does"God" or gods need worship by humans?

[handy guy]

does"God" or gods need worship by humans?

I like the idea of being respectful of, thankful to, and also attaining friendly terms with "higher" or elder beings; thus a worshiping type feeling for me is something else and not directed towards a particular being, although towards the purity of being-ness...(through some helpful representation of)

For instance our elder brother Jesus does not need or want anyone to worship him or put him on a pedestal.

[John32241]

Hi,

My understanding is that a partnership with the divine is best. Our purpose is to evolve the human condition with assistance from those in "higher" realms.

John

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by handy guy

does"God" or gods need worship by humans?

I like the idea of being respectful of, thankful to, and also attaining friendly terms with "higher" or elder beings; thus a worshiping type feeling for me is something else and not directed towards a particular being, although towards the purity of being-ness...(through some helpful representation of)

For instance our elder brother Jesus does not need or want anyone to worship him or put him on a pedestal.

What a "God" may want/need (if anything whatsoever) and what a heart chooses to feel "all by itself", irrespective of reason or common sense may be two different things...

However, for some, the "object of my affections" isn't an "object" at all, while for others, they don't believe that God needs their love so they should not love or worship Him...and that is fine too. I KNOW that Mahadev doesn't need my love..He is, what He is, either with or without it....but loving Him is something that just "happened" like how my birth into this world sorta "happened" and it is something I have neither the power nor position to change (only Mahadev does) and it's not like I would ever want Him to do that, because the resultant joy and bliss is sublimely exquisite. I am not attached to it either..It is just very beautiful when it happens.

In this way, I am aware that my love for God is not unrequited, for I am in love with the Source of ALL love...Just as the smallest stream returns to the ocean of it, while still remaining a stream....and I can feel Him inside my heart, with every beat of it.

So it is not like I am worshiping out of submission and subservience...It is more like the way that Grace expresses its own gratitude...but one has to be basically head over heels for a Divine Deity to know and Intuit such things.

[handy guy]

For me Siva as Shakti it would be yes,... as beyond categories no-thing.

[Unseeking Seeker]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

What a "God" may want/need (if anything whatsoever) and what a heart chooses to feel "all by itself", irrespective of reason or common sense may be two different things...

However, for some, the "object of my affections" isn't an "object" at all, while for others, they don't believe that God needs their love so they should not love or worship Him...and that is fine too. I KNOW that Mahadev doesn't need my love..He is, what He is, either with or without it....but loving Him is something that just "happened" like how my birth into this world sorta "happened" and it is something I have neither the power nor position to change (only Mahadev does) and it's not like I would ever want Him to do that, because the resultant joy and bliss is sublimely exquisite. I am not attached to it either..It is just very beautiful when it happens.

In this way, I am aware that my love for God is not unrequited, for I am in love with the Source of ALL love...Just as the smallest stream returns to the ocean of it, while still remaining a stream....and I can feel Him inside my heart, with every beat of it.

So it is not like I am worshiping out of submission and subservience...It is more like the way that Grace expresses its own gratitude...but one has to be basically head over heels for a Divine Deity to know and Intuit such things.

***



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[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by handy guy

For me Siva as Shakti it would be yes,... as beyond categories no-thing.

As it is for many! but for the few to whom it is not, we get to feel and understand very deep things that others who only see God as a totally abstract or inconceivable "energy" cannot understand or feel...and never the twain will ever meet, even IF the principles of Non Duality are evoked in the interim, because there are still those of us who cannot understand what Non-Duality is all about or what it means anyway, despite how many times it has been explained to us...despite how many books we have read...how many videos we have seen...the whole notion of Non-duality is just way...WAY too advanced for a simple, unintelligent brain like mine to ever be able to understand...that's why the path of Bhakti (Divine Worship) exists.

[Kerubiel]

Well it has been said that without the belief of its followers then there would be no God. I dont know if i believe that being that God is an omnipotence, omnisentient being. (in my belief)

However belief, and thoughts, and knowingness, are forms of power. We do indeed give Gods power when we worship them, believe in them, think about them ex cetera. So who knows maybe some do indeed need worship.

[Shivani Devi]

I won't quote, I'll just post thoughts..maybe some random ones...

I have often asked the Universe; "will God thus cease to exist upon my death?" ...i.e. I didn't believe in Him anymore because I couldn't believe...and by that stage, "what I believed in" was no longer of any concern or consideration to "Me"...even though, I knew deep within, that this is the total love and trust a person who 'follows God' has ...{the word "believer' has so many negative connotations}, as I neither believe NOR disbelieve, yet for all intents and purposes, I am still a raging Theistic Monist (despite being a Hindu...but that's another story...not for now).

Some things just 'happen' and we remain forever in denial of it, because, for some reason, we don't want us to experience the bliss and joy of ("feeling" is such a lame word for) IT!

Just as God doesn't need us to love Him, he also doesn't need anybody to believe in Him either...and after all, one thing generally follows after the other anyway, does it not?

I am a "ritual worshiper" (Tantra) and my "shrine against Tibetan persecution" takes up half my Master Bedroom...Oh, I am waving dhoopa and deepa (lights, incense and bells) around to Lord Shiva, Shiva Lingam, Sakyamuni Buddha, the Green Tara, a statue of Nataraja (dancing Shiva), a small resin statue of Kali Ma and pictures of Bhairava, Adi Shankaracharya, Swami Satyananda and the Dalai Lama...yeah, you get it all, right?

I also know all the Sanskrit mantras (and meanings) for every different Shaivite (Shiva) prayer rituals and also to the Divine Mother Shakti...and do both together, of course!

This is the meaning behind the avatar I chose and kept on this forum...symbols and words have a much deeper meaning.

[handy guy]

freedom does not die, death dies before it.

[Dargor]

The fundamental Christian god, yes. He's even jealous and gets angry when we love our own parents and/or children more than him.