Worship means reverence and respect paid to God, the Creator, the Master of the Universe, the one who controls, rules, loves, sustains, and rules this creation according to the law of Karma, also known as the law of Love.

Worship therefore means loving and serving all creatures according to the "Law," which is another name for God. We may not know, see or understand God, but we all understand some mysterious power or nature that is behind us all, whether we like to believe in it or not; whether we obey or disobey is immaterial. That Law simply exists. Period.

Worship includes sacrifice at its very core. Sacrifice does not mean offering a human head, an animal or money at the alter. The Lord says in the Gitaji that sacrifice, or yajna, means selfless services to mankind, to all creatures and even to all the elements (Sky, Air, Fire, Water and Earth) that exist in nature. Any action contradictory to this definition becomes a bondage, a self created and self sustained prison.

Nature as the sun, air, water, earth, etc. is to be properly respected, maintained, and used for the advantage of all. When we sacrifice our life as yajna, we receive happiness and everything else that is needed for true joy. But all gifts, except the bare minimum we need to maintain this body, must be returned immediately for the benefit of all. Mahatma Gandhi set an example of true yagya.

Those who keep rewards for the propagation of their own lust, greed, and name and fame are ignorant, arrogant, and vain. They are called "thieves" or "thugs" by the Lord in Gitaji (3:12).  We must act mutually for the benefit of all and not limit our work for our own family, society, church, or country. We must consider all mankind as our family and society as all people and all nations.  The whole world is one single church, and the whole earth one country with one God. This is the Law, and any deviation from this is "ignorance" no matter how much wealth and education we claim to have as an individual or as a society or as a nation.

Sacrifice is further defined as dedication to our duties and beyond. We are to sacrifice our lives and not others as we all seem to do now a days. Today robbing others has become a tradition in the name of religion, social and political duties or family duties. All our ills are created by and continue through our ignorance, which is shaped in our educational, religious, political, social, and commercial institutions. While all other institutions, except religious institutions, do not claim to serve others but openly serve their own interest against the "Law," religious institutions and teachers are often the greatest hypocrites for they claim to serve God and the creatures when they really are serving themselves, their own lust, greed, ego, pride, and vanity due to their total ignorance of God. Such religious institutions, ashrams, temples, denominations, sampradayas, societies, missions,  foundations, etc., are in reality dangerous institutions misguiding the masses, like the blind leading the blind. They paralyze, hypnotize, create hysteria, carry out black magic, flatter, create a fantasy heaven and deceive the ignorant masses.

When a scandal comes to an end, another begins. It is like cutting off one head of Ravana creates ten more heads. We thus see and experience the inequality and mistreatment of women, children, the weak, and the poor. If only we had understood the meaning of God, creation, creatures, and their harmonious relationship we could all be really happy.

Whether we like to believe in God or not, it is important and mandatory that we believe in morality, in nature, in ourselves, and in peace, love, and joy. No one will deny this even in their ignorance, and yet we are hardly taught this in churches, families, educational institutions, or social or cultural institutions. Religious organizations have become empires replacing old kingdoms according to their wealth, power and followings.  God is subordinated to their religious leaders, whose pictures, statues, or glory is sung in delusion. Humility, love, and faith hardly exists in religious orders though outward pomp is everywhere. 

Subtle pride, personal glory, and glorifying their own gurus, or their guru's institutions and religion are flourishing (2:42-44, 9:12,20,21, 16:8-24) all around us, as it did in the time of Lord Krishna and Buddha and Lord Jesus. We must in our wisdom reconsider the goal of our life and human existence, which is to realize God and act according to the best of our abilities. Real saints of all times and places have repeatedly stated this and lived accordingly. Today we find only counterfeits like Ravanas coming in the form of Sadhus to abduct Sitas or innocent masses and yet we do not see or learn from the Ramayana or Mahabharata though we read and reread, listen again and again but grasp nothing that would benefit our lives. We go on like machines, living because we are not dying, a burden to ourselves and others. 

We can change for the better any time we wish to listen and act according to the "Law."  We have a choice. Whether we choose good or evil is ours to decide (18:63). There is infinite love, joy, and peace. There is sufficient material things, clothes, food, and shelter if we will stop misusing or overusing it out of our love for the body, flesh, wealth, and perishable objects. God has created everything sufficiently for all of us to meet our every need only if we learn to live, and thus worship, through sacrifice.

--Swami Radhanandji