In Praise of Idolatry

As we approach the Christmas weekend, I want to write something about God and its worship. I often use God metaphorically, when referring to the Ultimate Reality, the Truth or something like the Hindu's Brahman. I admit that I am more comfortable using more New Age-y terms like Eckhart Tolle's 'Now' or 'Presence' to express the spirituality within.

But today let me address the subject of the worship of a personal God--a ruler God who is also the creator of the universe and the judge of all our actions. Is that a naive belief? Am I against it?

As usual, when it comes to questions like these, the answer is always: yes and no. There's nothing unusual about the worship of a personal deity. You will be surprised that I'd even go so far to say that there's even nothing wrong with the worship of idols. 

The advanced spiritual seeker always look askance at those who are mired in ritualistic worship of various gods or deities. But the Bhagavad Gita has the clearest explanation on why the worship of the personal god is a legitimate and even the highest form of spiritual practice. In chapter 12, Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna that it is a more natural path compared to more 'advanced' ones like Jnana or Raja Yoga, which are more abstract.

To worship a personal god in the form of a deity in human form is a lot easier than to meditate on some abstract concept called Brahman or Emptiness or a formless God that reveals its essence through Nature, like Spinoza's God. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity - The Father, the Son and the Spirit is an attempt to capture all these different aspects of God in one.

We all know what it is like to love someone, even though mortal love is tinged with selfishness. But that is a good starting point. We love our partner, spouse, parents and children. The human mind has a natural ability to grasp objects that has a human face and form. To extend our natural ability to love another human being towards devotion to a supernatural one is simply applying a natural mental tool (or to use Daniel Dennett's term, an  'intuition pump') to grasp something higher. 

Our minds need an object to focus on. Every time we open our mouths, we immediately introduce a subject and an object. We cannot easily escape this dualistic conception of the world. Why fight it then? Start with an objective human God. When you express intense love towards someone, you'd see the object of your love, as a part of yourself. You break the subject-object duality through love. And that is the starting point of all spirituality.

When a kid first learns to ride a bike, he uses one with 2 additional training wheels attached to it. It helps him learn balance and after a while, those extra wheels can be removed and suddenly he is riding naturally with only two. The worship of a personal deity is exactly the same thing. 

We pour our love and devotion to the personal god in the form of an idol, which possesses all the good human qualities that we can identify with. That trains the heart to be selfless. After a while, that selfless love emanates naturally. Hold that deep devotional feeling and simply remove the idol. And voila!: You have a formless God.

But even an abstract, formless, all-powerful, all-merciful, one creator God is still an object. Call it what you will (read Whatchamacallit). Is this superior compared to worshipping a physical idol? Again yes and no. The idolator's pitfall is that he or she could be hung up on the minutiae of ritualistic worship and subscribe all sorts of superstitious beliefs that is attributed to a physical object. This hampers his spiritual development. 

The formless God worshiper, on the other hand, is susceptible to intellectual arrogance. Every little piece of philosophical doctrine is taken literally as some kind of legalistic truth that needs to be strictly adhered to. They argue endlessly over concepts that in themselves are nothing more than mental models of Truth. They fail to understand that an abstract God is still another intuition pump.

Ironically, the solution to spiritual arrogance is a humble dose of idol worship. Prostate yourself before the image of a human deity. Surrender yourself as a servant would to a master. That is the way to thaw that ego that has formed through your misguided sense of superiority. Then you would know that it's the combination of the heart and the mind that's the key to spiritual progress. 

Karma, Bhakti, Jnana and Raja Yoga--these are the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual paths towards enlightenment. Neither one is superior to the rest. Pursue all of them, and over time you will understand how they complement each other.

So, let's not look down on the idol-worshipper. Know that the human mind is naturally anthropomorphic. The simple ritual of clasped-hand prayer to a Saviour Lord, an offering of incense and flowers to a statue of the Goddess of Mercy or a prostration in front of a stone statue of Ganesha are all powerful exercises that strengthen one's spiritual muscles. Like any other human endeavour, perfection comes after repeated practice.