Why visit a temple?

Looking back, it appears very strange, somewhat unbelievable that for so many decades of my life I never experienced first hand the real significance of temples. It is only of late that the presence of God is distinctly felt when I visit temples. It is so real, even more real than looking at somebody with one’s own eyes. This first started at that great pilgrimage center of Tiruvannamalai, in Ramanasramam, where I distinctly felt like a fish immersed in water, the ocean of bliss. I felt like I was swimming in the nectar of Satchidananda. All thoughts were perfectly stilled without effort. It was a natural state of being, incredibly joyous. But what was so obvious to me was not necessarily experienced by everyone. Many visitors just came in, saw the place, sat for sometime, talking loudly & then just left. No doubt there would’ve been an impact on everyone, irrespective of one’s awareness of the changes, but such a beautiful experience must be fully experienced with one’s attention focused on it. Some people argue that God exists everywhere, so why go to a specific place of pilgrimage such as a temple. This is akin to telling a thirsty man to imbibe water vapour from the atmosphere, since there is always moisture in the air! The fact is undeniable that water exists in the atmosphere, but we’re not fitted to draw moisture from the air directly into our bodies. Likewise, the vast majority of us are incapable of feeling the presence of God everywhere. So, in the beginning, we must go directly to the water source of consciousness to quench our thirst. The field of consciousness in the manifested creation is of non uniform density throughout space. Thus the positive force field is very strong at some places, but negative or weak at other areas. There can be a small grain of particle or a stone image or a tree or anything really – size being immaterial, which can be powerful enough to alter the minds of people by its force field. In fact even the holy river Ganga is said to be truly a blessing from God for the salvation of mankind. Some of my friends have attested to its holy presence – while bathing in the Ganga, their thoughts became naturally stilled. The effect was so profound with one person, that he said he could not concretely remember every moment of bathing in the Ganga. This is because the mind had merged completely with the self during those moments, so while the mind became active again there were no impressions to again bring forth!

Thus, it is not hard to understand why temples & other holy places were at the center of the Hindu civilization in olden times. In those days, whenever one was afflicted with negative energy, sad thoughts, untoward incidents in life or just needed the intuitive guidance of a higher being, temples served as power centers where one could tune into an uplifting presence. Such knowledge about their significance is now lost to the progressive, modern culture. It is indeed a matter of shame that even in the holiest land of India which is said to be the spiritual capital of the whole world, many people scoff at age old rituals merely because their scientifically inquisitive mind has no explanation. Such rationalists need to wait for the Satya Yuga when all this will be common knowledge in the so called ‘scientific’ way to be understood by the vast majority. For those who cannot wait for many millennia, there is a most detailed, cohesive explanation by Osho on the internet, which one can access by searching Google for “Alchemical Secrets of Places of Holy Pilgrimage”. But mere reading will not suffice. There is absolutely no substitute for first hand, repeatable experience.
And what is it with auspicious days? I have clearly felt on days such as Shivaratri, Krishna Janmashtami or Ramanavami that there is a much more purified & powerful presence of God saturated throughout creation, not just temples. Of course, on such days temples become even more exalted. One slowly understands there must be some meaning to all the madness of standing in long queues, jostling with one another & sweating it out just to get a glimpse of a ‘stone image’!

Having been endowed with free will, it is our responsibility to uplift our consciousness constantly. One of the easiest ways to do it is to regularly visit a temple where we feel the divine presence. Like the water from an ocean rushing into the water in a small cup & replacing that dirty water in the cup with the ocean’s own water, the consciousness of God completely cleanses our very being down to the depths of our subs consciousness. This also serves as a means of satsang, which is the company of truth. Since it is very hard to find the company of holy people steeped with spiritual splendor in our daily life, temples are an easy way of achieving this. Imagine for a moment how difficult it must be to find a truly holy man’s time for satsang everyday, in the midst of a materialistic society in a bustling city! Likewise, imagine how easy it is to find a temple, irrespective of where you are. Different temples may have differing powers of manifestation. For instance the world famous temple in Tirupathi has an awesome magnetic presence, but the sad part there is one cannot spend more than 10 seconds with the blessed deity. On the other hand, we must also strive to directly make contact with the divine being, irrespective of where we are. This can be by any of the standard means of purifying the mind. It also helps remove the dirt in one’s mind so that the blessings can be poured in readily. This way, we take the first baby steps towards seeing God everywhere, independent of location. One’s aura or energy field or consciousness expands & gets purified.

Where does all this eventually lead us to, at the pinnacle of human evolution? One becomes a perfect channel for the divine presence to be expressed in everyday life. Just like in the beginning one benefits from the presence of a Master or a temple, likewise, at the end of the journey other people benefit from one’s evolved state of being. When the nectar fills up, the bees are attracted! In that state, there are absolutely no selfish motives & one’s actions cannot be logically explained. Everything flows effortlessly, by the self, for the self, of the self!