It’s time to catch up on my cultural proofs. These are things I do, places I visit, etc. that are meant to help me get more involved and immersed in India’s culture. I have done several already and taken notes, but now it is time to blog about them.
So today’s cultural proof will be about the Lotus Temple!
This was one of my first sites to see in India, maybe two days after arriving in Delhi. I knew almost nothing about it beforehand, and what I did know, or what I guessed I knew, only made me more wrong. First, I had imagined that it was probably a Hindu temple, and second, I confused the word “lotus” for “locust” and so after hearing that it was named for its shape I imagine a building shaped like a giant grasshopper.
Well, it was neither a grasshopper nor a Hindu temple. For any who are ignorant like me, a lotus is a flower:
and the temple actually belongs to the Baha'i faith.
However, the temple itself is purposed as a place where people of all faiths can come to pray, meditate, and draw closer to God.
The day we visited the temple it was extremely hot, and we had to walk down a long path to get to there. Then, about 50 feet from the entrance you are asked to remove your shoes, exposing your feet to the burning ground. They had placed out cloth mats to walk across that weren’t quite as hot as the ground, but still, we tip-toe ran to get to the temple entrance in the quickest (but still somewhat-reverent) way we knew how.
Just outside the temple entrance a guide explained the purpose of the temple, and then opened the door to let us in.
The inside is one big, open room, filled with benches. It was also much cooler inside than out. Our group chose a bench and sat down. At first I was happy just to relax and be out of the heat. There was a nice peaceful feeling in that room, and for a long time we simply sat in silence. I said a little prayer to thank God for our chance to be in India, and that things thus far had gone well. I also thanked him for the temple, its purpose and our chance to be there. I thought it a wonderful thing to have a place that encouraged such spiritual freedoms and also had the uniting power of bringing people of different faiths together.
It was a good experience, especially to kick off our visit to India. However, I have since realized that this feeling of spiritual freedom and unity is not something unique to the Lotus Temple. It’s actually as if all of India was one great big Lotus Temple encompassing the entire country. We have met people of so many faiths: The Baha’i, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians. Many people you can tell or at least guess at their religion just by looking at them. Religion is not a sensitive issue by any means, and everyone seems more than willing to discuss it. Everyone is welcome into everyone else’s houses of worship, and most people seem interested in visiting religious sites outside of their own religion. From what I understand, these religions have all been living more or less peacefully, side by side for thousands of years. The secret? There may be a few contributing factors, one being that most Indian religions do not exercise an effort in converting others to their own religion. From what I can tell, most people remain in whatever religion they are born into. However, I think probably the biggest reason these people are able to live peacefully together is the before mentioned openness in expressing, sharing and understanding each other’s religions. There is not a battle to win or to be right. There is just a simple understanding and acceptance of each other.
Although I belong to a faith that does exercise efforts in converting others, I believe that a basic understanding and respect of others’ beliefs is extremely valuable. I am so grateful to be in India and for the chance to see and experience all these different religions, and feel like it has made me more open and willing to see things from others’ points of view.
So today’s cultural proof will be about the Lotus Temple!
This was one of my first sites to see in India, maybe two days after arriving in Delhi. I knew almost nothing about it beforehand, and what I did know, or what I guessed I knew, only made me more wrong. First, I had imagined that it was probably a Hindu temple, and second, I confused the word “lotus” for “locust” and so after hearing that it was named for its shape I imagine a building shaped like a giant grasshopper.
Well, it was neither a grasshopper nor a Hindu temple. For any who are ignorant like me, a lotus is a flower:
and the temple actually belongs to the Baha'i faith.
However, the temple itself is purposed as a place where people of all faiths can come to pray, meditate, and draw closer to God.
The day we visited the temple it was extremely hot, and we had to walk down a long path to get to there. Then, about 50 feet from the entrance you are asked to remove your shoes, exposing your feet to the burning ground. They had placed out cloth mats to walk across that weren’t quite as hot as the ground, but still, we tip-toe ran to get to the temple entrance in the quickest (but still somewhat-reverent) way we knew how.
Just outside the temple entrance a guide explained the purpose of the temple, and then opened the door to let us in.
The inside is one big, open room, filled with benches. It was also much cooler inside than out. Our group chose a bench and sat down. At first I was happy just to relax and be out of the heat. There was a nice peaceful feeling in that room, and for a long time we simply sat in silence. I said a little prayer to thank God for our chance to be in India, and that things thus far had gone well. I also thanked him for the temple, its purpose and our chance to be there. I thought it a wonderful thing to have a place that encouraged such spiritual freedoms and also had the uniting power of bringing people of different faiths together.
It was a good experience, especially to kick off our visit to India. However, I have since realized that this feeling of spiritual freedom and unity is not something unique to the Lotus Temple. It’s actually as if all of India was one great big Lotus Temple encompassing the entire country. We have met people of so many faiths: The Baha’i, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians. Many people you can tell or at least guess at their religion just by looking at them. Religion is not a sensitive issue by any means, and everyone seems more than willing to discuss it. Everyone is welcome into everyone else’s houses of worship, and most people seem interested in visiting religious sites outside of their own religion. From what I understand, these religions have all been living more or less peacefully, side by side for thousands of years. The secret? There may be a few contributing factors, one being that most Indian religions do not exercise an effort in converting others to their own religion. From what I can tell, most people remain in whatever religion they are born into. However, I think probably the biggest reason these people are able to live peacefully together is the before mentioned openness in expressing, sharing and understanding each other’s religions. There is not a battle to win or to be right. There is just a simple understanding and acceptance of each other.
Although I belong to a faith that does exercise efforts in converting others, I believe that a basic understanding and respect of others’ beliefs is extremely valuable. I am so grateful to be in India and for the chance to see and experience all these different religions, and feel like it has made me more open and willing to see things from others’ points of view.
I loved this temple! I had no clue what it was all about before we got there except Dave told me it was a must in Delhi. I'm really glad we went. It was good to review some of your thoughts. I'm glad someone was taking notes- I was still in a Delhi daze and do not remember much detail.
ReplyDelete