Visit a Temple

“Anyway, I need not have worried. I arrived at the temple at a quiet time and the only person there was a priest who was looking through some papers. I performed a namaste to the deities and then sat down and meditated for a while. The priest finished his papers and asked whether he could help me. I asked him about some of the deities that I did not recognise and he told me about them. He then offered me prashad and some holy water, which I took. A younger man came in and told me that they were preparing for a function so the priest could not talk to me for long. The priest said that he was going to perform a short puja before the function and asked whether I would like to stay. During this time several other people came an went, and all greeted me in a friendly manner. What struck me was how I really felt at home in this place, there was an atmosphere of holiness, peace and friendliness.”

“Here’s what was most surprising to me and my guests: we didn’t sit during our meditation. We showed up with the pretty firm notion (fair, I think, from previous experience) that meditation is done sitting, usually on the ground, with legs crossed. As Dr. Tanphaichitr explained, that is one kind of meditation practice. Being able to let go while one is sitting is a way of stilling the mind, usually by focusing on the breath. Instead of sitting, though, on Saturday we practiced what might be seen as the next step in meditation practice—insight meditation, in which one returns quite consciously to activity. The actions themselves needn’t be purposeful, and as Dr. Tanchaichitr explained, the series of actions that he led us through were intentionally without meaning. First we spent about 20 minutes performing a series of hand gestures that I can best describe as similar to the hand movements of the 90s dance craze The Macarena. Then the group stood up and walked the perimeter of the room, with arms clasped together in front of or behind us, not swinging them. [...] Wow. This was powerful, and cool, and interesting, especially because it was so unexpected. I’ll admit that I didn’t find myself able to experience any distance from my thoughts, which I’d need in order to observe them, primarily because I was so fascinated with the movement itself and the leader’s guidance through them.”

“I recently visited Somnath Temple in Gujarat, and witnessing the sunrise there was one of the most peaceful travel moments I’ve ever experienced. The temple is located right next to the Arabian Sea, and early in the morning the entire place feels incredibly calm. As the sun slowly rises over the horizon, the sound of waves and the temple bells create an atmosphere that’s hard to describe. I arrived around 5:30 AM, just before sunrise. There were only a few devotees and the air was cool and quiet. When the first sunlight touched the temple structure, it looked absolutely beautiful.”