A tree's value is estimated, with reference to its fruits. Take idol worship, for example. Moralists, metaphysicians, philosophers, adherents of the path of Devotion, and the foremost among the virtuous in all parts of the world have all agreed that idol-worship is highly beneficial. So long as attachment persists to the material body and possessions, worship of a material symbol is necessary. It is but a means. But, many decry it as a superstition. This is not correct. It is not the right approach. Such an attitude is just an outburst of foolishness.

Is it not a fact that the belief in one's being the body, a superstition? Can the body last for ever? Is it not a skin doll with 9 apertures, in which life is so perilously existent that a sneeze may cause collapse? Again, should we not characterise the life people lead, believing in the reality of this world, is another superstition? Is not all the self-importance assumed by people who have positions of power and a great quantity of riches, another foolish pose? But, acts done on the basis of faith in the Atma, the Reality within, cannot be dubbed as superstitious or foolish. For every opinion one expresses, if proper reasons are given, all will rejoice. But, do declare as superstitious all that one does not like, is a sign of frenzy, foolishness or egoism.

We will find it impossible to love God or adore Him, unless we meditate on some Form; this is as essential as breathing for sheer living. That is a necessary stage in the process of living. One has to accept it as such. Childhood is the father of old age. Can old age condemn childhood or teenage, as evil? To experience the Divine Principle, idol-worship is and has been a great help to many. How then can the aspirant and the practitioner of spiritual disciplines condemn idol-worship after passing through that stage and deriving benefits from it? That would indeed be very wrong, and inappropriate.

The Bharathiya march towards the Supreme Reality is not from Untruth to Truth. It is from truth to Truth, from incomplete truth to complete Truth, from partial truth to full Truth. For, what are Sadhanas? Every effort made by men, from the remote forest-dwellers and the unsophisticated tribals, who adore the gross forms of Divinity, to those highly evolved seekers who adore the Full and the Absolute, is a Sadhana. Each such effort will take man a step forward in progress.