Temples are not constructed to prove or demonstrate the existence of God. They are built for a different purpose altogether, They are the means of channelling the divine energy, of creating a pitha, seat for the spiritual power to operate on the collective society.
One goes to the temple, not for contemplation or for meditation. This one can conveniently do at home. One goes to the temple to find God in one's own image, to find solace and comfort, to look for relief from the miseries and sufferings of life from a Power far higher than one's self, but at the same time easily approachable in a form imaged like us. Just as a we respond if called by name, the personal God responds if He/She is invoked by his/her appropriate name.
A very effective ritual which creates a vivifying bond between the worshipper and the worshipped and which is readily available for those who visit the temple is the Archana. Though Archana is the general Sanskrit term for worship, we mean particularly the act of chanting the names of the Deity by proper invocation and expressing the same by offering flowers at the feet of the deity.
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It is difficult for the modern observer to separate the Hindu path of devotion from the temple, the institution that has come to dominate Hindu worship. The Bhagavadgita in the Mahabharata, the Indic text that contributed so much to the beginnings of bhakti yoga, strangely enough makes no mention of temple worship. Several centuries later, and perhaps during a new period in the evolution of Hindu bhakti, the writers of the agamas laid down the prescriptions and ritual practices that would guide devotees through every aspect of temple worship. By the fourth century, the temple was already fast becoming an indispensable element of Hindu devotion. It had come a evolve to the present day.
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The Spiritual Preceptor — acharya — has an essential place in all the great Wisdom Traditions of the world. Taking refuge in an abstract and seemingly distant Divine Being is somewhat troublesome, but taking refuge in a learned, compassion, caring and wise person is much easier, as such a person is present and aproachable. In this age of consumerism and "shopping" how does one know if a "guru" is genuine or not. There are many people who go from one spiritual teacher to another shopping around for one who will tell them what they want to hear. There is also no lack of "Spiritual Teachers" who are quite willing to tell their disciples whatever they think they want to hear in order to enjoy some economic benefits and thrill of power.
Spiritual practice (Sadhana) in general consists of three factors as taught in the Bhagavad Gita. These practices are the basic framework for our self-development and Krishna enjoins them upon us to be practiced assiduously for the rest of our lives because it is through these practices that our minds are purified and preparation can be made to achieve enlightenment.
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Temples are not constructed to prove or demonstrate the existence of God. They are built for a different purpose altogether, They are the means of channelling the divine energy, of creating a pitha, seat for the spiritual power to operate on the collective society.
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The word Samskara is one of those words for which there is no single exact corresponding word in the English language. It is usually translated as "more, religious rite, ceremony, social observances, formalities and punctilious behaviour". But none of these words convey the actual meaning of the Sanskrit term Samskara. The closest approximation is the word sacrament which means "religious ceremony or act regarded as outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual grace". In the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches it includes the seven rites of baptism, confirmation, communion, penance, extreme unction, orders and matrimony.
The word Samskara is derived from the Sanskrit root meaning "to refine". In the classical Sanskrit literature the word Samskara is used in a very wide sense:— in the sense of education, cultivation, training, making perfect, refining, polishing, embellishment, impression, form, mould, operation, impression on the sub-conscious mind, a purificatory rite, a sacred rite or ceremony, consecration, sanctification and hallowing; idea, notion and conception; effect of work, merit of action etc.
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