If God Is Everywhere, Why Go to the Temple?

Original by Purushottama Dasa, re-edited by Vishal Gupta

Visiting Krishna’s temple is visiting the spiritual world. That was my

impression the first time I went to the Hare Krishna temple near
Washington, D. C.

Unfortunately, a great majority of Indian people do not take the time to go

to the temple. Generally speaking, in this Age of Kali people are enamored
with Krishna’s external energy, maya. As a result, they wrongly think that by
increasing material comforts they will achieve happiness. They don’t know
that material nature is very strong and that everyone is tightly bound by its
stringent laws. According to the Bhagavad-gita (8.16), “From the highest
planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery
wherein repeated birth and death take place.”

Understanding the nature of this world, we should find at least a couple of

hours every Sunday to leave behind our mundane activities to inquire about
the Absolute Truth in the temple atmosphere.

Sometimes people avoid the temple by reasoning that because God

is all-pervading there is no need to go to the temple. But if God is all-
pervading, then He is certainly in the temple also. A temple of Lord
Krishna is a house of God and is completely spiritual and transcendental, a
place where the Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshiped with love and
devotion. As such, the temple is there to purify us, and we should take
advantage.

Actually, God’s presence in the temple is especially beneficial to us. Despite

His omnipresence, He is not readily perceivable except to one with
spiritual vision. In a Krishna temple we can associate with people
trained in spiritual vision, and we get to enhance our own realization
of the all- pervading nature of the Lord by hearing the
transcendental philosophy of Krishna consciousness. Furthermore,
we learn to perceive the Lord’s personal presence in the Deity (arca-
vigraha). Thus, by taking advantage of spiritual association, by
hearing the transcendental philosophy, and by worshiping the Deity
in the temple, an ordinary person is more likely to remember the
Lord’s all-pervasiveness in day-to-day life. Moreover, the temple offers
us an opportunity to meet others also interested in broadening their spiritual
perception. Only a temple can afford all these advantages.
In fact, a temple of Lord Krishna is like an embassy of the spiritual world,
Vaikuntha-loka. So in the material world a temple is a place to experience
the flavor of the kingdom of God. When we enter the temple we can
genuinely feel and see the omnipotence of the Lord. As a result, we feel
uplifted and reminded of our original relationship with Krishna in the
kingdom of God.

The temple is also a hospital where we receive treatment for our

spiritual disorders. All of us suffer from a sort of amnesia: We
identify with our material bodies and forget we are spirit souls. We
have forgotten our real identity and our eternal relationship with the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna. Consequently, we
have to take birth after birth; hence, there is no end to our miseries.

But when we enter the temple we feel relief, because there the Lord is
worshiped according to the rules and regulations of the revealed scriptures.
So the temple is reminiscent of the spiritual world, our original home. Even
in the conventional sense, when someone has amnesia expert
psychologists agree that the most reliable cure is to put the patient
in familiar environments. No other remedy is quite as effective.
Similarly, when one goes to the temple, associates with devotees,
and chants the holy names of God—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama,
Hare Hare—one is cured of the amnesia of material life. Soon one
becomes spiritually aware and blissful and develops love for the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lord Krishna’s temple is also the place where we can realize the magic of a
real guru. The Srimad- Bhagavatam (11.3.21) says, “Any person who
seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and
take shelter of him by initiation.” Lord Krishna Himself declares in the
Bhagavad-gita (4.34): “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual
master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The
self-realized souls [gurus] can impart knowledge unto you, because they
have seen the truth.”

The foremost qualification of the guru is that he is able to arouse in our

hearts dormant love for Krishna. Therefore, learning about our relationship
with Krishna and how to approach Him should be our purpose in approaching
a guru. The Krishna temple offers us a unique opportunity to learn from a
bona fide guru.

The temples of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

(ISKCON), being genuine temples, are fully spiritual and transcendental.
Therefore, although they appear to be within the major cities of the world,
they are also within the spiritual world. People experience a transcendental
phenomenon when they go to the temples daily, for the Sunday feast, or for
other festivals. If you visit the Krishna temple today, you too might
remember something you have long forgotten.

Srila Prabhupada has build a house where the whole world can live. He has
given a very open, honest, and practical way of life—of song, dance and
music, of tasty and nourishing vegetarian food, of healthy moral habits,
enriched family relationships, and indispensable knowledge. To transform so
many lives throughout the world in such a powerful and beneficial way is a
bit of the real magic of a real guru. You can see that magic at Lord Krishna’s
temple today. Hare Krishna!

AIR IS EVERYWHERE BUT WE NEED A FAN TO FEEL IT

Same Way God is everywhere But Have you realized it? Due to our
material conditioning we can’t perceive God everywhere. Unless one
reaches on that platform when one can perceive God everywhere
and act in that understanding, one should try to associate and
worship God in Archa-Vigraha (deity) form because God appears in
these forms made of material elements as we under material
conditioning can perceive only objects in those forms. So God kindly
accepts these forms so that we could perceive him and render
service to him. Temples are places which help us to focus on the
path to God. Temples are an instrument for spiritual uplifting.