I am in Jamnagar at present and this part of the country is seeing the coldest wave in 40 years! I was standing in line to get a ticket cancelled. I stood for almost 2 and half hours and heard the funniest conversations. The most common and striking though were the ones about the overwhelming cold in jamnagar.
This is a windy city. When temperatures are 25 deg, the winds make it seem like 21. With the temperature at around 17 during the day and a few degrees lower at nights, you can imagine how it makes some feel. I learnt the meaning of chilled to the bone while standing in line! The winds were so fast that despite having a jacket on, i felt like i was standing in bare skin!
If it is this bad here, I can’t imagine what it is like in Delhi, Kashmir and the rest of the line all the way down to here!
I thought Hyderabad was bad, but this is horrible! I din’t even feel this cold when I was in Jamshedpur during the winter!
Lots has happened over the past couple of days. I have travelled to Shirdi by road from Hyderabad and from there to Jamnagar. It’s quite a journey. 🙂
All through there have been various thoughts in my head. Since it is my blog, I suppose I can put them out here! 😀
First of all, my fundamental thoughts regarding places of worship – what is their purpose? Do temple authorities (management) have any duties towards the place they are located in (i.e. city/village etc.)?
AFAIK, places of worship are there for primarily two purposes: a) To provide an atmosphere of peace and quiet so that visitors can clear their mind and recharge spiritually.
b) To provide spiritual learning and profess the teachings of the lord of the place.
What I find to be amazingly strange at places of worship now is that neither are achieved. They are not peaceful as hundreds and thousands of people visit these places on a regular basis. They are now surrounded by more security than you would have seen at the average work place and definitely more than is warranted. This is the immediate atmosphere of the temple and the atmosphere outside it, I don’t have to describe. There are hundreds of vendors trying to seek your attention and sell u stuff that is neither needed for your visit nor things that you can use. As a visitor, I find their behavior to be intrusive and I find it to be highly unwelcome. So the first target of achieving peace of mind goes out the window! 😀
The second target of professing the teachings… well that also I must say is barely if at all done. Yes, there are books u can find and read up, but there is literally no one who actually shares any of the teachings. The visit to the temple and surroundings is more like a crowded museum visit (with few artifacts to see) than anything else. One more thing surprised me. That the place could go completely against the teachings of the great person it is dedicated to.
Sai Baba in his avatar on Earth essentially left behind a few lessons for the modern man.
1) Treat everyone as equal cuz in the eyes of God, everyone is. – No favoritism based on financial status!
2) A truly secular belief that “Sab ka maalik ek” – a collectiveness and connectedness to the single entity – God!
3) Give to those who need for sharing is what spreads love, joy and creates more well being.
4) Sai Baba led a very simple life and taught the virtues of simplicity. In fact Baba quite often spoke against excesses!
5) Baba was a man who practiced Yoga (various kinds)
Unfortunately in Shirdi now, we have special Darshan (for those who pay money) and VIP passes to see Aartis, which were not there a few years ago. The temple top and other parts inside the temple are coated in gold (excesses!), there are no community lunches/dinners served (and definitely none for the really poor), did I already mention the intrusive security – ur inability to bring in cell phones whereas even video cameras were allowed just 6-7 years ago. Obviously, the temple authorities are not in conformance with the teachings of Baba himself. It has become more of a commercial place with quite a pull rather than a place of spiritual freedom. There is no one really preaching what lessons Baba left behind, so there is no Yoga, there are no sessions where stories of Baba are read alound, there is no place one can go and learn more about Baba and his teachings. Perhaps the reason I am being so critical is because the place is deviating away from certain core philosophies and needs to be checked!
Unfortunately, this is the case with just about every place of worship (at least Hindu holy places) I know of.
Coming to second question of the role of temple authorities on the city/town village, I believe it has far more bearing than anything else. Rather than just make the town about the temple, developing the town in other ways with the cash that comes in is not just useful, I believe it is very Godly. If we assume the role of providing and creating infrastructure is that of the Govt and private sector, the temple authorities can and should definitely invest in the people. Grow the economic conditions of the people around… Provide basic things like loans, create alternate livelihoods than those purely dependant on the temple, provide healthcare, education etc. The temple should be a place of worship, not the center of commerce and trade! But since so much donation comes in anyway, it is appropriate to use it the same way Baba did! I am sure were he alive, he would have invested in precisely the things I mentioned!
Among all temples, Shirdi can do this because it is in accordance with the teachings of the leader it is built for. I wouldn’t expect this at any other place.
The World according to OVL 