is merely "god".

I believe in "Gods". With an "s". There is no supreme "God". But, there are supreme "Gods". With an "s".

I don't think I am a Hindu, Jai. Oh the horror! :sad4:

EDIT: I like your Hindi. It is very...villagey..

 

[Jainarayan]

I don't think I am a Hindu, Jai. Oh the horror! :sad4:

Hinduism has a seat for everyone.

EDIT: I like your Hindi. It is very...villagey..

Not bad for a white guy.

Secret... I found the phrase on the 'net. The extent of my Hindi is namaste and dhanyavad.

 

[Poeticus]

Secret... I found the phrase on the 'net. The extent of my Hindi is namaste and dhanyavad.

Not anymore, homie. It's plastered on the net, babyyyy.

I am not fluent in Hindi, though. I am not fluent in Gujarati. But, I am fluent in a dialect of Gujarati from where my village is.

 

[Vinayaka]

I don't believe in it either, I'm just reiterating something I read from somewhere. The example used was that of a corporate CEO or a regional director who gives who delegates authorities to his subordinates, but the orders ultimately come from the top.

This is basically how I see it. Not that it matters.

 

[Kalidas]

This is basically how I see it. Not that it matters.

Sooooo One God many gods that assist?

 

[Vinayaka]

Sooooo One God many gods that assist?

In my case only two 'assistants', but yeah.

 

[Kalidas]

In my case only two 'assistants', but yeah.

Meh 2, 1 million, or zero it doesn't really matter . We all have our beliefs and Gods and opinions feelings and experiences. I think as long as your staying within dharma and getting closer to God (or the Gods ) every day and it makes you happy, why not?