Aptavani-2 Aptavani-02 | Page 101

52 Aptavani-2 will there be a temple and only if there is a temple will there be devotees. The Lord has said that as long as there is artadhyan (adverse meditation occurring within one’s relative self) and raudradhyan (adverse meditation directed against other living beings), you should do darshan of an idol (murta) because until then you will not be able to ‘see’ the formless (amurta) one. You will not be able to see the Shuddhatma, the formless Lord within. Questioner : An idol is a piece of stone, how can one benefit from doing its darshan? Dadashri : It is helpful to many other people, is it not? The Lord has said that one should not have a narrow-minded perspective (ekantik) but a perspective of universal acceptance (anekantik). Anekantik means if a child is running around naked, no one will tell him off, but if a fifty-year old man does the same, people will get angry with him. The old man may question, “Why are you telling me off? Why are you not saying anything to this child?” We would tell him, “You sir! You are an adult. This child is small and at his age what he is doing is acceptable, whereas at your age, it is not.” In this way it is necessary to look at everyone with a universal perspective. Kabir Sahib used to live in a Muslim locality near a masjid. When it came time for the bangh (Muslim prayer rituals of reciting the prayers as loudly as possible at predawn hours)…have you heard them sing the bangh? They put their fingers in their ears and then they call out the bangh, do they not? Now Kabir Sahib was very knowledgeable and a prominent saint, so he proclaimed, “Do you think Allah is deaf that you are calling out your prayers at the top of your voice? He hears everything. If you were to put ankle bells on an ant, he can hear them. So why are