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Three reasons

Yesterday I went to a temple with mom. It was night and the temple was crowded. I just stood outside waiting for mom to come back and thought of reasons why I was not inside like others. Well, why should I go to a temple? The most obvious and common reason was to pray to god so that He will feel happy and grant me my wishes. Another reason is to feel an inner peace. Yet another reason is fear.
Well, I think I can refute all three: I don't think just by my praying to Him and offering money and things, He will grant my wishes because He is not a grant-vending machine like a coca-cola vending one. And He hasn't done so yet though I managed to pray sometimes, with conviction and devotion. So that's out.
About inner peace. I haven't found it anywhere except within me by my own effort. And I do go to temple for that reason. But not a crowded one, more preferably an empty one.
Fear is something I haven't been able to muster up with regard to god till now. I don't fear Him. I don't fear He will teach me a lesson or something bad will happen to me just because I don't pray to Him. When I said all these to mom, she, as usual, said I shouldn't talk like that. And that's fear.

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  1. Snippet ThoughtsMay 28, 2010 at 3:39 PM

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  2. Jagadish PrasadMay 28, 2010 at 3:44 PM

    Agreed. But there is yet another reason, the feeling of having lost something, a sense of desolation in the aridity of the mind. I understand your feelings. I have never prayed in a temple. But why is it when a temple as old as Arunachaleswara in Tirivanamalai or Maduraimeenakshi in Madurai, plays mind games with in the hour of Bramhmamuhartam, when ghosts from the past flit before you.You wish you could vanish into a stone frieze forever.

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  3. WhoAmI?June 13, 2010 at 5:40 PM

    yep, one can find peace, and God too, only within oneself ... you may goto a temple for the sheer joy of sharing few meditative/ ecstatic moments of living with the fellow humans in the positively vibrant environ - for the spirit of God is what we all share in common.

    Fear, offering for returns are patently anti-God, and fellow humans yet unaware of the God within may find solace in God-without to find their moments of peace while fighting the evils of the real-world that are anti-God.

    If one can't make them aware, the least one could do is empathise, not break their faith - which would leave them without the straw they're clutching onto to stay afloat...

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