Rituals with impure heart (or) Pure heart without rituals! Which is better?
A devotee who wanted to be anonymous asked like this:
“hare krishna prabhuji want to ask one question hope u don’t mind.. since The supreme Godhead Krishna is everywhere is it necessary to worship him with all rituals n tradition… i mean wat is d importance of rituals in worshipping him.. rituals done without pure heart is of no use den is it correct to worship him with pure heart than to follow rituals… pure heart means having no sin in it.. for that it is necessary to control d six ripus but how to control our six ripus… how to control ourself.. as read in ur earlier post u adviced me to remain in materialistic world but still should remain detached from it… prabhuji i want to know how i can do dat.. cause d more i get materialistic d more i suffer.. thnk u prabhuji.. hare Krishna”
REPLY:
Instead of negatively thinking like the Rituals with impure heart (or) Pure heart without rituals, why don’t you think of having both pure heart and rituals?
The rituals themselves are meant to bring the purity of heart. Do you know that?
You are thinking without knowing the deep meaning of the rituals as part of Vaidhi Bhakti.
(Compulsory Rituals for Busy Krishna Devotees that should never be avoided! READ HERE!)
You are speaking English now. Did you know English when you took birth? No. You learnt it by practicing again and again.
You may have learnt cycling. Did you learn it in your first attempt? No. You fell down many times and then learnt it finally.
You meet a co-staff when you join your job first. Did you become friend of him in your first meeting itself? No. You have to first know his nature and only after that you will become his friend.
Same applies here. Rituals are meant to train you in devotion. When you attend aratis or perform aratis, you develop a close attachment with the deities, ie, Lord Himself. You feel bliss that you are serving Lord.
When you offer food to Lord, Lord reciprocates with His love. So, you feel as if you are offering food to your child or family member, or guru, or friend, or father, etc. This takes you very close to the Lord. A permanent bond is established between you and Lord.
(What are the recommended Rituals for relief from Ghost body? READ HERE!)
When you chant the Lord’s name, you are in contact with the Lord. This is not a joke. Your father is sitting in another room. You call him loudly “Dad…Come here”. Father hears it and understands and reciprocates it. So, a connection is established between you and father. So, he comes.
Similarly, when you chant, Lord hears and you and Lord are in link. Believe that.
Remember, though you perform rituals without purity of heart, these rituals will definitely make your heart pure stage by stage. There is a stage in chanting called NAMA APARATH. It is the stage of chanting with offences. It is also allowed DURING THE INITIAL STAGE. When you continue chanting sincerely, you will go to the next stages and finally come to the stage of SUDHA NAMA JAPA, ie, pure chanting. So, sadhanas with impurity will make us pure in future.
(Will my offensive chanting benefit me in any way, or, punish me? READ HERE!)
Thus, all rituals performed in Krishna Consciousness ARE MEANT TO TAKE YOU CLOSER TO THE LORD. After that, you can advance in devotional practices by reading the scriptures and associating with Guru.
So, RITUALS ARE VERY IMPORTANT IN DEVOTIONAL PRACTICES. HOWEVER, WE SHOULD NOT STOP JUST WITH RITUALS. WE HAVE TO GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL STAGE BY STAGE. This is what I am advising. Do not perform the rituals mechanically. Do them with love from the heart. Unless you feel that love, they will be just dry rituals.
Rituals with love will give the Best results of taking closer to Krishna.
So, Perform the rituals and sadhanas though you are doing with some offences. You will be transformed in future to the pure stage.
Hope you are clear about which is better between the Rituals with impure heart (or) Pure heart without rituals!
(Compulsory Rituals for Busy Krishna Devotees that should never be avoided! READ HERE!)