{"id":7998,"date":"2016-11-27T16:57:04","date_gmt":"2016-11-27T16:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/guruvani.us\/?p=7998"},"modified":"2016-11-29T14:40:27","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T14:40:27","slug":"the-purpose-of-visiting-a-temple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/2016\/11\/27\/the-purpose-of-visiting-a-temple\/","title":{"rendered":"The Purpose of Visiting a Temple"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"guruji5000\"<\/p>\n

When inside the temple premises, devotees are supposed to concentrate all their faculties for a definite purpose<\/em> and in a certain manner<\/em> i.e., eyes (through which they concentrate and meditate on the image of the deity), mouth (through which they recite mantras or aartis<\/em> and bhajans<\/em> in praise of the deity), ears (through which they listen to mantras, aartis<\/em>, discourses etc.), nose (through which they smell the sweet smell of flowers and incense offered to the deity) and skin (through which they touch the feet of the deity).<\/p>\n

One can imagine the serene atmosphere of a temple, which gives a feeling of expansion<\/em> of the thought horizons and a sense of ecstatic upliftment<\/em> of the soul. The most desirable situation in the temple is where one can listen to the prolonged euphoric notes of somber mantras, there is no hustle bustle, no high pitched and abusive ruckus mingled with diatribes with choicest invectives. It should also not give a picture of a depressed and melancholic place with tearful devotees with sulking faces. Such devotees sulking in the temple due to non\u2010 fulfillment of their purely material desires spoil the pleasant and peaceful atmosphere of the temple<\/em>. It needs to be a place of unison of minds and souls of devotees, while focusing on a deity, in chanting mantras and also singing the aarti<\/em> together. This then is the method and the purpose of going to a temple or a religious congregation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

[icon name=”quote-left” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] When the Purpose, the Thoughts, the Sentiments and the Activities of the Devotees are merged in a Prayer in invoking the Deity or the Master, the Love of the Master or Deity flows down to the Devotees.\u00a0[icon name=”quote-right” class=”” unprefixed_class=””]<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On the other hand, impropriety in dressing and conducts such as talking or laughing loudly by a devotee may knowingly or unknowingly disturb the other devotees and vitiate the atmosphere. The focus is shifted from the deity, in our case, the holy image of Shri Sai Nath Maharaj of Shirdi towards such individuals. Then the whole purpose of visiting a temple is defeated.<\/p>\n

it is desirable for Shirdi Sai devotees to worship Baba in the temple or to participate in a congregation of Sai devotees in modest and simple attire. Baba\u2019s teachings show that lavish display of material aspects of life including dazzling dresses never impressed Baba. Shri Sai Baba, the Fakir with the torn clothes perhaps finds it more comfortable to be with simply dressed but truthful people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jai Shri Sai !<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: Excerpts from MAHA SAMADHI DIWAS MESSAGE (2007) by Dr. C B Satpathy<\/em><\/p>\n

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When inside the temple premises, devotees are supposed to concentrate all their faculties for a definite purpose and in a certain manner i.e., eyes (through which they concentrate and meditate on the image of the deity), mouth (through which they recite mantras […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gurujis-teachings"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7wChg-250","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9943,"url":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/2026\/01\/25\/guru-bhakti-beyond-ritual-fear-and-logic\/","url_meta":{"origin":7998,"position":0},"title":"Guru-Bhakti Beyond Ritual, Fear, and Logic","author":"GVADMIN3","date":"January 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Chapter 23 of Sri Sai Satcharitra is not a chapter of abstract philosophy\u2014it is a living demonstration of Guru-bhakti in action. Through seemingly ordinary incidents involving food, disease, danger, and moral conflict, Shirdi Sai Baba reveals a deep spiritual truth: liberation does not come through techniques, logic, or outward purity,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Teachings of Dr. Satpathy"","block_context":{"text":"Teachings of Dr. Satpathy","link":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/category\/gurujis-teachings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/guruvani.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ChatGPT-Image-Jan-25-2026-01_14_44-PM-683x1024.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9918,"url":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/why-baba-tests-his-devotees\/","url_meta":{"origin":7998,"position":1},"title":"Why Baba Tests His Devotees","author":"GVADMIN3","date":"December 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In Shri Sai Satcharita, Baba often appears to test His devotees through hardships, delays, misunderstandings, and emotional trials. To many, these tests may seem harsh or puzzling, but Baba repeatedly assures that they are never acts of cruelty. Instead, they are expressions of deep compassion and divine wisdom, meant to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith and Patience"","block_context":{"text":"Faith and Patience","link":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/category\/faith-and-patience\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/guruvani.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/baba-101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/guruvani.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/baba-101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/guruvani.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/baba-101.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/guruvani.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/baba-101.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7998"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8007,"href":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7998\/revisions\/8007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guruvani.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}