Hinduism is widely misunderstood in the West. Hindus actually believe there’s just one God and that God is infinite, incomprehensible, in everything, and contains everything. All Hindus would agree with this. However, many people are more comfortable if they can personify God, and Hindus worship God in various forms, each representing aspects of the one God. Ramakrishna (a Hindu saint) said God will show up in any form you choose. God loves you so. Some people say that there are as many forms of God as there are Hindus because each Hindu will see reality in a little different way. Many Hindus will worship a particular aspect of God as their personal connection to God. So when you come into this Hindu sanctuary, you are looking at statues which are not individual gods but are aspects of God manifest in form.

Hindus believe God is within each of us, and that the reason we’re on the planet is to learn how to reunite with that divinity within us, to burn away the ignorance that keeps us thinking that we are separate from God. There are other human forms which are embodiments of God without such ignorance, and these are called Avatars. One of the most well-known beings who is considered by many to be an Avatar is Sathya Sai Baba. The large framed picture sitting on a chair is Sathya Sai Baba. It was brought to us by one of his devotees here in St. Louis. She has been to his ashram in India at least 30 times. She and another devotee who is a very dear friend of our Center donated this. The woman picked it up in the ashram for us and the other woman framed it and they intend to maintain a shrine to Sai Baba here.

Next to it is a statue in the small home altar of Shirdi Sai Baba, who was also believed to be an Avatar. All Sathya Sai Baba devotees believe that he’s the second in a series of three incarnations and that Shirdi Sai Baba was the first. Shirdi Sai Baba is revered in Hindu temples all around the world. He lived in a mosque, though, so Muslims thought he was a Muslim. Hindus thought he was a Hindu. He thought he was God and honored all traditions. Hinduism honors all traditions as valid.

Now, I’ll describe a few of the statues. The large statue in the circle of flame is Shiva. Once you start bringing the undifferentiated God down into duality, one of the first levels you get to is Shiva-Shakti. Shiva is the consciousness of the universe, the male aspect. Shakti is the energy of the universe, the female aspect. When you put them together you have the conscious energy that is the totality of all existence. Sometimes, Shiva-Shakti is shown even in this form of the small statue which is half male and half female.

As quantum physics has shown, the universe is blinking in and out of existence. We look at and feel material substance and we think it is there. First of all, science is now showing us that it’s 99.999 percent empty space. The distance between the nucleus and electrons in each atom of your body is proportionally greater than the distance between the sun and the earth. In addition, science no longer knows how to describe the material we experience. Sometimes it’s matter, but sometimes its energy. Perhaps its both, or neither. Consciousness seems to bring it into some form. Perhaps it’s even consciousness itself. Hindus believe that it is Shiva-Shakti, the sea of conscious energy, that is manifesting into physical form and that is recreating this universe millions of times a second, blinking in and out of existence.

Shiva originally was viewed as the destructive aspect of existence, but they came to understand that destruction is the creation of something new. So Shiva (with Shakti) came to be viewed as the destruction and recreation of the universe all rolled into one. This is what’s represented in this large statue in the center. The circle with flames represents the universe. The flames from one of Shiva’s hands will destroy it, but the drum beat from the drum in another hand will bring it back into existence.

Next to this statue is a large Shiva lingam,. These egg-shaped stones come from a river in India. They are said to be created by Shiva, and Hindus consider them to be among the most holy items in the world. They are the embodiment of everything we’ve just talked about. The stones themselves are a combination of male and female characteristics, which symbolizes the reunion of all dualities into one. It’s a male shape and two colors, usually - the reddish color is blood-like and so that is female. In temples, the lingams are placed in a base which is carved to resemble female anatomy. Again, this symbolizes the reunion of dualities back into oneness, so this takes you back to that undifferentiated God that is all there is. In temples, they will show them this way and pour water, milk, honey over the top, and gather it at the opening. They drink it and consider it holy. Here, I create Shiva lingam holy water that I pass around at times. I create it by doing a ritual like that in the room upstairs so the water has been through the reunion of all dualities back into oneness. Many people find it really opens them to spiritual transformation.

Ganesha (or Ganesh), with an elephant head, is one of the most worshiped forms of God. Ganesh is the aspect of God which is the manager of the material plane. There is the undifferentiated God which manifested into this universe through the level of dualities, Shiva-Shakti, and then there is the aspect of God which operates the universe. This includes karma, which Hindus and Buddhists both consider to be one of the key aspects of reality, but it also includes grace, which can trump karma. There is the possibility of divine grace, miracles, which are experienced in every tradition that is God-based. Ganesh is the deliverer of grace as well so Ganesh can move obstacles out of your way but He also can move obstacles into your way to teach you lessons.

Again, we are here, it is believed, to learn how to become God-like; to become in our very essence and our very consciousness, so like God that if God is like a sea, we become like a drop of water that when dropped into that sea becomes one with it. So we’re burning away that ego, that ignorance that keeps us thinking we are separate, so that we can merge back into union with God. This is the ultimate objective for Hindus.