Where's divinity?

‘I bid you close your eyes to see my face.’ The last line from Swami Vivekananda’s poem, ‘The Cup’, is all about what life holds, and how we must lead life guided by the divinity within oneself where the pramathama lives within the athma.

Hinduism is all about internalising the divinity. The perception must come from within; introspection from the mind must guide our further actions, drawing lessons from the past. Prayers must be said in silence, and faith in the self, of having the ability to be a good person.  
The chanting of mantras, were meant for invoking the God’s blessing and favours. This job was relegated to the Brahmins, a way of specialising and division of labour. During the temple hours, devotional hymns were more to propagate art and culture because in the yore, art and culture would always reflect religion, rather than social dictation. Religion was the biggest identity and centrifugal power in a dynamic society.

Times have changed; even so religion still remains one of the most important identities for most people. But we cannot and must not take away the intrinsic quality of Hinduism and make it into a garish display of wealth and fanatic frenzy.

It is extremely vexing to see the idols of Lord Ganesh set in pandals where he must not be. The idols are supposed to be with the sanctum sanctorum of the pooja room or temple. The Durga procession, is symbolic of social emancipation of the woman and reestablishing her equality, but that does not mean all other deities be removed from the within walls and be placed on roadsides to celebrate festivals.

What is furthermore distressing is that the idol sits privy to, fashion shows and other competitions of the general public, which has seated the idol there, while loud raunchy film songs blare with no respect for the Lord not the neighbourhood.  Then as the evening sets in, people hit the bottle and dance wildly to the same raunchy numbers in abandon!

Whatever became of Hinduism, which believed in meditation, yoga and reflection on thought process? Hinduism is a religion, which recognises the man as an individual, and with whom rests a part of the Lord, which is why we do the Namaste. The divinity in the Athma the guiding force, is always a quiet foreseer of Karmic design and its balance of negative and positive attributes.

Why have we forgotten all our revered saints who went away quietly deep into forests to meditate? What democracy is to a state, is Hinduism to the human, a self governing process of divinity. Let us quietly enjoy the gifts of God, our world, our senses and means to a peaceful prayer.