The iPhone and the iPriest

[biswa]

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So I went to this temple in Livermore in the USA. For all practical purposes, it is a classic, conservative South Indian temple with all possible gods and goddesses. They even have very strict rules, like no camera or taking pictures inside the temple, no eating etc. Most people are happy to follow along as it maintains the temple atmosphere.

However I noticed that one of the priests was sitting in a corner fiddling with something, and I realized that it was an iPhone. He was doing what other ordinary people do, obsessively check email, or God forbid, Facebook!

Now I am at a dilemma about what to think: should I just roll my eyes and say Ghor Kaliyuga, what an unworthy priest! Or should I think, he is a human after all, with usual desires, priesthood is just a job, nothing more nothing less, why expect more from him?

 

[renuka]

So I went to this temple in Livermore in the USA. For all practical purposes, it is a classic, conservative South Indian temple with all possible gods and goddesses. They even have very strict rules, like no camera or taking pictures inside the temple, no eating etc. Most people are happy to follow along as it maintains the temple atmosphere.


However I noticed that one of the priests was sitting in a corner fiddling with something, and I realized that it was an iPhone. He was doing what other ordinary people do, obsessively check email, or God forbid, Facebook!

Now I am at a dilemma about what to think: should I just roll my eyes and say Ghor Kaliyuga, what an unworthy priest! Or should I think, he is a human after all, with usual desires, priesthood is just a job, nothing more nothing less, why expect more from him?

He is also human, being a priest is his proffesion just like how when i am free in between patients i type here in this forum and i wont consider myself unworthy cos I am not typing while seeing patients.May be it was his free time.
See all of us want freedom in whatever we do but always want to impose the strictest rules for a priest.
Let them have fun too after all they do have a demanding job that starts from early morning to late night sometimes and many lack exercise and time for relaxation and are overweight and do have major health issues.
As long he does his job well that should be enough..may be he was typing in TB forum or making a new friend in Facebook.
A priest is still very much in the world like anyone of us..He has not given up both pleasures and displeasures of the world.Let him have fun too.

Just to add some humor to your query.."BTW what were you doing not concentrating on God but finding fault with another?" hehehehehe No offence ok..just for fun.
Ok I will tell you why I said this. 3 weeks ago I commited the same offence of judging another.

My dad had a house bhajan in which he had called one of his friends who is very religous types and keeps saying about his bhakthi( he is young some 40+)

Much to our suprise he didnt sit on the floor but sat on the sofa while the bhajan went on.Seats are provided for elderly people with health issues but this guy had no real health issue so we were suprised.
So I thought may be he has some health problem we dont know about.

The following week we went to his house for a bhajan and there he was seated on the floor dressed like a priest and doing all pooja etc.
I was wondering how come he is seated on the floor here but was seated on the sofa in my fathers house last week.

Then a sudden thought came to me as if i was being admonished "what are you doing not concentrating on God and more concerned where that guy sits?"heheheehhe

So i dropped the thought who sits where..

 

[biswa]

Ms. Renuka,

Your point is well taken. What bothers me about it is not the material compulsions of one man, but rather the hypocrisy of it all.

Why say no cell phones when the priests themselves are checking cellphones. There are strict rules against photography and videography in the temple. Yet for the small amount of US $2000, the priest will pay a visit to your house complete with utsava murthi idols of your choice and arrangements to chant on your behalf for 2 hours. You can invite as many friends and take as many photos as you want.

I am convinced: God exists, but not in temples. Temples are built by men for men (or women for women if you so prefer.)

 

[renuka]

Ms. Renuka,

Your point is well taken. What bothers me about it is not the material compulsions of one man, but rather the hypocrisy of it all.

Why say no cell phones when the priests themselves are checking cellphones. There are strict rules against photography and videography in the temple. Yet for the small amount of US $2000, the priest will pay a visit to your house complete with utsava murthi idols of your choice and arrangements to chant on your behalf for 2 hours. You can invite as many friends and take as many photos as you want.

I am convinced: God exists, but not in temples. Temples are built by men for men (or women for women if you so prefer.)

Dear Biswa,
God exist my dear, everywhere..but may be people dont realize Him... thats all.

 

[biswa]

Dear Biswa,
God exist my dear, everywhere..but may be people dont realize Him... thats all.

Wish it were so simple. If so, how do we explain the tremendous popularity of the temples at Tirupathi, Kashi Vishwanath or Puri Jagannath? Does God favor those crowded places above all others?

I personally don't get the "God" feeling in these mega temples where the gatekeepers limit and ration access. I do feel something spiritual in empty smaller temples (Srinivasa Mangapuram for example) and in breath-taking places of natural beauty.

 

[kunjuppu]

biswa,

i think you have touched a sore topic ie our vathiyars' preoccupation with the cell phone.

this is a big happening in chennai, even in the weddings that i attended. no amount of admonishment appears to stop this habit.

 

[B.Krishnamurthy]

Dear Shri.Biswa,
Recently I visited CITY BANK in mount road,Chennai to close my bank a/c.There were a number of customers and so I had to wait for my turn.
I was looking around and found a notice that cell phones are not to be used.I saw one gentleman coming out of a cabin walking through the place meant for Customers engaged in a serious conversation keeping the cellphone close to his ear and entering into the counters.
When my turn came I asked the junior officer attending me as to how one gentleman was allowed to use his cell phone,I got a reply that the gentleman is a senior level officer in the Branch.
As to your note that you are not attracted to Big temples,I can only say that I am not attracted by any temple,big or small,though I used to visit the temples in my younger days on daily basis and thereafter just to please my wife.I do visit temples just to give company to guests who visit me and desire to worship in a temple.The main reason for my not visiting temples is that I expect high degree of discipline from everyone when I am
inside the temple and I get upset if I find any laxity either from temple employees or others who come for worship.I pondered over the matter and found out that I myself is not such a disciplined person though I expect high degree of discipline from others.Then I thought better to avoid
temples .Where I can take a pradakshina of a temple from outside,I do it invariably and worship from outside without entering the temple.
When I was young I read an article in "Manjari Tamil magazine' that a german researcher wanted to find as to why only certain temples attract more crowd and could satisfy himself that there was 'more hallo' in the presiding deity of those temples.
Some years before I was listening to the discourse of one lady preacher in a TV programme(subsequently I came to know that she is the daughter of Sadhu Parthasarathy.)She was mentioning that Divine power is like Electricity(which does not show preference among the users)and if your apparatus is perfect ,you enjoy the usage of
electricity to the optimum level and if your apparatus is defective,there is no point in blaming the authorities who distribute the electric power.
So let us keep our apparatus in good shape.

 

[renuka]

Wish it were so simple. If so, how do we explain the tremendous popularity of the temples at Tirupathi, Kashi Vishwanath or Puri Jagannath? Does God favor those crowded places above all others?

I personally don't get the "God" feeling in these mega temples where the gatekeepers limit and ration access. I do feel something spiritual in empty smaller temples (Srinivasa Mangapuram for example) and in breath-taking places of natural beauty.

Dear Biswa,

God is above Dualities..He doesnt favour any one specific place be it a Temple or a Slaughter House.He is just a Silent Witness.
In a temple most people feel focused and can leave their worries aside for a moment and its jumps back on them the moment they leave the temple.
Basically they are making themselves feel good..its us who needs to feel good and not God but many actually think they are pleasing God.Well I wouldnt be wrong to say intense Bhakthi also gives us the "Endorphin Rush"(Feel good hormone).

Some of us feel more spiritual in a less crowed temple cos there is a more personal feel and some feel more spiritual in a crowded temple cos they are under the impression that this place must be powerful hence so many devotees.

Wherever we pray..we pray to the Antaryaami only..dont we all close our eyes when we pray? be it in Tirupati or a lesser known shrine.
For the one who knows God is both within and without,the Loka and Samastha is the temple of God.

 

[biswa]

Renuka,

I agree with everything you say, including the ecstasy that may be caused by Bhakthi/chanting. Your assertions about the omni-presence of God are very similar to a verse from the book you quote so often from, let me look it up.

The only thing I don't understand is why you keep referring to God as "he". Totally unexpected from the person who started "Deerga Sumangali bhava" and other feminist (woman-oriented) discussions. :becky:

Clearly God is a "she"!

 

[renuka]

Renuka,

I agree with everything you say, including the ecstasy that may be caused by Bhakthi/chanting. Your assertions about the omni-presence of God are very similar to a verse from the book you quote so often from, let me look it up.

The only thing I don't understand is why you keep referring to God as "he". Totally unexpected from the person who started "Deerga Sumangali bhava" and other feminist (woman-oriented) discussions. :becky:

Clearly God is a "she"!

Dear Biswa,

I am not a feminist yaar...A feminist is as biased as a male chauvinist.I believe in equality of sexes that all..i dont consider a woman greater to a man or vice versa.

Ok I know Paramaatma is neither Male,Female or Neuter but for description purposes Saguna Brahman is Purusha and everything else is Prakriti..

Purusha is loosely translated as the "Male Principal" and Prakriti as the "Female Principle" and this doesnt refer to Gender.

For all practical purposes in the English Language "He" is the closest word we can find to describe Purusha.

Dont get me wrong..I am really not a feminist..being a female myself..I have no problems even saying that almost 3/4 of the world will be going all crazy tommorow for Mothers day..I have even said before i find sometimes woman being overrated as Mothers cos in my day to day life..I see so many becoming Mothers becos of "Failure of Contraceptives" and when I drive sometimes and I see some car being driven in a way which might make my head spin..I say to myself.."must be a woman driver".
Deergha Sumangali Bhava thread was started to discuss the actual meaning of that phrase and whether it was purely economical based.

 

[sravna]

Each and every thing that exists in the world is God. Where as divinity lives as and experiences the collective whole, the physical counterparts act as a disconnected self and experience a different reality. Thus this would mean there are consciousnesses at different levels, the unified and eternal being one and innumerable disconnected and transient ones being the other. Space and time are experienced only in the latter. This is my take.

 

[subbudu1]

Agreed there are many temples with inefficient priests. This by itself should not be the reason we loose hope in visiting temples.

I personally enjoy visiting temples because it is a place where many people gather. Among this group of people there are bound to be some who are much better than you. Wherever there is good there is God. Ideally a home should be equally good as a temple but that largely depends on the devotee.

A Temple is as good as the priests .saints and commoners who visit and worship there.

 

[biswa]

Dear Biswa,

I am not a feminist yaar...A feminist is as biased as a male chauvinist.I believe in equality of sexes that all..i dont consider a woman greater to a man or vice versa.

Dont get me wrong..I am really not a feminist..being a female myself..I have no problems even saying that almost 3/4 of the world will be going all crazy tommorow for Mothers day..I have even said before i find sometimes woman being overrated as Mothers cos in my day to day life..I see so many becoming Mothers becos of "Failure of Contraceptives" and when I drive sometimes and I see some car being driven in a way which might make my head spin..I say to myself.."must be a woman driver".

Don't take me seriously, Renuka, I was just twisting your tail, or pulling your leg, or man-handling some other appendage. :roll:

BTW, the Gita verse I was referring to is:

Who sees Me in all,
And sees all in Me,
For him I am not lost,
And he is not lost for me.

 

[renuka]

Don't take me seriously, Renuka, I was just twisting your tail, or pulling your leg, or man-handling some other appendage. :roll:

BTW, the Gita verse I was referring to is:

Who sees Me in all,
And sees all in Me,
For him I am not lost,
And he is not lost for me.

No problems..I knew you were joking also..