Thursday, August 25, 2011

Radhanath Swami on The Purpose of a Temple

God is one, no doubt. There is only one God. An enlightened person will see God in a mosque or a church or a synagogue or in a gurdwara or in a temple. But how to actually come to that state of consciousness? It is not just a feeling; it’s reality. For that purpose, temples are not just places where you give donations, see the deities and say a prayer. Temples have always been established by saintly persons as spiritual, educational institutions. It is pious to go to a temple and give a donation and walk away. This is nice, but you will not get enlightened by that. Great souls built those places so that people could come and actually learn the science, the philosophy and the culture of purifying their lives, living with morality, integrity and learn how to love God. That’s all-important. When we go to the temple, we shouldn’t go to just see. We should go to be seen, that I may live my intentions, my humility, my begging for forgiveness, my begging for mercy, my sincerity, in such a way that God will be pleased to see me. That should be the proper attitude, and for that there has to be education, there has to be training.
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47 comments:

  1. Sujit MehtaAugust 25, 2011 at 9:54 AM

    simple yet profound understanding for us

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  2. NehaAugust 25, 2011 at 9:09 PM

    Thank you swamiji for explaining so well the purpose of our visits to temples. We get to learn a lot from your understanding of life, you are really an inspiration to me.

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  3. AnonymousAugust 26, 2011 at 2:06 AM

    At other place HH Radhanath swami maharaj explains the function of temple....
    These great saints they built temples for the purpose of attracting people to the beauty of Lord and then when they come to educate them how to serve God, how to utilize their mind and senses for God’s pleasure in God’s devotional service.

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  4. Sumit SharmaAugust 26, 2011 at 5:23 AM

    Radhanath Swami has shown importance of both the temple and the process we should follow.

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  5. vskAugust 26, 2011 at 5:27 AM

    Now my visits to the temple will be more meaningful

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  6. GuruAugust 26, 2011 at 5:41 AM

    WOnderful article !

    Very profound statements from HH Radhanath swami maharaj.

    Thank you so much maharaj for enlighten us.

    All Glories to HH Radhanath swami maharaj

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  7. AnonymousAugust 26, 2011 at 6:26 AM

    great article. it shows the essence. thank u.

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  8. BipinAugust 26, 2011 at 8:02 AM

    All GLories To H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

    A very beautiful Narrative.It explains the gist of visiting these sanctum sanctorums.

    Hare Krishna

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  9. ashok n belaniAugust 26, 2011 at 8:56 PM

    Next time i go to the temple , i will surely keep this in mind.It is very important to be conscious of what we do and not to take things cheaply or be in ignorance of it.

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  10. Vinay MalaniAugust 27, 2011 at 10:24 AM

    Radhanath Swami is rightly exhorting us to go beyond the mere rituals of 'deity worship' in a temple. Unless we learn to love & serve God, our faith will only remain superficial & there will be no real spiritual progress. Following the instructions & words of wisdom of enlightened saintly people such as Radhanath Swami will help us tremendously to achieve the real goal of life based on the Holy scriptures.

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  11. Milind M ChuriAugust 27, 2011 at 10:25 AM

    Coming to the state of conciousness where we see that God is one is very important.And all bonafied religoins preach the same thing.The temples are the places where true knowledge is given by which one can elevate his/her conciousness.Thank you SWamiji for enlightening us.

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  12. Piyush SinghAugust 27, 2011 at 8:14 PM

    Thank you Radhanath Swami for revealing the importance and purpose of the religious places like temples. Very useful.

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  13. AnonymousAugust 27, 2011 at 8:28 PM

    excellent!

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  14. navin poojaryAugust 28, 2011 at 6:24 AM

    Beautiful - Just like this qoute from above "We should go to be seen, that I may live my intentions, my humility, my begging for forgiveness, my begging for mercy, my sincerity, in such a way that God will be pleased to see me"

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  15. AishwaryaAugust 28, 2011 at 7:13 AM

    Thanks for sharing the new attitude to go to temple with-not just to see but to be seen by the Lord.

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  16. Yogita JagannathanAugust 28, 2011 at 10:09 PM

    Thank you Radhanath Swami Maharaj for reveasling the true purpose of temples to us.

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  17. AnonymousAugust 29, 2011 at 12:16 AM

    Very nice

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  18. udayAugust 29, 2011 at 5:54 AM

    How true it is.A temple should be a university where the science of GOD is taught.Thanks to Radhanath Swami for so beautifully describing the purpose of a temple.

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  19. AnonymousAugust 29, 2011 at 6:29 AM

    thanx for sharing

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  20. navin poojaryAugust 29, 2011 at 7:29 AM

    True! Radha Gopinath Temple community is a standing evidence of everything that Radhanath swami has mentioned above.It is not surprising that the author himself i.e Radhanath swami is responsible for nurturing such a wonderful community - The Radha Gopinath Congregation where thousands are finding true peace and shelter

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  21. DivyadevAugust 29, 2011 at 7:36 AM

    Its almost a paradigm shift from seeing to being seen. factually thats what matters, in terms of our purity, intentions and thoughts........Thanks a lot Maharaj

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  22. Y.RajaAugust 29, 2011 at 8:11 AM

    HH Radhanath Swami distributes the best of the philosophy that is very practical for every to follow.

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  23. Radhasangi Devi DasiAugust 29, 2011 at 8:16 AM

    As children we were taught that we must go to the temple to see God and place before Him our troubles and ask Him to solve our problems. Now hearing Radhanath Swami speak words of wisdom my doubts have been cleared and now I know the right frame of mind with which one should go to the temple.
    Thank You Radhanath Swami for your enlightening words.

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  24. Amol - Share Your CareAugust 29, 2011 at 8:56 AM

    Thank you Radhanath Swamiji

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  25. Abhijit ToleyAugust 29, 2011 at 9:13 AM

    Very beautifully said by Radhanath Swami!

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  26. swapnilAugust 29, 2011 at 9:43 PM

    Thank you Radhanath Swami for enlightening.

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  27. T.Sita RamaiahAugust 30, 2011 at 1:00 PM

    Temples are built for the purpose of attracting people to see the beauty of the Lord, to impart education on how to serve the God and how to use their mind and senses for the pleasure of God by devotional service. Thank you Maharaj.

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  28. Ravi GargAugust 31, 2011 at 3:34 AM

    BEautiful statement by Swamiji "When we go to the temple, we shouldn’t go to just see. We should go to be seen"

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  29. Kushal Bihari DasSeptember 1, 2011 at 11:20 AM

    Krishna doesn't see any material opulence of us but humility and true love in us.

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  30. madhaviSeptember 1, 2011 at 12:44 PM

    amazing.thank you maharaj!

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  31. SurekhaSeptember 1, 2011 at 2:23 PM

    very nice blog. Many thanks to Radhanath swami

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  32. AnonymousSeptember 1, 2011 at 6:29 PM

    That's a beautiful meditation to have, thanks for sharing!

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  33. Neha K.September 2, 2011 at 5:38 AM

    This makes our understanding very clear on what should be the attitude while visiting a temple...

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  34. Visnu dasSeptember 2, 2011 at 5:59 AM

    Amazing post. Thank you maharaj.

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  35. ChandrikaSeptember 3, 2011 at 1:29 PM

    We should go to be seen, that I may live my intentions, my humility, my begging for forgiveness, my begging for mercy, my sincerity, in such a way that God will be pleased to see me

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  36. NavinSeptember 4, 2011 at 10:43 AM

    Very nice, thank you for sharing

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  37. Vidya PathamSeptember 5, 2011 at 5:33 AM

    Thank you Radhanath Swami for giving us this fresh perspective on how to look at a temple - not just as a place of charity but a place where our character changes.

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  38. AnonymousSeptember 5, 2011 at 11:45 AM

    Very nice

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  39. surekhaSeptember 5, 2011 at 3:16 PM

    Thank you Radhanath Swami for revealing us the true purpose of going to the temple.

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  40. Kushal Bihari DasSeptember 6, 2011 at 11:24 AM

    Thank you very much Maharaj.

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  41. Paramesvara DasaSeptember 7, 2011 at 6:30 AM

    Temples are spiritual educational institutions.
    The conception of spiritual education is lost in almost all schools and colleges. It is necessary to give this knowledge in temples. All glories to Radhanatha Swami.

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  42. anandSeptember 9, 2011 at 1:59 PM

    great words...temple a seat of enlightenment. Thank you for sharing.

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  43. Vaibhav SharmaSeptember 11, 2011 at 9:07 PM

    One cannot imitate the actions and words of a pure soul like Radhanath Swami. Such explanations are only in the heart of a person is deep in his consciousness of Spiritual life. Thank You Maharaja

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  44. KathiresanSeptember 15, 2011 at 10:40 PM

    Amazing explanation.Must read for everyone.

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  45. MeghanaSeptember 18, 2011 at 9:16 AM

    Fear is due to lack of substance within our own hearts and our mind; it is because of lack of satisfaction and lack of love.

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  46. AnonymousSeptember 19, 2011 at 4:26 AM

    Ydas : I like the way Radhanath Swami describes the reasons why we should go to temple and what exactly we should be seen for.

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  47. surekhaOctober 26, 2011 at 4:15 PM

    Thank you HH Radhanath swami for explaining the real purpose of going to temple and serving the lord.

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