In temples, they keep statues and they worship. They say in the Upanishads, statues are not God. Many people think, “Oh, God is there, so many Gods.” No, there is only one God. But for celebration’s sake, for your fun, to have a sense of connection, you can worship that one God in as many forms as you want. They said, “Okay, you create 108 forms, 108 names and each one can have your own form,” because you can feel your own connection. We all want to be unique and we want to have a very unique connection. So they said, “Okay, you have your unique connection, you choose your own form and feel God in that form.” But He is not there. Don’t think it is in that object.
That is why it appears very strange for some people. In India, the Hindus worship an idol and then go and immerse that idol in the water after a few days. You worship that idol as God for a few days and now you are going to throw it in the water? You are throwing God? No, you are not throwing God. You are just symbolizing that which could not be symbolized, just to create a celebration.
Then you say that God, He was in my heart all the time. For some time, you come and let’s play. And whatever you gave me, I am going to do with you. You gave me water as rain, I want to give you water. You gave me rice, I want to give you rice, grains. You gave me flowers, I want to offer you all that you offered me in grace. You take sun and moon around me every day, I want to light a camphor, a lamp, a candle, and take it around you. It’s just a play, nothing more than a play.
If you are thinking, any of you think you are doing pooja to please God, please forget about it. He doesn’t want your coconut, he doesn’t want your flowers. You are not doing it to please Him; you are just fooling yourself. It’s only to please yourself, you do pooja, not to please God. Upanishad very clearly says those who think this is God and they are doing worship, they are doing practices, no, no, that is not it. He is the prana of the prana. So go within, look inside, that is important.
Rituals have got their significance. It creates an environment of prana. The chantings have got their impact, effect. Everything, every little thing has an impact on the universe. So they used to do what is called Yagyas. Yagya is following creation in the reverse order. How has the creation happened? From the subtle to gross, and following that order, you know, going from the gross to the subtle and from the subtle to the gross.
Vedic mantras, the mantras are sound vibrations. From the conscious mind being aware of it with the prana and chanting, then the fire. Different herbs are taken and put into the fire during the ceremony, and then that vibration from the fire, you take it and store it in a pot of water. Water stores those vibrations of the mantra. There is a whole technology. If it’s done properly, it has an impact. And here again, the consciousness of the person who is doing it matters a lot. If he is so scattered in the mind and is not focused, these things don’t work. That is why people lose faith in them also. But if someone is very focused and has faith in it and does it meticulously according to rules, it does create positive influence in the atmosphere.