Thoughts that Surfaced in my Mind
y heart is stirred by a noble theme – Ps 45:1 (NIV)”
I could not but avoid the pain and the feelings that all these good things are not there in our Hindu religion. Even if it is a small temple, nobody bothers when we or a new comer comes to the temple for worship, there is none to greet us, befriend us or to have a fellowship with us or to enquire about our problems, difficulties or prayer requests if any and to pray for us. The priest is interested only in the offering one puts in his puja plate/hundi
S. THAYAPPAN 31 (offering box). One cannot even pray for two minutes without being disturbed. Some body may touch you inadvertently or some one might extend his neck like a Giraffe to have a darshan (look/sight) of the idol for himself alone without bothering that he is obstructing the views of others standing behind, unwanted talk, gossip and thoughts in front of the sanctum sanctorum, the suffocation, congestion, overcrowding due to narrow passage and space in the inner sanctum, pushing and feeling the hot breathings of others on your bare shoulders, incomprehensible Sanskrit slogas and mantras chanted by the priest will surely distract your concentration, devotion and meditation.. The irony is that the devotees are ignorant to the extent that they don’t even understand that they were spoiling the sanctity and holiness of the temple by throwing the banana skins, plantain leaves, coconut shells and other trashes and rubbish inside the temple premises. The height of foolishness of the temple administrators or by the servant of gods is giving preference, priority and respect in front of the deity to politicians, government officials, meting out preferred treatment on the basis of their position, caste, community etc. The temple, instead of sanctifying and purifying them or shaping and structuring the values of life, has just become a place of meaningless rituals which neither mould the devotees nor warn them against evil, sins or remind them of their accountability to God for all their deeds. I know that there are valuable and appreciable teachings in Hindu philosophy and scriptures. Every thing is there but the PERSON is absent. The person is CHRIST. Life is full of problems, sickness, difficulties and tension. Every one has one or the other problem in their lives. They run from pillar to post and from one temple to the other, from one deity to other, do all sorts of remedies, special offerings and pujas to the deities and planets. Yet their problems are not solved. Again they keep running to other places and are ready to do anything to overcome their problems. They really don’t understand the root cause for their problems or who creates or brings these problems to them. Without going to the root of it, they try to get some false satisfaction and liberation by running
hither and thither. Having failed to find a solution, they finally try to find a sort of relief through alcohol, drugs or any intoxicants.