(pūjā) an act of reverential attention and personal aspiration turned towards the transcendent or God either directly or through the medium of an image or a symbol (pratīka) by way of a material (ritual) or a mental (meditational) procedure or a combination of both. The symbol may be natural (the sun, a tree, a stone) or artificial (an emblem or an effigy—mūrti). Less often, and then mainly in the meditational approach, it may even be purely mental: either conceptual (the Lord—īśvara, i.e. brahman, e.g. as ) or ‘abstract’ (the ultimate reality, i.e.
brahman, e.g. ātman, the inner self). Such highly advanced meditational procedures are invariably preceded by the employment of concrete symbols, natural or ‘artificial’, or even by ritual pūjā involving the use of concrete symbols. The concept of ‘idols’, still employed by some authors with respect to Hindu worship, was unknown to Hinduism and the very idea of worshipping ‘idols’ is alien to it. It was coined by early uncomprehending Western observers unaware of the deep and rather sophisticated background to Hindu religious observances. Much of this wide and deep context of Hinduism is in some way present at the back of the minds of even simple Hindu folks, conveyed to them through the numerous myths and legends.
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brahman, e.g. as 
) or ‘abstract’ (the ultimate reality, i.e. 
brahman, e.g. ātman, the inner self). Such highly advanced meditational procedures are invariably preceded by the employment of concrete symbols, natural or ‘artificial’, or even by ritual pūjā involving the use of concrete symbols. The concept of ‘idols’, still employed by some authors with respect to Hindu worship, was unknown to Hinduism and the very idea of worshipping ‘idols’ is alien to it. It was coined by early uncomprehending Western observers unaware of the deep and rather sophisticated background to Hindu religious observances. Much of this wide and deep context of Hinduism is in some way present at the back of the minds of even simple Hindu folks, conveyed to them through the numerous myths and legends.
