Jain Heritage and Beyond

Author(s): Shailesh Shah
Publisher: Oshwal Associations of The UK

Page 90

The Necessity of Temples
by Mahatma Gandhi
emples and images remind us to renew our renunciation and dedication from day to day. They remind us: "Do not forget the original of the idol." I know of no religion or sect that has done or is doing without its house of God variously described as a temple, a mosque, a church, a synagogue, or an agiari.
There are millions whose faith is sustained through these temples, churches, and mosques they are not all blind followers of a superstition, nor are they fanatics. Superstition and fanaticism are not their monopoly; these vices have their root in our hearts and minds to reject the necessity of temples are to reject the necessity of God, religion, and earthly existence.
We, the human family, are not all philosophers. We are of the earth, very earthy, and we are not satisfied with contemplating the invisible God. Somehow or other we want something which we can touch, something which we can see, something before which we can kneel down. It does not matter whether it is a book or an empty stone building or a stone building inhabited by numerous figures. A book will satisfy some, an empty building will satisfy others, and many others will not be satisfied unless they see something inhabiting these empty buildings.
So I ask you to approach these temples not as if they represented a body of superstitions. If you approach these temples with faith in them, you will know that each time you visit them you come away purified, with your faith more and more in the living God. It depends upon our mental condition, whether we gain something or do not gain anything by going to the temples. We have to approach these temples in a humble and penitent mood. They are so many houses of God.
God, of course, resides in every human form, indeed in every particle of His creation, everything that is on this earth. But since we, very fallible mortals, do not appreciate the fact that God is everywhere, we impute special sanctity to temples and think that God resides there and so. When we approach these temples, we must cleanse our bodies, our minds, and our hearts, and we should enter them in a prayerful mood, and ask God to make us purer men and women for having entered His portals.