Importance of temples

Leaving a few nitya siddha devotees of the Lord, all of us had rebelled against the Lord. We wanted to be the independent enjoyers. As a consequence of defying His authority and desiring independence we were forced to enter the material world. Srila Prabhupada mentions in one of the purports of 8th chapter of 1st canto that such a category of people are 'less intelligent'.

Material world is temporary and miserable as opposed to spiritual world which is eternally full of bliss. Shastras say that spiritual world is our original home where we can reside once we become free from lust, propensity to enjoy independent of the Supreme Lord. Those fortunate souls who have some appreciation, by the mercy of Lord's devotees, for shastras and instructions of the Lord as mentioned in Bhagavad Gita and other vedic scriptures or have developed initial faith, adau shraddha, in the process of awakening their dormant Krsna consciousness have begun their journey for back home back to Godhead. Prabhupada writes in that purport, in the initial stages one should bow down before the deity of the Lord in a temple. By respecting the Lord in His archa-vigraha form we learn the accept the authority of the Lord. As mentioned in earlier post, Lord reveals Himself out of His own sweet will. Therefore, out of His unbounded and causeless compassion upon less intelligent people of the world who can not see anything beyond matter, He incarnates as deity. Radhanath swami maharaj says, "we all are searching for someone suitable whom we can love. Lord is the supreme object of our love." As its said, if you do not want a heartbreak give it to Krsna. However, without loving exchanges love can not be experienced. Therefore, to facilitate such loving reciprocations with His devotees, Lord appears in His deity form.

He is not an idol nor His worshippers are idolators as wrongly perceived by many. Form of a deity is not an imagination. Pure devotees can see the Lord constantly within their heart. That form of the Lord is verified by scriptures and installed in temples. All great acaryas in the past have established temples and organised deity worship. Advanced devotees meditate on the Lord through loving service but neophytes can not artificially transcend the stage of worshipping deity when their hearts are contaminated by anarthas.

To know more about Radhanath Swami you can visit:
www.radhanath.com