Loving Ganesha: Chapter 21 (section 5) - Hinduism: The Greatest Religion in the World--Hindudharmah Mahattamo Visvadharmah

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font-family:Arial">Namaste all,

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font-family:Arial">The fifth section of chapter 21 of Loving Ganesha, from

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/books/lg/lg_ch-21.html

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12.0pt;font-family:Arial">Om Shanti

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font-family:Arial">Neil

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font-weight:bold">Three

13.5pt"> Pillars: Temples, Philosophy and

Preceptors

There are

three distinct aspects of Hinduism: the temples, the philosophy and the satguru.

It is very fortunate that in the last

two decades Hindu temples have nearly circumferenced

the world. There are temples in Europe, in North America, in South America,

Australia, in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia. The Hindu temple and stone

images in it

work as a channel for the Deity, for the Gods, who hover over the stone image

and in their subtle etheric forms change people's

lives through changing the nerve currents within them through their darshana.

People come to a sanctified temple and

go away, and in that process they are slowly changed from the inside out. They

have changed because their very life force has changed, their mind has been

changed and their emotions have undergone a subtle transformation. The temples

of Hinduism are magnificent in their immensity and in their ability to canalize

the three worlds, the First World of physical, outer existence and the inner Second and

Third Worlds.

Hindu

temples are not centered around

a priest or minister, though there may be a holy man associated with a temple

whose advice is cautiously and quietly sought. There is no sermon, no mediator,

no director to guide the worship of pilgrims. The temple

is the home of the Deities, and each devotee goes according to his own timing

and for his own particular needs. Some may go to weep and seek consolation in

times of sorrow, while simultaneously others will be there to rejoice in their

good fortune and to sing God's name in thanksgiving. Naturally, the sacraments

of name-giving and marriage and so forth are closely associated with the

temple. One has only to attend a Hindu temple during festival days to capture

the great energy and vitality of this ancient religion.

In its

second section, philosophy, Hinduism has influenced the deep religious thinkers

of all cultures through known history. There is not a single philosophy which

can be labeled "Hinduism." Rather, it is a

network of many philosophies, some seeming to

impertinently contradict the validity of others, yet on deeper reflection are

seen as integral aspects of a single radiant mind flow. In the area of

philosophy must be included the enormous array of scripture, hymns, mantras,

devotional bhajana

and philosophical texts which are certainly unequaled

in the world.

In the

natural order of things, temple worship precedes philosophy. It all starts with

the temple, with this sacred house of the Deities, this sanctified site where

the three worlds communicate, where the inner and outer mesh and merge. It is

there that devotees change. They become more like the perfect beings that live

in the temple, become the voice of the Deity, writing down what is taught them

from the inside, and their writings, if they are faithful to the superconscious

message of the God, become scripture and

make up the philosophies of Hinduism. The philosophies then stand alone as the

voice of the religion. They are taught in the universities, discussed among

scholars, meditated upon by yogis and devout seekers. It is possible to be a

good Hindu by only learning the philosophy and never going to the temple, or by

simply going to the temple and never hearing of the deeper philosophies.

Hinduism

has still another section within it, and that is the guru -- the teacher, the

illuminator, the spiritual preceptor. The guru is the remover of darkness. He

is one who knows the philosophy, who knows the inner workings of the temple,

and who in himself is the philosopher and the temple. The guru is he who can

enliven the spirit within people. Like the temple and the philosophy, he stands

alone, apart from the institutions of learning, apart from sites of pilgrimage.

He is himself the source of knowledge, and he is himself the pilgrim's destination.

Should

all the temples be destroyed, they would spring up again from the seeds of

philosophy, or from the presence of a realized man. And if all the scriptures

and philosophical treatises were burned, they would be written again from the

same source. So Hinduism cannot be destroyed. It can never be destroyed. It

exists as the spirit of religion within each being. Its three aspects, the

temple, the philosophy and the

italic">satguru,

individually proficient, taken together make Hinduism the most vital and abundant

religion in the world.

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font-family:Arial">Loving Ganesha by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

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font-family:Arial">Web sites: http://www.hindu.org/

& http://www.himalayanacademy.com/

email: contact (AT) hindu (DOT) org

Himalayan Academy

Kauai's Hindu Monastery

Arial">107 Kaholalele Road

Kapaa, HI 96746-9304

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