The Indian system seems to worship personalities, whereas the Muslims worship the presence. Which is correct?
Well, Indian system has two types of worship, one type is un-manifest, the other is the manifest. The un-manifest consciousness is known as Brahman. Vedanta says that Brahman is everywhere - that is the truth, that is the reality, and that is called Nirakars (the formless aspect of the Divinity).
Then there is Saguna Brahman. Saguna Brahman is that same Brahman but with attributes or qualities.
Lord Krishna says, "Look, what does worship mean? Just loving. It is easy to love an object or a person, or a manifest thing, than loving a space which you cannot relate to".
So for people, it is easy to first start connecting with a person, an object or a thing, and then move on to the consciousness which is un-manifest. This is the path, this is the instruction. From that to how? They say not the whole thing, just one part of it.
In many of the Eastern paths - Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, there is a symbol and you start with that symbol. So anything, it can be a river as a river is manifest, a river is sacred and is a form of the Divinity. A tree is a form of Divinity; you will see people bowing down to a tree, honouring the tree. Animals, elephants, cows, dogs and even crows, all these are manifestations of Divinity. And then babies. So to invoke love or connectivity from within you, form is essential.
See, at home you keep a picture of your grandfather. You can just think of your grandfather, but when you look at the picture, then that reminds you of the grandfather. You look at a picture and you say, "Oh, my mother is there", isn't it? So these icons were developed for that. Krishna very clearly says in Gita, and it's very true. He says,"Klesho dhikataras tesham, avyaktasakta-chetasam, avyakta hi gatir duhkham, dehavadbhir avapyate"
People who are not elevated to the level of higher consciousness, who are bound by the physical body and its pleasures and pains, for them worshipping the un-manifest is a path full of sorrow.
'Klesha' means - troubles are many. Krishna says to Arjuna, "You can worship the un-manifest but the path is full of misery".
If I say, from the quantum physics perspective, this is all just wave function, highly intellectual physicist finds it very easy to relate to wave function, but an artist cannot relate to it. An artist wants some sort of thing - he wants to see that wave function manifest as a tree or a statue or something. So this is just a step towards the ultimate, but a very necessary step.
See, if you want to go out of the house, there is a door and from the door there are steps. You can walk on the steps and go out. Suppose your house is at a height, if you want to jump out of the window, you are welcome to do it. Even then you can reach there, but you only have to see if your legs are alright, if they are intact. And that’s what is in the Bhagavad Gita.
Lord Krishna says, and that is what Jesus also said, "I am the way, I am the door, come unto Me". Krishna also said, "I am here, I am the manifest of the un-manifest".