Questioner: Do we need idols to know the Soul?
Dadashri: Idols are very necessary. The Lord has explicitly said that true God, true religion and a true guru are all necessary, but as long as one does not attain the right understanding (samkit), as long as one has not attained a true guru, a true God and a true religion, a relative God is needed. Once you attain the realization of the Self, then you will need the real God. If someone were to say, “There is no need for God,” that is not acceptable. God in the form of an idol is for the relative perspective and for the real perspective, there is the formless God.
Questioner:  Can an idol make one realize the Self?
Dadashri:  Until you attain the realization of the Self, you need to worship the idol because that idol will take you towards the Self.  Do not shun the idols, because they represent the vitraag Lords. They are the representation of vitraag Lords and behind the vitraag Lords there are celestial beings who are protectors of the path of vitraag Lords.
‘We’ once met a Sthanakvasi maharaj (priest of a Jain sect that does not believe in idol worship). ‘We’ asked him, “Maharaj would you mind if ‘We’ ask you a question? You would not be offended if ‘We’ did, would you? Can ‘We’ ask you something you may not like? You have renounced everything so have you attained the energy and the power to listen to talks which you do not like?” 
“Talk to me, there is no harm in talking” he said.  
‘We’ told him, “Why do you still cover your mouth with a muhpati (a cloth that covers the nose and the mouth. In order to practice ahimsa, some Jain priests cover their nose and mouth with a cloth to prevent inadvertent inhalation of small insects). Once the inner kashays (anger, pride, illusion and greed) are destroyed, all actions are natural and spontaneous. In addition, after the kashays are gone, one does not need to perform idol worship. You claim that idols are inanimate (jada), but you cannot say that. For that matter you and everyone else are inanimate too, is that not so? You have not realized the Soul (chetan), you do not know the Soul, so what else is there? Tell me have you known the Soul? As long as you have not attained the realization of the formless (amurta, the Self), are you also not a moorti (idol) - with form yourself? This Navkar Mantra too is a moorti. What you are reciting is also a moorti and you are a moorti too.”
Worship of an idol is an indirect (paroksha) form of worship.  As long as you are in the relative realm, worship the idol. Until you attain the realization of the Self, you cannot call an idol inanimate (jada). No one has the right to call an idol inanimate. Muslims claim that idols are inanimate, but they too worship the tombstone of the messenger of the Lord and all other tombs; are these also not idols?  Tombstones are also idols. Everything you see through the eyes is an idol. Muslims do not keep ‘idols’ but they keep little portico image of Mecca, is that not an idol?  In this world, you can see only that which has a form (murta), the formless (amurta) cannot be seen. 
‘We’ asked the maharaj, “Where do you see the animate (chetan) that you are referring to the idol as being inanimate? Maharaj if my questioning offends you, ‘We’ will stop”. 
The maharaja replied, “No, I am not offended. But this is the principle that has been established for us”.
‘We’ told him, “You can keep your principle, but why do you preach it to others? If this is your principle, you should keep it to yourself but why are you preaching it to others?  Let people make some spiritual progress. Countless chovisis (the cycle of twenty-four Tirthankars) have come and gone. Idols have been around for ages because where else would people of the elementary religious standard go? Idols are meant for those in the primary standards of religion not for those seeking knowledge of the reality (the Self). The idol facilitates focusing of the chit. These idols are those of the Vitraag Lords and people accept them as such. In addition to that, there is tremendous protection of these idols and their influence by the celestial beings of the vitraag Lords. So no one should point fingers at idols. The idols have become the established visible representation of the vitraag Lords. Even if someone were to merely utter the name of Lord Mahavir, it would be enough, because it is the name of the vitraag Lord.  Is it better to utter the name of the Vitraag Lord or the name of some ordinary person? Along with uttering the name of the Lord, one must also have the awareness of what the Lord is and what His qualities and attributes are.
Acharya Shri Dharmadas Muni worked towards establishing the importance of a guru simply because people were becoming increasingly dependant only on idols. The importance of a guru was declining in people’s mind along with the negative effect of the changing time cycle.  He conceded that idols were important because they helped people attain focus in their meditation but a guru was also necessary. But instead, people have now completely done away with idols and new paths of devotion to only the guru have been established.
How can one make disparaging remarks like, “Here goes the procession of the inanimate idols”? Are such comments appropriate? How can ridiculing the idols for which people have tremendous reverence be appropriate? Nevertheless, the idols will have to be put aside in order to gain awareness of the importance of a guru. However idols are correct for those who have not yet been able to have a positive focus on anything in life.  Where else can those who have not known the formless, not seen the formless, and not heard the formless; and not even aware of the existence of the formless, go?  Where will they go, Maharaj?
Maharaj you are calling this idol inanimate, so show me the animate (chetan) that you have seen. Have you seen the chetan that you are calling the idol inanimate? You yourself are inanimate; a mechanical soul!
The maharaj replied, “But the Guru is chetan, is he not?”
‘We’ said, “No. Everything that is seen, heard and experienced through the five senses is nothing but inanimate. The Navkar Mantra you recite has a form too. People have tremendous faith and feelings for the idol of the vitraag Lords, so do not look upon it with abhorrence.”
“But our principle does not believe in idols!” said the maharaj.
‘We’ said, “Maharaj, think a little. If what ‘We’ are telling you is wrong, then ‘We’ will accept it as such. If you feel offended or hurt, then ‘We’ will do your pratikraman(apology), but at least think a little! Let the people of the primary standard be and you do what suits you.  One is a true Sthanakvasi only when he has established the visual form of the Lord in between the eyebrows (the location of the subtle mind); when a mental image has been established.”
 The Maharaj said, “I am not able to accept what you are saying.”
‘We’ said, “Maharaj, how can you believe what ‘We’ are saying?  ‘We’ are even willing to accept that you find what ‘We’ are saying is wrong, because a person believes whatever he does as being the right thing. A butcher cannot see any sin in what he does, because whatever actions a doer does, they invariably create a veil (avaran) over the act itself, in the doer. Hence the doer loses the ability to discriminate whether the action is right or wrong. So what can anyone do? When a person loses discrimination between right and wrong, that person will not understand the truth even in a hundred thousand lifetimes, no matter what he does.”
‘We’ were pleading with a tapogachha (one who believes in penance of physical means in order to attain the ultimate reality) maharaj, “If you feel offended, you can slander me all you like, but let me ask you one thing, are you doing penance for liberation? “
The Maharaj said, “Of course. What else would I be doing penance for?”
‘We’ said, “The Lord has said, “Penance for liberation should not be a visible. No one should be able to see your penance.  Your penance is like the heavy workouts in a gymnasium. Are you doing workouts?  How can you call this penance?  This is not the type of penance required for liberation. The Lord has said ‘no’ to such penance.” The Lord has said that unless the body becomes natural and spontaneous, neither will the soul.  When the body becomes natural and spontaneous, so will the soul, or when the soul becomes natural and spontaneous, so will the body.  When either one becomes natural and spontaneous, so will the other and that is when your work will be accomplished.
 Why have idols been set aside? It is because apathy can set in, in idol worship. The idol is not going to get angry with you, is it? The idol is not going to question why you did not do samayik (introspection on errors committed), will it? At least the Guru will tell you off! But calling an idol inanimate completely changes the meaning for its existence. Idols are necessary and so are the temples. Until one attains the darshan of the formless (the Self), one cannot let go of the rope that keeps one afloat.  Idol worship is a spiritual science of India. Only if there is an idol will there be a temple and only if there is a temple will there be devotees.    
 The Lord has said that as long as there is artadhyan (adverse meditation occurring within one’s relative self) and raudradhyan (adverse meditation directed against other living beings), you should do darshan of an idol (murta) because until then you will not be able to ‘see’ the formless (amurta) one. You will not be able to see the Shuddhatma, the formless Lord within.