More Sādhu Bābā on arcana

An extra paragraph, all about deity-worship (arcanā), has been added to the biography of Sādhu Bābā, on page 40. Apart from what Bābā told me personally about it I have collected and added these authoritative statements too –

“Bābā did not encourage deity worship – he said that one should deeply realize that the deity is God Himself and that one must be keenly aware of the possibility of committing sevāparādha, offences in temple worship. He preferred the worship of pictures over the worship of statues and images, because worshiping pictures can only benefit and not harm the worshiper. A lapse in worship of a picture will not have reactions like a lapse of worship of a statue. His altar was simple – there was not a myriad of deities, pictures or images – just Gopāl, Śrī Gurudeva and Advaita Prabhu. That is enough. So many images will just create confusion. It is the mental faith and reverence that counts – one must actually be able to concentrate mentally on the deity. eka-niṣṭhā nā hole bhajan nā jāy rakṣaṇa – “Without one-pointedness bhajan cannot be maintained.”

It's at the link-tab 'Nikunja Gopal Gosvami' on www.madangopal.com!