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Love of The Gods, Part Two

Author: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami

Description: Description: Receiving darśana from the majestic Gods of our religion, can altogether change the life of a worshiper. By being regular in our sadhanas the negativity of our negative karmas is reduced, but deeper, the grace of the Gods can change the patterns of karma dating back many past lives; it can be removed if it would not enhance the evolution of the soul. The sight of the icon of the Deity enhances the devotees worship, allows the nerve system to open itself to the darśana. Darśana is a two way communication. You are seeing God and God is seeing you. Chat GPT's answer to a question posed by Satguru on darśana.

Transcription:
Good morning everyone. We are continuing "Merging with Siva" Chapter 19, "Love of the Gods" from 1978. Lesson 129, second part: "Communing With the Gods "Darshan is first experienced in the simple physical glimpse of the form of the Deity in the sanctum. Later, that physical sight gives way to a clairvoyant vision or to a refined cognition received through the sensitive ganglia within your nerve system, the chakras. Through these receptors, a subtle message is received, often not consciously. Perhaps not immediately, but the message that the darshan carries, direct from the Mahādeva—direct from Lord Gaṇeśa, direct from Lord Murugan, direct from Lord Śiva Himself—manifests in your life. This is the way the Gods converse. It is a communication more real than the communication of language that you experience each day. It is not necessary to understand the communication immediately. The devotee may go away from the temple outwardly feeling that there was no particular message, or not knowing in his intellectual mind exactly what the darshan meant. Even the words you are now reading may not be fully cognized for days, weeks or even months. The depth of meaning will unfold itself on reflection. Visiting a Hindu temple, receiving darshan from the majestic Gods of our religion, can altogether change the life of a worshiper. It alters the flow of the prāṇas, or life currents, within his body. It draws his awareness into the deeper chakras. It adjusts his beliefs and the attitudes that are the natural consequence of those beliefs. "But the change is slow. He lives with the experience for months and months after his visit to the temple. He comes to know and love the Deity. The Deity comes to know and love him, helping and guiding his entire evolutionary pattern. Darshan coming from the great temples of our Gods can change the patterns of karma dating back many past lives, clearing and clarifying conditions that were created hundreds of years ago and are but seeds now, waiting to manifest in the future. Through the grace of the Gods, those seeds can be removed if the manifestation in the future would not enhance the evolution of the soul." That's an important point there worth commenting on. So, normally when we talk about karma and changing karma, talking about mitigation, making it less, we're not making it go away. Cause the negativity involved in the karma can be reduced through our regular sadhanas. Or, is reduced through our regular sadhanas, that's a better way of saying it. Just by being regular in our daily and weekly sadhanas the negativity of our negative sadhanas is reduced. So when it comes it's not as powerful, negative or as upsetting as it would be regular daily and weekly sadhanas. But this is deeper, this is saying it goes away, vanishes. Read again. But it requires significant amount of work on your part. "Darshan coming from the great temples of our Gods can change the patterns of karma dating back many past lives, clearing and clarifying conditions that were created hundreds of years ago and are but seeds now, waiting to manifest in the future. Through the grace of the Gods, those seeds can be removed if the manifestation in the future would not enhance the evolution of the soul." So that's one of the possible benefits of going on a major pilgrimage. So it's visiting the great temples of our gods. It helps if you're on a pilgrimage because you've set aside the normal responsibilities in your life for a few weeks. Of course unless you have your smart phone with you, then they follow you. But ignoring that you've set aside your normal responsibilities and therefore you're more receptive to the darshan at the great temples and that receptivity helps this process take place. In fact I remember I put it in one of my talks because I was impressed with certain individuals who went on one of our innersearch programs to India and they came back and you could see a change, see in them a significant change and that was because some of the negative karma was totally removed. Lesson 130: "The Meaning of Icon Worship "Hindu temples are new to this side of the planet, and the knowledge of the very special and entirely esoteric nature of the Hindu temple is unknown in the West. One of the first misunderstandings that arises in the West is the purpose and function of the 'graven image.' The Judaic-Christian tradition firmly admonishes against the worship of graven images, though, of course, in Catholicism saints and images, and in Eastern Orthodoxy their pictures, are reverently worshiped. (Contradiction there.) The Hindu doesn’t worship idols or graven images. He worships God and the great godlike Mahādevas. The image is only that, an icon or representation or channel of an inner-plane Deity that hovers above or dwells within the statue. The physical image is not required for this process to happen. The God would perform His work in the temple without such an image, and indeed there are Hindu temples which have in the sanctum sanctorum no image at all but a yantra, a mystic diagram. There are other Hindu temples which have only a small stone or crystal, a mark to represent the God worshiped there. However, the sight of the image enhances the devotee’s worship, allowing the mind to focus on the sacred bonds between the three worlds, allowing the nerve system to open itself to the darshan. (That's a very nice statement: "open itself to the darshan".) "Sight is very powerful. Sight is the first connection made with the Deity. The sight of the icon in the sanctum stimulates and enhances the flow of uplifting energies, or prāṇas, within the mind and body. Each Deity performs certain functions, is in charge, so to speak, of certain realms of the inner and outer mind. Knowing which Deity is being worshiped, by seeing the image of the Deity there, unfolds in the mind’s eye a like image and prepares the way for a deeper devotion. "In a Hindu temple there is often a multiplicity of simultaneous proceedings and ceremonies. In one corner, an extended family, or clan, with its hundreds of tightly knit members, may be joyously celebrating a wedding. At another shrine a lady might be crying in front of the Deity, saddened by some misfortune and in need of solace. Elsewhere in the crowded precincts a baby is being blessed, and several groups of temple musicians are filling the chamber with the shrill sounds of the nāgasvaram and drum. After the pūjā reaches its zenith, brāhmin priests move in and out of the sanctum, passing camphor and holy ash and holy water to hundreds of worshipers crowding eagerly to get a glimpse of the Deity. All of this is happening all at once, unplanned and yet totally organized. It is a wonderful experience, and such a diverse array of devotional ceremonies and such an intensity of worship can only be seen in a Hindu temple. There is no place on Earth quite like a Hindu temple..." Interesting an experience I had the most things happening was a kumbabhishekam at the Arizona Ganesha Temple, Maricopa. It was in the point in the kumbabhishekam after the main pouring had taken place and so one of the things that was happening was I was giving a talk, standing right next to the inner sanctum. Well I know there was at least four other activities going at the same time. So it was really a challenge to stay focused on my talk, not get distracted by all the other activities. But that's probably one of the reasons I'd call a kumbabhishekam, organized chaos. You never know what's going to happen, when it's going to happen but somehow it all works and works out okay. "...Esoterically, the Gods in the temple, who live in the microcosm, can work extraordinarily fast with everyone. There is so much going on that everyone has the sense of being alone. The weeping woman is allowed her moment of mourning. No one feels that she is upsetting the nearby wedding. No one even notices her. The temple is so active, so filled with people, that each one is left to worship as he needs that day to cry or to laugh or to sing or to sit in silent contemplation in a far-off corner." So next we have some wisdom from Chat GPT. I was doing some research to answer some questions from devotees. And sometimes it's useful to ask Chat GPT what it thinks. My question was: "In Hindu teachings what does the word darśana mean in relation to experiencing God or the Self?" So Chat GPT has a great answer; this is just part of the answer. Chat GPT said: "In Hindu thought, darśana (Then it gives the Devanagari) is one of the most beautiful and subtle words for describing how a seeker experiences God, the Divine, or the inner Self. It literally means 'seeing'—but this 'seeing' is far deeper than visual perception. Below is a clear, Hindu-philosophical explanation of the term as it relates to spiritual experience: 1. Literal Meaning darśana = seeing, beholding, vision, intuitive perception. It comes from the Sanskrit root dṛś (“to see”). But Hindu philosophy uses “seeing” as a metaphor for direct knowing. 2. Spiritual Meaning in Relation to God In devotional traditions (bhakti)... So that means Theism, so we're Monistic Theists. So it's doing Theism first and then it's doing Monism. So this is the Theistic approach to darśana. In devotional traditions (bhakti) darśana means: “The act of seeing God and being seen by God.” So the second part, I was surprised that it got that "being seen by God." That's a subtly, normally just think of darśana as "I am seeing the Deity." But's it's two way communication. The Deity is seeing you. When you stand before a deity in a temple, When you behold a living saint, guru, or yogi, When you inwardly perceive a presence during meditation— you are receiving darśana. The experience is believed to transmit grace (anugraha) through a silent, energetic exchange. The key insight is: You do not only see God—God also sees you. That mutual recognition creates transformation. Very good, huh? For an AI. So : Number 3. (We get to Monism). Meaning in Relation to the Self (Ātman). In yogic and Advaitic traditions, darśana refers to: “The direct vision or recognition of one’s own Self.” (So Yogaswami for example calls that Ātma darśana.) This is not sensory vision. It is an inner seeing—a moment when awareness turns inward and recognizes its own nature. In this sense, darśana is: intuitional revelation, an inner flash of clarity, a moment where the Self (Ātman) is not believed in intellectually but experienced. This aligns with the Upaniṣadic idea: “The Self is seen by the Self alone.” (Where the Ātma is seen by the Ātma alone. Awareness is seen by Awareness alone.) Hence, darśana equals Self-realization in glimpses, before complete and permanent realization (moksha). We get: Number 4. Darśana as a Philosophical “Perspective” Hinduism’s six classical schools of philosophy are also called darśanas. In this usage it means: “A way of seeing reality.” Examples: Nyāya-darśana, Yoga-darśana, Sāṅkhya-darśana. Each is a different view or lens through which truth is perceived. This philosophical meaning is rooted in the same idea: Truth is ultimately a matter of vision—how you see it. Number 5. How Darśana Functions in Yogic Practice Within yogic and Hindu-philosophical frameworks: Temple worship gives devotional darśana (sight of the Deity). Guru-disciple encounter gives transformative darśana (sight of awakened consciousness). Meditation gives inner darśana (sight of the Self, Ātma). Thus, darśana spans the entire spectrum from outer ritual to inner realization. Short Summary Darśana in Hindu spirituality refers to: Seeing the Divine (in temple, guru, or vision). Being seen by the Divine (reception of grace). Intuitive seeing of the Self, the Ātma within (inner revelation). A worldview or philosophical perspective (a way of seeing truth). At its core, darśana is the Hindu understanding of spiritual vision, where sight becomes a pathway to God and to Self-knowledge. Isn't that pretty good for this "Chat". I was surprised for the quality of the answer. Seems to be getting smarter. Have a wonderful day. [End of transcript.]