Page 81 - Hinduism
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ascends to Him by Karma Yoga, Jñāna Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. Arca is the most accessible form of God for expressing our love through pūja or worship. Worship can be offered in a variety of ways. We can worship Him by inner meditation or dhyāna. We can again worship Him by offering: flowers, incense, food and drink. We can also worship Him by simply uttering His names. The first method is difficult to practise as it implies the turning of the vision inward. The second is easy and lies within the reach of all people. The third is the easiest and the most efficacious of all. The worship of the idol or arca is really the worship of the living all-pervading presence of the Lord. The Deity responds to our bhakti and out of His grace, reveals His nature in and as arca. While avatāras are historic incarnations of God that come and go, arca is the permanent incarnation of God and He is ever accessible to the mystic. God comes to stay in the idol out of His grace and by virtue of our devotion and prayer.
There are two primary methods in the worship of God as Nārāyaṇa, namely, the Pāñcarātra and the Vaikhānasa. The Pāñcarātra Āgama is the word of Nārāryaṇa Himself and it is a sāttvika religion based on the practice of love. The Vaikhānasa is also of divine origin. The Śaiva Āgamās are traced to Siva. The Āgamas, therefore, claim the same validity as the Itihāsas and the Purāṇas.
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