5. Love can transform a stone
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When we read the title, we think, yes, every Enlightened Master says this. Nobody tells us how to do it.
Many educated people think that idol worship is idle worship. Understand- it is not what we worship- it is the manner in which we worship that determines the outcome of our prayers.
A small story:
A devotee prayed to Vishnu for ten years. Although he worshiped with passion, he never once got his hearts desire fulfilled. All he wanted was a darshan (vision) of Vishnu.
Frustrated, he decided to stop worshiping Vishnu and to pray to Siva instead. In his little altar, he set Vishnu's statue aside and placed Siva's in front of it. He started the worship. He lit the incense sticks and the smoke curled towards Vishnu. The devotee was extremely annoyed with this. In a reflex, he plugged Vishnu's nose. There was no way he wanted to offer the incense to Vishnu. He was so angry with Vishnu.
Much to his surprise, he felt that he was actually pressing somebody's nose. He opened his eyes and saw Vishnu in front of him! Vishnu was giving him a darshan! At once he removed his hand from the nose and exclaimed, 'O Lord! For so many years I worshiped you with so much love and devotion, now when I when I am denying you the perfume of the incense sticks, why did you give me your darshan?'
Vishnu said, 'When you prayed to me all these years, you did not feel that I was alive in that statue. Only now when you punished me, you had the intensity of feeling that I was actually there in the statue. When you have such a deep feeling, I had to come down and give you a darshan!'
Be clear! We can only get what we invest into a activity. This is true for any activity.
Enlightened Masters transcend the levels of ordinary mortals. When a Master says love transforms a stone, He speaks from experience. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to say that sometimes after performing worship to Mother Kali he doubted if Mother was alive in the idol or whether he was wasting his time worshiping a stone. So, he used to place a small thread in front of the idol's nose. He said that the thread always moved with the flow of air.
Love packs enormous power. Ordinary love with all its limitations can perform miracles. Use it and watch it grow and work for you.