Are GODs just symbolic ???

[S Jayanarayanan]

--- MSR <miinalochanii at YAHOO.COM> wrote:
> Answers is NO. devata-s are as real as we are.

Exactly! Ramana Maharshi has answered the question
simply by saying, "The Gods are as real as you are in
this body." If one considers the Gods/Deities to be a
mere figment of the imagination, one must also accept
the perceived universe including one's body as a
figment of the imagination. So long as one identifies
oneself with the body, the Deities are very much real!


Here's the relevant extract from "Talks":

Q: "Are the Gods and Goddesses and their sacred
regions real?"

Bhagavan: "As real as you are in this body."

Q: "Do they possess phenomenal existence, like my
body? Or are they fictitious?"

B: "They do exist."

Q: "If so, they must be somewhere. Where are they?"

B: "Persons who have seen them say that they exist
somewhere. So we must accept their statement."

Q: "Where do they exist?"

B: "In you."

Q: "Then it is only an idea - that which I can create
and control?"

B: "Everything is like that."

[..]

Q: "Why are there so many Gods mentioned?"

B: "The body is only one. Still, how many functions
are performed by it ... It is the same way with the
Gods also."

> Ravi

-Kartik

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