Ishta
Eastern Religious Term
Eastern religions have a word for this aspect of higher consciousness and
spirituality. One who thinks of the Lord in form is worshipping and relating to what is
called an ishta. This phenomenon of the ishta is extremely helpful to those
entering into the friend to friend relationship and all subsequent moods of higher
consciousness. The ishta concept can certainly be of help, too, in the previous mood of
the servant relationship.However, in considering the ishta, the human form of God,
communication between people becomes difficult. Millions of people strongly assert there
is no God at all: not in any form nor absolute state, either. Sincere members of some
faiths are certain God exists but has no human form. They look upon worshippers of an
anthropomorphic God with pity, or sometimes hostility. Devout adherents of some other
faiths are convinced that God has one divine/human form and
one form only. And then large numbers of Hindus worship numerous gods
with divine and human attributes who comprise different aspects of the one infinite
source of all: Brahman.
Its not easy to discuss God in
form because...
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