Discover Shri Krishna in each one of us

Although Shri Krishna is in our heart, our senses can't perceive Him. We need a form made of matter that is tangible to our senses. Hence the Deity made of stone, wood or metal appears in a form whom we can render service and advance in spiritual life. If we are so advanced to see Krishna in everyone's heart, we will worship everyone's body as the Lord's temple. Not possible now- If we are chased by a ferocious lion and hallucinate that it is nothing but the Lord's temple, then our own temple will be demolished by the hungry beast!

Shri Krishna says that by intense advancement in spiritual life, the practitioner becomes a Pandita- one who sees a dog, dog eater, a sannyasi and an out caste, all with equal vision. Hence we cannot emulate this advanced stage of Paramatma realisation, but remain a neophyte and serve the temple deities. In order to experience presence of Shri Krishna everywhere and in everything is the highest level of meditation or Samadhi.

Srimati Radharani is the personification of Mahabhava and she perceives Shri Krishna in such a way. She is the supreme manifestation of Bhakti. She is not an ordinary soul. She is the direct expansion of Shri Krishna. A Jivatma or soul who is completely pure and spotless can also experience presence of Shri Krishna everywhere and in everything. Such souls are nitya siddha devotees of Shri Krishna. They are free from faults like envy, lust, greed, anger, fault finding.

Humans like us are generally not capable of perceiving Shri Krishna everywhere. We have many faults like anger, lust, envy, greed. For us the scriptures have recommended construction of temples and installation of deity form of Shri Krishna so that we can practice devotional service and purify our mind. By visiting temple, seeing the deity, offering obeisances, listening to Hari Katha, Hari Kirtan, asking questions to knowledgeable devotees, getting guidance and answers, and doing physical service slowly our consciousness gets spiritualized and purified. Then the devotee does not need a physical place like temple to focus on the Lord. An advanced devotee perceives Lord Krishna everywhere.

To reach this ultimate state of Shri Krishna consciousness, we need temples and deities as a starting point. Afterwards everything becomes a temple and Shri Krishna will be before our eyes at every moment. If you are sure you are able to perceive Shri Krishna at every moment and in every situation, then you don't need to visit a temple. You have become completely pure and faultless. You have achieved the ultimate goal of Human life.

So ask yourself this question and get an honest answer from your mind. Can I see Shri Krishna everywhere? Am I free from all faults like lust, anger, greed? Am I completely pure? If the answer is no, then you need a spiritual school like temple. Go there, ask questions, do service, listen to Hari Katha, meditate on Shri Krishna. It is a facility provided to achieve Shri Krishna consciousness. Use this facility and uplift yourself to the highest level of Krishna consciousness. This is the real success of Human life - To become a pure and faultless devotee of Shri Krishna and to meditate on Him in every single moment.

This world is only superficially beautiful. One form of life is food for another and the different species are engaged in a constant struggle for survival. Their day is spent in finding food, and avoiding becoming food for another species. Being ‘out in the wild’ is only beautiful if the weather and conditions are nice. Being in thick jungle, arid desert, in the ocean, up a mountain, out on a moor, in a cave etc., is not beautiful for long if you don’t have all the man-made kit to make survival possible. If it was really so beautiful everyone would leave civilisation and move there.

If anyone goes to a Shri Krishna temple they don’t have to search for the Lord, He is standing right there in front of them, waiting patiently, pretending to be a statue, in case they want to come and see Him and do a little service for Him, or ask for a favour. How are you going to do that in a busy market or a crowded street? Not everyone can maintain deity worship in their own home, so temples are facilities to go and offer respects, and obeisances to the Lord, have His Darshana and do some small (or large) service for Him. It puts a person into a better consciousness, uplifts them and renews their faith.

Nowadays people don’t need to go to a concert to hear music, nor a cinema to watch a film, but still they do, because there is a better experience than doing them at home on a cell phone. Any mammoth structure attracts the attention of a common man. The gigantic temple buildings also make a pilgrim humble before entering the temple. The Kingdom of the Lord is for the humble and meek. Hence it is necessary to cut down ones own self esteem before coming in front of the Lord who is the Supreme Personality.

Temples serve as a cultural centre for overall growth of the society by hearing of and training in applying the Vedic value system. Every day there would be Hari Katha, Bhajana and prasad distribution in the temple. These things have practically stopped in the traditional temples now. The grand temple structure were not built by extensive effort from the brahmanas to fill their pockets, rather they were personally built by the Kings.

Most of the temples in Tamil Nadu were built by the Pallava, Chola and other Tamizh kings. Hoysala and Vijayanagara empires built temples in Karnataka. Similarly the Rajput kings built numerous temples in Jaipur, Vrindavan and Kashi. The list is quite long. Since it is built off state exchequer, and substantial budget is earmarked for such expenses, public money is not pilfered. The saints are not bothered about building big temples. In fact the shastras condemn a sadhu who is running after building such monuments. Jay Shri Krishna