WORSHIPPING THE DEITIES AND THE GURU As Mother walked back to the ashram, a brahmachari asked: "Amma, do the deities really exist?" Mother: "They exist on the subtle plane. Each deity represents a characteristic that is latent within us. But you should view your chosen deity as indistinguishable from the Supreme Self. God can assume any form He wants. God will assume many forms depending on the desires of the devotees. Doesn't the ocean rise up in response to the attraction exerted by the moon?" Br: "Amma, rather than worshipping the deities whom we have never seen, isn't it best to take refuge in the mahatmas who are alive among us?" Mother: "Yes. A real tapasvi [one practicing "tapas," intense austerities--ed.] has the power to assume the burden of our prarabdha [the karma we have to go through in this life--ed]. If we take refuge in a mahatma, with devotion, our prarabdhas will soon end. One has to make more effort to benefit from worship of the deities, or from temple worship. "If we worship our chosen deity with the attitude that he is the Supreme Self, we can indeed attain Self-realization. A form is like a ladder. Just as all shadows disappear at high noon, all forms will eventually merge in the formless; but if we take refuge in a satguru, our path will be easier. A guru's help is necessary to remove the obstacles in sadhana, and to show us the way. A guru can help us by clearing our doubts in all crises; then the journey will be easier. A child can do whatever he wants if his mother is holding his hand. He won't fall even if he takes both feet off the ground. The child shouldn't try to free himself from the grip of his mother; he should let her guide him, or he will fall down. Likewise, a guru will always come to the aid of the disciple." A devotee: "Is meditating on a mahatma equal to meditating on the Self?" Mother: "If we view a mahatma in the proper light, we can reach Brahman. In reality, the mahatma is formless. If we make the shape of a bitter melon out of chocolate, it will still be sweet. The mahatmas, who have attained perfect knowledge of the Self, are the same as Brahman having assumed a form. All their forms and moods are sweet." Br: "Some people meditate on Amma, others on Kali. Is there any difference between the two?" Mother: "If you look at the real essence, what is the difference?Whatever form you meditate on, the important thing is your sankalpa [spiritual resolve--ed.], what you attribute to the form. You will get the result appropriate to that. Some people meditate on certain deities and obtain siddhis [magico-mystical powers--ed.]; they do this to achieve certain results. Their concept of the deity's form is a very limited one. We should see the principle behind the deity. Only then can we go beyond the form, beyond the limits. We need to understand that everything is the all-pervading Self; we have to see the deity we worship as the undivided Self. It is only a difference in sankalpa. People sometimes worship a deity in the course of certain observances or rituals. This involves only the concept of a deity, not of God. All forms are limited. No tree touches the heavens, and no root reaches the netherworld. We are trying to reach the Supreme Self. When we get on a bus we are not planning to live in it, are we? Our aim is to reach home. The bus will take us to our gate, and it is our job to walk from the gate to the house. Deities will bring us to the doorway of the Supreme Sat-chit-ananda (Being-Consciousness-Bliss); from there, it is not far to the state of Self-realization. Even those who have transcended all limitations do not forsake their hold on a form. It is said that even jivanmuktas —those who have attained liberation in this life— crave to hear the name of God.
Amritanandamayi, in Eternal Wisdom: Upadeshamritam, collected by Swami Jnanamritananda Puri. Available to read free on Archive.org/The Open Library, here.