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Places of worship - the significance By Mojo SWhy are places of
worship built? What is their history and significance in themodern
world? (1036 words) (Second text)
The temple is not a flight of fancy of man. Its roots lie deep
in man's inner unconscious.
Right from ancient times, wherever man has lived in whichever
stage, he hasconstructed something resembling a temple somewhere
close by. There is no race on
earth which has not built a temple, a church, a masjid and so
on. There is no
resemblance between the arrangement and design of a temple and a
church but the inner
aspiration and urge of man whether Hindu or Christian remains
the same. Another point
to note is that the universal urge to build places of worship
lies only in man. Animals
build only dwellings, shelter but no temples. Without man having
a deep awareness of
the God, a temple could not be built. It is necessary to make an
inquiry into the
significance of building a temple. Just like we build
guesthouses for guests, the idea of
building temples must have been conceived in a moment, when the
divine was not a
figment of imagination but a living experience.
The temples function as receptive instruments. Though godliness
and human beings are
present everywhere, only during special circumstances within us
do we become attuned
to that godliness. So temples serve as centers of receptivity,
to enable us to feel the
divine in existence and to become spiritually elevated. Patterns
and arrangements i.e.
temple, masjid or church do not matter...the ultimate purpose is
same. The temples in
India are constructed of 3-4 patterns. The temple domes are
based on the model of the
sky. The domes (small, semi circular prototypes of the sky) are
constructed so that the
resonance of the prayers can bounce back on us. The dome throws
back the prayers and
chanting done under its canopy. The sound is not lost in the
vast sky. The purpose is
that when anyone chants intensely, the dome makes the sound
reverberate forming a
circle of the echo. Such a sound circle is a blissful
experience. With the circle
formation, we become the recipient as well and the divine enters
into us. All thoughts
come to a stop. The bells and gongs outside temples serve the
purpose of bring back our
attention (if it drifts) to the circle of sound created by the
vibration of chanting. It is akin
to the ripples created by throwing a stone in the pond. The
ringing of the bell creates a
discontinuity in our normal chain of thought and alertness.
Certain flowers and incense are used to maintain harmony of the
temple. For e.g. in a
mosque only "lobhan", a kind of fragrant resin is used as
incense and in a temple, only
dhoop and agarbatti. All these have a connection with sound. The
sound of Allah has an
inner harmony with the fragrance of lobhan. These links were
discovered through theinner search for enlightenment. Similarly,
the amount of light to be used, whether to use
kerosene or ghee and other external aids. It may not be easy to
explain the difference
between a kerosene light and ghee light if you have not
experimented with the same.
With light created by burning kerosene, our eyes begin to burn
and become tired and
painful. With ghee the same become cool and soothed. All these
external aids are just
parallels. And when a place of worship has been provided with
them, it becomes
charged with the vibrations. Hence the stipulation that no one
should go to a temple
without bathing. Taking a cold bath breaks the mental
associations. In fact in old days,
silk clothes had to be worn because silk helps to generate body
electricity.
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English guide Level III Sem 2-2010
With all these precautions and arrangements, the places of
worship become charged and
also affect anyone even passing by with its magnetic field. For
e.g. it is said about
Mahavir that within a certain radius of him - wherever he might
be - it was impossible
to commit violence. It was his charged field - a walking temple.
We need places of
worship like temples where we can make our offerings and receive
something in return.
Man always forgets.
What is sublime and valuable, we forget; what is trivial and
commonplace we
remember continuously. We have to make an effort to remember God
but our desires
and passions are present all the time. Going downhill is easy;
going uphill is always
difficult. The temples help keep the inner search alive. Very
few of us are naturally
inspired to seek; most only feel inspired when we actually see
things.
So when we see godliness personified within the shape of a
temple, something of it
lingers in our minds. This is especially so for people who
cannot visualize the
unmanifest divine. A temple is a place for rest and relaxation
where you can find relief
and peace. It is a source of inspiration.
Vocabulary
- MAHAVIR: es el nombre ms de uso general referir al sabio indio
Vardhamana quin
estableci lo que se consideran hoy para ser la central tenets de
Jainism.
- MASJID: A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam
(Arabic: , which
literally means a place of prostration. The word "mosque" in
English refers to all types
of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a
distinction in Arabic
between the smaller, masjids dedicated for daily five prayers
and the larger masajid
where the daily five prayers and the Friday congregation sermons
are held, which is
attended by more people and play more roles such as teaching
Qur'an.
- DHOOPS : another masala (tipo de incienso hecho con especias)
sub-group. They are
an extruded incense, lacking a core bamboo stick. Many dhoops
have very concentrated
scents and put out a lot of smoke when burned. The most
well-known dhoop is probably
Chandan Dhoop. It contains a high percentage of Sandalwood.
- AGARBATTI : Indian incense in Hindi
- GHEE is clarified butter, the butter oil, without the lactose
and other milk solids. It is
traditionally prepared by gently heating butter until it becomes
a clear golden liquid.
The lactose and other milk solids coagulate and are meticulously
removed. This process
also evaporates most of the natural water content, making ghee
light, pure and resistant
to spoilage.
