Visit to the temple of Lord Durga
We went with a friend to her favorite temple – the temple of Lord Durga, a powerful goddess within the pantheon of Hindu gods and goddesses. Our friend first purchased some flowers, a coconut, two lemons and two bananas from a fruit stand outside the temple – enough for her to present on behalf of herself, her mother and family, my wife and I, as visitors. Before entering the temple we first washed the front and back of our feet at three taps protruding from a small wall near the temple, so our feet would be clean upon entering the temple, then walked twenty meters on a dirty concrete pathway to the temple entrance.
As we entered the gate we followed the example of those ahead of us and stepped over the two raised gold plates at the gates. We walked into a gated area where we walked between two handrails towards a shrine. Entering the first shrine I noticed three designs above the door – the middle one being Lord Durga. Worshippers raised their right hand and touched the representation of Lord Durga before entering the shrine.
Inside the shrine, our friend presented her gift of fruit to the priest, who in turn, prayed over it, then held it in front of him as he turned to face the idol of Lord Durga; he chanted some prayers, mentioning our friend’s name, her mother, and our names. His prayers said, the priest turned, faced us and said a few words to our friend. She smiled.
Leaving that particular shrine or worship cove, we stopped before a table which held a bowl of water. A young priest took a spoonful of water and placed it in my hands. I was to drink some water, and sprinkle some over my head. I drew the water to my face, dripped some over my head, and rinsed my hands with the water that remained.
As we passed by other idols we noticed areas where worshippers had placed a candle, flower, or food as an act of worship. We also passed by, and I later entered, a worshipping area where gods representing the planets were set on altar like block. People, who were concerned about mistakes they had made or sins they had committed, walked nine times in a tight circle around the gods praying for forgiveness for their mistakes or errors. Our friend told us that these gods were related to astrological signs and were very powerful.
We passed by another idol of Lord Durga, this one covered with string or thread like material which held tightly rolled notes, which initially worshippers would have placed in the idol’s hand. Lord Durga has great power to intervene on a person’s behalf, should she choose to do so; she can create a god to destroy a demon, if necessary or requested. The person making the request, however, needs to be worthy of intervention, or to have lived a good life for such an intervention to occur.
Another shrine area contained a number of supply barrels full of provisions provided by the donations from devotees who came to the temple – meals were made for worshippers. If a poor person came, s/he would be fed, as that was only right. The food that was offered to the gods was used to feed the priests, with the rest given to the poor.
The gods recreate themselves – gods and goddesses can create a demon(s) to exist for a specific timeframe and allow it to wreak havoc and destruction, before being destroyed by a goddess created for that purpose. For a life to be created, a life must be destroyed, thus creating or maintaining a balance. In the end, the forces of good are more powerful than evil, in that evil is kept in check by the pantheon of gods.
As gods recreate themselves, so do humans, possibly with or without the assistance of the gods, continuing on earth at a higher level if their previous life was worthy, or continuing on earth at a lower level, if their previous life was not worthy.
Considering the pantheon of gods within the Hindu framework, each with its own story passed down from generation to generation, I can easily imagine parents passing on these stories to their children asking “why” or “how” and the dutiful parents telling a story(ies) of the gods in response. The gods are visible, and can be touched (if touching is permitted). In combination with a well told fascinating story – and some of the stories are fascinating, full of passion, treachery, violence, conflict, and revenge – a child couldn’t help but believe it, and sharing stories heard with their friends.
After our tour of the temple and on our way home, our friend told us that she had gone to a Christian Church on at least one occasion and there she participated in communion – eating cracker dipped in wine. She felt bad about what she had done, and hoped that she hadn’t offended Jesus, whom she considered one of many gods, and a good one, a good teacher, but one she couldn’t relate to as well as Lord Durga.
As my friend shared her story, I admired her honesty and transparency, her desire to live a good life, to be good to people, her story not so different from mine. Her parents told her stories about the gods, she listened to them, and clung to the story she liked, the story of Lord Durga. When I, as a child asked questions, my parents told me stories about the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob; the Protector of Hagar the mother of Ishmael; and the beloved Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Moses, King David, the prophets, and the people. The stories were alive, far reaching.
When I think of the Children of Israel falling away from the True God, the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, I see them pursuing gods that were visible from a distance and up close. And though these gods may have been hideous and grotesque in appearance, at least they could be seen – they didn’t require much imagination nor faith. The stories of the idols may have connected with the children of Israel pursuing lesser gods – stories of passion, creation, destruction, life, death, treachery, friendship, intervention, silence, forgiveness for a price or a ritual, blessing for a price or ritual.
Some Christians may have a similar view – professing to believe, follow, and be disciplined by God and his Word, but deep in their hearts demanding to work out their own way to heaven because salvation really can’t be free, it obviously must cost something – a sacrifice of flowers, vegetables, fruit, a sparrow or lamb or ox or camel.
A living sacrifice is too personal, painful, and costly. There must be an alternative – if not many.
We, in the west, influenced by the prophets of old, the life of teachings of Christ, the saints over the centuries, church upon church, church division upon church division, and the current pursuit of maximum profits gained from the maximum burdens on the backs of the poor, cling to and argue about the tradition of “the truth shall set you free” with truth ranging from relativity to absolute, free ranging from free from sin to free from consequences, often presenting numerous mixed messages.
The gospel is sold to the highest bidder, but those in a position to buy don’t – they object to the fine print; and the poor, as has been the case through the centuries, may hear by random word spoken, and random testimony shared, a trickle here, a trickle there. When a poor man or woman does hear through whatever medium, s/he shares the gospel without price, and the gospel quickly spreads by word of mouth and action, family to family, community to community, and at times, tribe to tribe, language group to language group.
It’s no wonder Jesus spent so much time with the poor – they listened to him, and were glad, and told their neighbors what they had seen and heard.
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